Semi-Sweet On You (Hot Cakes #4) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,58

any more. Yeah, fuck her dad and brothers.

He smiled at Didi and she returned the grin. Then she looked back at the TV. “Okay, shh… Tom Selleck is on.”

Yeah, he and Didi were going to be fine.

11

“What if we make them in the shape of alpacas?” Ollie asked.

Whitney looked at him. She still wasn’t entirely sure how to tell when Ollie was being serious. Though she was starting to learn that he was always about half serious. He threw ideas out and left it to his partners to decide which ones would stick and which ones were ridiculous. But he never said things he didn’t mean at least a little.

“You think we should make the new bars in the shape of alpacas?” Grant asked.

“Why not?” Ollie asked. But when he asked the question he sincerely wanted to know the reasons why that might be a bad idea. “Everyone loves alpacas.”

“I do not think that’s true,” Aiden said.

“Okay, most people like alpacas,” Ollie countered.

“The petting zoo was a huge success,” Piper said, handing Grant a folder.

She wasn’t officially part of the meeting but she never hesitated to give her input. And her input was always excellent. Whitney couldn’t figure out why the guys hadn’t made Piper a business partner yet. Of course, they needed her in the role she held, keeping track of everything and everyone. Maybe that was it. They certainly paid her well for it. Whitney had seen her employee file. She saw all the employee files. But over the past few months it had been clear that Piper earned every single penny.

“I don’t know if it was huge,” Ollie said with a little frown.

Aiden nodded. “Oh, it was.”

Piper gave Ollie a smug smile.

Now that Whitney knew the petting zoo had been Piper’s idea and had stemmed mostly from the fact that she thought Drew Ryan was cute—and she liked making Ollie jealous—Whitney rolled her eyes.

“These are the caramel crunch bars we’re talking about, right?” Dax asked.

Whitney was glad Dax still came in for the 9 a.m. meeting. He was fun to have around, had great ideas, and she’d noticed that when all five guys were together, they were much more creative and relaxed.

Of course, they were missing Cam today. Again. This was day three of Cam living with her and Didi. And missing the morning meeting at Hot Cakes. Because of her.

Well, because of Didi. Actually because of him. He was the one who had decided to insert himself into their situation. So she didn’t feel guilty exactly. But as someone who wanted Hot Cakes to be the very best it could be, she was aware that they were missing a piece of their puzzle.

Ollie nodded. “Yeah, the new bars.”

“So they’ll be brown—because of the chocolate,” Dax said. “And a little lumpy because of the crispy-crunchy pieces.”

Ollie shrugged. “Yeah.”

“And then you want to make them look like an animal.”

Ollie frowned. “What are you getting at?”

“Alpaca poop,” Dax said. “That’s what I’m getting at. They could remind people of alpaca poop.”

“I thought you liked alpacas,” Ollie said.

“Love them.”

“So…”

“But they poop, Ollie.” Dax shrugged.

“But they’ll be shaped like alpacas,” Ollie said. “Not like poop.”

“Sure. But the color and texture could be reminiscent of poop. Add in the animal shape and it might put that thought in people’s heads,” Dax said.

“It might just be you,” Ollie told him.

“No, I think he has a point,” Piper said, picking up plates that had held muffins from Buttered Up.

It was a really good thing that they’d smoothed over the tension between the two businesses if for nothing else than because it meant they could have breakfast pastries at morning meetings now. Zoe’s muffins and scones were amazing.

“You’re just saying that because you’re being contrary,” Ollie said.

Piper gave him a look with one arched brow. “I am?”

“You are,” he said with a frown. “You’re disagreeing with everything I’ve said lately.”

“Maybe you’ve been wrong a lot lately,” Piper said.

“I figured you would love the alpaca idea,” Ollie replied. “What with your new fascination with the Ryan farm and all.”

“That’s sweet of you to think of me,” Piper said with a big—totally fake—smile. “But my fascination with the farm isn’t really about the alpacas.”

Ollie’s frown deepened. “Should we just make the new bars look like Drew Ryan then?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Piper said.

Ollie relaxed slightly. Whitney was probably the only one who noticed, but she’d been watching him carefully. He was jealous of Drew. She just wondered if he realized why. Did he know that he had feelings