Cakewalk: A Calhoon Small Town Romantic Comedy Read online

  The bells above the door jingled, and I strained my neck to look at this late customer.

  It was Griffin.

  It was Griffin!

  I jerked back in my seat and gripped the armrests as I stared daggers at him. Griffin put on an innocent expression and smiled warmly at my sister, uncaring of the mild heart attack he was giving me.

  I slowly looked over my shoulder at Courtney, searching for any hint of recognition on her face. Instead, she smiled up at him as if he were any other customer, then quickly hid the cleaning supplies.

  He cocked his head in concern, a stray lock of his gorgeous mane falling over his forehead. “I’m sorry,” he started. “Were you closing up?” He took a step back as if to politely leave.

  My sister quickly straightened her apron over her big baby bump and shook her head. “Not at all. How may I help you?”

  Griffin ceased his half-hearted retreat and approached the display counter with renewed vigor. “I’ve heard this is the best pastry shop in town.”

  “It’s the only pastry shop in town, but yes.” Courtney seemed to grow a bit taller, ever proud of the family cake shop’s reputation.

  “Well, I’m specifically in the mood for strawberry cupcakes with pink frosting on top. Odd, isn’t it?” He slipped a sly glance my way as I covered my mouth to keep from yelping.

  “Pink frosting…” my sister mumbled as she looked over the display. It appeared she was completely unaware of why he made that specific request. “I have some unfrosted strawberry cupcakes in the back that I can frost up for you. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

  “That would be perfect. I’ll have a half dozen.”

  She nodded and disappeared into the back kitchen. Now that we were alone, I shot up from my chair and whisper-yelled at Griffin, “What did I tell you? You weren’t supposed to come in here ever again!”

  “What? I was craving it after that free taste test I had this morning. Besides, she doesn’t recognize me.”

  I mean, he had a point. Clearly, she had no idea who he was, otherwise this exchange would have been a lot more violent. But still, he was playing with some serious fire.

  He’s tormenting you, Jade. Look at that wicked little grin on his face.

  Yeah, he was definitely tormenting me, but was it coming from a mean or teasing place? Every little self-doubting part of me wanted to assume the worst, but if he really was here to tease me, wouldn’t that mean…

  Wouldn’t that mean he kinda liked me or something?

  “It’s my father’s name and face she recognizes,” Griffin continued as he looked over the display case, unaware of the storm brewing inside me. “He’s the much maligned fat cat that everybody knows. Which, I guess, makes me a fat kitten?”

  I laughed. “You are not a kitten.”

  “Either way. He’s no longer involved in the ocean front development plan. Marketplace Square is all mine. Once everyone realizes that, I think their nerves will settle.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to help. We’ve got a saying around these parts…”

  He turned to face me. “Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

  “The peach doesn’t fall very far from the tree.”

  Griffin paused. “I’m pretty sure that’s a saying everywhere—or at least a variation of it.”

  “Well, I sure hope it’s not true, Griffin, or else your peach is going to get pitted.”

  “Okay, now that’s a saying I haven’t heard. But it sounds like a mild threat.”

  I nodded very seriously. That was when my sister pushed her way through the back door, holding a white open box. Inside were six cupcakes with the same pink frosting as Madison’s dearly departed cake. She set it on the counter. “How do these look?”

  “Perfect,” Griffin said, then my sister rang him up. With the box of cupcakes secured in his hands, he thanked her and tilted his head in a nod at me before heading back out. I let out a breath, relieved to see him go.

  Courtney watched him as he left, then turned to me and smiled mischievously. “He has a cute butt.”

  I shot her a look. “You shouldn’t be checking guys out with your perfect husband and sweet little baby on the way.”

  “I was checking him out for you, silly. I think it’s about time you start dating again.”

  I leaned my head back to let out an exaggerated groan. But she was right. It had been a long, long time. I just wasn’t sure I was over what happened the last time I fell in love.

  I shivered as I tried to forget it.

  “I think he was checking you out too,” my sister mused, picking up the cleaning supplies again.

  “Nuh uh.”

  “He even nodded at you before he left. And he lingered, for just a moment, as if he wanted to ask you something.”

  “Okay, now you’re imagining things,” I said. She was not.

  “You know the pickings are slim around here. Want me to chase after him and get his number for you?” Courtney had a look in her eyes like she was just about ready to do it.

  I quickly waved her off. “No, please! I already have it anyway.”

  Courtney gasped. “What? You got his number while I was back there for two minutes?”

  “I got it earlier.” I groaned. But then again, it would’ve been nice to get at least half of the truth out there. “I ran into him with your cake this morning. He’s the businessman I told you about. He gave me his number so he could set up the refund.”

  “Wow.” Courtney pointed back at the cupcakes in the display, then at the door he had left from, and I could see that she was putting some things together. “That’s why he ordered strawberry cupcakes with pink frosting!”

  “Yep,” I mumbled.

  “He is totally sending you a message, Jade! You have to text him.”

  “God, no.”

  “Why not?”

