by Gina Gordon
While icing her cupcakes, Jake walked over to the boxes and sifted through them, pulling out a stack of cards. “What are these?”
Liv smiled. Those were her favorite idea. “‘Buy twelve cupcakes, get the thirteenth free' cards.” With every single cupcake a person bought they could have their card stamped, and when they accumulated twelve, they would get one free. It didn't apply to the purchase of dozen and half dozen boxes, of course. Liv's shoulders slumped when she realized Valerie had been the perfect opportunity to promote her special.
“Great idea.”
“It was a great idea.” Liv shrugged then pulled the cupcakes from the tray and set them on the cooling rack.
Jake looked through the boxes a little longer then asked, “Did you mock these up yourself?”
“Yes, with Austin's help.” Liv ducked inside the fridge.
“Are they on a flash drive?”
She emerged with two bowls of icing, one in each hand, and kicked the door closed. “I don't have one here, but they're on my laptop.” She gestured to her computer that sat on the makeshift desk in the tiny room that was supposed to be an office.
“Can I borrow it?” Jake grinned. “You need brochures and business cards, and I might have someone who owes me a favor and can get this printed for you in a few hours.”
“What?” Liv let the bowls drop to the table. They banged against the wood. “I don't need you to—”
“Liv.” He paused, making sure she was looking in his eyes. “Letting someone help you doesn't make you weak.”
She sighed. She needed help. And he offered. If he didn't want to help, he wouldn't have offered. But letting him help meant giving away another piece of herself. She didn't have very many pieces left when it came to Jake, and holding her cards close to the vest was in her best interest. They could have sex, maybe they could even date, but she would be damned if she let him cloud her dream any more than he already had.
Liv placed a disposable piping bag inside a cup and folded down the edges—her secret trick for filling up the bag with ease.
But his next words confused her even more. “Besides, I owe you.”
“Oh, yeah?” She scooped up a spoonful of icing and dropped it into the piping bag. “How do you figure?”
“You're doing me a huge favor by not making me go to that book launch alone. It's the least I could do in return.”
She smiled. He could have found a date in less than thirty seconds if he really tried. She didn't doubt that.
“Let me do this for you.” He walked closer and rested his hands on the island.
“Don't you have to work?” He talked about his job, but Liv hadn't actually seen him do a job.
“I can go in late.” He checked his phone. “I'm already late.”
With the bag now full, Liv lifted it out of the cup and twisted the plastic tightly.
All he was doing was printing things. If he could even deliver on his promise. She couldn't leave here, and letting Jake help meant she would have business cards by the end of the day.
What harm would it do? Too much had gone wrong today already. Letting Jake do her a favor wouldn't be her worst decision of the day.
“Okay, yes.”
Jake rushed to the office and picked up her computer.
“They're in the folder marked PR Material.”
“Got it.” He walked out, but before he reached the doorway he turned. “Just so you know, this wasn't a free favor. You've just agreed to go out with me on Wednesday, too.” He wiggled his eyebrows and left the kitchen.
The jingle of the front door signaled he'd left the bakery and she let out a huge breath. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding it. She'd managed to put off having to answer his proposal for a date because of the call of the oven, but now…
Liv brought the piping bag to the flat surface of one of the cooled cupcakes she had sitting off to the side, and squeezed. Just like that, Jake had made everything better. He'd saved the day. He made it all seem so easy. She hoped that it would be, because his voice and his presence alone made the idea of taking the next step a little less daunting. Maybe she could do this—run a business and have a boyfriend.
Then why was it the scariest feeling in the world?
Chapter Eighteen
Liv answered the knock at her door in a flurry, her hair half dry, dressed in nothing but her bra and a pair of daisy duke spandex shorts.
“Now that would definitely make an impression.” Austin stood in her doorway, shopping bags in hand. She could see he was trying to hold back a laugh. “Honey, you look like you're going to combust. Calm down. Otherwise, Jake is going to have a date with one big hive.”
“Ozzie! I'm freaking out!” She clasped onto his arms. “I have a date!”
“That's good news, not the apocalypse.”
The two days since she'd seen Jake had dragged by. Despite no drama at the bakery and a surprising amount of business, their date was always in the front of her mind. But now, it was finally Wednesday. And she was going on a real date with Jake Miller.
Austin entered and closed the front door. “You just had an entire weekend together…alone. What's the big deal?”
“Because last weekend was like a fantasy. We were in our own little world. Now we have a date. Totally different expectations.”
“I know you can't be talking about sex, because I think that it goes without saying that you gave in to that expectation a long time ago.”
“Not sex! Me!” She pointed to her chest. “We're in the real world now. He's going to want to know things, important things, personal things, intimate things. I've never done this before. What if he figures out he doesn't like me?”
“First of all, you're fantastic.” Austin shifted the bags in his hands. “You're a loyal friend, you have a big heart, and look at you.” His last few words were louder than the rest. “You have a hot body and a beautiful face. Any man would be lucky to have you. Secondly”—he toed off his shoes—“if he does end up not liking you, then he's an ass and he doesn't deserve you.”
