Page 26 of Suddenly Yours

“Do your hands hurt?” I asked suddenly.

She blinked and looked a little startled, then she glanced down at her hands. “Not really. They’re used to the piping bags.” She flexed her fingers a few times. “It’s mostly my back that hurts, and my shoulders. I’ve been working and standing since four this morning.”

“That’s brutal.” I tilted my head, studying the tense line across her upper shoulders. “You should take breaks.”

She snorted lightly. “Breaks? In here? Something would catch on fire.”

“Only if I’m baking,” I joked.

That earned me a smile. “I take time off my feet when I can. Today wasn’t one of those days.”

A few minutes passed while she finished a row of lavender rosettes. I handed her fresh piping bags as she needed them, nudging full trays out of the way, doing anything to stay busy, to keep things from veering into the one conversation neither of us wanted to touch.

“So,” I said casually, “it looks like you’ve been slammed with orders.”

She nodded and, even though she looked tired, she smiled. “Wedding season is coming. And apparently spring flower cupcakes are the new obsession. Plus Mother’s Day orders are already rolling in.”

“That’s good, though. Business is thriving.”

“Yes,” she said and practically squealed with excitement. “It’s great. I am, however, looking forward to having a day off. I can’t believe I haven’t had one since before I opened.”

Which was exactly why I had invited her to the resort with me. At least, that was the lie I was telling myself.

I propped my elbow on the counter, pretending to study one of the cupcakes that I’d definitely over-frosted. “Do you really think you can get someone to cover for you?”

She paused mid-squeeze, the piping bag halting above the cupcake. “I think so. Meredith and Brit can handle the morning rush. I’ll ask Ashley to take Saturday afternoon.”

“Good.” I nodded slowly. “You deserve a break. Even if it’s just one night.”

We fell quiet again, both pretending to admire the cupcakes like we were cake cops on a stakeout, instead of talking about the topic hanging between us—the kiss, the spark, the shift that had rocked me hard enough that I still felt unsteady.

The silence stretched. Missy finished her last cupcake with a flourish.

“As promised,” she said, holding up one of the floral cupcakes. “Your payment for a job well done.”

I smiled and took the offered treat. “What about you?”

“I’ll get my reward when I’m done,” she said. “Do you want some milk to go with that?”

“Sure,” I said and waited while she poured a glass of milk. When she set it down in front of me, I realized that I was still a wimp.

While I enjoyed the cupcake and milk, I watched her carefully place the last cupcakes into boxes and move them into the walk-in refrigerator.

“You kissed me,” I blurted out when she sat down next to me with her own glass of milk and a cupcake.

Her eyebrows rose slightly. “You kissed me back.”

I smiled. “I did. Only because you kissed me first.”

She rolled her eyes and took a sip of the milk. “You sound about twelve right now.”

In truth, I felt like a teenager who had just had his first kiss.

Her comment about me sounding twelve only made my grin widen, but it didn’t do a damn thing to quiet the drum of nerves in my chest. I set the half-eaten cupcake down, wiped my fingers on a napkin, and finally looked her straight in the eyes.

“Missy… we should probably talk about it.”

She hesitated, her thumb tracing the rim of her milk glass. “Yeah, I figured we’d have to.”