  “He’s, uh…” I gulped. “He’s also our new tenant for the apartment upstairs. I think it’d be extremely inappropriate for me to have any sort of relationship with him, given I’m basically his landlord. Speaking of which, I need the paperwork for the lease whenever you can dig that up.”

  Courtney forgot all about her cleaning supplies as she firmly planted both hands on her hips. “When were you planning on telling me all of this?”

  Courtney clearly didn’t know how much worse it was. “Tonight. It sorta just happened all of a sudden, and—”

  “You know that technically I’m his landlord, since I’m the one on the lease, and the one who can sublet.”

  “Yeah—”

  “And I haven’t even decided on what would be a fair rent!”

  “I told you when I quit that I’d take care of all of that for you. You’re already stressed enough. So please, Court, let me handle all of it. All the paperwork. And don’t worry about the rent. He’s paying a premium just for the convenience.”

  “The convenience of what?”

  “Of… Of being on Main Street, and living so close to such a great pastry shop.”

  Courtney’s eyes narrowed on mine as she looked for any signs of weakness, but I managed not to flinch. Finally, she sighed and returned to cleaning off the display case. “Fine. I hate paperwork anyway. You can take a percentage, you know, if he really is paying a premium. Call it a finder’s fee. I know you could use the money, and this business is yours too.”

  “The cake shop is yours, regardless if our parents wanted us to split it equally. I might take a small commission off the rent though, for groceries.”

  “For a lot more than that. I know those student loans weren’t cheap.”

  “I’ll pay those off another way. Seriously, you just worry about yourself.” My phone dinged, and I took a moment to glance at it.

  It was a text from Griffin.

  Griffin: You busy tonight?

  I don’t know how she did it, but Courtney was right over my shoulder in the split second it took me to read the text. “You better tell him you’re free tonight,” she said, pinching my
arm.

  I slammed my phone screen against my chest to hide it from her, then mumbled, “Yeah, right.” I had a feeling he just wanted to sort out the rental details, or maybe see if I’d volunteer to help him move in. There was no way he was asking me out. I stood and backed away from Courtney. “I ought to get back to King Kong. And I need to send out some job applications too.”

  That seemed to ruin Courtney’s wistful mood, which was for the better. Anything to make her forget about Griffin’s existence. “Come on. You really ought to take a couple of days off before looking for another job. I mean, you just fired yourself.” She winked. “You deserve some recovery time.”

  “Better to get back on the horse,” was the trite reply I pulled out of my ass. The truth was, my finances were going to look dire real fast, so a day or two of me-time was really not on the table.

  Courtney gave me a quick hug, then headed back behind the counter. “Fine. You’re not off the hook, though. I expect a follow-up about this hot new beau of yours.”

  Oh, she was going to get a follow-up eventually, all right. Whether either of us liked it or not. “Yeah, sure,” I said, before heading outside, wondering how exactly I was going to answer Griffin’s text.

  Chapter 6

  Jade

  Mr. and Mrs. Davidson’s house wasn’t in too much disarray from King Kong’s usual rampaging this evening. The rooms and hallways had branches installed along the walls, perhaps in a sad attempt to keep the giant lizard from climbing the furniture instead, but he had knocked over a few books and ship models in his wake today. Definitely not as bad as that one time he knocked over the flatscreen TV though.

  The massive iguana skittered into the hallway as I assessed the day’s damage, giving me a big yawn as he waited expectantly for his dinner. The beast’s body was about the size of my leg, and his whip of a tail had necessitated making the entire house lizard-proof. But Mr. and Mrs. Davidson loved the green spiky bastard enough to go through the trouble.

  And they even loved him enough to hire me to pet-sit him while they were enjoying the summer months in their second house up North. That momentarily solved my housing situation, as I was allowed to stay in the guest room, but they’d be back in a couple of months, and then the free ride would be over.

  That was why I needed a job, stat.

  Not to mention the student loans…

  As I was hanging my purse and keys, King Kong aggressively licked at my sneakers. When that didn’t get a response, he whipped his tail and eyed me, his pupils dilating.

  “All right, all right, I’m gonna feed you! Yeesh.” I kicked off my sneakers, tucked my phone into my pocket, then hurried to the kitchen.

  The Davidsons’ kitchen was bigger than any house I could probably afford, and its state-of-the-art equipment was wasted on me since all I ever did was use the microwave. Still, I always had to admire the sleek surfaces every time I turned the kitchen light on in the evening.

  I opened the massive fridge door and pulled out the makings for King Kong’s dinner. As I tore up some fresh spinach and vegetables and set them on a plate, I wondered just how I should respond to Griffin. At this point, it had been thirty minutes since he texted me, and I wondered if my silence would be interpreted a certain way. Would he think I was ignoring him, and not interested at all? Would he think I was trying to play some sort of game with him, acting like I wasn’t at all desperate to respond?

  I wasn’t sure why I couldn’t just text him back. His question was rather vague, though. “You busy tonight?” could be, as I first suspected, him just wanting to settle some rental business. Or worse, wanting me to help him move in his stuff.

  Not that I’d mind helping him move in his furniture or boxes, but considering my long and storied past of dropping and breaking things, it wouldn’t be such a good idea. I was worse than King Kong in that regard. And I doubted he’d find my klutziness so endearing when he was on the receiving end of it.

