Sweet Reunion

by CJ Warrant

  “Mmm. Damn, Beth. You still have the touch,” he uttered with a full mouth. He lifted the cupcake into his mouth again and took another big bite, not giving a shit if there were crumbs all over the car. They could be cleaned.

  As he pulled up the garage, he punched in the code and the door glided open. Bryce quickly maneuvered around the garage and parked in one of two spots. Putting the Jag into park, he glanced over to the empty spot where Brittany’s car once sat.

  “Don’t thing about that lying cheating slut,” he scolded himself. But Bryce couldn’t help it. Every part of this place reminded him of her.

  When he broke off their engagement, he should have sold the condo and found another place. However, Bryce knew if he did, he’d lose huge—not only in value but the view. Besides, she never really loved this place but that didn’t matter. This was his place before it was theirs. And was the reason why he kept it.

  In the elevator, Bryce stared down at the two boxes. The image of Beth surprised as shit when he walked in made him laugh. He was sure as the sun was coming out tomorrow that Beth hadn’t expected to see him at her doorstep.

  She was still beautiful even with a bit of flour on her face, from her lush curvy figure to her big brown eyes. He always found her sultry, but never was able to admit it to her. He was afraid if he showed any signs of attraction, he’d lose her friendship, and that meant more to him than anything.

  Although, to this day, Bryce wondered what had happened between them? The way she had left their friendship in shattered pieces was shocking to say the least. He knew that she was pissed off at him, but for what, she hadn’t told him. Not even Hannah would elaborate on why Beth was so angry with him.

  Bryce couldn’t say he never tried through calls and text messages, but Beth never answered. He went as far as sending flowers and a messages apologizing, but all he received from the messenger was to fuck off.

  Even after all this time, Bryce remembered that night that broke their friendship, like it had just happened. They all were drunk, especially him. They were all laughing and goofing around. His addled brain recollected that Beth left for a bit and then Hannah approached him for a fuck. There was no way in hell he would ever sleep with Beth’s best friend. Aside from that, Bryce was never attracted to the redhead. He declined and Hannah left in a huff.

  Not long after and a six pack later, Beth’s roommate asked if he could help her with something in their room. When he walked in, Angela spun on him and started to kiss him. Drunk as he was, Bryce kissed back but stopped himself. Like Hannah, he wasn’t going to mess around with these women—not when his eyes were set on Beth.

  That night…

  “Jesus,” he muttered. It took all this time, but he bet either Beth saw him go in the bedroom with Angela and assumed he had sex with her. Or Hannah, being the jealous bitch as she was, had told Beth that he’d slept with her roommate.

  Elevator door opened to the fifteenth floor, interrupting his thoughts.

  He headed to the last door to the left, unlocked it, and walked in. There were four units on this level. Bryce paid a hefty price for an unobstructed view of Lake Michigan. At night, especially during the summer, he could see lights from boats in the distance. Or on a clear day, one could possible see across the waters.

  To the left, Bryce placed the two boxes of Beth’s goodies on the black granite counter. He placed his keys and mail on the half over table by the door.

  Chapter Three

  Beth

  Beth woke up about six the following morning with one hell of a headache. She could have used the excuse of drinking too much last night for the pressure at her temples and the dark circles under her eyes. But no. Tossing and turning all night, dreaming about Bryce didn’t help the cause. At least she hadn’t thought about Hannah.

  After popping two Motrin, she showered, drowned herself with a quick shot of espresso, and headed out to do her errands before going to Sweet Cupids.

  Once she finished her shopping at the baking supply store and dropped off the deposit at the bank, Beth drove straight to the shop.

  As she walked in, Gina Reynolds and Freddy Zamora, Beth’s two best baking assistants, ran over and dragged her into the office. The two of them were talking to her at the same time, which amplified her headache.

  Beth raised a hand up. “Wait. One at a time.” She scanned the back room and interrupted them. “Who’s watching the front?”

  “Renee,” Gina quickly replied.

