by Lucy Kevin
Soon, the first cupcakes were out of the oven. Once they cooled enough for decorating, Kayla proved a steady hand when it came to frosting. Adam was certainly enthusiastic…and Daniel wisely took care of ordering pizza.
“Are you married?” Adam asked suddenly.
Jenn nearly dropped the piping bag she was holding. With the kids looking up at her expectantly, she finally said, “Not anymore. I was married to a man named Oliver, but it didn’t work out, and we ended up getting a divorce.”
“Oh, just like Uncle Robbie did,” Adam said before turning back to the cupcake he was decorating to look like a soccer ball.
Jenn was surprised to realize that where it could have been awkward to explain what had happened between her and Oliver, putting it in terms that a seven-year-old could understand—their marriage hadn’t worked out, so they’d gotten a divorce—felt much more straightforward. Sensible, even.
With that out of the way, Jenn and the kids continued baking and decorating, while Daniel took more photos. Jenn was glad that the great memories the kids and their father made as a family would never be lost.
The doorbell rang, and a few minutes later the four of them were sitting around Daniel’s living room table working their way through a family-sized pizza with extra pepperoni.
When they were done eating, Daniel said, “I hate to be a spoilsport, but it’s getting close to your bedtimes.”
“Aww…Dad,” Kayla said. “Can’t we at least finish making the cupcakes?”
“You’ve got other homework to do, don’t you?” Daniel asked.
“We’ve done it.”
“Then why don’t we go through it and make sure it’s all okay?”
“But we’re not done decorating yet and—”
“How about if I take care of the finishing touches on the remaining cupcakes?” Jenn suggested. “You and your brother have already done the hard work, so it won’t be at all difficult to get everything ready to be taken to school.”
Kayla considered that for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”
Jenn set to work finishing the cupcakes while Daniel helped Adam with questions on his math homework that he hadn’t completely understood, and then he looked over Kayla’s book report. When the kids went to brush their teeth and change into their jammies, Jenn couldn’t help thinking again about how wonderful Daniel was with them. He was so patient, and it seemed like they would do just about anything for their dad. Even homework and flossing their teeth.
Daniel brought them back downstairs to say good night before tucking them in. Kayla rushed forward to hug Jenn, clinging tight and not letting go for a long time.
“Thank you for coming to help. Dad could never have made cupcakes like you.”
“Like us,” Jenn insisted as Adam came forward to hug her too. “We all did it together. And I had the best time.”
“Me too,” Adam said, squeezing her even tighter. “The best time ever.”
* * *
Daniel’s heart swelled as he watched his kids hugging Jenn. He longed to put his arms around her too, but he didn’t want to make any missteps with her. She’d not only saved the day, but she had also been comfortable with his kids. She hadn’t tried to do everything for them, but had trusted them to learn as they went.
The kids were reluctant to head to bed, obviously wanting to spend more time around Jenn, but after Daniel read them two short bedtime stories, they finally went to sleep. By the time he came back downstairs, he found Jenn setting out the last of the finished cupcakes on a baking tray.
“I’m all done,” she said. “And those are for you and the kids.”
Three extra cupcakes were sitting on the counter, two chocolate cupcakes for Adam and Daniel and a vanilla cupcake for Kayla.
“We could never have done this without you.” He wanted to make sure she knew how much her time here today meant to all of them. “I’d still be floundering around, trying to work out how to mix the batter without it getting lumpy.”
“Before tonight, I would have thought you were exaggerating, but now that I’ve seen you in action with the flour, I know you’re being completely serious,” Jenn teased. “Honestly, though, it’s nice to know there’s at least one thing that you can’t do effortlessly.”
She’d already packed up her things, so even though he wanted her to stay longer so that they could sit and talk some more, when she yawned, he made himself say, “Let me help you take your things back out to the car.”
He reached for one of the bags just as she did. When their hands brushed, he not only wanted to revel in that sparking contact, he wanted to throw all caution to the wind and pull Jenn close enough to find out if her lips tasted as sweet as the ingredients for her cupcakes.
But though her eyes were bright and her cheeks flushed, he knew it was too soon when she shifted slightly back instead of forward. He wasn’t going to back all the way off—how could he when his feelings for her were growing by leaps and bounds? At the same time, however, he needed to make sure he didn’t overwhelm her.
After they’d stashed everything in her trunk, she said, “I really had a good time today. Thank you for letting me be a part of your family for a few hours.”
There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted her to know. But in the end, all he would allow himself to do was lean forward, give her a kiss on the cheek, and say, “You’re a lifesaver, and the kids adore you.” She was blushing again by the time he said, “I’ll see you at work tomorrow. Drive safe.”
She said, “Good night, Daniel,” then got into her car and drove away, her hand resting lightly over the cheek he’d kissed.
Almost as if that kiss meant as much to her as it did to him.
Chapter Five
The next morning, Daniel arrived at Married in Malibu and headed straight to the main hall for the weekly meeting.
Kate was wiping smudges of potting soil from her hands, but had missed the stripe that had made it into her hair. She usually arrived early to work in the gardens—Daniel had never known anyone who had such a green thumb.
