Page 13 of Cakewalk

But, what if she wanted one?

6

Gigi

“What are those?” Kirk asked, warily eyeing the tray she was carrying.

“Scones,” she replied brightly. “I thought they would be fun!”

It had been almost two weeks since what Gigi now referred to in her head as “disaster day.” Colebury was a small town, and word traveled at a rapid pace, letting everyone know that the fire department had been called into action. Kirk had spoken to her more that next morning than he had her whole first week combined. He still treated her like she was in the way, but at least now a little less so.

“Roderick makes the scones.”

“Well, today he let me make them,” she quipped back, trying to sound polite.

“What happened to cupcakes? Those were finally starting to get good,” he told her. His strange, semi-robotic tone had grown on her a bit, as weird as that sounded. Maybe Kirk wasn’t ever going to be Mr. Personality, especially compared to Roderick who seemed to be nothing but personality, but Gigi could at least try to find some good in him.

He was right, however. She had finally figured out the perfect amount of time to bake the cupcakes and had yet to burn them here at the café. The fondant that Zara had ordered also came in, so she’d been able to work with that and create adorable little toppers for the cakes. Not only had the complaints stopped, but she was even starting to get compliments on her work. Maybe all she had needed was time.

“I’ve got some about to go into the oven right now. But I saw this recipe online and asked Roderick about it, and he said to have at it.”

“Don’t worry, I checked the bottom of the baking sheet first,” Roderick joked, slipping back behind the counter, heading to the kitchen. He winked at Gigi, who just rolled her eyes in response. He’d been having way too much fun teasing her ever since he’d learned what had happened. It had all been in good fun though, and in a way made Gigi feel like she was starting to fit in.

“Oh, what are those?” an older gentleman asked as he approached the counter.

“Orange cranberry scones!” Gigi answered brightly.

“Those sound great. I’ll take half a dozen for the store,” the guy told Kirk. Gigi’s heart soared hearing these words and she couldn’t help letting a little giggle escape as she smiled at Kirk, trying to politely tell him “told you so!” with her eyes.

Heading back to the kitchen, she couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, things were starting to come together. On top of her finally feeling like she was getting her footing at the Busy Bean, life at home had settled as well. After that first eventful evening, she and Holden had managed to find a rhythm, making the whole situation only slightly less awkward. Gigi was up, out the door, and at the café before Holden seemed to even be out of bed. But every morning, right around nine fifteen, he walked into the Busy Bean, placed his order, and then found an open seat to eat his muffin and read something on his phone. Not that Gigi had been watching him or anything. She just liked knowing when to expect seeing him.

When she’d arrived home in the afternoons for the last few days, he’d been working on hauling some of the damaged stuff out of the carriage house. She’d been more than a little distracted when she saw him carrying a burnt cabinet down the stairs, his jeans slung low on his hips, white T-shirt hanging from his back pocket, and those muscular arms on display. It was a good thing the car was already in park, or she might have had another accident. His chest was as intoxicating as she had imagined, with well-defined pecs, a flat stomach, and a little patch of dark hair that drew her eyes south to some place else she’d been picturing. While his abs weren’t chiseled like some underwear model on a billboard, it was apparent that he spent time keeping himself in shape, and the presence of the hip-V was more than prominent enough for her liking.

They made small talk if they saw each other in passing in the hall or the kitchen, but Holden spent most of his time up in the loft when she was home. She wondered what he did up there, but she didn’t have the guts to go up there and try to get to know him. No matter how intrigued she was by him, she didn’t want to push it. He was already going out of his way to let her stay in the house. She didn’t need to annoy him by being all up in his space all the time.

“Miss Hawthorne,” a familiar voice said, as she carried more scones out front. She looked up and found Officer Nelligan standing at the counter.

“Officer Nelligan, hi! And please, call me Gigi.”

“Miss Gigi, I hear you gave our fire department something to do last week.”

“Didn’t you know that’s why I was sent to Colebury?” she said, in her best super sweet, hostess voice. “I’m here to make sure that all your emergency services are in proper workin’ order! So far, police, fire, and EMT have all passed with flyin’ colors! If you have recommendations of who I should hit up next, you just let me know.”

Officer Nelligan let out a laugh, and Gigi was glad that her attempt at a joke had landed such a response. She hadn’t had very many opportunities to laugh and joke since she arrived, and it felt good to be able to make light of the situation.

“Are those scones?” he asked, once he’d composed himself.

“They are! Fresh baked!” She put one on a plate and slid it across the counter to him, before placing the rest of the tray in the display case. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Holden was sitting at one of the small tables directly in front of her, rather than the counter seats at the window overlooking the patio. The window seats were wide open, and she couldn’t help but wonder why the change. Not that it was any of her business. Although when it came to Holden, she certainly liked trying to make it her business.

Sneaking another glance at him, she smiled to herself, noticing a scone on his plate. He hadn’t taken a bite yet, and her chest filled with nerves as she thought about him trying it for the first time. She wanted everyone to like the goodies she was making for the café, but she really, really wanted Holden to like them. Maybe even like them so much that he’d ask her to make some just for him, at home. An image of the two of them in the kitchen together, covered in ingredients as he pressed her up against the blue cabinets, flitted across her mind, making the nerves in her chest morph into something else entirely. Was that…lust?

Stop it, Gigi…just because the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach doesn’t mean you need to make an attempt. Especially with that man.

The sound of coughing pulled her attention back to the counter, where Officer Nelligan was still standing. When he finally swallowed, he took a long swig of his coffee, blinking harshly, like he was trying to forget a taste.

“Miss Gigi, may I ask what you put in these?”

“Ummmm, usual scone ingredients?” she floundered. “Flour, salt, cream, baking powder, orange zest, cranberries…”