  Beth dumped her Vera Bradley purse bag onto the desk and sat down. “Do we have enough carrot cheesecake out in the display?” she asked while pulling off her red sheepskin boots and tossing them in the corner of the room to dry.

  Freddy nodded, looking worried. Beth didn’t think it was about the cheesecake.

  Gina waved several fax sheets in her face, trying to grab Beth’s attention. “Do you see this? It’s a new order for ten dozen of each of our mini decadent chocolate cupcakes, mini caramel eclairs, and the bite size mascarpone brownies. And all by this Saturday.” Gina took a squeaky breath and continued. “And six dozen of Beth’s cookies. What are Beth’s cookies?”

  Beth choked on her own spit when Gina said Beth’s cookies. Bryce? No way! “Who placed the order?”

  “Landry and Associates,” Gina replied with hesitancy.

  “What are Beth’s cookies? I didn’t see that on our menu,” said Freddy, his brows knit tighter. “Is it new?”

  “No,” Beth uttered, her heart palpitating hard against her ribcage. She pushed herself off the chair, grabbed her Crocs, slipped them on, and sat back down. She was having a hard time breathing.

  “Are you okay, chica?” Freddy bent down and asked. He rubbed her shoulders. Beth loved Freddy to death. He was the gay friend all females needed in their lives.

  Beth gave a small nod, but she wasn’t okay. Far from okay. How was she going to fill all these orders without killing herself? Plus, he wanted her cookies, too. She hadn’t made them in many years, not since he left for Harvard.

  “Breathe,” Gina ordered.

  “I’m okay. Let me see that fax.” Beth grabbed the sheet out of her assistant’s hand and scanned through the list. At the bottom of the list was Bryce’s signature. “No way,” she whispered in denial, shaking her head.

  “Where is this place? Can we fill this order?” Freddy asked reading over Beth’s shoulder.

  “I think it’s the large law firm off Randolph,” Gina explained.

  “It is.” Her stomach began to ache as an acrid taste slowly burned the back of her throat. Filling this order was near impossible—not with all the other orders she had to fill for the holidays. However, it would be great if she could. That meant she’d be able to pay off the suppliers and her employees without selling off her soul. But adding those damned cookies… she had to bake twenty-four hours straight to do it.

  “Honey, are we going to be able to do this by Saturday? And what are Beth’s cookies? How come we don’t know about them?”

  Beth looked up at the two bewildered assistants and shook off her stupor. “Those were cookies I made in college and sold for extra money,” she muttered, still in disbelief.

  “Why aren’t they on the menu?” Gina asked.

  “I don’t want them on the menu.” Beth bit out the words, but was instantly sorry. She stood and hugged Gina.

  Freddy reached around and hugged them both. “I feel the love.”

  Beth laughed and pulled back. “I’m sorry for snapping at you, Gina. This is just so much.”

  Gina’s light golden eyes behind her black-rimmed glasses glistened with tears. “I know.”

  “Okay. Now, what about the orders? Can we do it?” Freddy chimed in while he took the fax sheet out of Beth’s hand and studied the list.

  “We don’t have a choice, do we?” Beth said with conviction. “It will help cover some of the loss of what…” Beth choked back Hannah’s name. She wiped away the wetness stinging her eyes. “We have to do it.”

&n
bsp; “That’s only giving us three days to put together five big orders, and one is for a wedding. And with only the three of us—”

  “Shh,” Freddy silenced Gina. “Beth, we can do this, but do we have enough supplies?”

  “If we can get tomorrow’s two orders out, the money we make will cover all the expenses for this weekend.”

  “Then we better shake our little culos fast,” Freddy said, laughing while shaking his own rear. Beth adored his positive attitude. She needed it, especially today.

  As much as she wanted to stay away from Bryce, he had inadvertently saved her ass by placing a large order. Saved it at least for the coming month.

  For the rest of the day, Beth’s mind strayed on and off Bryce, while Hannah’s deceptions remained in the forefront as a reminder of why she had to hustle. It was quite crazy, and exhilarating at the same time. When she baked, the time spent mixing all the ingredients together always put her at ease—no matter the circumstances or how bad something turned out.