Travis was looking over several electronic security devices. The security consultant was easily the tallest, broadest figure in the room. As always, he was dressed in a well-pressed dark suit that still gave him plenty of room to move quickly if necessary.
Nate stood beside Travis, clearly impressed with the technology. He wasn’t as broad as Travis, but he was nearly as tall, and wore work boots, jeans, and a plaid shirt. If Daniel didn’t know better, he would think Nate worked construction rather than being Married in Malibu’s IT expert.
Margaret, on the other hand, looked exactly the way he imagined a party planner would, in an elegant dress and expensive-looking shoes. She had a big leather notebook open and was making sketches while she waited for the meeting to get under way.
And then there was Jenn.
Daniel couldn’t help but drink her in while she chatted with Kate. Kayla and Adam had repeatedly told Daniel how great they thought Jenn was. Of course, he already knew how much they’d loved having her over to make cupcakes with them. He’d always been careful about bringing someone new into his kids’ lives, but it had felt so right to add Jenn into the mix yesterday. He wasn’t at all surprised his kids had fallen for her so quickly. Just like he had.
He was tempted to walk over to her and tell her everything he was feeling. Just then, however, Liz arrived. She’d always been a cheerful person—and a great boss—but now that she and Jason were married, she simply glowed with happiness.
“Good morning,” Liz said to the group. “As you all know, Greta Sanserre and her fiancé are our newest bride and groom!”
Everyone cheered. This was big news for Married in Malibu. The wedding for Jason’s famous niece, Amber, had been a great start, but booking another one so quickly meant that they were keeping the momentum up. While their first wedding had come about partly because of Jason’s connection, Greta had hired them based on their growing reputation and the great im
pression they’d made when she visited. Especially Jenn and her mouthwatering cakes.
“It truly is great news,” Liz said, “and we all played a part in making sure that happened. But I want to give special thanks to Jenn. Your cakes were the clincher for this one. They convinced Greta that we would be able to exceed even her highest standards.”
As far as Daniel was concerned, Jenn deserved all the praise that Liz could give her and more. Fortunately, one of the best things about Married in Malibu was that none of the others looked even the slightest bit jealous. Photojournalism was a cutthroat world—if one person got a front-page presence, it was at the expense of other photographers whose work would be used on less-visible pages. It was a side of his chosen field that Daniel disliked. The point of taking photographs, to him, was to tell a story about the important events taking place in the world—not whether he could get another photo credit to add to his résumé. Here, thankfully, everyone was on the same team.
“Well done,” Margaret said to Jenn, with Travis, Nate, and Kate chiming in.
When Kate hugged Jenn, Daniel briefly wondered if he might be able to do the same. But he was afraid he would have a hard time stopping himself from doing more than just hugging her. Given that she was reddening at the praise from the others, he suspected she wouldn’t react well if he kissed her in front of everyone.
“There’s still a lot of hard work to do,” Liz reminded them. “This wedding isn’t in as short a timeframe as our first two—”
“I hope not,” Nate put in. He was grinning as he added, “An afternoon to put on your wedding was pretty quick, even by our standards.”
On a laugh, Liz continued. “But Greta will definitely notice if we don’t get all the details exactly right. She has sent me her list of what she wants included in the wedding. A long list. With that said, Greta also wants us to ‘use our creativity.’”
“Just to be clear,” Margaret said, “we’re all to be as creative as possible, but without getting any of the details that Ms. Sanserre—” She flushed slightly. “I mean, that Greta wants wrong?”
“Exactly,” Liz replied. “But don’t worry, most of what she has asked for are specific details, which leaves a lot of scope for each of your personal touches.”
Liz was about to hand everyone a copy of the list when Travis said, “Are you sure you don’t want to give each of us only the parts we need to see? I trust everybody in this room, but the more full copies there are of her requirements, the more chance there is that if something leaks, everything leaks.”
“I understand your concern, Travis, but it’s important for each of you to make choices that will fit in with the whole event, even the parts that aren’t your responsibility. Remember, we’ll always do our best work as a team rather than as a group of people doing things their own way.”
Again, Daniel couldn’t help thinking back to his days in photojournalism, where almost everyone was in it only for themselves. Married in Malibu was a breath of fresh air. In more ways than one, he thought, as he stole a glance at Jenn.
“I have one other piece of good news before we head off to start working on Greta’s wedding,” Liz said. “This morning, I received an email from Brides magazine.”
A ripple of anticipation passed around the room. Even a one-line mention in the magazine would be a huge boost to Married in Malibu’s reputation.
“Their next issue is going to focus on wedding cakes, and one of the bakers they had lined up flaked out at the last minute. Something about getting a better offer from reality TV.”
Daniel could see where this was going, and from the way Jenn suddenly tensed up, it was obvious that she could as well.
“They’ve rearranged their photo shoot for a week from now, and they’d like to showcase your cakes, Jenn.”
Everyone exclaimed about what great news it was. Everyone but Jenn, who seemed more than a little shocked.
“A week?”
