Page 2 of Cupcake
I swallowed and cleared my throat before I answered. “I’m fine. We’ve been busy, that’s all. I’m trying to keep up, but admittedly, that’s getting harder by the day.”
His eyes told me that he knew I was lying, but he didn’t push the matter. I was glad since I didn’t need everyone to know how pathetic I had become. It was bad enough that Amber knew.
“Sure, okay,” he agreed, but I could read between the lines. His sarcasm was evident in those two words. “Anyway, we’ve sold so much product—”
“Which is a good thing,” I jumped in. “Business is booming.”
“I agree,” he said calmly, his hand still on my shoulder, only now it was kneading it. I had observed Brady knead bread thousands of times, and now I understood why his loaves were always the best in the case. His hands were magic. “It’s taking more raw ingredients to get the job done, though. My job is to tell you what we have, and that’s what I did. We have enough for two days of our usual items, but that’s it.”
“Two days?” I asked incredulously. “What I ordered last time should have lasted another week, at least.”
“Not when we’re selling out of our product every day. That’s not even taking the special orders into account. Businessisbooming, and it’s time to readjust our plan.”
A breath escaped my lips. “You mean it’s time I start paying attention and stop burying my head in the cupcake batter.”
He shook his head, his hair shifting under his hat like it always does. I knew the locks were soft and silky because I once had to use his hair to catch myself from falling off a ladder. He probably didn’t appreciate having chocolate cake batter in his hair for the rest of the day, but all he said was he was glad I didn’t fall and get hurt.
“That’s not what you’re doing. You’re trying to stay afloat with all that cupcake batter, and you don’t have time to micromanage everyone else’s job the way you used to. It’s time to take the training wheels off and let me ride,” he said, his long lashes sweeping across his cheek when he winked at me.
Amber probably heard me sigh with girly pleasure all the way out in the main bakery. Dammit, I hate myself right now. Why do I let those thoughts even wander through my head?
“You’re right. I hate that you’re right, but that doesn’t change the truth. Do you want to take over the ordering?”
Brady’s brow went up in surprise. “Completely?”
“For the most part,” I agreed with a nod. “You’re the kitchen manager, so you’re already in charge of the cooler. You’ve worked here long enough to know how I do the ordering, too.”
“Sure do,” he agreed with a nod. “I’m not new to this, but I also don’t own the place. I’m not going to step on any toes.”
“That’s a first,” I muttered.
“What was that?” he asked with a smirk, which told me he’d heard exactly what I said.
“Nothing, I was just saying that you’re not stepping on toes if I agree to you taking over the job.”
He rolled his eyes in plain view. “Sure, it totally sounded like that. If I’ve stepped on someone’s toes in the past, tell me now so I can fix it.”
He was so close to me that I could feel his breath on my cheek when he spoke. I rested my hand on his chest unconsciously, but the immediate heat that burned my hand had me pulling it back instantly. If you don’t want to get burned, Haylee, stay out of the kitchen. “You haven’t. Ignore me. I’m tired. Do you want to take over the inventory, or not?”
He nodded once. “Yes.”
“Good. That will help me out. The first few times, we’ll go over the order together before you call it in, and once you feel confident with it, you can do it yourself. Remember, you always have to make sure you have all of the ingredients for the special—”
“Specialty items that we might need at any time,” he finished. My heavy sigh of resignation made Brady chuckle. “I’ve been around the block a few times, cupcake. At some point, you’re going to have to trust me.”
“That’s probably never going to happen, Brady. The Fluffy Cupcake is my business, and I don’t trust it with anyone.”
His finger bopped the tip of my nose, and he winked. “This is yours and Amber’s business, and you trust her to do what needs to be done up front. Trust me to do what needs to be done behind the scenes, so you can keep making all of those delicious treats.”
“We’ll start with the tentative agreement to let you take over the ordering and work up to trust in a few years,” I answered smugly.
Brady’s laugh was long, low, and sexy as hell. I hated that the first place my mind went was to the bedroom—with him in my bed wearing nothing but that chef’s hat.
I cleared my throat and prayed my cheeks weren’t the color of Red Hots. “I’ll need to see that order no later than tomorrow morning if you’re going to do this.”
Brady threw his arm over my shoulders and walked me toward the prep area in the back of the bakery. He lifted an iPad from his prep bench and handed it to me. “Check away, Chef Cupcake.”
My gaze drifted to the iPad, where my order forms were loaded and ready for submission to the company websites. My fingers scrolled through the order forms, and I was more than a little surprised to see he’d even ordered all of the extra ingredients we needed for the special orders that came in today. After a few minutes, I lifted my gaze back to Brady’s.
