Cannot confirm one hundred percent, though.
When I hired Brady, he was fresh out of school in Milwaukee and looking for a new life. I wasn’t convinced he was aching to live and work in a town the size of Lake Pendle, though. With a population of eight thousand in the summer and far less in the winter, we weren’t exactly a metropolis. After growing up in a city the size of Milwaukee, I worried we’d give him a serious culture shock. Brady took the job nonplused by the idea, and I expected him to last a year here before he went in search of more opportunities in a bigger city. Now, seven years later, he was still here baking bread and keeping my butt in line. Ironic, since I was supposed to be his boss. Then again, keeping my butt in line wasn’t easy when you factor in the size of it. I laughed out loud at my joke and then glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot. They didn’t need to know that the boss was falling apart at the seams.
Every year, I bake a special cupcake on the anniversary of each employee’s start date to honor that person. I only make that cupcake once a year, so everyone races here in the morning to get one before they are gone. Brady’s was a light, airy peanut butter cupcake topped with buttercream icing and a mini Pearson’s Nut Roll. He started working here on July twelfth, and that meant his seventh anniversary was coming up soon. Customers were already asking if I was going to have Better than Brady cupcakes, which is what I called them in jest, again this year.
I always swallowed around the lump in my throat and told them I would, but I was also secretly holding my breath. Every year, until the day of his anniversary, I wondered if it would be the year he turned in his resignation letter and headed out for bigger and better things. I worried about that until the morning of July twelfth when he stood at the workbench, helping me decorate twenty dozen cupcakes. He would laugh his wonderfully deep, rich laugh as he settled the nut roll on the top of each one. He pretends to hate the premise of the cupcakes, but I know he secretly eats it up. As soon as the bakery opens, he’s at the bakery case with Amber laughing with the locals and passing out cupcakes to anyone looking for a fix.
That was what made it hard to hate Brady Pearson. As much as he got under my skin about my personal life, he knew his trade. When he wasn’t baking or keeping the cooler in order, he was researching new products, organizing community events, and schmoozing with the ladies when they showed up for their morning coffee and pastry.
It was always a struggle for me to admit, but Brady was an essential part of this team. It was time I acknowledged that. It might kill me to do it, but I had to—for him and me. I set three cups of coffee down on the table then grabbed the new catalogs that had come in the mail yesterday. If we were going to do this, we might as well do it right, even if it took all night.
“Hay-Hay!” Amber said, darting back into the bakery. She plopped down in a chair and let her heaving chest catch up with her breath. “You’re never going to believe this.”
I slid into a seat next to her and put my hand over hers. “Are you okay? Do you need some water?”
Amber’s head swung wildly. “I’m fine.” She wiped her brow with a napkin, and the breath from her lips ruffled her bangs. “I was trying to run. You know how this leg is sometimes.” She motioned at her stick-thin leg wrapped in a large brace.
“I do, but why were you trying to run?”
“Two reasons. The first was, I didn’t want them to see me. The second was, I had to get back here and tell you!”
I made the out with it motion with my hand. “Tell me what?”
“I just saw Jerry Hill and Darla McFinkle in a lip lock in front of the bank!”
“You have got to be kidding me,” I said, my lip turned up in a sneer.
Darla McFinkle was my sworn archenemy. That’s not even a dramatic statement. We’ve been at odds since the first day of kindergarten. I still don’t know why Darla acts the way she does, but she loves nothing more than to poke at me every chance she gets. I started giggling, and soon it was full-on laughter. “She thinks I’m in love with Jerry Hill, so she’s dating him!”
We fell across the table, our shoulders shaking with laughter and our snorts of pure amusement filling the small room.
Slowly, I sucked up air to catch my breath. “If Darla only knew how much I don’t love Jerry Hill. I should feel bad that she’s sucking face with that vampire in an attempt to make me jealous, but I just can’t get there with it.”
“I hope he doesn’t leave fang marks!” Amber said between giggles. “He’s so creepy.” An involuntary shiver racked her body while she made a gagging sound. “Sorry, I just thought about kissing Jerry Hill and almost vomited.”
“Who’s kissing Jerry Hill?” a deep baritone voice asked from the doorway.
I sat up and straightened my coat unconsciously when Brady walked into the room. More like he commanded the room. I hated that he had that kind of presence wherever he went. Okay, I didn’t hate it. I loved a man who could work a room and immediately join in on a conversation to move it along. That didn’t mean I had to like that he was one of them. It was just another notch on his side of the board that I was forced to ignore.
“Darla McFinkle,” I answered when he sat down in the empty chair between us.
His lip went up in a sneer of distaste. I guess no one liked Darla in this town. I bet even a disgusting excuse for a human being like Jerry Hill didn’t actually like her. Then again, they were perfect for each other. Maybe Lake Pendle had a new love match. I rolled my eyes at myself for being so snarky.
“They kind of deserve each other,” Brady said, snagging a brownie and taking a bite. The moan he released while he chewed made me instantly wet. All I could think about was that sound in my ear as he made love to me.
Stop it, Haylee!
I squirmed in my seat, refusing to make eye contact with Amber or Brady. Right now, all they’d see was a sex-starved twenty-nine-year-old woman reflected in my eyes.
“Good God, Haylee. These are incredible. I hope you made enough for tomorrow. They’re going to fly out the door when people get a whiff of them. How do you get them so moist and rich?”
“She uses homemade bonbons,” Amber answered, lifting one from the plate. “See,” she pointed to the tiny bonbons sliced clean through by the knife. She didn’t wait for him to answer, she just took a bite and closed her eyes, savoring the crème de menthe when it hit her tongue.
“I would make these a staple in my diet, but then I’d have to spend another three hours at the gym every week,” Brady agreed.
I huffed at the two of them. “I’m glad you like them, but it’s just a brownie. We make much more complicated confections here than peppermint brownies.”
Brady brushed off his hands and took a swig of coffee to wash down his treat. “Something doesn’t have to be complicated to be top-shelf, Haylee. Finding flavors that complement each other in a simple, non-complicated way, always makes for a winning combination. Don’t forget that.”
I couldn’t help but think the same was true about life and love. Complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses in the business made us successful at The Fluffy Cupcake. As for complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses in the bedroom, well, I was now going to try and stop thinking about that before I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.