Page 109 of Trade Deadline

She glances around the shop then asks, “Is your brother here?”

My brother? What could she need from Jacob?

I nod, then clear my throat to find my words. “Yeah, he is; let me get him for you.”

Wiping my sweaty hands down the front of my apron, I head into the kitchen, where Jacob is working on a custom order. “Hey, there’s someone here who’d like to speak with you.”

His forehead creases with a frown when he looks up.

I lower my voice so Colleen won’t hear me. “She’s from the Chicago Thunder. She asked to see you.”

Jacob puts down the piping bag and washes his hands before following me out into the main shop. Colleen’s crouching down, admiring the cakes in the display cabinet, but straightens to her full height when we appear.

“Hello, I’m Colleen Chambers. I’m the PR Manager for Chicago Thunder hockey. You must be Jacob.” She holds her hand out.

Jacob shakes her hand, casting a confused glance at me, but I’m as clueless as he is right now.

“Yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you. How can I help?”

“I’m here with a proposition for you, actually.”

A proposition? That sounds… ominous.

“Can I get you a drink, and we’ll take a seat?” Jacob asks.

“That would be lovely.” She glances up at the chalkboard we fitted onto the wall this morning. “I’ll have a mint hot chocolate, please.”

“I’ll make these; you get started,” I say to Jacob with a smile.

He mouths his thanks as he removes his apron, hanging it on the wall before leading Colleen to one of the booths. I make her hot chocolate, along with a coffee for Jacob, and take them over, taking a seat next to him as Colleen explains something.

“So, in exchange for us using your premises for the day, we’ll reimburse you for the cost of closing the shop during the morning, and when we open up to the public, the guys will act as your servers to sell their creations. We’ll also pay for all the ingredients used and preparation time, plus an additional sum as a thank you. On top, we’d promote your bakery in the video and on our socials.”

She writes a figure down on her notepad, then slides it across the table to us. My eyes pop out of my head when I see the number becauseHoly. Shit!This is an insane amount of money. This would pay off nearly half the money we owe.

“We’d also like to invite you to Thunder HQ to discuss the opportunity to be the main dessert supplier for our VIP boxes at every home game and special event.”

“Why us?” My brother asks, then shakes his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, I’m just… I’m puzzled as to why you chose us over the bigger, more popular bakeries in Chicago.”

Colleen doesn’t seem phased by Jacob’s question, chuckling to herself before looking over to me.

“Blaine,” she says simply, then takes a sip of her drink, cupping the mug between her hands. “He came to me wondering how he could help you.”

Blaine did this?

My heart fills, and tears prick the back of my eyes. He wanted to do this for me. There was no way I was going to accept money from him, so he’s gone above and beyond to find other ways to help us. It means more than I could ever put into words.

I bite down on my bottom lip, willing my eyes to stop filling. Jacob leans across and puts his arm around me, giving me a gentle squeeze.

“I had my doubts about him, but he’s a good guy.”

I nod my head, unable to speak. I pull my sleeves over my hands and wipe my eyes.

“Blaine’s been aware of how I’ve been trying to think of fun ways to bring fresh content to our social media channels. We have a segment on our YouTube called ‘Off the Ice’ where we show interactions with the team and they participate in fun activities. Also, it’ll be entertaining to try and see these big guys attempt intricate cake decoration.”

We laugh at that. It will be entertaining, and I guarantee there will be some disasters. But most of all, I still can believe how thoughtful Blaine can be.

I mean, Icanbelieve it.

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