Page 41 of Dream Lover
“No problem.” I let out a sigh when the call ended. At least I could spend some time with my brother. There was always a positive somewhere. And, hello—cake!
16
Conner
How do I like my eggs? In a cake.
“Mr. Davenport,you have an urgent call from Andrew Landis on line one.”
“Thanks. Put him through.” I picked the phone up from the receiver. “Hey, Drew. Everything okay?”
“Conner, thank God I caught you, man. I need a huge favor. I’m buried at work, and today is the final cake testing for the wedding. Rebecca will have my balls, but you know what I like. Can you go so we don’t have to reschedule? I’d owe you big time.”
“Rebecca hates me. She’s going to get in a snit.” The last person she wanted to have cake with would be me. She didn’t even want me in her wedding party. Why would she want me to eat cake? Hell, if she had her way, she’d cut me from his life completely. I wasn’t blind to the way she felt about me. I also wasn’t blind to how Drew was allowing it to happen either. If he hadn’t been my best friend for the past couple decades, I would seriously tell him to fuck off. Yet, with Drew I couldn’t.
“Please. Just do this one thing. I swear I wouldn’t ask, but I have no one else I can count on. You know me, so I need this before I end up with carrot cake for my wedding cake or some crazy raspberry filling, and you know I have never liked berry anything, dammit.”
I sighed deeply over the line, not wanting to spend any kind of time with good old Becky. “Fine, text me the information, and I’ll make it work.”
“You’re a life saver.” The relief in his voice was evident, confirming to me I made the right decision.
“Nah, I’m a wedding saver.” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
The call ended, and I placed the phone on the receiver and waited for his text to come through on my cell.
The last thing I wanted to do was meet Rebecca to test cake samples for the wedding, but Drew was my best friend, and he needed me.
Maybe I could use the opportunity to put the bitch in her place when it came to Quinn. The way she treated her in Las Vegas was still under my skin, and with this woman joining their family, she needed to treat Quinn better.
I grabbed my keys and told my secretary I would be out for a few hours. I deserved an afternoon off, even it was for this. I had closed a huge deal while in Japan, racking up work that would keep us busy for a while. It was Friday, and it had been a long damn week. My face probably gave that away for me considering how exhausted I felt.
I was the first to arrive to the appointment, being a few minutes early. The nice hostess sat me at a private table in the tasting room at the bakery.
Glancing around the wall, there were numerous black and white photos of previous clients, all appearing happy for their big day. Maybe it was me not liking his fiancée, but I couldn’t imagine seeing a photograph of Drew and Rebecca amongst them. They just didn’t fit, and it was a bit off-putting.
The bell on the front door chimed, and I heard her voice before I saw her. Goose bumps rose on my arms.
“Hi, I’m Quinn Landis, my future sister-in-law asked me to come in her place for a cake testing.”
My heart leapt to my throat. I hadn’t talked to Quinn since I had returned from Japan. I was so busy wrapping the job up that my mind was elsewhere.
She probably thought I was the world’s biggest jackass. I felt like it. That was twice now. Twice I hadn’t contacted her. Something told me this wasn’t going to be pretty. And I’d deserve it all.
“Right this way. A Mr. Davenport is already here.”
“Davenport?” I heard her sudden intake of breath as if she didn’t want to be in the same room as me. Yeah, I was an asshole.
She rounded the corner and fuck me, she was gorgeous. Her dark hair hugged her shoulders, and she was wearing a tight black skirt with a slit up the side and a white sleeveless blouse that was sheer. The best part was her shoes. Black leather come-fuck-me heels. Heels I wanted to fuck her in. Heels I was going to fuck her in. All my blood went south fast.
“What are you doing here?” Her voice came out in a squeak.
“Drew called me. Something about work. You?”
“Um.” She blinked, the wheels in her brain spinning. I just wished I knew what she was thinking. “Rebecca had another appointment.”
I got out of my seat to greet her, wanting to wrap her up in my arms, but before I could she skirted around me to her chair completely avoiding touching me in any way. Yeah. Tattooing fucked up on my forehead wouldn’t be enough for this woman.
“Listen, I was planning to call tonight about dinner. Work has been crazy, but I closed the deal and am finally free to take you out.” While that was true, it even sounded shitty to me.
