stuff last minute or needed things that we don’t make at the bakery. We don’t make French-toast casseroles for brunches,” she said, pointing at Grant’s empty plate. “But a woman wanted to take one to her aunt’s house for Easter brunch. She’s a terrible cook but wanted to bring something homemade and asked if I could make it for her. She supplied the recipe and said she’d pay anything.” Jocelyn grinned. “I love trying new recipes, so it was a win win.”
“And you made it even better than the recipe, right?” Grant asked, knowing the answer. “You added something extra to it?”
She smiled. “I did. And when the woman called to tell me how everyone raved about it, it made me feel so good. I love when I can help people out, but also, of course, love hearing how much people love what I create. It’s just…” She shrugged as if having a hard time finding the words. “It’s very fulfilling.”
Grant couldn’t help but smile back. She was so fucking beautiful and sweet. Yes, a little sassy too. But he was finding he liked that. A lot. That sauciness made her add extra butterscotch chunks to the butterscotch bars at the bakery. Behind her best friend’s back, maybe, but it wasn’t hurting anything. If anything, it was Zoe’s fault for being so damned stubborn. Grant had heard Aiden rant—affectionately but exasperatedly—about his fiancée’s obstinacy, so it wasn’t just Jocelyn that dealt with it.
But Jocelyn’s sweet side was very addictive. Even more so than her French toast.
“So, anyway, I don’t think I could ever be sick of the stuff I make.” She tilted her head and studied him. “But I couldn’t imagine spending every day doing something I didn’t really love and believe in. Isn’t that how you feel about your work?”
Grant didn’t have to think about that for long. “It is. I know it sounds superficial since I’m the money guy with Fluke, but I believe in the guys and the company, and they need me to be as successful as they are. So I’m doing my part. But that’s why I do the seminars too,” he added. “That’s really fulfilling for me. I know how you feel about doing something that makes other people happier and better.”
She gave him a soft smile. “I can’t wait to hear more about those,” she said. “I think. Are they about money and stuff?”
He chuckled. “They are.”
“I will try to be interested,” she said. “I promise.”
“Not your thing?” A lot of the women who came to his seminars didn’t think money and numbers were their things either. He wasn’t worried.
“Not even a little,” she said. “That is one reason I’m glad I’m not Zoe’s partner. She has to worry about all of that stuff.”
“Would you like to be Zoe’s partner?”
She shrugged. “I sometimes think so. But I think I am in all the ways that really matter. We work together to make the bakery the best it can be. Everyone knows I’m a part of it.”
“They don’t know how much you’re a part of it,” he couldn’t resist pointing out.
“They know I decorate all the cakes,” she said. “Zoe is great about that. She praises me all the time. Makes a huge deal out of it. She’d be lost without me. She could never do the cakes that I do.”
“But you don’t make the money that a partner would make. You don’t make decisions, like healthcare plans, that a partner would make.” Grant told himself he shouldn’t push like this. It wasn’t his business. Not really. He was solving her immediate problem. What happened long term was not his concern.
“Well, I wouldn’t be a very good partner,” Jocelyn said, pushing away from the counter. “I don’t like the money and business part, and if I had to review healthcare plans I’d fall asleep by page two, I’m sure.”
Grant bit his tongue. He couldn’t make her want to be Zoe’s business partner.
“Anyway, I need to get ready for work.” She started out of the kitchen.
“Right. As if you’re not being swept off on a surprise romantic weekend trip by your new boyfriend.”
She stopped and turned to look at him. “Are we officially calling you my boyfriend?” she asked.
“What else would I be?”
She shrugged. “I guess fuck buddies don’t go out of town together?”
She asked it as a question indicating that maybe she’d never had a fuck buddy before. Grant liked that.
“I suppose they could,” he said. “I mean, that’s a lot of what weekend