Chapter 2
TWO
CHLOE
I’d heard of people blinking rapidly to clear fogginess or confirm they weren’t seeing things that weren’t there. But no matter how many times I blinked, the beautiful man remained standing a few feet away and didn’t disappear.
Never had I felt so flustered in all my life. Was there something wrong with me?
He was… God, he was perfect.
And tall. He must’ve had at least six inches on me. Compared to the mess of my hair at the moment, his appeared to be perfectly groomed. Like he’d just had it freshly cut, short on the sides and back, while the length on top was neatly styled.
As easy as it would’ve been to be embarrassed by the state of myself while looking at him, the humiliation didn’t quite seep in.
I was far too mesmerized by the amount of ink on his body.
Peeking out from beneath the sleeves of his shirt, both arms were covered in tattoos.
The mostly all-black ink, save for the blood red rose that covered the entirety of his outer arm at the crease of his right elbow, snaked over the healthy muscle in his biceps and strong forearms all the way down to the backs of his hands, over his knuckles, and onto his fingers.
The neatly groomed facial hair along with the lower half of his cheeks and jaw met the ink that covered his throat and dipped down past the collar of his plain white T-shirt. I was willing to bet my entire cake shop that his whole torso was decorated just the same.
It was only after he spoke that I realized I’d been standing there with my mouth agape.
I snapped my lips together as he said, “Hey, Dale, I just got that cabinet finished up, and I was going to get started on the bed frame next. But I remembered you said to come and find you before I got started on my next project.”
I blinked.
This man worked here?!
And his voice was nearly as perfect as the rest of him. Deep, with a slight rasp.
“No need to worry about that right now, Hawk.” Dale waved his hand, urging the man I now knew was Hawk, in our direction. “Come here. I want to introduce you to someone.”
Hawk tensed slightly as his eyes slid to the side and landed on me. He barely made eye contact with me before he looked away.
Okay, so that stung.
Of course, a man as beautiful as him probably already had a girlfriend, and looking at other women just wasn’t his thing.
It figured. He had so much willpower, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
Even though he appeared not to be interested in meeting me, Hawk did as Dale requested and moved toward us. Once he was just a few feet away, Dale asked, “I don’t think you’ve ever met Chloe, have you?”
Hawk shook his head. “No.”
Joyce interjected, “This is Chloe Cunningham. She’s the owner of Chloe’s Cakes, which is a couple of shops down the road. Chloe, this is Hawk Kennedy. He’s been working here with us for about a year and a half now.”
It took effort to hide my surprise. A year and a half? How was this the first time I was meeting him? Where had he been hiding all this time?
Hawk slid his eyes to the side to meet mine. He jerked his chin down to acknowledge me, but there wasn’t anything warm or welcoming in his expression. “Nice to meet you.”
“Like—” I stopped to clear my throat. “Likewise.”
I wanted to extend my hand to his, even if only to have that brief moment of contact with him, but since he hadn’t offered his, I held back, too.
Returning his attention to Dale, Hawk made it clear that he wasn’t the least bit affected by me. Certainly not captivated by the sight of me as I was by him. “So, you don’t have anything you needed me to take care of before I get started on that bed frame?”
Disappointment washed over Dale, and his shoulders fell. Evidently, I wasn’t the only one who felt the sting of Hawk’s apparent lack of interest in being friendly with me. With a slight shake of his head, Dale answered, “No. I think we’re good for now.”
Hawk inclined his head in understanding. “Okay. I’m going to get back to it.”
He shifted his attention away from Dale, allowed his eyes to move to Joyce, and finally, they landed on me. Although I desperately wanted to speak, the most I could muster was a nervous smile. So, it was no surprise that without another word, Hawk turned and walked away.
I swallowed roughly, frustration creeping in. If I allowed this fine specimen of a man to walk away believing that I was some awkward girl incapable of holding a conversation, I was certain I’d regret it for the rest of my life.
Snapping out of it, I shook my head and blinked away the nerves. I didn’t give myself the chance to think twice about it before I called out, “Hawk!”
His body went rigid, the muscles across his back going taut as his shoulders lifted toward his ears. Ignoring that, I snatched up the cupcake container and scurried over to him. He’d barely twisted his neck to look back at me as I approached.
