Making Whoopie (Hot Cakes Book 3)

by Erin Nicholas

  Her heart did a happy little flip. See? That was romantic. He was smitten. It wasn’t love—that would be ridiculous—but he felt drawn to her. She sighed. She’d always wanted someone to be smitten with her.

  “You don’t look sorry,” he commented wryly.

  She widened her eyes. “About?”

  “Keeping me here. Making me worry about you.”

  “Well, good,” she said. “I’m not sorry about that one bit.”

  He laughed lightly and her inner muscles tightened.

  “I appreciate your honesty.”

  “And I appreciate your… endorphins,” she said with a grin.

  “Zoe?” Grant asked, without looking away from Josie.

  “Yeah?”

  “I don’t suppose… in light of the shoulder injury and all… that Josie could get off early tonight?”

  Zoe laughed. “Do you actually think that’s subtle? At all?”

  “No.” He gave Josie a small grin.

  “So what you’re really asking is can you take my best friend home and kiss it all better?”

  Grant’s grin got bigger. Josie smiled in return. She loved Zoe.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m asking.”

  “Then yes,” Zoe said. “You can. If,” she added, “you make her take ibuprofen, and you put some ice on her shoulder at some point, and you talk her into making an actual appointment with Alicia, not just a casual chat when they’re at the post office.”

  Josie felt a flicker of guilt. She hadn’t run into Alicia at the post office. She’d asked the nurse practitioner about her shoulder when she’d been dropping bars off at Alicia’s house. Bars that had not been made at Buttered Up. Of course, they didn’t have those bars on the menu. Buttered Up’s menu had been the same, for the most part, since Zoe’s grandmother had first opened the doors over fifty years ago and seven-layer bars hadn’t been a part of her plan.

  But still, Josie could never fully shake the guilt of baking for money on the side.

  “You think I can convince her?” Grant asked.

  “I think you have some… leverage,” Zoe said with a nod. “You know… withhold a few endorphins until she agrees. Something like that.”

  Grant blinked but then slowly grinned. “Interesting idea.”

  Josie’s eyes went wide. “Hey! No fair!” She leaned around him to glare at her best friend. “Whose side are you on?” Whoa, that leaning thing made a pain jab her in the side. What was that? Josie worked to not wince or gasp.

  “Well, Grant’s, obviously,” Zoe said with a shrug. “As long as his side includes you being safe and healthy.”

  Josie swallowed and sat back—carefully—and looked up at Grant, batting her eyes again. “Oh, you wouldn’t do that, would you? I mean, withholding my ‘endorphins’ would mean fewer ‘endorphins’ for you too.”

  “Would it?” he asked, his eyes hot. “I’m not so sure about that.”

  Something in his tone and their teasing made her whole body heat and she leaned closer. “Oh?”

  He shifted, bracing a hand beside her hip on the counter and put his mouth near her ear so no one else could hear. “I think teasing you until you’re begging and need me more than anything, keeping you right there, knowing that I have total control over everything you’re feeling, would give me plenty of endorphins.” He slid his hand to her hip and squeezed. “And there are lots of ways for me to have all kinds of fun while you’re frustrated and on edge.”

  He would just use her for his own pleasure? What would that be like?

  “You don’t seem like the selfish type,” she told him softly, nearly panting. In fact, he seemed the exact opposite of the selfish type. He seemed very concerned with her and how she was feeling and her being happy as a matter of fact.

  “But you don’t know me very well,” he said gruffly.

  Then he nipped her earlobe.

  Lust shot through her and she gasped.

  “Okay, okay, okay,” Zoe said.

  She hadn’t needed to have heard all of that to get a pretty clear idea of what they’d been talking about with the way Grant was leaning in. And the way Josie was nearly melting into a puddle.

  “No endorphins on my bakery countertop,” Zoe said.

  Josie knew her cheeks were pink but not because she was embarrassed. She was just plain hot. She leaned around Grant to grin at her friend again. “Oh, like you and Aiden have never gotten endorphins on these counters.”

  “Not these,” Zoe said, shaking her head. “Too many windows.” Then she winked. “Get out of here and ‘nurse your shoulder.’” She added air quotes when she said those last three words.

  “Gladly,” Grant said gruffly as he helped Josie off the counter.

  She had a feeling he meant them literally, though, as well as metaphorically. She might get some “endorphins” from him, but she was also going to get a big, hot, protective nursemaid.

  Which didn’t sound at all like a hardship.

  “Are you okay to drive?” he asked as she collected her stuff from the kitchen and pulled her keys from her purse.

  “Yes.” She smiled up at him. “I’ll take any excuse to get you over to my house again. But I’m fine to get there, I promise.”

  “You don’t need an excuse,” he said. “You just have to ask.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “But you’re not thrilled about the… effect I have on you?”

  “I’m getting more thrilled with it,” he said.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah.” He did that thing where he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear again. “You have a way about you.”

  She smiled, happiness bubbling up in her chest. “Thank you. I’m pretty thrilled that you’re getting more thrilled.”

  He gave her a slow smile. “I really want to take care of your shoulder tonight. For real.”

