isn’t even a doughnut.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see one of the kitchen doors open, and there in full view for me is the woman who’s been peering out the window at us for the last half hour. In her arms, she carries a tray of what look like cookies, but I barely waste a second studying them since she’s stunning.
Is this the famous pastry chef my cousin can’t talk enough about?
I barely get enough time to see she has light blond hair that goes to just below her shoulders and blue eyes. She looks like one of those stunning girls that hang out at the beach, not someone who spends her days in a kitchen.
When she sees I’m looking at her, she hurries back behind those doors, but now she doesn’t sneak any peeks out at me. Disappointed, I look across the table at Alex and see by the look on his face he noticed her too.
“Is that her? The person who makes the desserts?” I ask, suddenly curious about these tasty treats he can’t talk enough about.
“I don’t know, but damn, whoever she is, she’s gorgeous. I got the feeling she liked what you looked like,” he says with a chuckle.
“She’s been looking out at us the whole time we’ve been here. I figured she knew you from the restaurant. You know, since you both work in the same business.”
Shaking his head, he laughs again. “Trust me, if anyone who looked like that worked at CK, I’d know. Kane’s been doing the hiring for the past few months, and I swear to God the guy won’t even consider someone to work in the kitchen who doesn’t have ten years’ experience under their belt. That pretty much ensures everyone, male and female, is in their forties, at least.”
“Thank God for nepotism, right?” I say, taking this one opportunity to bust his balls.
He shrugs off my jab at how he got his job. “I guess, but that means I don’t get to work with anyone even close to my age.”
I look around for the mystery woman and don’t see her. “So what do you know about this pastry chef?”
“Suddenly interested?” he asks with a chuckle.
“I’m not dead, man. I’m just jaded and a snob, remember? But even someone like that can appreciate a woman that gorgeous.”
Robert returns a few moments later and blocks my view of the kitchen doors. “These are the creations for today. Hailey calls them lace cookies.”
He sets a plate with a cookie down in front of each of us. “I hope you enjoy them.”
I want to ask him more about this Hailey, but he hurries away before I can get a word out. Alex stares down in awe at the rectangle cookie that looks like white lace over a dark chocolate dough.
“Look at these scalloped edges and what she’s done with the icing. It looks like actual lace. What did I tell you? Artist. That’s the only word for the person who can create something like this. I need to get a picture of these.”
As much as I don’t usually go all crazy for cookies, I can’t disagree with what he’s saying. I’ve never seen anything that looks like this cookie in front of me. The icing truly does look like real lace, and not just some basic design. What look like delicate flowers and leaves made out of icing sit on top of this dark cookie, and I’m not even sure I should eat something so beautiful.
Alex doesn’t have that issue, though, and once he gets finished taking half a dozen pictures of his cookie, his hedonistic ways take over. With one bite, he looks like he’s in heaven. His eyes roll back in his head, making him look like he’s about to get off right here in the booth.
“It tastes even better than it looks, Cade. Holy fuck, you have to try this cookie. It’s chocolate but not like anything I’ve ever tasted before.”
Lifting it to my mouth to take a bite, I joke, “You going to be okay over there? We need to leave this place sometime soon, so try to tamp down the hard on you’ve got going on.”
One taste of that cookie when it hits my tongue and I know why he’s acting like he is. It’s delicious. Actually, that isn’t a good enough word for it, but I don’t know what would be good enough to explain how sweet and light it tastes at the same time.
When