  By the time Beth locked the front door, she could barely move her feet or arms. Her back felt strained, and her legs ached as she headed back toward the office. Halfway across the room, she heard something knocking on the glass. She paused, and her body tightened into a rigid pole. I’m so not in the mood.

  Beth peered through the window and spotted Bryce with a beautiful smile on his face.

  “Damn it,” she groaned. Why was he here? Seeing him once was bad enough, but two nights in a row was going to drive her insane.

  Reluctantly, Beth shuffled to the front door and opened it. “Come in,” she said with a stale tone. She wasn’t in the mood and didn’t have the strength to debate whether she had time to talk to him. After he stepped inside, she locked the door and headed straight to the back, Bryce following her.

  “I don’t have anything left to sell you, Bryce.” Beth uttered the words with a yawn. Her body hurt when she talked. She threw herself into her chair and leaned back.

  “I’m not here to buy anything,” he said in a chipper tone.

  I hate you right now. Could he be any happier? If she had the strength, she’d smack the smile off his face. “Why are you here?”

  “Can’t I come and visit my old friend?”

  Beth arched a brow, loving the way his eyes sparkled with slight mischief. Though, she wasn’t going to admit that out loud.

  “Okay. Did you get my order for this Saturday’s party?” He grabbed a chair from the corner and placed it in front of Beth.

  “Short notice.” Beth couldn’t move, but her mouth still had enough energy.

  “I’m sorry, but once I tasted your cupcakes, I knew you were the only one I want to handle the sweet catering for our holiday party.” He gave her another outstanding smile and his eyes sparked with mischief.

  What had him so damned happy? Couldn’t he see she was hurting?

  “Thanks.” Beth winced when she straightened in her chair. “Yes, we did receive the fax. I confirmed it with your secretary. So you should have asked her instead of wasting your time coming all the way here.”

  “I did.” Bryce rubbed at his jaw before he spoke again. “I want to apologize for last night, too.”

  “What about?”

  “When I asked you about your partner, I… um, didn’t know about Hannah until this afternoon.”

  Beth shot him a incredulous look. “How did you find out about Hannah?”

  “Mr. Robin Doyle.”

  Damn. One of her patrons. She’d asked him for legal counsel concerning dissolving her partnership. Beth had to go through all the details about the theft. “Mr. Doyle,” she said with disappointment.

  “Don’t be mad at the man. He only wanted to help.”

  “So he came to you.”

  No matter. Eventually, everyone was going to know what Hannah had done. Beth sucked in a small breath before she answered. “That’s fine. It’s not your fault Hannah stole all the money and took off.”

  She shook her head and began riffling through her pile of papers on the desk. It didn’t matter how hard she tried to ignore him, Bryce’s scent filled every corner of the small space. Besides, the office was way too tiny for her liking. If her feet hadn’t hurt so badly, she would have gotten up and walked out in a heartbeat.

  Bryce’s hand touched her knee and squeezed. “Beth, I don’t want to pry, but how are you going to handle this situation?”

  Beth glared at his hand, which he removed quickly. “Why? This doesn’t concern you.” God, she hated the fact that he knew her business. She didn’t need Bryce adding to her emotional baggage.

  Bryce straightened and gave her a devilish grin. “The same old Beth. Always on the defensive. I’m here to help you. As a friend, it’s my right. You would do it for me.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  He leaned in, and cocked an eyebrow. Oh, so gorgeous.

  “Bryce. Thank you for thinking of me but there is nothing you can do.” Beth folded her arms across her chest. At that moment, she was glad the chair had wheels because she was able to glide backwards away from him.

  “Are you going to dissolve your partnership with Hannah?” He lost his smile; his eyes lost the sparkle. They turned hard with a hint of censure glazing them.

  Beth leaned further back in the chair and dropped her eyes from his face. “Yes.”

  “Then you’ll need my help,” he said with certainty.

  “I can’t afford you,” Beth blurted out and tried to salvage what she confessed. “I-I mean, l have a lawyer in the works.” Too late, Monroe. Bryce isn’t going to buy that.

