Page 20 of Cut The Cake

With a soft sigh, she broke off a tiny portion of the frosting. “Mmmmm. I’ve been waiting for this all day.”

The soft sound that Jenny made sent awareness racing up and down Nick’s spine. He turned aside, determined to focus on the task in front of him and not the bride in his kitchen. He grabbed the next cupcake and slathered frosting over the top of it. Reaching for a safe topic, he asked, “So your fiancé, is he leaving everything up to you?”

“Bob. Bob,” she repeated as if she needed to practice saying the man’s name. “He’s very interested. I’m sending him pictures of everything, but his job keeps him far too busy to drill down on the details.”

His brow furrowing, Nick glanced at Jenny. He could have sworn her expression soured when he mentioned her fiancé, but that had to be his imagination, didn’t it? He watched as she slowly chewed another bite. He couldn’t deny that she’d shown far more interest in her cupcake than the man she was going to marry.

What is going on?

The question came from out of nowhere, but once it was in his head, a troublesome thought stuck there. He considered probing deeper, trying to learn more about her relationship with the man she was about to marry. Slowly, he shook his head. The best thing for him to do was to completely avoid the subject.

Jenny was, after all, a bride-to-be. And not just any bride, but a true Heart’s Landing Bride. Whatever was going on between her and her fiancé, it was none of his business.

And with that, he went to work while the bride-to-be took one dainty bite after another, making her cupcake last as long as possible without any awareness of how much her presence in his bakery troubled him.

Chapter Seven

Seated at the desk in the sitting room of her well-appointed suite, Jenny ran one finger down the long list of tasks she’d needed to accomplish during her two-week stay at the bed-and-breakfast on Union Street. Her eyes narrowed in disbelief. She started at the top and went down the page a second time. The results didn’t change.

Except for a few items she could easily knock off with a phone call or two, she’d finalized every detail of her cousin’s wedding in record time. The flowers had been chosen, the venue decided, the order for a three-tiered cake placed. She’d lined up a string quartet to provide music for the bride as she walked down the aisle. A classic rock band would play during the reception. She’d even made reservations for the rehearsal dinner. Over her meal at Bow Tie Pasta tonight, she would finalize the menu.

Lifting her phone, she couldn’t help but smile as she scrolled through photographs of the flower arrangements and the venue, the cake tasting, the band rehearsal. She’d sent so many of them to Kay’s uber-private inbox that, by now, the account had to be bursting at the seams.

Oddly, though, her cousin hadn’t responded to a single email or to any of the many texts she’d sent. Concern shivered through her. Determined not to let it overwhelm her, she reassured herself that Kay was probably doing what most newly engaged women did—spending every possible second with her fiancé. Besides, Jenny had nothing to worry about. She’d followed her cousin’s instructions to the letter. The result was simple, yet elegant, perfect for the understated wedding of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Not bad for a week’s work.

She tapped her pencil on the table. Now that she’d crossed most of the items off her To Do list, she probably ought to go back to California. She should call the airlines and book a flight for the first thing in the morning. That would be the smart thing to do. She could easily arrange the rest of the details from there. If need be, she could return a week or so before the wedding to smooth out any last-minute glitches. When she got right down to it, she couldn’t think of one good reason why she should stay in Heart’s Landing a minute longer.

Except.

There was so much she still wanted to see and do while she was here. She hadn’t stopped by The Memory Box to look at those pretty storage boxes. She’d promised herself she’d find out the significance of the statue she’d spotted in the little park at the end of Champagne Avenue—she hadn’t done that yet. She hadn’t taken a walk along the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Or had her fill of Nick Bell and his luscious cupcakes.

Yeah, especially that last part.

She clamped one hand over her mouth, cutting off a breathy sigh. She’d fallen into the habit of dropping by the bakery each afternoon this week. As soon as the bell rang, announcing her arrival in the bakery, Nick would emerge from the back with one of the day’s specials, a cupcake he’d set aside just for her. Though she was certain he had other, more pressing, business to attend to, he’d pull up a chair and keep her company while she sipped coffee and savored every bite. The caring baker seemed to understand that by the time she reached I Do Cakes, she was done, done, done with making choices for the day. Instead, they talked. About nothing, really. One day, they might swap childhood memories. On another, they’d talk about school and college. No matter what the topic, she enjoyed their time together.

Lifting her phone, she scrolled through countless pictures until her finger hovered over one of Nick at the cake tasting on Wednesday. He’d looked so impressive in his chef’s whites and toque, his dark hair barely brushing his collar. She’d been hard-pressed to hide how drawn she was to him. When he’d hovered over her, seeing to her every need, she’d had to constantly remind herself that he probably did the same thing for every bride. Even then, she could barely wrench her gaze from his hands while he prepared slivers of cake for her to taste. She’d grown so thirsty that she’d gulped icy cold water between each bite.

She might as well admit it—she liked Nick more than she should. A lot more. Visiting with him in the bakery had become the highlight of her day, and it was getting harder and harder not to let her feelings for him show. But she couldn’t very well confess her growing attraction to him, admit that she wanted to get to know him better. Not while she was pretending to be engaged to someone else. Or planning her wedding to the mythical Bob.

What kind of bride would do such a thing? And what kind of man would take advantage of the situation if she did? Certainly not Nick. From what she’d learned about the baker during their conversations, Nick was far too honorable to show any interest in someone else’s fiancée.

If only she could tell him the truth, she’d at least find out if he felt the same way about her.

But she couldn’t. She was sworn to secrecy.

She buried her head in her hands. For now, she was trapped in Karolyn’s ruse, and there wasn’t a single thing she could do about it. Her only hope was that one day—after the wedding, after the truth came out—maybe then, she and Nick could start over.

Except, that wasn’t going to work.

Once Karolyn and Chad said their, “I do’s,” her sojourn in Heart’s Landing would come to an abrupt end. The morning after the wedding, she’d be on a plane back to L.A. She’d probably never even see Nick again, since he lived on one coast while her job was clear across the country on the other one. She might as well face it—her friendship with him wasn’t going anywhere. She’d never even have the chance to learn whether her attraction was all one-sided.

Her elbows on the table, she pressed her fingers against her eyelids and sighed. Though the decision weighed heavily on her, she picked up her phone and punched her airline’s app. Now that her work here was done, heading home was the best thing she could do for herself.

Her finger hovered over the Buy Ticket button when her phone buzzed.

“Saved by the bell,” she whispered, exiting the app while her cousin’s image swam into focus on the screen. Jenny pressed the phone to her ear. “Hey! I’ve been waiting to hear from you. How’s everything in Beverly Hills?”

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