Page 8 of Cupcake
“Don’t lose those beautiful brown eyes back there,” he ordered possessively.
I swallowed before I responded, hoping my voice didn’t shake when I spoke. “Oh,” I said, waving my hands in the air, “look at me shaking in my boots with fear. Do you think Darla will ask Jerry to be her assistant?”
Amber almost choked on the swallow of coffee in her mouth. “I hope not. You don’t want to look at his creepy face all afternoon.”
Brady dropped his hand to rest in the crook of my elbow and glanced between us. “I dated Darla for about two and a half seconds, and I can promise you, you have nothing to worry about.”
Amber and I recoiled in horror. “You what now?” I asked, my voice filled with venom. “You dated my archenemy?”
Amber and I leaned in, waiting for his answer. He leaned back and held up both hands in the don’t shoot position. “It was before I knew of your history together. A guy I knew set us up when I first got to town.”
“Why haven’t you mentioned this before?” Amber demanded, her disgusted tone of voice saying volumes.
He motioned at the two of us without words.
I held up my hand, and we leaned back to give him space. “Fair point. I just can’t imagine anyone willingly dating her.”
“I only went to avoid upsetting my friend. I was new to town, and he was trying to help me out, but I knew she wasn’t my type.”
“Not your type?” I repeated, and he nodded. “She’s five-ten, one hundred and ten pounds, blonde-haired and drop-dead gorgeous. I had her pegged as your exact type.”
“I’m not into girls who are high maintenance,” he said, savoring another bite of brownie. “I also prefer women who are a little bit,” he motioned around with his hand, “less made up, have a little meat on their bones, so they don’t poke me with their hips, and have something between their ears other than cotton balls, if you know what I mean.”
Amber and I bit back our laughter at his parting shot. “You’re saying Darla is a scarecrow?”
“Let’s just say the date ended for me when she thought Jane Austen was a dress designer.”
Amber crumbled in on herself with laughter, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from doing the same, but my eyes radiated glee. “I’m not laughing at you, I swear. I’m laughing at your accurate assessment of Darla.”
He held up his hand and shrugged. “All I can say is, I hadn’t been in Lake Pendle long, so I claim a lack of knowledge of the landscape and its people. Of course, Darla always acts quite put out whenever she sees me now.”
Amber waved her hand at him. “Doesn’t matter. Darla is put out by anyone not willing to put her on a pedestal and carry her around.”
I sat up and shook out my arms. “Okay, enough about Darla. Are you ready to hear some new ideas for the bakery?”
Amber and Brady rubbed their hands together and nodded. “Wow us,” Brady said with jazz hands.
Nervously, I brought out the first catalog, which was dog-eared on several pages. I didn’t know if I’d wow them, but I’d be happy if I could convince them that my ideas would be worth the extra work in the long run. More than all of that, when I opened the first dog-eared catalog page, and Brady’s eyes lit on the products, I hoped he’d understand that I saw him as a valuable part of the team here. Maybe I couldn’t say those exact words, but we needed him at The Fluffy Cupcake.
Sometimes, seeing is believing, right?
