I clear my throat and stand. “Now that that’s been settled, can we get back to the reason why we’re all here?” I say as I put the birthday hat on Kelsey and then myself.
Sebastian takes his off his place setting and puts it on too. “That’s my girl. Always putting family first.”
He looks absolutely ridiculous in his cone-shaped hat with pink unicorns, which only makes me love him even more than I already am starting too.
Yes, it’s new love and slowly simmering deep within my heart. I’m doing my best to keep it at bay, but when he puts his hand on the back of my chair and rubs his thumb on my shoulder as he listens to my siblings while simultaneously reiterating to everyone who will listen how amazing I am, it’s hard to control it.
Man, I really, really hope he wins that bottle of Macallan.
Chapter Eighteen
Summers in Philadelphia are the most enjoyable time of the year. Sure, the Christmas decorations in the historic city make for a wonderful winter, and the spring tulips and fall leaves are beautiful, but the summer months are filled with excitement.
With the windows open and the music blaring, Shawn and I are packing up the last of the day’s orders, which are being shipped out for a bridal shower.
“I like these new boxes. The quality is swankier than your last,” Shawn muses as he brings over the last tray of truffles.
“They are a high upgrade, which I’m hoping will gain presentation points and visually lift up the quality.” I hold up one of the new chocolate boxes. They’re still mauve, but the card stock quality is much thicker. “Just a few more, and you’re done for the night.”
“I can deliver these for you.”
I grin as I turn his way. How’d I get so lucky to have such a great employee? “That’s sweet of you. No hot plans tonight?”
“Nah. Raynne and I split, so I’m lying low for a few days.”
I shake my head. “Why am I not surprised? Do you stay with anyone for more than a couple dates?”
He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I like the variety—shoot me. That chick was feisty, but damn, was she crazy, so that one wasn’t my fault. Girl put a wireless Ring camera in my apartment without telling me.”
“That’s a bit excessive, but how did you not know a Ring was installed at your front door? Don’t you walk by it every time you enter?”
He laughs as he turns to me with his eyes opened wide. “Because it was inside my house, not outside. Yesterday, my sister came over, and Raynne called immediately. ‘Why do you have a girl in your apartment?’ she asked. I was like, ‘How in the hell do you know who I have here?’ She said I was denying it and had proof because she was watching me! The camera was buried behind my books, like a little sneak. I told her, no way. It’s over. I can’t be with a woman who doesn’t trust me.”
“Wow. Well, you can’t say we didn’t try to warn you. It’s the misspelled name; it’s like a curse for you.”
He sighs. “I need to find me a nice girl with a good head on her shoulders. I’m not getting any younger.”
I laugh. “You’re twenty-five. I think you have time until you have to settle down.”
“I didn’t say anything about settling down. I just want to be with a woman and not have to worry about her going through my drawers when I’m out or making a fake Snapchat to snoop.”
“I would offer a suggestion, but I met my boyfriend by dialing the wrong number.”
He purses his mouth and contemplates the idea. “I could try that. Maybe I can meet myself a sexy accountant or something. It’ll be the hot new dating trend. I bet I can get it to trend on TikTok.”
I nudge him hard with the side of my body since I can’t use my hands. “You just stick to meeting people the old-fashioned way. Want me to see if Sebastian knows anyone? He’s hooking Charity up.”
Shawn glares out the side of his eye. “Your man is hooking Charity up with a hotshot attorney?”
“I’m not exactly sure with whom—someone he went to school with.”
A grimace crosses his face as his brow furrows. A harrumph comes from his chest as he focuses more on the song playing. He’s silent as he works with me to fill the boxes with truffles. The music helps us move quicker as the beat is more up-tempo than what usually plays while we work.
Where I excel at tempering chocolate—heating and cooling it to the desired shininess or snap of the chocolate—Shawn is excellent at molding. He has a design technique that makes the perfect mold for the presentation boxes. For someone who decided recently that he wanted to be a chocolatier, he has a gift.
He’s bouncing to the music yet zoned out as he works, which happens often.
“What did you want to be when you were a kid?” I ask him, pulling him from whatever he was thinking.
“A ball player. An astronaut. A principal. Pretty much a different thing every day. That’s why I never made it to a four-year college. I went to community college to get my feet wet, and then I could decide what I wanted to major in. Nothing stuck. I was miserable, so after I got my associate’s, I went to work for a construction company. I hated that even more than college, so I took a bunch of odd jobs until, one day, it just hit me. I always liked to bake. That’s not something that was thought of as a career in my family before.”
“Was your family supportive?”
“Yeah.” He grins. “Surprised the hell out of me. I hustled my way into the culinary academy, and the day I got in, they threw me a party. Honestly, I think they were all just relieved I’d picked a damn path. There’s nothing worse than a man without a purpose in life. I found mine, and now, here I am.”
He’s so talented. I’m sure his family knew that all along. There are only a few weeks left in his training, so he’ll be able to explore his options fully. I was planning on waiting a few more weeks, but why hold off the inevitable?
“The orders have certainly picked up, and the new advertising is drumming in online sales. I think it’s time we made it official.”
“Are we now going steady or something?” he teases.
I giggle. “Something like that. How would you like to work here full-time? Forty hours a week, set schedule, and I just applied for a small-business health insurance plan, so while I can’t give you an hourly raise, I can get you medical. What do you say?”
With his eyes down, he grins a huge, wide smile and then looks up at me like I’m out of my mind. “Amy, in the two years I’ve been working here, I’ve seen you quadruple your business. The quality is amazing, and, sure, this place is a dump, but it’s also the best place I have ever worked. You put your heart into everything here, and we have fun. What other job can you jive with your best friends like this at? I’d be crazy to say no, which is why I’m not. To be honest, I wasn’t even looking to work anywhere else. I knew you were gonna pull through.”
If I could hug him right now, I would, but my sanitation gloves are holding a box of truffles. Shawn lifts an elbow for a pound, so I lift mine and give him a nudge.
Just like that, I have my first full-time employee, and I’m not freaking out at all. Everything is falling into place.