Page 14 of Breathless With Her

No, I wouldn’t become a man-hater. But I could be a man-avoider. Yes, that sounded much better.

“Yup. I own Lace & Cakes.”

“What’s the lace for?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. That just made me look down at the bulge beneath his zipper. I ignored it. Yup. Ignored it. Sure.

See? I was doing a great job. So good.

When Zoey cleared her throat, I figured I wasn’t doing that good of a job, after all.

“The lace was because I wanted it to sound pretty, and because I do a lot of wedding cakes.”

“Makes sense. Hey, Zoey.”

“Hey, Devin.”

I looked between them, my brows raised.

“You two know each other?”

“Oh, yeah. I work with his sister, Amelia, often. She owns a landscaping business.”

“Landscaping and flowers. Makes sense.”

“Just like cakes and flowers do, I guess,” Devin said, rocking back on his heels.

“Yeah, I tend to work with everybody it seems,” Zoey said, grinning. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.”

“He used to date my older sister,” I said quickly.

“Oh, yeah. Now I remember.” Zoey just smiled widely, putting her hands on her hips. “Looks like you lost out on that. Now she has three beautiful babies and a wonderful husband.”

“Seems like,” Devin said, not taking his eyes off me.

Well, then.

“What can I do for you, Devin? I didn’t know you’d be coming in today. Or ever.” Was I rambling? I was rambling.

“It’s my friend’s fortieth, and I’m here to pick up a cake.”

“I didn’t see your name.” I wiped my hands and picked up my tablet. I would have remembered seeing his name. Not that I had a crush on him or anything. I wasn’t a teenager. But he had been there for me when I needed him so, of course, I’d remember if I saw his name.

“No, his wife’s the one who ordered it. I have a note from her, and instructions for you to call her in case I can’t pick it up. But she was busy. One of the kids got strep throat.”

“Oh, that sucks,” I said, wincing.

“Tell me about it. So, the kid is going to miss out on her dad’s birthday, and that sucks. But the party’s still going on, and Laney’s working overtime to make sure it happens. Greg’s a good guy and deserves to actually have a day off just to celebrate. Even if he’s going to be a bit sad the whole time because his little kid’s sick.”

“And you can’t change a birthday or things like that,” I said quickly, going back to pick up Greg and Laney’s cake. I’d checked the note he brought just to be sure, but I had a feeling that Devin wasn’t making up an elaborate story just to steal a cake. Plus, I knew him. Sort of. I had slept over at his house, after all. That counted, right?

“Yeah, they’ll figure something out. And then they’ll probably have a whole daddy-daughter day since she’s a daddy’s girl, after all.”

“That makes it even worse,” I said, placing the cake on the counter. It was already in a box, ready to go. They had wanted a one-layer sheet cake with some pretty decorations on top. So, thankfully, it wouldn’t be too hard to transport.

“Anyway, just came in to pick up the cake. But if there’s anything else I need to do, let me know.”

“No, just check it out. I would send a picture to Laney so she’s good, too,” I said, smiling. Zoey was being suspiciously silent, and I had a feeling she wasn’t going to be so quiet once Devin left. Oh, good.

“So, what do you think?” I asked, opening up the top of the box.

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