Page 42 of Grounding the Baker
She started laughing before walking backwards to the kitchen.
“Liam, your boyfriend’s here,” she said so loudly that the noise in the bakery stopped.
Liam came rushing out. There was a dusting of flour on his cheek. He had a hairnet on, and his apron was covered in flour.
“Why are you shouting?” he glared at her.
When he saw Austin, he broke into a big smile andwent to put his hand through his hair, which was a tell that he was nervous. He pulled at the hairnet, then looked down at himself, and his eyes widened. Before he said anything, he rushed back into the kitchen, causing Chloe and Callum to laugh. Austin scowled at them both, but it just made them laugh even more.
“Sit down, Austin. The boss will bring your coffee over when he’s made himself look gorgeous for you.”
“He’s always gorgeous,” he said without hesitation.
“Wow. Okay, well, now I’m jealous,” said Chloe.
Austin chuckled and went to take his table in the corner. It was a few minutes before Liam came over with his coffee, and one of his own. He also had what looked like a cupcake in a bag. Liam was now minus the apron and the hairnet, but the flour smudge was still on his cheek. Austin couldn’t help but lean forward, using his hand to cup Liam under the chin and his thumb to brush the flour away. He saw Liam’s cheeks go pink, and could feel them heat under his touch.
“You missed a bit,” he said with a smile.
“Thank you. So, how was work yesterday?”
“Good. I love being busy again.”
“I prefer to be less busy.”
“Yeah, but you weren’t just busy, you were being five people busy.”
“It’s been so different this week.”
“I bet.”
“Are you going to bring Maisie in tomorrow?”
Austin loved that Liam was so fond of his little girl. She adored him as well, but then she had impeccable taste.
“Should be able to. If I can get this job done today, then we’lldefinitely be here.”
“I’ll make the cupcakes for her, and you can just pick them up if you can’t bring her.”
“You don’t have to keep making her cupcakes, you know.”
“I enjoy doing it, and I only do two now, so she isn’t overdosing on sugar.”
“Well, at least let me pay for them.”
“No. It’s my gift for her. It’s not really any of your business.”
Austin chuckled. He was feeling nervous, but he knew he had to bring up the expectations for their date tomorrow so everything was clear. The last thing he wanted was to be a disappointment. He had thought about fucking his plan off and taking Liam to bed. The guys would have Maisie for him, because he’d need a lot of time for everything he wanted to do with Liam. Austin wanted to spend hours exploring his body and discovering what turned him on. But he wanted a relationship with Liam, so he knew it would be even better if they waited. He just knew they’d be very compatible.
“I wanted to talk about our date tomorrow,” said Austin.
Liam visibly tensed, and Austin immediately took hold of his hand.
“Nothing to worry about, I promise. It’s just–”
“Dad?”
Liam stood up, but kept their hands connected. Austin looked around, and there was Martin Wells. Apart from the funeral, and from a distance, Austin hadn’t seen him in years. He was rarely front of house in the bakery, as that was Sylvie’s domain. He was a similar height to Liam and had the same eyes, but Martin had a thick head of hair which was mostly grey. Martin was still a handsome man and looked to be in good shape. If that was what Liam wasgoing to look like in his sixties, then wow. There were some good genes in the Wells family.
