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“Atlanta, of course! Oh my, let me back right up. I’m Kacie from theAtlanta Recorderand I’m here to do a story on you for theLifestylesection of the paper. My friend Sadie works for thePeachtree Journaland she told me all about your grand opening and of course I was just as jelly as your peach jam! But she told me, ‘Kacie, don’t you worry, they’re baking cookies for the tree lighting’ and so here I am!”
“Isn’t that great, Lanie?” Mars nudged me, encouraging me to up my enthusiasm game.
“Beyond!” I said in my highest, cheeriest voice, which was about twelve stories shy of her level of excitement.
Mars forged ahead. “I suggested we take some photos tonight, then tomorrow morning before open, I said we’d give our friend Kacie here a behind-the-scenes tour of the bakery.” He nodded at me, ever so subtly urging me to pick up on the importance of this turn of events.
Mars might have been the salesperson of our team, but the free publicity opportunity was not lost on me.
“Fantastic idea!” I said, bobbing my head up and down in an effort to match both of their excitement levels.Totally tanked my romantic date night, but career is my number one priority right now,I reminded myself. I hoped Quinn would understand.
“Great. So I’ll get my photographer over here first thing in the morning and we’ll grab some professional shots. We’ll have to make do with my camera phone tonight. I wish I’d thought to bring my Nikon...” Kacie muttered to herself, tapping away on her cell.
“Excuse us for a moment,” I said, pulling Mars to the side.
“What? Isn’t this great? This is, like, next-level publicity for us!” he screech-whispered at me.
“I know.”
“Why don’t you look excited then?” Mars narrowed his eyes at me like a cat just before it pounces.
“I am, I am. It’s just, I was kind of, sort of on a date...” I shoved a hand in my back pocket, embarrassed to even be mentioning it.
“Lanie. Quinn will understand. You’re building a business. From scratch, pardon the pun. He’ll get it.”
“You think?” I kicked at a patch of grass, uncomfortable with this sudden feeling of resentment I hadn’t prepared for. This was my dream come true and I was feeling—what? Ambivalent?
“Lane, he’ll get over it. Now smile pretty for the cameras and let’s do this.” He grabbed me by the elbow, nudging me over towards Kacie.
“I’ll get over what?” Quinn asked in a low voice. He stood just behind Mars, at the left side of the tent, his face neutral.
“Um...” Mars said, backing away. “I’ll give you two a minute, ‘k?” Coward that he was, he swiveled and beat a quick retreat towards Kacie, leaving me to deal with Quinn.
“Hey, you,” I said, sidling up to Quinn. I tried to wrap my arms around his waist, but he inched away.
“What’s up?” Quinn asked, a frown on his face. Notably, it did nothing to mar his good looks.
“So, this reporter, Kacie,” I nodded to where she stood, still tapping away on her phone, oblivious to the scene developing before her. It was a good thing she worked on theLifestyledivision of the paper and not the investigative section.
“She’s made the trip from Atlanta and wants to feature us in theRecorder. So now instead of having a date with you like we planned, I really need to do an impromptu photo shoot tonight and a tour of the bakery first thing tomorrow morning. And I was so looking forward to our date and I’m beyond bummed that we have to change our plans.” The words gushed out of me as I held Quinn’s gaze, willing him to understand.
“That’s totally fine, Delaney. I understand. I’m disappointed, sure, but I get it. Your bakery has to be your number one priority right now.” He took my hands in his, bent down and placed his warm mouth on mine. “It’s fine.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Well, hello, handsome. Lanie, who is this tall drink of water?” Kacie stroked a perfectly manicured hand down Quinn’s flannel shirt and I bristled, but tried to hide it.
“Quinn McCauliffe.” Quinn introduced himself, tilting his chin in her direction.
“Kacie McCoy, lifestyle reporter for theAtlanta Recorder.Pleased to make your acquaintance.” She locked eyes with him for longer than was necessary, then glanced away, licking her lower lip.
“Well, I’ll be over at the firetruck if you need me or you free up. Just call me,” Quinn said, brushing his thumb lightly over my cheek. A shiver of pleasure shot through me and I again regretted having work obligations for a split second.
“Okay, I will. Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Quinn turned to go, but Kacie lunged forward, grabbing his arm. “Going so soon?” She batted her lashes at him. I was really starting to get annoyed.
