Page 42 of Cakewalk

“But my real question is, did he taste your sticky bun,” Hunnie said, a teasing lilt to her voice.

“Hunnie!” Gigi exclaimed, quickly picking up her phone from the counter, turning off the speaker and placing it between her ear and shoulder. Her heart sped up as she looked around her to make sure she was still alone in the kitchen, trying not to make a mess with the last of the batter she was pouring into the cupcake liners.

“What? Had I realized that my creation was going to be the push you needed, I would have given it to you sooner,” she said, completely ignoring Gigi’s embarrassment. “I wonder if I could market it as a love potion?”

Gigi simply shook her head, laughing at her friend’s reaction. This was not the road she had meant to go down when she called Hunnie to give her the sticky bun recipe and get her opinion on fun cupcake ideas. But like any conversation between girlfriends, they’d gotten sidetracked and even after almost thirty minutes of talking, hadn’t found their way back.

Not that Gigi minded talking about Holden. He was her new favorite subject after all. Just the thought of him made her all melty inside, and she found herself thinking about him a lot. But it wasn’t just the sex—which for the first time in her life, she was really enjoying—it was everything about him. He was thoughtful, kind, and considerate in everything they did. They spent their evenings cuddled on the couch, reading or watching movies, and it didn’t seem to matter to him whether or not they did more than snuggle. He was just as interested in her mind as he was her body. He was everything her husband hadn’t been, and no part of her was taking a single second for granted.

She also loved having a girlfriend to talk to about all this. None of her friends in Atlanta would have ever gushed about men or sex this way, and it was incredibly refreshing to be able to talk about it with someone who was not uptight about the subject. College was probably the last time Gigi had taken part in a conversation like this, but even then, she wasn't sure if she’d ever met someone as laid-back and open as Hunnie was. The old Gigi would have written off this eccentric little woman and moved on without thought. New Gigi, however, couldn’t imagine what she would have done if she hadn’t stumbled across her that night at the festival.

“What would your tag line be? Drizzle a little of this on his muffin and he’ll come running?” she commented, sliding the muffin tray into the oven and setting the timer.

“Men don’t have muffins. You’d need to drizzle it on his churro, add in a few long licks, and coming will be exactly what he does…”

Gigi let out a snort so loud it seemed to reverberate off the cabinets. Sucking in a large gulp of air, she tried to catch her breath, but no matter what she did, she burst into giggles all over again.

“It wasn’t that funny,” Hunnie responded, still giggling herself.

Wiping away the tears that were forming in her eyes, Gigi looked up to see Holden appear in the kitchen, giving her a strange look. She held up a finger to indicate that she’d be just a moment, returning her attention to her conversation. She managed to stop laughing long enough to hang up with Hunnie, before she felt Holden come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling her neck. The giggles started up again as his beard tickled her. She was still amazed at how soft it was and had almost started to crave the feel of it on her skin.

“Do I dare ask what all the giggles were about?” he asked, his nose still buried in the crook of her neck.

“Just chatting with Hunnie. We were throwing around ideas for a signature cupcake,” she told him, not wanting to go into too much detail. She had no idea how he would feel knowing that she talked about their relationship with Hunnie. Had he mentioned her to anyone? Based on their conversation the other day, his family knew she was in the picture as more than just a renter now, but just how much had he told them?

“What did you come up with?”

“Not a whole lot. She thinks I should create a uniquely southern cupcake, which is a great thought, but I have no idea what that really means,” she said as she measured out the needed amounts of powdered sugar, butter, and cream into a mixing bowl for the frosting.

“What was your favorite dish from your favorite restaurant back in Atlanta?”

“That’s easy. Shrimp and grits from Pittypat’s Porch!”

“Not something that anyone would want in a cupcake,” he commented, handing her the electric hand mixer from the cabinet.

Gigi scrunched her face in disgust. As much as she loved shrimp and grits, they were the opposite palate she was trying to cater to with the signature item. She wanted to help the Busy Bean, not put it out of business.

“Oh! But maybe an idea for Christmas?”

“Shrimp and grits?”

“Yeah. Maybe even give them a little Cajun flare for Caulfield? Would he like that?”

“He would love that,” Holden told her, leaning back against the cabinets watching her work. She wiggled her hips a little, letting the skirt she was wearing dance against her legs. The blue knee-length skirt with white polka dots wasn’t exactly winter in New England appropriate, but she’d woken up wanting to feel pretty and since she knew she wasn’t leaving the house, she figured why not. The way Holden was staring at her in it, the idea seemed to be paying off.

“I’m really at a loss for what else to make. I mean, what do you cook for a legend?”

“For starters, in this house, he’s not a legend. He’s just an ornery old widower. Second, whatever you make is fine.”

“I need to figure out something green. But not like a green vegetable. That’s the wrong shade of green.”

“Why the color green?”

“Seriously? Because of At Midnight,” she said, looking at him like he should know this. Caulfield Montgomery was his godfather. How was he unaware of the importance of this detail? “The color green is what he used to show the true hearts and motives of the characters.”

“Come again?”

“Everyone who betrayed the family in some way had something green. D'artagnan had the custom leather in his car, Anaura had the jade necklace, Aiden had the green rabbit’s foot, and Xander had green shading on his tattoo,” she said, turning back to the frosting. “Cretia, the biggest betrayer of them all, had a green aura. And I quote, ‘But not like the color of money. It was a pale, placid color, like the inside of a lime.’”