Chapter Two
Maggie Overland pushed her cart through the depths of the Chicago Otters” arena hoping that nothing bad would befall all the desserts she had on there. This was going to be the biggest presentation she had ever done and she needed to make sure she got every piece to the luxury boxes as carefully as possible.
There were the slices of black cherry chocolate cake and salted caramel mousse cups and square petit fours that she had decorated with the Otters logo on top.
But her favorite thing on the cart were the edible chocolate shot glasses she made that she liked to serve Irish cream in. That would be the end shot for these hockey people that was really going to top off this presentation.
She just needed to get there first. The cart was doing fine so far, but Maggie was doing all she could to not let go of it and have it fly down the ramp leading to the elevator and crash. She would have to make a note of that if the bakery got this contract.
But Maggie really needed this to go well to get that contract.
Overland Bakery had been operating in Chicago for more than seventy years. Her great-grandparents started it, then her grandparents took over, and her dad had been working there his whole life. He took control of it fifteen years ago when her grandfather retired.
The family had always done things a certain way at the bakery. They made cupcakes and pies and other treats that were well-known by Chicagoans, distributed all over the city in grocery stores and other shops. There were plenty of families all over the Chicago area with stories about picking up the bakery”s classic vanilla cake covered in sprinkles for a birthday or anniversary.
Maggie, however, wanted to do something a little different. She had become friends with the owners of Icing bakery in Lincoln Park in the past year. Georgia and Cora ran the place and Maggie even met Georgia”s hunky brother who was an investor and also a player on the Chicago Otters.
She would go to games and sit in the suites watching the players and eating the catered food. The pulled pork sandwiches and mashed potatoes from a local barbecue place were amazing. The desserts were not impressive. Georgia and Cora agreed.
And then a few weeks ago, Overland Bakery came up in conversation during a game.
”You know, the team just got a new owner,” Georgia said. ”We could put in a good word for you.”
”Oh! Your family”s bakery would be perfect for the arena!” Cora exclaimed.
So Maggie went home that night and started thinking about it. Her bakery could make some really special things in big batches and serving an arena would definitely be a big batch of special things.
It could also be a risk and they would have to bring on workers to take on the extra projects. Her father wasn”t too excited about the prospect and her sister with the MBA who ran the finance department didn”t seem too keen on spending that kind of cash. But Maggie convinced them to let her take this meeting at the arena and see what happened.
And that”s how she ended up holding on to a rolling cart for dear life as she slowly walked down a ramp into the belly of the place.
The arena”s security guy led her to an elevator and slowly helped her push the cart over that break between the floor and the elevator so nothing would fall off. Maggie breathed a sigh of relief as the doors started to close with the cart secured. One major task to get everything up to the suite was done without losing any of it.
”Hold on!”
The command came from someone on the other side of the doors and she heard the security guy press the button to open the doors back up just as some jerk slipped in at full throttle and almost ran directly into the cart.
”Whoa!” he said as his eyes went wide at the sight of Maggie.
Maggie grabbed onto the cart for dear life, making sure to secure as much as possible without anything falling off the side. She kept it all on except for the cake box with her black cherry chocolate cake. It tumbled off the side before being caught by the stranger in the elevator who had knocked it off. The jerk prevented it from touching the floor, but he smashed the box on its way down.
Maggie didn”t need to open the box to know the cake was ruined.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. That cake was going to be the centerpiece of her presentation and now it was probably a smashed mess in a cake box.
”Oh, I”m so sorry.”
Maggie opened her eyes to see a man with brown eyes, his hair slightly disheveled over his brow, a bit of scruff on his face. She knew he was probably sincere in his remorse by the look on his face, but it was a face she really wanted to punch right now.
She gingerly took the cake box from his hand and put it back on the cart. ”It”s OK,” she replied to a tight smile.
Maggie couldn”t help the tone in her voice that made it sound very not OK. But she was trying to make a good first impression on anyone in the arena in case they decided to hire Overland Bakery. She couldn”t make enemies out of anyone who might be offering her a contract.
But this jerk in the elevator was now an enemy.
”I”m usually much better with construction stuff than cake boxes,” the man said sheepishly.
”I can tell.”
Again, trying to be professional, but it was really hard to make her voice sound reasonable when all she could think about was what that cake was going to look like when she opened the box.
The man in the elevator seemed to get the hint and pushed himself against the wall as they quietly rode up to the suite level she was going to do her presentation in.
Maggie tried not to scowl at the man standing there in worn-out jeans and a t-shirt with one of those high-vis vests on that you would see on a construction site. He probably wasn”t kidding when he said he was better at construction than desserts. He also looked damn good in those jeans, not that Maggie cared or whatever. At the very least, it wasn”t her main concern right now.
The doors finally dinged and the man got out first and put his hand out to keep the elevator open.
