Page 111 of Bake You Mine
“I wear no puss. I’m eager to meet with Gary to see what they’ve been up to since construction started. I’m a little nervous.”
They still had a day or two before the wall between the spaces would be torn down. Aubrey was anxious to get on with it, already.
“Let me clean up. I agreed to step up and take some of that stuff off your shoulders.”
She’d always hated the after-market clean-up, so if Tom wanted to handle it, she would oblige.
It was a twenty-minute walk from Madison Park to Petit Chou. A few people passed to congratulate her on the competition.
As she came onto the alley, she noticed Elevation’s back door was flung open. Liam’s baritone voice carried into the alley. She’d assumed he’d be gone, working double-time to get the new spot in DC ready to open.
Before she could hear a word, Damon popped out of the door, a broken-down box meant for the dumpster in his hands.When he saw her, he jumped a mile. “Damn, woman, you’re sneakier than my slinky tuxedo cat.”
A laugh tumbled out of her. “I don’t mean to be. I’m on my way to Petit Chou for a meeting with Gary and the construction crew.”
Gary stepped out of Elevation, wearing a broad smile. “You’re right on time, shall we?”
He held out his arm, and Aubrey laughed as she took it.
What was Gary doing in Elevation?
“Maybe it’s too late.” Liam glanced around Elevation, empty after the lunch shift. The last shift there’d be for a while. His world had turned upside down repeatedly in the past few days. It was about to change once again.
He’d crafted a plan shortly after his meeting with Jason. What followed was a series of meetings with Gary. Liam had sorted out Elevation’s future. Now, he had to convince Aubrey this was the real thing. It would take way more than a few days apart for him to want to end things.
She would either become his girlfriend or be relegated back to a neighborly acquaintance. The latter would hurt like hell, but he wouldn’t worry about what hadn’t yet happened.
Especially since Tom had told him he’d caught her googlingcreative ways to say I’m sorry, I’m an anxious mess, but I still love you.
“It’s never too late for love, my son,” his mother said.
Sasha rolled her eyes. “Frankly, you should be glad the contest and everything else is over. Now, the two of you can move on.”
“Tom’s on his way.” Damon looked up from his phone.
“So, I guess it’s time for us to leave? Or we could stay for moral support?” His mother latched onto his arm.
“Ma, we’re not staying.” Sasha came behind their mother and tugged her away. “Good luck, big bro. I have a great feeling about this.”
She squeezed his arm before leading their mother out the door.
“If she’s the one, then this will be the beginning of forever,” Damon said.
Liam laughed. “You’re in the wrong career, my friend. You should be writing R&B romantic slow jams.”
Damon snapped his fingers and began to sway. “You know what you need to say, dude. Just get the words out, and the rest will follow.”
With Damon gone, Liam was alone. He paced around, rehearsing what he wanted to say, because this felt like one of those moments in life where you had to get it right or risk letting the opportunity slip through your fingers.
Hopefully, this time, he’d played his cards right.
thirty-eight
When Tom had calledin a panic to tell her there’d been a disaster in his kitchen and he hadn’t finished making the cake for his Tia Maria-Joan’s birthday party, it’d been a no-brainer for Aubrey to step in.
She knew Tom’s family well, and his aunt loved the super dark chocolate version of her standard cake recipe. It was rich but not too sweet. She’d had all the ingredients at home to whip up a replacement cake. She’d been invited to the party, but was in no mood to celebrate.
What else did she have to do, with her kid out of town—in Virginia Beach at a Comic-Con—with her dad, and her father busy with his charity duties? She’d been alone in that big house with not even a dust mote to keep her company.
