Page 112 of House of Desire

“You’re not coming,” I say, looking at him. Lord knows I don’t need him hitting on Ryan Jade. “I just need your muscles here. There will be people we can get to help at the venue.”

He rolls his eyes at me as he shoves the last bite of cupcake in his mouth, cheeks bulging, and gives me a double fingered salute, which I return.

“Don’t flip your brother off, Anastasia,” Mom says, catching me. “And you let him help you.”

Dom slaps a hand over his mouth to make sure he doesn’t spit out his cupcake while he laughs at me getting scolded.

“Fine!” I say, throwing my hands up in the air, conceding to her wishes. “But if you’re coming, then you’re going to be useful and we are going to use your SUV to carry the supplies so Courtney can sit in the back with the cake.”

Courtney snickers at our antics as she double checks the list of supplies to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Having Courtney this week has been a blessing of the century. Once she stopped freaking out that Ryan Jade is our client, that is. Other than showing her my recipes and a single example of each design I was envisioning, she completely took over any task I gave her with minimal oversight, her knowledge as an at home baker, paying off in spades.

Everyone starts helping to load up Dom’s SUV with boxes and bags. When it’s time, we prepare to move the cake. Dom moves the van to the double doors in the back, throwing both open so we have plenty of room.

Dom steps to one side of the cake, me on the other, and Courtney on the back while Mom sits in the front seat of the van looking back to direct us.

“Ready?” I ask. They both nod, their faces set. “One, two, three.”

We all lift the cake at the same time and take measured, steady steps.

“A little to the left,” Mom says and we adjust. “Straight on. Straight on. And down.”

The cake slides into the truck with not a single wiggle, the dowels I added for structural integrity holding up well. Courtney climbs through the side door on the back of the van to sit by the cake in case she needs to steady it. Mom gets out, hugging me as I go to get in the front of the truck.

“I’m proud of you, sweetie.”

“Thanks, Mommy.”

Dom pulls out of the parking lot first, and I move slowly behind him.

“Are you going to fire me if I tell you I might have eaten a cookie?” Courtney says from the back.

Her question pulls a surprised laugh out of me. “No, I always account for a few extra in case of breakage.”

“That’s good because today was fun and I don’t want to get fired after only a week.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” I go the speed limit the entire way to the planetarium Ryan has booked for the party.

“The drop off is always the worst part of the entire process as far as I’m concerned. It’s so awkward. I hate standing there waiting for them to decide if they like my work or not and to pay me. And the small talk?” I watch Courtney shiver in the rear-view mirror.

“If you want, once we get the cake loaded on the cart, Dom and I can take care of it.”

“And miss the possibility of Dom making an ass out of himself in front of Ryan Jade? Absolutely not. Is she as pretty in person as she is in pictures?”

I take a gentle left, getting honked at in the process. I don’t mind, though. There’s no way I’m going to drive with the pedal to the metal.

“She’s even more stunning in person,” I tell her as I turn into the planetarium’s driveway, following the directions the event coordinator sent me via email earlier in the week.

Dom and I park, and a woman in a black pantsuit and white button-down meets us immediately.

“Right on time. Do you need a cart or anything?” she says, the second my door is open.

“Yes, please. My associate has a lot of boxes and other items,” I say, pointing over at Dom.

While the woman scurries away to procure a cart for Dom, Courtney pulls out the one that’s folded in the side of the van and expands it.

“Dom, can you come help me with the cake?” I call, locking the wheels of the cart. My brother comes over without a word, getting on one side while I take the other. “One, two, three.”

We move the cake onto the cart, Courtney standing at the ready to steady anything. The woman arrives with another cart, moving it to Dom’s car.

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