When I came to a stop in front of him and tilted my chin to meet his eyes, I licked my lips to muster up some courage. Then I smiled brightly and apologized. “Forgive me for being rude. I don’t know what came over me. Can I offer you a cupcake?”
He blinked in surprise. “Pardon?”
A nervous laugh escaped. “As Joyce mentioned, I own Chloe’s Cakes. I frequently come up with new flavor recipes, but before I’m willing to sell them, I share with family, friends, and the folks who work in the area in hopes they’ll give me some feedback.”
I opened the container, and Hawk’s eyes shifted to the cupcakes. When he lifted them to meet mine again, he said, “I assume Dale and Joyce helped you out.”
Smiling, I nodded. “They both loved them. Of course, I’m not convinced Dale would ever turn down a cupcake from me.”
He shifted on his feet. “That’s good. You got what you needed, then.”
It was an effort not to jerk back at the shock I experienced.
Unwilling to be completely discouraged, hoping that I was misreading things, I lifted the container in his direction.
“I did. In fact, this is my last stop before heading back to my shop. But I still have a bunch of cupcakes left. And another opinion is always helpful.”
“Um, no, thanks.”
“Oh, come on. It’s cake. These are lemon cupcakes. I already had a lemon cake recipe, but I tested some new things, and so far, the consensus is that these are even better.” I lifted the container higher. “Please try one.”
Hawk appeared to be waging a major battle over something so simple, but ultimately, he lifted one of the cupcakes in his hand and took a bite.
I caught myself staring at his mouth as he chewed, thinking how much I’d like to kiss him, and purposely looked toward Dale and Joyce just to avoid looking like a creep.
The pair was pretending not to be watching us, but they weren’t doing such a great job.
When I returned my attention to Hawk and shot him an expectant look, he said, “It’s not really my thing.”
Cake? How could anyone say that cake wasn’t their thing? It was cake.
I’d grown so accustomed to such high praise whenever I did this that Hawk’s reaction caught me off guard. “It’s… It’s not good?” I stammered.
My stomach was suddenly a mess of nerves for an entirely different set of reasons.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. Like I said, it’s not really my thing. I can’t say there’s something wrong with it. I’m sure plenty of others will enjoy it.”
For all the hiding of my emotions I’d managed from the moment I saw this beautiful man, there was nothing I could do to pretend his words hadn’t crushed me.
I wasn’t so na?ve to believe that everybody would love everything I made.
But this guy was the one guy I would’ve loved to hear some positive feedback from.
That he couldn’t even come up with one good thing to say about the cake was humiliating.
I pressed my lips together and blinked a few times. “Right. Well, thank you for your honesty.” Stepping back, I looked toward the back of the store and croaked, “I’ll have those samples ready for you by the end of the day tomorrow, Joyce. I’ve got to get going.”
The disappointment was evident in her tone when she replied, “Alright, Chloe. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thanks for stopping in,” Dale called out as I spun around to face the door.
I waved my hand in the air, but I didn’t look back. I couldn’t risk it. I couldn’t bear to see whatever look might have been on Hawk’s face.
The moment I stepped outside, the cool air hit my face, but it did little to help the sting of tears. I felt like such a fool. And this was completely ridiculous.
I didn’t know Hawk.
His opinion shouldn’t have mattered to me. Especially not when I’d had resounding approval from everyone else.
Unless…
Hawk was clearly a tough guy. You couldn’t have that many tattoos and not have any grit.
Perhaps I wasn’t so upset about Hawk not liking my cupcakes.
Maybe the bigger problem was that I hadn’t been willing to question how everybody always loved every flavor I brought.
Maybe it bothered me most that Hawk was the only one willing to tell me the truth when he was the one person I would’ve really liked to impress.
By the time I walked into my cake shop the next day, I’d put my encounter with Hawk out of my mind.
My new lemon cake recipe would be added to the summer lineup, and I didn’t need to worry about what Hawk’s thoughts were on it. If there was one thing I could be sure of, it was that Hawk wouldn’t be walking into the store any time soon.