“I know it’s tight,” Liz said, “but with the other baker pulling out, they’re already past their original deadline.”
“If they’re going to crash the pictures into the magazine at the last minute,” Daniel said, “that presumably means that they know what open spaces they’re looking to fill. Knowing the parameters going in will hopefully make it easier to plan for those final shots.”
“Exactly,” Liz said with a nod. “Jenn, do you think you can put some wedding cakes together in time for the shoot?”
Jenn’s face was pale. “I…”
“Sure you can,” Nate offered. “After all, you did such a great job with the sample cakes for Greta.”
“I agree,” Liz said. “Your cakes convinced a major movie star to book with us. If we can get pictures of them into a major magazine, just think how many other celebrities would feel the same way.” Daniel could see that his boss didn’t want to put undue pressure on her employee—but it was also clear that she believed Jenn was more than up to the challenge. “So, can you do it?”
Jenn didn’t reply immediately. In fact, Daniel was holding his breath by the time she finally nodded and said, “Yes. I’ll do it.”
“Great, I’ll email Brides immediately to let them know and to get us the specifications for the photo spread.” Liz obviously didn’t want to give Jenn a chance to change her mind. “Daniel, while I know you’re going to have some prep to do for Greta’s wedding, since the photo shoot will take place first, I’d appreciate it if you could work closely with Jenn this week on creating the kind of cakes that will photograph best for the magazine.”
Daniel didn’t even try to hold back his grin. “I’d be happy to do that.”
Happy wasn’t nearly a good enough word to describe what he was feeling. He wanted Jenn’s work to get all the recognition it deserved. And if it meant that they would need to spend the next week working closely together?
It was everything he could have hoped for.
Chapter Six
After the meeting broke up, Jenn knew she should head to the kitchen right away to begin planning her cakes for the magazine. Instead, she stood frozen in the middle of the hall, panicking about the super-short editorial deadline, about half the world staring at her cakes from the glossy magazine spread, and most of all about baking with Daniel.
“Why don’t we head over to Tamara’s café for a few minutes?” Meg suggested.
Jenn nearly threw her arms around her co-worker in relief. Especially given that she’d need the caffeine to make sure she was alert and creative when she started working on the new cakes.
Though she’d been exhausted by the time she’d returned home last night, she’d barely been able to sleep. How could she sleep when every time she closed her eyes she thought about how playful and loving Daniel was with his kids? And when she couldn’t stop imagining what it would be like to kiss him?
Would his kisses be sweet and gentle? Heated and passionate? Or all of the above?
As the two women walked across the street to Malibu T & Coffee, Jenn tried to get out of her head long enough to appreciate the beautiful day. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the air smelled like flowers in bloom. The café was booming with both tourists and locals, but despite the crowd, Tamara smiled at them as they came in. The team from Married in Malibu had rapidly become her best customers. Nate alone probably increased her profits by twenty percent.
Tamara was a tall, tanned—and beautiful—advertisement for Southern California beach life, dressed in bright fabrics with jangling jewelry. When Jenn ordered a latte, Tamara said, “Are you sure? From the way you keep yawning, I’d say you probably need something stronger.” Her eyes gleamed with the obvious spark of wanting to mix up something special.
Normally, Jenn would be happy to try something new, but today she simply wanted to make it through the day. “A latte is fine.”
“Spoilsport.” But Tamara was grinning as she said it. A few minutes later, she left her assistant at the register and joined Jenn and Meg at their table. “Are you w
orking on another big wedding that you’re not allowed to tell me anything about?”
“There is one of those,” Jenn admitted.
“There’s also a big project for Brides magazine,” Meg said excitedly. “They want to include Jenn’s cakes in a special feature.”
“Wow.” Tamara hugged Jenn. “That’s incredible.”
“It’s only because someone else pulled out,” Jenn pointed out.
Tamara shook her head. “It sounds like someone is being far too modest. Isn’t she, Margaret?”
“Absolutely.” She looked shy as she said, “And please call me Meg. Margaret feels too formal for friends.”
Tamara gave her a brilliant smile. “Meg it is, friend.”
Jenn had dreamed of a job like this for so long. But now that she had a wedding to prepare for and a magazine shoot happening at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. And when she added in her budding feelings for Daniel?
Overwhelmed didn’t even scratch the surface.
“I just can’t believe this is happening. There are so many amazing bakers around the country. Why me?”
“They obviously think the work you did on Amber and Robert’s wedding was amazing,” Meg said. “I know it’s going to be a lot of work, but aren’t you at least a little bit excited about it?”
“Of course I am.” Jenn flashed her friends a small smile. “I just don’t want to let anyone down at Married in Malibu.”
“You won’t,” Meg said as if it was the most obvious conclusion in the world. “And don’t forget, Daniel is going to be helping you in any way he can.”
“Daniel’s going to be ‘helping,’ is he?” Tamara grinned. “I can certainly think of worse people to be locked in a kitchen with.”
Jenn could feel herself flushing as she said, “We’re just going to be working together.”
“That’s what I said.”
“No, you didn’t,” Jenn shot back. “You think I don’t know quotation marks when I hear them?”
