She nodded her head vigorously and whispered almost in awe, “Magic rainbow pixie dust.”
“Exactly. Magic rainbow pixie dust.” He held up another shaker. “Do you remember what to do?” he asked.
“Uh huh.”
He pushed another cupcake over in front of her and held the shaker on its side over it. She reached up quickly, and he gently said, “Easy now.”
She froze and then slowly patted the top of the shaker causing glittery dust to fall on the cupcake. “Only four more to go and we’re done,” he announced. “Then we have to put on the horns.”
“I can’t wait to tell grandma I made rainbow unicorns.”
“We’ll have to box a couple up and you can take them over to her house when you spend the night tomorrow.”
“Can I? We can have a unicorn tea party.”
“You sure can, we made a few extras. Should we put on the decorations or do you want to do those with your grandma? You could make the unicorns, and then have your tea party.”
“That would be fun. Uncle Cap says grandma needs more fun, so we should do that.”
“Well, let’s box these four up, and then I’ll put some sprinkles and some magic pixie dust in a bag for you.”
“And the horns, we have to have horns,” she said.
“And the horns.” He turned to get the box and saw me standing there. “Coffee machine all fixed?”
I stared at him for a second with no idea what to say. Then, finally, my brain kicked in. “Oh yeah, all fixed. Where did you get unicorn horns?”
“I made them out of fondant. I thought I would put these in the cooler, and Tony can serve them on Saturday.”
I shook my head. He’d made them back here with Annie’s help, so I assumed they weren’t that difficult, but I was still amazed at his ability. “You’re really talented,” I said.
“Thank you. I really enjoy making character cakes and themed cakes. I know some pastry chefs look down on cake decorating, but not me. I love it.”
“Well, your love for it shows.”
He glanced at his phone. “Wow, how did it get to be 4:00 p.m.?”
“Sorry,” I said. “I was caught up in the coffee machine issue and I lost track of time. You shouldn’t have had to keep Annie occupied for so long."
“If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have done it. I had fun. She’s a great kid.”
Chapter 6
Frankie
“Good afternoon, passengers. We will now begin boarding flight 384 for Dallas. We are inviting all group one passengers to board at this time,” the gate agent announced.
“Come on,” Cap said. “That’s us.”
“I can’t believe you upgraded our tickets to first class. I’ve only flown first class once before.” We grabbed our carry-on bags and got in line.
“Well, I always pay for first class. You realize I’m 6’3” right? Do you have any idea how uncomfortable coach is when you have long legs?”
I motioned down my 5’7” body from head to toe. “Umm, no.”
“I guess you wouldn’t. But trust me, it isn’t something I want to do.”
He was a huge guy. Not only in height but in stature, as well as in presence. I’d spent the last couple of weeks determined not to notice, but it was hard not to. He was pretty much textbook my type. Like he was so much my type, you could take a Sharpie and write Frankie across what I was sure were his impressive set of abs. But this job was my second chance, and he was friends with Ripley, and he hadn’t given me any indication that he was at all interested in me, so I needed to reel that shit in and quick.
“Do you want the aisle seat or the window seat?” he asked as we walked onto the plane.
“It really doesn’t matter to me. Do you have a preference?”
“The aisle seats give me more room to stretch out my legs. Even first class can be a little confining, so if you don’t have a preference, I’ll take that one.”
“Works for me,” I said, stopping to put my bag in the overhead compartment.
“Here, let me. One of those times being tall is an advantage,” he said lifting my bag and placing it beside his.
I slid into my seat and said, “I’m sure there are a lot of times that’s an advantage.”
“Sometimes, sometimes not. Like paying for first class, for example, and not being able to buy clothes off the rack without going to a big and tall shop.” He shrugged.
We got comfortable in our seats while we waited for the plane to take off. We taxied down the runway and I closed my eyes and waited. The take-off was my least favorite part.
“You alright?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine once we’re in the air.”
And sure enough, once the plane leveled out, my body relaxed and I was fine. I looked out the window for a little bit, and then pulled a book out of the smaller bag I’d set at my feet. He was being extremely quiet, which wasn’t like him, but that was fine. I had a book, so it was all good. Finally he said, “There are other times being my size is more of a problem than an advantage.”
“Like when?” I asked, closing my book and putting it in my lap.
“Well, to start with, people always think I’m stupid. Like the dumb-jock stereotype.”
“You own your own business and run it successfully. I don’t see how anyone could think that,” I insisted.
“I think it’s largely a holdover from high school. I’ll always be ‘Cap,’ the football player, in their minds, you know?” I nodded my head and he continued, “But not just that. People also make certain assumptions about what I like in a guy.” I cocked my head to one side, waiting for him to continue. “They tend to assume I’m looking for a submissive twink. I mean, a big guy like me must be all macho and controlling, right?”
My stomach did a nasty little roll. Well, at least if I puked, I could blame it on airsickness. I’d been telling myself for two full weeks that Cap was entirely off limits, but the more I’d gotten to know him, the more I liked him. The way he was so sweet with Annie, and how he was willing to turn his life upside down to make her feel special was hard to ignore. Honestly, even though I hadn’t been willing to acknowledge it to myself, I’d been smitten with him ever since that first day when he was so panicked to think he might not have cupcakes for her. So to hear him say so blatantly that I wasn’t his type stung. I mean, I didn’t have a submissive bone in my body, but there was no denying the fact that I was what people thought of when they said twink. I’d always been slight in stature, but I also liked to dress in pretty things. “Not much of one for twinks, huh?” I said. “More into jocks like yourself, then?”
He chuckled a little and shook his head. “Goodness no, they’re right about that part. I love guys who are smaller than I am. It’s the macho and controlling part they have wrong. I’ve never understood why people always assume one member of a couple has to be the one in charge. Nothing against people who are in relationships like that. I think Ripley and Reed are adorable, and Miller is totally a take-charge kinda guy. But I always wanted an equal partner, someone I could be there for, who would be there for me, you know? But because of the way I look, I seem to attract guys who are looking for someone to step in and run their lives for them.”