Page 33 of Cupcake
“You have proven yourself in the bakery, Brady. There’s no question that you’re a team player or that you have my back. If you weren’t there every day doing what you do, I couldn’t do what I do. I know that, so do you.”
“What’s the problem then?” I asked so confusedly I had to shake my head to clear it. Was the wine playing tricks on me here?
“The problem is the position I offered to you.”
“The one you offered me because you were scared.”
She leaned back and pointed at me, which took away the fantastic view of her tight nipples that were just waiting for my lips.
“Okay, so what do you want to do about it? You want to take over the ordering again?”
“No, we’re going to do the ordering together, but Taylor will do the rest of the kitchen manager duties. She wants more hours, and Amber said she’d be fine with splitting her between the front and the back of the bakery.”
I waved my hand around. “Wait, you’re going to give me less responsibility because you’re scared? That’s kind of screwed up, Haylee.”
She bit her lip, but I was the one who had to bite back a groan at the motion. She had no idea how sexy she was all the time. I wouldn’t mind teaching her, but per the discussion we were currently having, that wasn’t going to happen.
“I’m making a mess of this,” she sighed, leaning forward to pour more wine, but I stopped her hand.
“Please, tell me what I’m supposed to do. I’m lost.”
“I want you to work the bench with me full-time,” she said in a rush, her breath warm on my arm.
I sat back in surprise, my brows up in the air. “You don’t want me to be the kitchen manager at all?”
She swung her head wildly, and her curls bounced around her head. “You’ll help me with the ordering of what you’ll need as the master baker of breads and buns. I’ll be the master baker of cakes and pastries. Taylor will take care of all the other kitchen manager duties.”
“Master baker of breads and buns?” I repeated, and her head nodded hesitantly.
“If you want, that is. If you’re happy doing what you’re doing, I’ll figure something else out.”
“If I want to be promoted to a position that I’ve been working toward for years?” I asked slowly, and she nodded again. “I’m not a master baker, though.”
“Yet,” she answered. “I sent in the paperwork to prove your experience, and I know you’ve taken the written test. I assume you’ve passed it?”
“With flying colors,” I agreed. “I took the practical test, too. I haven’t heard if I passed yet.”
“You did. I don’t even have to think about it. You’re a talented baker, Brady. Without you, The Fluffy Cupcake would still be making cupcakes and nothing else. It’s because you were determined to expand the product line that we have as many standing orders for buns and bread as we do. A good portion of our income comes from those orders, too. I might be scared, but I’m also a businesswoman who can see that I need to use my talent wisely. I’ve been wasting it instead. That’s over now.”
I rubbed my forehead and peeked at her under my hand. “I’m still confused about the scared part. Were you scared I’d say no, or what?”
“No,” she said, pouring another glass of wine and drinking it all before finishing her answer. “I was nervous about changing the dynamics in the bakery and how we get things done day-to-day.”
“I’m there every day, cupcake. The only difference is, now I’ll be at the bench and not in the back.”
She tipped her wine glass at me and grimaced. “Exactly.”
“That’s what scared you,” I said, not as a question but as a statement. “Working with me every day.”
Her head bobbed in agreement. “That would be the reason. If you’re at the bench all the time, I might,” she paused and then just shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“I think you do. Tell me what you were going to say, Haylee.”
She stared at me stubbornly, her eyes hooded and not meeting mine. “I was going to say that working with you at the bench all the time will make it hard to keep you at arm’s length. You know how closely we’ll be working together if we’re both baking full-time. It’s hard enough for me when you’re in the back half the time.”
“What’s hard enough?” I asked, standing and moving over to sit by her. I had no sooner sat than she stood, walking to the opposite wall and leaning against it. Her damn tiny shorts were going to be the reason my shorts got wet in another few seconds.
Dammit. She was fucking exquisite.
