Stud Muffin (Donner Bakery #2) - Jiffy Kate Page 0,29
the one carrying around a Butterball turkey?” Anna starts. I’ve heard this rant before and I scurry off before I get caught in the crossfire. If the pregnant lady wants a Mississippi mud pie, a Mississippi mud pie is what she’ll get.
As I’m leaning over the table inspecting the pies and cakes and other desserts that are up for auction, I feel someone come up beside me. Looking up, I’m greeted with blue eyes and a smirk.
“Hello, Tempest.” His deep voice feels like warm honey, but I quickly shut that shit down.
“Hey,” I say, as cool as I can manage, meeting his gaze only briefly because his blue eyes are entirely too close for comfort. Turning back around to the pies, I start to write my bids down on the sheets in front of them.
“We should be friends,” he proclaims, his hand brushing against mine as he grabs a pen from beside me and starts writing down his own bids.
“What?”
“Friends,” he repeats, coming right in behind me and jotting down a higher bid on the Mississippi mud and the lemon meringue.
I look at him like he’s grown three heads. “Well, friend…” I start. If he wants to go there, we can go there. I can do friends. Friends is safe. And after the past few months I’ve had, I could use an extra person in my corner. I’d damn sure rather be his ally than his enemy. I mean, he looks like he could do some damage, which is no wonder he’s the new bouncer at the Pink Pony. After he showed up at the bakery, I started putting two and two together, remembering things about that night much clearer than I’d like.
Cage pulling me off the bar.
Cage carrying me to his truck.
Cage helping me out of his truck.
Cage tucking me in bed.
And then the next morning, after Anna had left, I found a glass of water with some Advil lying beside the bed. My heart did this weird flip. I refuse to give it any thought, because again, I’m not interested.
But friends. I can do that.
“Maybe you should reconsider trying to outbid me,” I finally finish, scratching out his name beneath mine.
“Oh, huh uh,” he says, taking the pen from my hand. “These pies are fair game!” he declares. “I may be new to town, but I know how these things work.” As he rewrites his name and bid, he hums to himself and I have to close my eyes to keep from feeling it through my body. “Tempest Cassidy,” he says quietly. “Such a pretty name for such a pretty girl. And, it’s so sad that I’m going to have to outbid you,” he continues, leaning across me to write his name on a couple more sheets.
“Well,” I say, straightening up and collecting my wits. “This isn’t over yet!”
Wait, did he call me pretty?
“I’ll remember that,” he chuckles. “So, are we just going to stand here and continue to outbid each other for the rest of the picnic, or should we go mingle or something?” he asks, looking around.
“Uh, I guess mingle?” I question him back.
“You’re the local. You’re supposed to tell me,” he says, smiling.
“Yeah, well, I’ve been avoiding mingling lately,” I mutter, partly to myself, but I feel him watching me. We both casually walk out from the tent together. I still feel people’s eyes on me, but I don’t notice it as much with Cage next to me. It’s like he’s sharing some of the attention and it calms the anxiousness I feel these days when I’m out in public.
“So, if we’re going to be friends,” he says. “Tell me something about yourself.” Walking toward an empty blanket, I realize he expects me to sit, but I can’t. I mean, what would people say? And then I see Hank Weller.
“Wait. You’re friends with Hank?” I ask, starting to put it all together. Hank owns the Pink Pony and Cage, new to town, works there.
He nods, stopping short of the blanket. “We’re old friends,” Cage offers. “Hank and I go way back.”
“Makes sense,” I say, my eyes darting around to see who’s watching. It’s then I see Asher and Mindy walking into the opposite side of the tent.
“What’s up?” Cage asks. “Did someone steal your pie?”
Be mindful, I tell myself. I knew they’d be here. I knew they’d be together. I can handle this.
I laugh. “Well, I’ve never heard it put that way, but I guess you could say that.”