Rescued Alpha (Billionaire Alphas #6) - Skye R. Richmond Page 0,16

Monday morning. He had a taste-testing with a couple getting married who were stopping in to try out the different flavored cakes Sweets and Such offered. He’d booked them nearly two weeks prior and was nearly a month out with all future scheduling, so it made no sense that they booked someone else in so quickly.

Tiffany, one of the new employees, walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Tiff, did you work Saturday?" he asked.

"Nope." She shook her head. "I think it was Jace that was here."

Eli nodded. Jace was usually more on top of things, so it could just be an oversight. Or someone pleading for an appointment. Jace was a big ol’ softie. Eli looked at his clock. Jace would be in soon.

He hated to cancel on clients, so he decided to keep his meetings and have Jace take the other. He put the schedule down and went to the freezer section where he had a cake chilling that would be picked up that afternoon. He liked to check and double-check his cakes before they went out the door, just to make sure that everything looked perfect. Once he was satisfied, he left the freezer.

Jace was just walking into the kitchen as Eli got there. "Hey, bud, did you work Saturday?"

"Yeah, and it was so freakin’ busy." He shook his head. "Why?"

Eli grabbed the schedule. "Busy enough to accidentally schedule someone in a slot that was already filled?"

He looked at it and cringed. "Crap. Yeah…sorry about that. I just couldn’t say no."

"Of course you couldn’t. You know we are scheduled a month ahead of time. If they come in and decide to order a cake, who’s to say that we’ll even have time to make it?"

"You’re a pro. You can do it." Jace smirked. Gods, sometimes he really wanted to knock Jace upside the head with a rolling pin.

"It sounded important. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, especially a new customer. You’re always saying that we should satisfy new customers because they are the future of our business. Don’t you say that?" He arched a brow, and Eli had to laugh. Of course Jace would use his words to bite him in the ass.

"I did say that, but not at the risk of over-extending ourselves. What if we get burned out or run out of ingredients?"

Jace raised a brow. "Is that the best you got? Come on! You know we can always buy more ingredients," Jace pointed out. "And besides, you’re always going on about enjoying a challenge. What’s more challenging than adding a customer to our already extensive list?"

Eli groaned and threw his hands up. "Okay, fine. Fine. When is their party?"

"Two weeks ish, the date should be in there."

"Of course it is," he muttered. "Well, alrighty then! But you’re going to have to take the meeting with the customer. I will be out back doing a taste-testing for the brides."

Jace nodded. "Gladly!"

He rolled his eyes at Jace, about to point out they would both be working overtime. Maybe his mom was right; it was time to get a new baker and decorator in. They were growing faster than Eli ever dreamed.

Tiffany peeked her head through the swinging doors. "We have a Jack Vaughn here for his meeting."

Eli glanced at Jace. "That’s all you," he said.

Jace sighed dramatically but nodded, then grabbed a book of cake styles and decorations they had. He hurried out of the kitchen.

Eli went to check on the samples he’d made for his tasting. He hadn’t even taken them out when Tiffany reappeared.

"Marisa and Ava are here for their tasting," she said.

"Show them to the back room, and I’ll meet them in a minute," Eli instructed.

"Will do!" She left again, and he hurried and grabbed a tray, then a tea towel to put on it so the plates didn’t move before heading back to the fridge. Eli carefully lifted small saucers, each one holding a different flavor of cake: German chocolate, red velvet, lemon poppy, carrot cake, salted caramel, and victorian sponge that they would use as their samples. He’d made six in total. On his way out, he had to double back for a couple of forks from the drawer before heading to the tasting room.

He walked through the doorway with a smile on his lips. "Good morning and welcome to Sweets and Such, I’m Eli, and I will be the one walking you through your tasting today."

He put the cakes down on the table and smiled up at the clients.

"If I could just have