  Was it really better, though, if he was asking me out? What could a super rich, high society, big city guy like him have in common with me?

  Ugh, there was my overly naive thinking again. If he was texting with romantic intent, he probably just wanted to hook up, have a little fun. Normal people did that all the time, didn’t they? It didn’t have to mean something.

  And maybe it wouldn’t be so bad for me to casually hook up with someone. Lord knows I took my last relationship way too seriously, which set me up for massive disappointment and embarrassment that I was still reeling from years later.

  I pulled out my phone, forgetting about King Kong’s spinach feast as I typed a response.

  Me: My night’s free. What’s up?

  I didn’t press send just yet, setting down my phone on the marble counter and contemplating whether the “What’s up?” was too casual for our level of familiarity.

  I deleted it and typed again.

  Me: Yes, I’m free tonight. Need help with something?

  Ugh, no! That was terrible! That was clearly telling him, “You’re in the friend-zone, buddy.” Though it would be a less desperate response if it did turn out that all he wanted was help with the apartment.

  I deleted it again. What would my sister have me write? I put on a haughty expression and typed as if I were her, answering for me.

  Me: Yes. I’m hopelessly single, which means my night’s totally free and your odds of a one-night stand are through the roof, if that’s what you’re asking.

  It was good to laugh every once in a while, right? But now it was time to compose my actual response.

  As my thumb hovered over to the “delete” key, King Kong decided now was the opportune time to whip my ankle so hard it made me double over.

  And I hit “send” instead.

  “King Kong!” I gasped, then I desperately double-tapped the sent message, hoping to pull up an option to delete it. The option came up, and the relief I felt was borderline orgasmic, but that was when a check mark appeared below the message, signifying that it had been read.

  And now that Griffin had read it, the option to delete it disappeared.

  Fuck me.

  But not in the fun way.

  I considered putting my phone into the nearby blender and wondered just how difficult it’d be to assume a new identity in Costa Rica or wherever criminals escape to. Some place that didn’t have an extradition treaty with the US, because the message I accidentally sent was criminal as far as I was concerned. Poor Griffin was probably dying of secondhand embarrassment, or maybe he was laughing his ass off. But either way, he’d probably never see me the same way again.

  Maybe I could tell him my sister stole my phone and sent that. I mean, I did write it while I was role playing what Courtney would say for me.

  King Kong whipped me again, and I yelled down at him, “All right! Jesus!” I set the plate of veggies down for him, then I ran off with my phone, heading for the sofa in the living room.

  I sat down on the frayed piece of furniture, various pieces of fiber sticking out from King Kong’s claws. I guess it wasn’t just my life that the lizard left in tatters. “What do I say? Fuck!” After another moment of game planning, I decided it’d be best to blame my sister.

  As I unlocked my phone to begin my damage control, a response from Griffin appeared.

  Griffin: Okay, but I’ll have you know I’m not the type of girl who puts out unless I’ve been wined and dined first. That little Italian place down by the ocean seems nice. Interested?

  Oh my God. He actually responded positively to that? Do I still tell him that was my sister? Or do I just take on this new, bold identity? Do I act like a brand new Jade who says what she wants and doesn’t care if she gets rejected?

  Well, I had nothing to lose, now that I had lost all of my dignity.

  Me: I love that restaurant. Meet you there?

  Griffin: 7 sound good?

  Seven? That was like midnight in Calhoon time.

  Me: Works for me.

  Griffin: G
reat. See you then.

  I exhaled and tossed my phone to the side, my entire body deflating on the sofa.

  I somehow blundered my way into a date with Griffin, the hottest bachelor in town. And maybe there was even an implied understanding that we might get it on afterward?

  Sweet Jesus, I didn’t know how to react to that.

  King Kong hopped on top of my chest, knocking the wind out of me, licking his chops as he eyed me again.

  “No,” I groaned. “You’ve had plenty to eat, and you’ve caused enough trouble tonight.”

  He got a familiar look in his eyes and his body stiffened. I wasn’t sure what it meant at first, but then I remembered. “Oh, hell no!” I grabbed him and set him down on the floor. “Go do your business in the box in the corner, you little monster! Haven’t you ruined my day enough?”

  It seemed King Kong was feeling merciful, since he scurried off to his litter box before things got ugly.

  I deflated back into the sofa again. That was when it hit me: My entire wardrobe amounted to t-shirts, jeans, pajamas, and nothing else. What the hell was I going to wear for a fancy evening out?

  I stood and glanced over in the direction of the master bedroom. Maybe Mrs. Davidson had a cute dress I could borrow? Sure, it’d be forty years out of date, but didn’t fashion trends come back around again?

  I sent her a quick text, asking if it’d be okay to borrow something “for a date.” It shouldn’t have surprised me when she blew up my phone with one text after another.

  Mrs. Davidson: Who is he?

  Mrs. Davidson: Is it that Killian boy? And here I thought he didn’t swing that way!

  Mrs. Davidson: Wait, is it Reuben, from the dock? He’s a nice young man. Except for that one incident with the cow!