“That's my point. Why bother if it's just going to end badly?” How could it not end badly? It's what she had believed for so long.
“You don't know that it will.”
“But it could.”
“But it might not.”
Liv hated how Austin loved to play the back and forth game.
“If you don't give it a try, you're going to end up alone. And personally, I don't know if the man of my dreams will enjoy you living above our garage when we move to the suburbs.”
Liv let out a humph.
“I would say Jake is a pretty good first attempt at a relationship, don't you?”
“I'm scared, Ozzie.” Not that she needed to say it. He knew full well that she was scared to death. But if she was going to do this, she had to say it out loud and face her fears head on. That was what she had done with the bakery, and that was what she was going to do with Jake.
“I know you're scared. But no matter what happens, you'll always have me, Patti, Brett, and of course your family, no matter how kooky they are.” He stepped forward and flung his arm over her shoulder, the bags in his hand slapping against her. “Now let's get my princess ready for the ball.”
They walked to the bathroom fused together, Liv drawing all the strength she could from her best friend.
“T-minus ninety minutes until the big date.” He rushed through the hall and deposited the bags on her bed. “All this freaking out has caused me to lose focus. “I brought surprises.” He turned and cocked his hip. “Ones that are sure to make Mr. Miller drool.”
Giddy with excitement, she went to rummage through them, but Austin held her in place. “All in good time, my love. First we need to fix your hair and get rid of the redness all over your body. If redness isn't from spanking then it's not kosher.” He stepped into the tiny bathroom. “Take a seat.” Motioning her to the toilet, he proceeded to beautify her.
Half an hour later, her hai
r was straight as a pin and her makeup was subtle. Looking in the mirror, she had to admit she did look pretty good.
“Where are those jeans we bought last month?” he asked.
“The tight ones?”
“Yes, the tight ones. Where are they?”
Liv groaned. “I can't wear those.” Buying those jeans was Austin's attempt at forcing her to be trendy. But she so couldn't pull it off.
“Yes, you can. And you will. You didn't spend two hundred dollars on designer jeans to let them collect dust in your closet.”
“I'll be uncomfortable.” She grabbed at her stomach. “They're really tight.”
“Liv, those jeans fit like they were made for you. They hug your curves and lift your ass.” Austin headed for the closet, knowing exactly where she would have stashed them. He grunted when he pulled them out. “You didn't even take them out of the bag.”
She shrugged. “I had no occasion to wear them.”
“You do now. Put them on.”
She struggled, but she managed to stuff her body into the dark denim while Austin scoured her closet.
“Make sure you have good underwear on,” he yelled from inside the closet.
“I think we're way past that stage.”
“You're trying to attract this man. Men love ladies in sexy underwear.” He paused and turned to face her. “I think.”
They both giggled.
He pulled out a black scoop-neck sweater with three-quarter-length sleeves and handed it to her.
“And now for the best part.” Austin headed to the bed where the shopping bags waited.
Liv knew he had raided the fashion room at the magazine where he freelanced as a writer. She couldn't wait to find out what he brought.
He rustled inside the biggest bag. “Now, don't take offense, but there was no way you were going to fit into the sample sizes sitting in the magazine's closet. So I brought the next best thing—shoes and accessories.”
Austin was right. Liv wasn't plus size, but there was no way her size eight body was going to squeeze into a size two. “I scoured the racks, found the perfect items, and voila. This is my gift to you. Think of it as congratulations for finally turning your life upside down.”
Austin pulled out a pair of black leather boots. Not just any black leather boots. Her heart leapt at the sight of the classic red sole—Christian Louboutin.
“You didn't!” She lunged for the boots, but Austin held her at arm's length.
“Do you like?” He beamed with confidence.
Liv may not have been label-conscious or determined to add labels to her wardrobe, but what girl wouldn't want a pair of Louboutins?
“I love!” She clasped her hands in front of her chest then reached for the boots. They were soft and supple in her hands. She yanked them on her feet. The sound of the zipper teeth clenching was music to her ears. “I don't have to give these back, right?”
Austin confirmed with a shake of his head.
She paraded around her bedroom. She felt sexy and confident and ready to take on this date. She posed for her friend, hand on her hip, with her best supermodel face. “Are you sure these jeans aren't too tight?”
“They're perfect. Compared to the crap you usually wear, he's going to bust a gut when he sees you.”
“What else did you bring me?”
He rustled around and pulled out an oversized fuchsia bag. “No collection is complete without a little Dior.”
“Nice!”
Liv hugged the purse, but her eyes darted back to the bed to the newspaper sitting on top of the bag. “What's that?”
“Oh.” Austin lunged for the paper.
“Is that my ad?” This was a big deal. Her very first major ad campaign for her business.
“It's your ad.” Austin's face wasn't…happy.
“Let me see it.” She reached for the paper but Austin pulled it close to his chest.
“I didn't want you to see this before your date.”
Dread. That same feeling that had been haunting her settled in her stomach.
“Let me see it, Austin.”
He hesitated but eventually handed it over.
