“Oh, and Milo is gone. He somehow managed to shatter his phone and computer into a bunch of little pieces before getting on a plane out of here.” Lucas wagged his eyebrows at me. “It wasn’t hard to convince him that I know a few biker gangs around that would be interested to know that he came after a woman.”
I sagged in further relief. “Thank you.”
“Oh, it was my pleasure. I also saw that he had a freshly broken nose. Was that your handiwork, baby?”
“He asked me if I wanted to have some fun with some friends of his.” I shuddered. “People are going to think things like that about me.”
“We don’t think that of you.” Warren took my hand and held it. “We know that we’re a special circumstance.”
“I’m going to kill that little shit, too,” Andrew growled. “What he doesn’t realize is that I can end him without lifting a finger.”
Warren cleared his throat. “What Andrew is trying to say is that Milo isn’t going to be an issue anymore. He retreated with his tail tucked between his legs. And Macy will come around. She’s just having a shitty night. The cake fell through. The baker got sick and didn’t tell anyone until tonight.”
I sat up. “There’s no cake?”
Andrew shook his head. “No. You’re not baking a cake for our ungrateful sister who said mean things to you. She told us what she said. She’s going to have to apologize before she gets cake.”
“I love that you’re standing up for my honor, but baking Macy’s wedding cake has been my dream. Even if she hates me, she deserves the cake of her dreams. I know you don’t understand, but I hurt her. I messed things up. Even if she doesn’t forgive me, I can’t let her suffer, not when I can help.”
“So, what? You’re going to bake a wedding cake? The wedding is in about sixteen hours. Is that enough time?
I cupped Lucas’s face, energy buzzing through my body for the first time since I was last with them. “Oh, I have a lot less time than that. The kitchen will be working breakfast, so I have around six hours in that kitchen, if you can get me access.”
Andrew grumbled. “I can get you access anywhere.”
“Okay. I have to go.”
“I guess we’ll finish this conversation about us later?”
I pressed a kiss into Andrew’s chin and then pulled his face down to mine so I could kiss him on his pouting mouth. “I promise.”
“Fine.”
Warren grinned. “Guess it’s time to bake some cake.”
“It’s great that I managed to get so much sleep last night...” Lucas yawned and stretched. “Said none of the three men in this room who were desperately trying to get their woman back.”
I stretched forward and kissed him. “Sleep now. I’ll be in the kitchen for a while.”
“We’re not leaving you all alone.” He stood up and stretched again. “We’ll help.”
Warren laughed out loud. “Did you see her face? She definitely doesn’t want our help.”
Andrew lifted me off his lap and stood up. “Too bad. The four of us are a team.”
And so we were as we walked down to the kitchen together, preparing to work our butts off to finish a cake good enough to be Macy’s wedding cake.
Chapter 23
The three of them turned out to be somewhat helpful in the kitchen. They grabbed the things I needed and took orders from me without fussing about it. They were better taste-testers than anything else, but I didn’t need much help. I poured myself into my work, forgetting what was happening in my world as I prepared the batter for five different layers of cake.
Pans went into the oven, pans came out of the oven. Timers were set on four different phones, but a multitude of timers around the kitchen for each oven. Fillings were cooked and cooled, icing made and set aside.
Warren, with his infinite patience, was put in charge of rolling out large slabs of fondant. Lucas, with his carefree attitude, was kept far away from the delicate sugar work I was doing. Andrew, with his need to control everything, was controlling the kitchen by bossing around everyone and making sure every single cake came out when its corresponding timer went off.
Cakes were cooled, filled and stacked, crumb coated, and then put in the fridge to chill while I finished more decorations. My body ached and I was exhausted, but I was proud of how hard we were working and how well we were working as a team.
As the night sped by, the guys got quieter. I watched Lucas doze off while sitting at a work station more than once. Warren and Andrew never sat down, and I had a feeling it was to keep them from fading like Lucas. I was so tired at one point that I burned myself with the torch I’d been using for some of my sugar flowers. After receiving forced first aid from Andrew, I got back to work.
