toothpick for.”
“My mouth is watering.” I looked at the feast in front of me.
“And I made cupcakes,” Brenna said, pouting.
I laughed. “Why do you always pout when you bring over cupcakes?”
“Because I’m a cake decorator. Not a cupcake decorator.”
“You love cupcakes. You love decorating them. You only get pouty when your clients want a mediocre cake and a thousand little cupcakes in a tower. That means they only want the cake as filler.”
“First up,” Brenna began, “my cakes are never mediocre, so you take that back.”
I nodded, holding up my hands. “I’m sorry.”
“You should be. And second, you’re right. They want plain cake you can cut into and hide behind a curtain or something. And they want everyone to believe they’re going to get a cupcake personally for themselves. But three hundred cupcakes in a nice little spiral to make a cake? It doesn’t happen. Pinterest and insta-weddings and all of that stuff is ruining my business.”
The three of us looked at each other and started laughing as Brenna puffed out her chest.
“Pinterest and Instagram and everything that’s wedding hashtag related keeps you in business,” I said dryly.
Brenna cringed. “Maybe. But the woman who came in today to discuss her wedding cake changed her mind—for the fifth time. Maybe I just hate cupcakes. But I made them for you anyway.” She flipped the top of the box, and my mouth dropped open.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“I needed something to do with my hands. So, we have a variety. Lemon and strawberry, chocolate gateau, and carrot cake.” Each was immaculately decorated with perfect little individual marzipan and fondant animals. There were unicorns and pandas, and a small sleeping elephant. Each of them looked like a piece of art, and I couldn’t wait to stuff them all in my face.
“You went circus on this?” I asked, laughing.
“My brain kept thinking of a hundred different things, so I went with cute animals. And I’m going to eat all of this dip so long as Eliza lets me. Maybe put a few balls in my mouth because you know I like talking about balls in my mouth,” she said, and we laughed. “And then I’m going to eat that elephant.”
“I don’t know, the elephant looks amazing,” Paige said as she reached for it. Brenna slapped her hand and pointed at us all. “No. We eat cupcakes after dinner. You know I usually like dessert first, but I’m in a mood, and you have to listen to me.”
“You’re not making any sense, but I love you.” I leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, and then we settled down with wine and our food.
The doorbell rang about thirty minutes into our dinner, and I frowned, looking at everyone. “Did we miss somebody?” I asked as I stood up.
“I don’t think so,” Paige said. “Maybe it’s Jacob Queen.”
I rolled my eyes. “He is working tonight. And he’s in the office so he’s not going to be stopping by.”
“You know exactly where he is?” Eliza asked, beaming.
“Okay, enough of that.” I looked through the peephole and frowned before opening the door. “Hey, Hotch, what’s up? Anything wrong?”
Hotch shook his head and held out a big box. “I heard you mention it was girls’ night tonight, and since I was in the neighborhood, I picked up some of those variety cookies from the bakery down the street. I know your friend Brenna makes the best cakes and cupcakes there is, but I figured why not add a little variety with cookies?”
I looked at him, smiling but a little confused. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“No, I didn’t. But it was on sale, what can I say? I have a whole box for myself and the guys for later. I don’t mean to intrude on your night, but I saw these and thought of you.”
He handed over the box, and I opened the lid, holding back a groan at the sight of the perfectly iced sugar cookies. They were all pretty spring colors, each exquisitely done. I’d had cookies from this bakery before and had nearly fallen to my knees in gratitude for the delicious taste. I thought Brenna was a better baker, but that could be because she was my best friend. However, these cookies would be amazing.
“You honestly didn’t have to, but thank you, Hotch.”
He just grinned, put his hands in his pockets, and leaned back on his heels. “No problem. Well, I’m off to see the guys. I just wanted to see how you were