Liv didn't have to search through the pages. Austin had kindly folded the paper to the correct section. She couldn't afford one of the larger ad spaces, not at this point, so she had opted to go with sort of a co-op ad. She'd sent her logo by email weeks ago. The logo would remain a constant, and all she had to do was send in the text. Each week, for four weeks, she could advertise any two hundred and fifty words.
But…the text. She wasn't Toronto's newest ”capcake bakery.” Capcake? The ad was spelled incorrectly. She had checked it over a hundred times.
“I'm sorry, honey.” Austin reached out and rubbed her arm.
She proofed the document one hundred times before handing it off to Nancy. Nancy. She must've screwed with the text—that was the only possible explanation. Nancy had some serious explaining to do.
“It's…fine.” She wanted to hide under a rock. How embarrassing. How unprofessional. Who would want to buy a product from someone who couldn't even get her advertisement right? She took a deep breath and laid the paper on the bed. There was nothing she could do about it at this moment. “Really, it's fine.”
“Go on.” Austin grabbed her arms and shook her. “Go and do a last glance and fix your face.” He was right to refocus. Liv had a date.
She rushed into the bathroom. When she returned, Austin had already transferred everything she needed into the new bag.
“I put in lip gloss, your compact, breath mints, some smelly hand cream, and an extra pair of underwear.”
“Austin, I don't think I need that.”
“Do you plan on doing the walk of shame in your dirty undies?” He held the purse out to her as it dangled on one of his fingers.
“I don't think tonight is about that, hence the nervousness.”
“Don't tell me there won't be any sex. The two of you can barely keep your hands off each other.” He thrust the purse out closer to her. “Take the undies.”
“All right.” Liv grabbed the purse and headed for her front closet. “I'm thinking the black wool coat.”
“Good choice.” Austin held up the coat for her to step into. Turning around, she slipped her arms into the coat. He straightened the fabric as her stomach did flip-flops and her nervousness pooled under her arms.
Austin rubbed his hands along her arms. “Let's take a couple of deep breaths.”
Liv followed his instructions.
“Remember,”—Austin squeezed her bicep—”if all he wanted was your body, he would have crept out of here Saturday morning without saying a word. Personally, anyone who can brave one of your freak attacks is good in my book. And very into you. Not bartender Liv, or slutty Liv, or even crazy Liv.”
“I'm not a slut.”
“Notice how you didn't say you're not crazy.”
She laughed. Austin's sarcasm put her at ease, but she knew the moment she knocked on Jake's door, the terror would set in.
“I think my work here is done. My little girl is all grown up and she's going on a date.” Austin pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.
“Thank you.”
“You're very welcome.” He pulled her in for a hug.
After grabbing her keys from the table, they headed for the elevator, but not before she locked, then re-locked the front door.
…
Liv stood in front of the solid steel door to Jake's condo and contemplated running for her life. She was scared and nervous, not to mention her skin glistened with a sheen of perspiration. Ah, who was she kidding? She was full-on sweating from nervousness.
He knew she was here. He had buzzed her up, but she was terrified to knock. She wanted to get to know Jake. She wanted him to get to know her. But there was still a wall between the two of them, something inside her that stopped her from being fully committed.
Maybe it was the years of being closed off. Maybe she was incapa
ble of letting someone in. Whatever it was, she knew it was going to come between them. Especially since Jake had the amazing ability to throw her off her game.
But she was ready to give this a try. She was ready to give herself over to another person. And that came with emotions, expectations, and, worst of all, accommodations. Her stomach bounced around like a jumping bean. She zeroed in on the thick gray door, the only sound in the hallway the rapid beating of her heart.
She would face her fear head on. As soon as he opened the door, she would be comforted by his bright smile and it would remind her that she was doing the right thing.
Jake is not your father. She repeated her new mantra in her head.
Taking a deep breath, Liv raised her hand to knock on the door, but before she made contact, it swung open. She was greeted by the bright smile she expected and a pair of sparkling eyes.
“There you are.” His shoulders relaxed. “I thought you got lost.”
“Here I am.” There was no way she was going to tell him she had cold feet and had to talk herself into knocking.
“Come in. You're right on time.”
Maybe because she'd been pacing around his block for the last twenty minutes.
He motioned for her to enter, a welcoming smile settling her nerves. She smiled and walked ahead of him into the open space.
“Let me take your coat.”
As he waited for her to hand over the garment, she caught him. He didn't hide his stare, the way his eyes surveyed the length of her body. A shiver ran up her spine at the hunger in his eyes. Her stomach clenched and she was reminded of the tight denim that stuck to her lower half like a second skin. The jeans were too tight.
When his eyes finally met hers, what she saw was not disgust, but desire. Heat flushed her face. Not only from his approval, but for the way he looked in his dark jeans and button-up shirt.
She reached down to take off her boots but he stopped her. “Keep those on.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He walked over and laid her coat over the black leather couch. He motioned down to her feet. “Red sole.”
“You know the red sole?”
“I have two sisters. My older sister, Briget, bought a pair of red sole shoes with her very first paycheck from her very first full-time job. They were all she could talk about for a month.”
