Page 51 of Worth Loving
Holy shit, no one had given her flowers before. Not even her father.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“Wow,” she gushed. “Those are pretty.”
“Looks like fate again. It matches your outfit. I like it. You look fresh.”
She smiled, her head dipping down and inhaling the scent of the bouquet in front of her. “Thanks. Come in while I put these in water. I’ve got something for you too.”
“You do?” he asked. She thrust the white box at him. “What’s in it?” he asked.
“Cupcakes.” There were six of them in there.
He opened the lid. “Did you make these or buy them? They are huge and look fantastic.”
They were decorated but not anything professionally. She didn’t have that much talent. At least not when it came to food and design.
“I did,” she said. “This afternoon.”
“When did you find the time? Or did you get out early again?”
She grinned. “I actually made them at work.”
The deep sound of his laughter spread chills of arousal on her skin. “You get to bake at your job? I mean, to take home like this?”
“It’s part of one of my projects. Don’t worry, though I’ve got a few hidden ingredients in these, they aren’t anything that is outrageous or nasty that I’m trying to camouflage.”
“Do I even want to know?”
She laughed. “Probably not, but remember I joked about Brussels sprouts cookies once.”
“Yeah.”
Because she hadn’t wanted to bore him too much.
“It was one of the projects I was working on. To make pistachio cookies—store-bought ones for a big brand—healthier. Since they were green I was trying to freeze dry different cruciferous vegetables and then grind them up and mix them in the batter.”
“Like turnips and mustard greens?”
“Oh, mustard greens. I’ve got to try that. Even turnips might work.” He cringed. “Funny how you went with those vegetables. Most say cabbage or broccoli when I mention cruciferous.”
He seemed to hesitate over his answer and she didn’t know why. “We had a lot of vegetables in my house growing up. My sister went through a vegan stage.”
“I try to tell people all the time a well-rounded diet is the best, but to each their own.”
“So I’m going to guess your cookies were a failure? You used Brussels sprouts?”
“Yes, and you should see your face. I thought they were good but I like Brussels sprouts. Anyway, they bombed big time. Matter of fact that failure led to the blind date bet I lost, ultimately bringing me to your bar. Now I guess it really wasn’t a failure. Anyway, these are cupcakes with a few spices in them. We’ve got a client who wants us to test the packaging and the ingredients. It’s one of those mason jar things, so they are trying to figure out how long they last in the jars, how it bakes afterward, different spices and so on. Those are chocolate with spices and cream cheese frosting. I’m not sure if Jonah can have them, but that is why there are so many.”
“That actually sounds pretty interesting,” he said. “And he’ll love them. That was sweet of you to think of us.”
“I like baking. And I thought it’s kind of my olive branch too. Like you with the flowers.”
He nodded. “If you’re ready, we can go and you can tell me more about this project that led you to bring cupcakes to me.”
“I don’t want to bore you.”
“You’re not.”