”Do you need some help with that?”
”No, thank you,” she muttered as she pushed it into the hallway as carefully as possible so nothing else got ruined.
But then she didn”t know where to go next and awkwardly stood there trying to find the sign to tell her where suite 216 was. The sooner she could find it, the sooner she could get this disastrous presentation started.
”I think you want to go this way,” the man said, pointing to her left. ”You”re headed to 216, right?”
Oh, great. The jerk was probably going to the same place she was. Perhaps management thought getting a ”real person” who worked in the arena would be good to help them judge her desserts. She was already nervous with the ten people who were going to be in the room including the head of catering, her friends from Icing, and the Otters” team owner -- no pressure.
And here was Maggie stuck with some maintenance guy walking awkwardly beside her as she pushed her cart with a smashed cake on it.
She needed to get a grip and take a breath. Yes, she had a major bump in her presentation, but there were plenty of other options she was presenting to the group and she had to do it like the true professional baker she was. Maybe she should start her presentation with the liquor in the shot glass instead of ending with that, get everyone buzzing so they wouldn”t notice the crushed cake.
Maggie and the jerk from the elevator got to the door at the same time. ”Excuse me,” he said quietly as he pushed past her and opened the door to the suite for her.
She gave him a polite smile and walked in with her cart to see people were already there.
”Yes! Dessert is here!”
Riley Rookwood, who played Otters and invested in Icing, came bounding over with a smile. Georgia and Cora were also there, and Maggie was particularly excited to see them again and show them what she had whipped up for this presentation. She would have to focus on the good stuff she had on the cart and try to forget the cake failure.
”These look amazing,” Georgia said as she walked over to the cart. ”Let me help you get these displayed before everyone else gets here.”
She grabbed a tray of cookies and another with the petit fours on it.
”Oh no,” Cora said as she picked the cake box off the cart. ”Do I dare ask what happened?”
”Uh, that was my fault.” The jerk sheepishly raised his hand. ”I accidentally knocked it off the cart but saved it from hitting the floor.”
”I can see that,” Cora said as she delicately put it on the counter.
Maggie watched as they all crowded around Cora while she lifted the lid. Cora gave the cake a sympathetic look while the jerk from the elevator cringed upon seeing what he had done to her cake.
Riley closed his eyes with a look of ecstasy on his face. ”I don”t care. That smells delicious and I”m going to eat it.”
Maggie dared herself to peer into the box. It wasn”t as bad as she expected, but it definitely wasn”t great. There were a few cherries pushed deep into the chocolate and her chocolate cherry frosting was smeared all over one side of the box.
”It does smell amazing,” said the jerk from the elevator.
Riley turned to Maggie and gave her a teasing smile. ”Sorry our team owner sucks, but I”m sure your presentation is going to be great anyway.”
Maggie”s eyes darted between Riley and the jerk from the elevator.
”Your who?”
”I didn”t have a chance to introduce myself yet with the whole cake thing.” The jerk in the jeans stepped forward and put out his hand. ”I”m Charlie Westmore. I own the team.”
Maggie stared at him. The jerk in the elevator. The guy who made a pair of jeans and high-vis vest look good. The man who crushed her cake. He was the owner of the Chicago Otters?
Well, crap.
”Where are you coming from?” Georgia demanded.
”What?”
Charlie pulled his hand away slightly, which was fine because Maggie was still too stunned to shake it.
”Sorry.” Georgia cleared her throat, probably realizing her tone was a little harsh. ”It”s just that you”re here with the vest and the boots and whatever, and I”m a little worried about you shaking hands with our dessert specialist.”
Charlie laughed and pulled his hand farther away before stuffing it into his pocket rather than waiting for Maggie to shake it. She hoped he wouldn”t think badly of her for being too stunned to respond.
”That”s fair,” he said with a smile. ”I was helping with the drains for the ice runoff because they were clogged, and I promise I took extra time to wash my hands, which is why I was rushing into the elevator and accidentally smashed the cake.”
”Oh.” Georgia looked at the counter and then the cart, then the cake and back to Charlie. ”OK, that”s fine.”
Charlie”s smile got bigger. ”Thanks for the approval.”
The door opened and more people came in, breaking Maggie out of her shock that the owner -- the owner! -- smashed her cake. But she didn”t have time to worry about her bad first impression now.
Charlie waved at the people coming in and then leaned over, putting a reassuring hand on Maggie”s shoulder. ”I am really sorry about the cake, but I know you”re going to do great with this.”
Then he walked away in those damn good-looking jeans that looked even better as he started taking off that vest and she could see his ass in them.
But Maggie had to look away and focus on her desserts.
She could talk to him later, maybe give him a piece of her mind about his piece of her cake when he wasn”t talking to other people. But until then, she had work to do.