Page 14 of Cupcake
It was the fluffy part of the equation that reminded me why a guy like Brady would never eat my cupcake. I had to stop saying that! Guys like Brady don’t date women like me. I was left with guys like Tim, Jerry, and—gag—Tieg. Those were the kinds of guys who didn’t mind the fluffy part of the equation. Well, except Jerry and Tim and Tieg. Ugh. Never mind. They all mind the fluffy part of the equation. Tieg mentioned the size of my hips more times in an hour than I cared to remember. I set the cupcake down, my appetite gone at the thought of his thinly veiled reminders about my weight.
Brady’s eyes opened, and all of that deliciousness pinned me to the bench. “We’re going to win. Hands down. I don’t even need a second bite. These are...” He made the mind-blown motion with his hand. “Forget Strawberry Cheesecake Sorbet. We’re calling them Berry Sinful.”
“Berry Sinful, huh?” I asked, a brow in the air. “This is only the first batch. I bet we can make them even better before the competition in a few weeks.”
“Doubtful,” he said, around another bite. “Fluffy, the perfect amount of sweetness, and the icing is like a puffy cloud when you bite into it.” His eyes rolled back in his head when he took another bite.
“That’s the marshmallows,” I said, making a note on the pad next to me. “I’ll make sure to keep it as part of the recipe. We get one secret ingredient. Do you think the marshmallow is worthy of being undeclared?”
Brady pointed at me with his mouth full of cake. “If you let Darla know you’re using it, she’ll jump on that bandwagon.”
I put a star next to the marshmallow crème. “Done. The last thing I need right now is to be beaten by Darla McFinkle. My life would be over. She stopped by earlier tonight. You know, before the date with the loser, because if my night wasn’t already bad, dealing with Darla just added to the pleasure. Anyway, she’s convinced she’s going to beat us, so we better bring our A-game.” I rolled my eyes to show my sarcasm, and he rolled his back at me.
“Her winning would be a hit to your baking prowess. I’ll give you that.”
“No, it would be the end of my baking career. I’d never pick up another beater again. I’d curl up in a ball and rock in the corner until the earth swallowed me whole.”
His brow went up, and his lips followed in a smile. “If I didn’t know you as well as I do, that sentence might make me think you’re a bit of a drama queen.”
I chuckled and rested my ample hip on the baker’s bench. “When it comes to Darla McFinkle, I just might be.”
He waved his finger around in the air at me. “What’s your beef with her?”
“Have you met her?” I asked dryly.
“As stated, I took her out on a date. She was full of herself, but—”
I pointed at him. “That’s my beef with Darla. She’s so full of herself that there’s no room for anyone else in her atmosphere.”
Brady shrugged. “I’ve learned one thing when it comes to women like Darla. She’s not full of herself. She’s actually about the least confident person I’ve ever met, and she knows it.”
I huffed, rolled my eyes, gagged, and pelted the cupcake in the garbage. I didn’t need it anyway. It would only add to the fluffy part of me.
He chuckled and shook his head. “That was a lot of drama right there.”
“Because you clearly don’t know women,” I said, starting to clean up the bench. “If you did, you wouldn’t have just defended someone’s archenemy to their face.”
I stomped around the bakery, dumping the garbage, binning the rest of the berries, and packing the cupcakes in a box for tomorrow. We had made a small batch, and I’d save the rest for Amber and everyone else to try. If they all liked them as much as Brady and I did, we’d have a winner for the competition. I hadn’t planned to bake the first batch tonight with him, but it worked out, I guess. Usually, I liked baking the first batch by myself. That way, if they flopped, no one was the wiser. I had enjoyed myself being able to bake with him in a relaxed atmosphere. Too bad he had to go and ruin it by defending Dumbass Darla.
Brady grabbed my arm on one of my mad dashes past him. “Haylee, I wasn’t defending her. I was just explaining my impression of her. I’m not saying you have to agree with me. She has a way of rubbing people the wrong way. I don’t deny that. I cross the street to avoid her, too.”
My shoulders deflated, and my anger quickly dissipated. “I get defensive when it comes to women like Darla in all their skinny, made-up glory.” I waved my hand at my neck. “Forget it.” I grabbed the box of cupcakes and headed to the cooler. “I’ll save these for Amber to try. Hopefully, she likes them as much as we did.”
“She will,” he said when I joined him again at the bench. “You know cupcakes. You don’t need her approval, or mine, to know they’re winners.”
“True, but I still want people to love them. I want them to come to The Fluffy Cupcake looking for more.”
He leaned his strong forearms on the bench. “I’ve never asked how you came up with the name for this place. Something tells me it wasn’t for the simple reason it’s catchy.”
I clapped my hands together and headed to the light switches. “I think it’s time for bed. We’re only six hours away from being back here again.” He grabbed my arm before I got to the door, and I sighed internally. I didn’t want to be alone in the bakery with him, but I was also glad I wasn’t alone with Tieg. I’d take Brady over tulip boy any day. “Thanks for saving me from that horrific date tonight, Brady. I appreciate the lifeline since I couldn’t get a text out to anyone.”
“It wasn’t a problem, Haylee. I could tell you weren’t enjoying yourself, for whatever reason. Now it’s time to stop dodging my question. It shouldn’t be that hard to tell me why you picked the name for your business when I ask.”
I pursed my lips and wiggled them around a bit. “It’s bottom-line basic, Brady. I picked the name because cupcakes are fluffy. It made sense.”
He didn’t let go of my elbow. “I’m not blind, cupcake. I saw your reaction the instant I asked that question.”
“Don’t call me cupcake!” I said, wrenching my arm free of his hand. “Men, you’re all the same!”
