“Oh, definitely,” she replied, doing a little dance as she made sure she had everything she needed to get started.
“So now you put the icing on these?” he asked, and again, it was obvious he was not impressed.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Do you have something against all cupcakes or just these?”
“Excuse me?”
Nodding, she explained. “Every time you look at or mention the cupcakes, you make a face and your voice definitely gets a tone. So what gives?”
The sound he made was a little growly and a lot sexy. Leanna felt herself blush and quickly turned away and busied herself with scooping icing into the piping bag.
And desperately tried not to break out in a full-on dance.
“I don’t have anything against your cupcakes,” he said slowly. “I’m just not a dessert person. I don’t see what the big deal is. Plus, I think cupcakes are a little ridiculous for a bunch of adults to be eating as their dessert. I tend to think of them as more of a…a…children’s treat.”
She was shoving the icing so hard into the bag that she almost broke it. Luckily, she caught herself in time and was careful not to correct him on how wrong he was.
“Cupcakes are for everyone. Not just children. And they happen to be the perfect dessert. They can be eaten with your hands–so there’s no need to sit down and eat–and they are the perfect amount of sweetness and portion size. Honestly, I get more orders for cupcakes than almost anything else.”
“That just seems ridiculous.”
Rather than argue with him, she put a large star tip on the piping bag and grabbed a cupcake. The icing was a chocolate buttercream and she had won awards for it. Once she finished piping the design on, Leanna put the bag down and held the cupcake out to Brody. “Here. Try this.”
“Um…no. Thank you,” he added.
“Come on, I’d really like it if you’d just try it.”
“Look, Leanna, I’m not trying to be rude, but…I don’t eat cake. Or cookies. Or…any kinds of sweets.” He shrugged. “They’re just not my thing.”
Of course, she gave him a cursory glance from head to toe and, she had to admit, he was in fantastic shape–all lean muscles and not an ounce of fat on him. That in and of itself was enough to make her want to hate him, but…she knew plenty of uber-healthy people who still indulged in the occasional sweet treat.
“So you don’t eat cake,” she said flatly. “Like ever.”
“Pretty much.”
“What do you have on your birthday?”
Another shrug. “I don’t know…breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
Now she couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes. “And when people sing to you? Where do they put the candle?”
Right now, she knew where she’d like to put it.
“I’m a little old for people to be singing to me on my birthday,” he said, sounding condescending.
The urge to smash the cupcake in his face was strong, but she resisted. Instead, she peeled the paper from it and took a bite of it herself.
And hummed happily because yeah, it was that good.
“You’re never too old for singing on your birthday,” she countered, but knew she was fighting a losing battle. It hit her how her first opinion of him–the one from brunch last weekend–was accurate. There was a reason why his family felt the way they did about him and he certainly didn’t seem to care if anyone liked him, so…
She took another bite of her cupcake and then grabbed the piping bag again and began decorating.
“Um…what can I help you with?” he asked after a moment.
“Honestly? I’m not sure.”
“How about I take your luggage or whatever you need up to your rooms and while I’m gone, you can think of something I can do to help?”
“Brody…”
But he wasn’t listening. He was already walking to the door. “Your bags are in the van, right?”
She nodded and hoped he would take his time moving them.
But he never got a chance to leave because Sylvia was walking in the door as he was trying to walk out of it. She had two servers behind her carrying what looked like a giant picnic basket and two padded stools.
“Um…”
“I told you I’d bring you lunch,” she said as she began pointing the servers in the direction of where she wanted everything. “Ooh…Beyoncé! I do love some of her songs!”
“You know who Beyoncé is?” Brody asked incredulously.
“Sweetie, everyone knows who Beyoncé is,” she replied, patting him on the cheek before looking over at Leanna. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, Lea, so I sent a large variety. Brody’s a bit of a health food nut, but I’m hoping you’re a little more adventurous.”
“Um…”
“There are a couple of different sandwiches, some salads, some amazing fried chicken, and a small charcuterie board.” She smiled with pleasure. “I hope you don’t mind that I did include some chocolate chip cookies in there. I get them from a bakery in Knoxville and they are to die for. They’re actually chocolate chip and sea salt. Very decadent.” Turning, she thanked the servers who now had everything set up before following them toward the door. “Just put everything back in the basket and leave it outside the door and someone will get it later. Bye!”
Leanna felt like her head was spinning and was about to say something to Brody when he excused himself and went after his mother.
With a shrug, she walked over and looked at all the food with a grin of her own. It all looked amazing, but the large cookies caught her attention first. Unsure if she was supposed to wait for Brody or not, she opted to go for the one thing she knew he wouldn’t eat.
Besides, life was too short and there was nothing wrong with starting with dessert.
It wasn’t unusual for his mother to be incredibly hospitable.
Brody knew this and accepted it.
What he couldn’t accept was the way she was already forming ideas about him and the baker and that just wasn’t going to fly. It was better to nip it in the bud right now before she made things worse.
“Mother,” he said as he jogged to catch up with her. “May I have a word?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “But don’t linger out here too long. Your lunch will get ruined.”
“Nothing is getting ruined and nothing is happening,” he said pointedly. “I know what you’re doing and you need to stop.” She simply stared at him but he wasn’t fooled. “I met the woman less than an hour ago and I was simply being polite to her for Travis and Charlene’s sake. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to bring her luggage up to her suite.”
“I’ll have the girls do it,” she replied and motioned to the two servers who had helped with lunch. “Where are the bags, dear?”
“In her van but…I’ve got this. And I’m not having lunch with Leanna or anything else. Do I make myself clear?”
Her gaze narrowed before she told the girls about the luggage and where it needed to go. Once they were out of earshot, she took a step toward him. “Your father and brother will be thrilled to hear how you’ve taken a liking to Leanna. And if you ask me, it would go a long way in making everyone happy if you just…you know…went with it.”