  She nodded. “I know. And I want you to.”

  “Yeah? You like being bossed around?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “Then why do I get an invite to play doctor tonight?”

  “Because I like your hands on me.”

  His eyes flickered with heat. “Well, then we’re going to get along just fine because I’d very much like to have my hands all over you.”

  “Meet you there.”

  Josie had already let herself into her house through the back kitchen door by the time Grant pulled in behind her car. He’d just been here last night, and yet he felt like he’d been waiting to have her again for weeks. Maybe months.

  This woman was getting to him. He should truly want to be anywhere but here. She was distracting him. And not just with thoughts of last night flashing through his mind at inopportune times during the day or with her flirtatious, dirty cupcakes. But now he was feeling protective and worried.

  He fucking hated worrying. He wanted everyone in his life to just make good choices, make the right decisions based on data and knowledge and calm, rational thought. He didn’t expect them to be perfect and to always have all the answers, but he did expect them to listen to him. When he gave advice, he knew what he was talking about. If he didn’t, he found out before he gave advice.

  But now the woman who had rocked his world with cake batter—both by its use during sex as well as when she actually baked it into cupcakes—was making him worry. And she wasn’t listening to him.

  She had an injury. He had no idea how serious or mild. But she wasn’t taking care of it. She was shrugging it off. She wasn’t even making an actual appointment at a medical clinic to discuss it with a professional. Okay, maybe she didn’t need an orthopedic surgeon at this point, but she’d only talked about it in casual conversation with her nurse practitioner. Probably while they’d been discussing the weather or some new cookie recipe.

  People who didn’t make good choices made him crazy.

  People who didn’t listen to him when he gave them instructions and advice made him angry.

  Ollie and Dax mad
e stupid decisions sometimes. They were usually driven by a desire to entertain their fans… or to entertain Grant. They weren’t just total fuckups. He’d learned that pretty early on. They were creative and natural risk-takers, and sometimes that manifested itself in doing things like hang gliding off the top of a building on the Vegas strip or losing their shoes to a street magician in Paris. Those sounded bizarre, he completely agreed, but the hang gliding had been a part of a fundraiser, and the street magician had been research for a new addition to their video game. Or something. At the time they’d explained it, Grant had understood. At least enough to say, “Fine. Whatever. I’ve booked you on a flight home, and there will be shoes waiting in the car that’s coming to get you.”

  But Ollie and Dax listened to him. After they gave him shit, of course. But they still did what he told them. When he said, “Get your ass back to Chicago. The flight leaves in three hours,” they showed up at the airport. When he said, “You should get that casted in Vegas, or your flight home will be miserable,” they went to the hospital and got a cast put on Ollie’s wrist before coming home.

  Jocelyn wasn’t listening to him. Yet.

  He also hadn’t fully turned on his bossiness.

  He wasn’t above using whatever leverage was needed to get his way. That was just who he was. Ollie and Dax were the creative risk-takers. Cam was the I-don’t-give-a-shit-what-you-think guy. Aiden was the charming leader. And Grant was the I-always-know-best guy.

  Grant climbed the back steps and let himself into Josie’s kitchen. She was expecting him after all.

  “I was thinking that—”

  Whatever he’d been about to say was cut off by the sight of her doubled over, gripping the edge of the counter.

  He crossed to her swiftly. “Jocelyn.”

  She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Um, pain,” she said.

  “In your shoulder?”

  “Kind of. Yes. But not just there.” She took a deep breath.

  Grant worked on breathing too. He was shocked by how hard his heart was suddenly pounding. This woman had him in knots. He didn’t even know what was wrong, but seeing her beautiful face scrunched up in pain was making adrenaline surge through him.

  “Tell me what’s wrong.” His voice was far sharper than he’d intended, but he couldn’t help it. He needed to fix whatever this was, right now.

  “I just am having more pain suddenly,” she said. “Which is strange, right? Because I’m not really using my shoulder.”

  “How about we let a doctor decide what’s strange?” he asked. “Is there an urgent care here?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t need urgent care.” She straightened, though the move seemed to take longer than it should have. She gave him a smile. “It’s not urgent.”

  He frowned at her. “How about we be sure?”

  “How about you distract me from this little muscle strain by stretching some of my other muscles?” She winced. “Did that sound dirty or weird?”

  He gave a short laugh. “A little weird.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  He noticed that while it looked like she had her hand on her hip, she was actually pressing her fingers into her side.

  With a frustrated grunt, Grant pulled his phone out and searched for urgent cares in the area. There wasn’t even one in this town? The closest was about eight miles away. Fuck. Where the hell were they?

  He took a deep breath. Okay, eight miles. Hell, the closest one to his apartment in Chicago was possibly farther than that. Just the idea of this one being in another town made it feel farther away.

  He eyed the blond who was making him worry and fret and cuss. If he kept going here, he was going to be in over his head. He should call Zoe. Or Jane. Or even Aiden or Dax. They would definitely jump in here and take care of her. Zoe and Jane might be even more effective in getting her to the doctor. They knew her better. Had known her longer.