  “You can’t lie, Bethie. Your beautiful brown eyes show the truth.”

  Did he say beautiful? Holy crap. That luscious smile was back on his face, and his blue eye twinkled with absolute knowledge. How she wished she could reach out and kiss that man senseless, and then kick him out for sticking his nose in her business.

  No, Beth wouldn’t or couldn’t afford it, no matter how bad she wanted to kick him out. It wasn’t in her nature to be mean. Yes, she could be a bitch, if she mustered enough courage. Though, at the moment, bitchiness took too much energy and right now she barely had enough to finish totaling up tonight’s receipts. How could she tell him she was barely getting by without degrading herself? Adding lawyer’s fees would only drown her in more debt.

  “I have a proposal,” Bryce said with earnest, pulling papers out of his briefcase and placing them it front of her.

  “What do you have in mind, Landry?” she asked, staring at a contract in front of her. Beth shifted her gaze from Bryce to the papers. “What is this?”

  “We have some pro-bono work coming. I think you are the perfect candidate for it.”

  Beth paused, looked at him wide-eyed, and said, “Pro-bono?”

  “Free, Bethie,” Bryce explained sarcastically.

  “Stop calling me that! And I know what pro-bono means,” Beth bit back. “Why me?”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m sure there are people there who need it more than I do,” Beth countered. She turned away from his rooted stare. Focus on the receipts and not his gorgeous eyes!

  “Right now, I only see you, needing it more. Come on, Beth. Don’t be so stubborn. Take the offer.”

  His words were like salvation to her ears, but something inside her made her skittish. “What else do you want?” Knowing full well how Bryce’s mind worked, he had more to gain from this.

  Bryce chuckled. “You know me well.”

  “I guess I do.” She gifted him a smile, though her stomach flipped as he drew near her.

  “One dinner. I told you we have a lot to talk about.”

  Beth sat up straight, her face mere inches from his. “One dinner? That’s it?” How brazen could she get? Initially she hadn’t meant to get so close but once she locked eyes with his, she lost her control to think. “Bryce, there is nothing to talk about.” Oh God. That came out breathy and wanting. Pull it back, Monroe.

  He inched c
loser. “Yes, there is a lot to talk about, Beth. One dinner and that pro-bono will be yours.” She could feel his hot breath on her cheek, which made her nipples tighten into peaks. “Just one dinner, Beth,” Bryce repeated in a rough and begging rasp.

  The plea in his blue eyes was like a siren’s call. The air surrounding them charged with desire. Her skin tingled, and from the way Bryce’s pupils enlarged, he felt it too.

  Beth’s heart galloped, and her mouth went dry. How could she refuse the man she had loved so many years ago? If one dinner would get her the help she needed, then why not? One dinner with sexy Bryce Landry wasn’t going to kill her. It might overload her with sexual frustration, but it was for a good reason.

  “Fine. One dinner.”

  Chapter Four

  Three days flew by so fast that Beth didn’t have a chance to take a normal breath. At the end of each day, Bryce would come, buy up whatever she had left, which wasn’t much, and stay late. He talked until she kicked him out.

  It was annoying as hell, but at the same time, Beth enjoyed his company. Truly missed it.

  Bryce did most of the talking. About Harvard and how it sucked being away from things that were familiar to him. He also talked about his grandfather, and how before he passed away, made Bryce promise to keep the traditions and help run the firm with his father with whom he butted heads constantly. What a sad choice, to sacrifice what you wanted for a promise.

  However, Beth kept quiet on her opinions about Bryce’s decision.

  He briefly brought up about their friendship, but Beth quickly squashed it by asking about the holiday party on Saturday. He hadn’t mentioned it again; he must have gotten the hint. Though deep down, she was disappointed that he hadn’t pushed. Although, that night he had her attention when Bryce got so close, that if she had the guts, she’d lean in and kiss him. No, she hadn’t had the guts to do it.

  Disheartened by her own lack of courage, Beth focused on being friends again. Maybe she could learn to get forget the past. Maybe.