And considering he’d been working for Joyce and Dale for a year and a half, and I hadn’t ever seen him, I was relatively confident I wouldn’t have to concern myself with running into him anywhere ever again.
I’d had a busy morning doing what I loved to do and encountering people who couldn’t seem to get enough of my delicious cakes. By the time I called Joyce to let her know the sample box I’d put together for her was ready, having faced Hawk the day before was a distant memory.
Everything had been going great. Kara and I had a wonderful day, and I was back to my old self again.
Then it happened.
It was thirty minutes before closing, Kara had already left, and I was doing some last-minute clean-up, which included putting my clean piping bags and decorating tips away in their rightful place.
As I tried reminding myself of the advice that I’d given Kara yesterday when it came to finessing the drawer open, the door to my shop opened.
I looked up with a smile on my face, expecting to see Joyce or Dale.
Neither had entered my shop.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t an ordinary customer, either.
Nope.
Hawk had entered and made immediate eye contact. The smile vanished from my face as he approached the counter.
Squeezing the piping bags tightly in one hand, I yanked hard on the drawer several times. It didn’t open. I looked away, kept trying, and failed repeatedly.
The air rushed from my lungs as I silently admitted defeat and set the bags down on the counter. By the time I turned around again, Hawk had come to a stop, and his eyes were focused on the drawer behind me.
“Can I help you, Hawk?”
Judging by the way his eyes shot in my direction, he seemed startled by my voice. “Joyce asked me if I’d stop down to pick up some cakes for her.”
My brows knit together. Joyce had never done such a thing in all the years I’d known her. “Are you joking?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Do I seem like the kind of guy who’d joke about that?”
I shook my head. “No. You’re right. Silly me. Give me a moment, and I’ll be back with the cakes.”
Hawk winced, but I didn’t allow that to penetrate.
I walked away, and the minute I was out of view, I released a big breath.
This felt like a cruel exercise in humiliation tactics.
Why would Joyce have sent Hawk here to pick up the cake?
There wasn’t a chance she didn’t know we’d had an awkward exchange yesterday.
Beyond that, why did Hawk agree to come here?
Sure, Joyce was his boss, but I was reasonably certain cake pick-up was part of his job description.
I needed to get this over with as quickly as possible.
Grabbing the box of cake, I returned to the front to find Hawk hadn’t moved. He was waiting patiently, his features having softened since I’d asked him if I was joking about why he was here.
“Here you go.”
“Uh, how much is it?”
Right.
I forgot I needed to explain that.
“Just tell Joyce that I normally deduct the cost of this from the price of the cake that ultimately gets ordered. So, if the plan is to have me make the cake for her great grandson’s birthday, we’ll be square.”
He nodded. “And you let people take the boxes without charging them? What if they never come back?”
What did he care?
“No, I don’t. But it’s Joyce, so this is different.”
“Okay.” He reached for the box, but before he picked it up, he said, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about yesterday.”
My body grew rigid. Every muscle went taut. “What?”
“When you stopped in to share the cake,” he reminded me, as though he believed I’d forgotten. “I could’ve been nicer.”
Well, that was unexpected.
I could feel the flush creep over my cheeks. In an instant, all the frustration I felt over our interaction yesterday seemed to evaporate, and suddenly, I found myself apologizing. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry for what I did.”
“You offered me a cupcake.”
Nodding, I said, “Yeah, but I was persistent and all but forced you to take one when you said you weren’t interested. This is my livelihood, and I just want to share cake with everyone.”
He shrugged. “It’s sweet. I don’t want you to take what I said to heart. I just prefer… ice cream.”
I bit my lip, suddenly wishing I could find the time to perfect the art of homemade ice cream.
“Fair enough.”
For several moments, Hawk and I stared at one another in awkward silence. The tension grew thick until he finally snapped himself out of it and picked up the cake box. “Are you sure there’s nothing needed for this now?”
“I’m sure.”
Hawk gave me one last nod. “Alright. Take care, Cunningham.”
Without another word, Hawk turned and walked out. He never gave me a chance to respond. But even if he had, I wasn’t sure I would’ve known what to say. Because I’d been convinced that he hadn’t even cared to remember my name.