  But even as those thoughts occurred to him, Grant knew he was the one who was going to be taking her to urgent care.

  “How long has this pain been going on?” He especially eyed her hand pressing into her side.

  “My shoulder started bugging me a few weeks ago, I guess,” she said. “But this… is different.” She grimaced slightly.

  “How?”

  “Well, the pain has been coming and going ever since it started, but this time it’s not going away as quickly and it’s not just my shoulder.”

  “You know that means we need to get it checked.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “We?”

  Yeah. Fuck. We. He nodded. He could just pick her up and carry her out to his car, but it would be nice if she’d agree to let him take her to see someone.

  He really liked it when people listened to him and did what he told them.

  “I’d really like to be sure you’re all right.”

  She gave him a little smile. “That’s really nice.”

  “Well, if your appendix ruptures, it will be a while until I can… stretch you.”

  She gave a short, surprised laugh. “See, now when you say it, it kind of sounds dirty.”

  He grinned.

  Then she frowned. “Oh my God, you think it’s my appendix?”

  “I have no idea. That’s why we should talk to a doctor,” he said, trying to be patient.

  She bit her bottom lip. “Maybe I can just call Alicia. I don’t think she would mind.”

  “Jocelyn,” Grant said, firmly and with a touch of warning.

  “I um…” She was studying the buttons on the front of his shirt instead of meeting his eyes. “I can’t… it’s cheaper if I just talk to her.”

  Grant realized that he and his friends often didn’t consider the financial implications of the things they did and suggested. He was better about it than Ollie, Dax, and Cam because he worked with people on their financial plans all the time, but he did sometimes forget how easy it was for him to do or obtain things he wanted without thought to the cost. Still…

  “Yes, I would certainly think that removing your appendix on her kitchen table with a couple of shots of tequila to numb the pain would be cheaper than the hospital,” he said dryly.

  Jocelyn frowned. “I’m just saying that she could help me know if that was necessary.”

  He looked at her side again. “It’s getting worse.”

  “It’s easing up a little now,” she said.

  “In general,” he said through gritted teeth. She was so sweet, and she’d certainly taken direction last night when he’d been saying things like bend over and spread your legs. Now he was seeing a stubborn side that was annoying the fuck out of him.

  But then she nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

  “Let me take you to urgent care,” he said. “Please.”

  Her eyes flew to his. It seemed she realized that please was not a regular word in his vocabulary.

  “I don’t have insurance,” she blurted out.

  He frowned. “What?”

  “I don’t have health insurance.”

  “Zoe doesn’t provide benefits?” He was surprised Aiden was okay with that.

  “I was covered on a family plan with my mom and dad until recently,” Jocelyn said. “Zoe was on her dad’s too. The bakery has always been small, and there hasn’t been a need for comprehensive benefits. If someone is sick or needs vacation time, we just… make it work.”

  “Do you get paid for sick time?” Grant asked, feeling his frown deepen.

  “Well, no, not exactly. But she gives me bonuses when she can and…”

  “That’s not okay,” he broke in. “That’s not fair to you.”

  “It’s fine,” Jocelyn insisted. “I knew what it was when I went into it. It’s really more like it’s my business too.”

  “But you don’t have insurance,” he pointed out flatly.

  “I did have. But my dad got cut to part time recently.”

  “A
nd Zoe didn’t offer to help out?”

  “I haven’t told her,” Jocelyn admitted. “I knew she would feel terrible and that it would be a big financial burden on the business. She’s been looking into plans and things with Aiden’s help. We’re just not there yet.”

  “But now you need it.”

  “That’s not her fault.”

  Grant sighed. “I’ll pay for it.”

  Jocelyn’s eyes went wide. “No.” She said it quickly and firmly. “Definitely not.”

  “You don’t have a choice.”

  “I do! I’ll make payments to the hospital or whatever. I’m not taking money from you for this.” She wrinkled her nose. “That would be… really icky.”

  “Icky?” He felt his frown relax slightly. “How so?”

  “Well, we’re not related, and we’re not really friends. I mean, why would you give me money? For sex? I can’t take money for that!”

  “I would be giving you money for your health care,” he said. “Not for sex.”

  “But the only thing I’m giving you is sex.”

  “It’s not related. The sex was before this,” Grant argued. Why was he arguing this? Why couldn’t she see that this was a great option? He had plenty of money. And he had an intense desire to be sure she didn’t have an internal organ that was about to explode.

  “But there will be more sex after!” Then she narrowed her eyes. “Won’t there? I realize this isn’t very sexy. And if I do have to have my appendix out…” She paled slightly and took a shaky breath. “That’s going to put a damper on things.”

  He stepped closer to her. “There will be more sex.” That was maybe the only thing he knew for certain at this moment. “But the two things aren’t related. I’m paying for peace of mind here.” He decided to use a new tactic. “We are friends. I care about this. Let me help make sure things are all right. Or if they’re not, let me help make them right.” Because they weren’t all right. Something was going on with her and he needed it fixed. It was a strange drive, but the idea that Jocelyn was sick and in pain was making him nuts.

  Jocelyn stood, blinking up at him, studying his face.