Chapter 12
Zoe
“You’re going to his house?” Jada gasped, her jaw practically on the floor. “You have to sneak pictures. I want to see how big it is. He probably has floor to ceiling windows with a mountain view.”
I dodged one of Bash’s grubby fists clutching a plastic block as he waved it above his head while screaming toddler nonsense. Well, I’m sure he knew exactly what he was saying, but it was indecipherable to me. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t receive a black eye from a toy.
“You understand how creepy that is, right?”
Jada huffed and gave me a look, all the more intimidating given she was looking down at me from the dining table while I sat on the floor, “building” with Bash. He only ever allowed me to get five blocks together before he knocked it over.
“Okay, yes. But how often do you get to be in the home of a former pro athlete?”
I almost lived in one. Mine, that bitter voice reminded me.
I tried my best to shove it back into the dark corner it resided in, not needing to go down that rabbit hole right now. My life was good.
It could’ve been great.
I physically shook my head this time.
“I’m not taking pictures of his house, Jada.”
“Party pooper. Bash, tell Auntie Zoe that she’s a party pooper.”
He babbled once more and then laughed. For all I knew, he could’ve been calling me something far worse.
“The only pooper around here is Mr. Bash.” I leaned forward so I could kiss his chubby cheek while tickling his sides. That just made him cackle even more.
“I can’t deny that. I’ll be so happy once he’s potty trained, and we’re done with diapers.”
“You’ll still have to wipe his butt,” I reminded her.
That earned me another look, but I just grinned at her, hugging Bash close. “Good thing he’s cute!”
Jada turned back to her laptop. Despite having the evening off, she was using it to go through the online order requests we’d received.
With the holidays just around the corner, we encouraged customers to get their requests in as soon as possible so we could get them confirmed on our calendar.
November and December always booked up quickly between family gatherings and work events.
While it would be hard work, I definitely wasn’t complaining about the extra income.
“What kind of cupcakes are you going to make?”
I pursed my lips. “I guess that’s something I should have asked.”
Clearly I hadn’t been thinking straight. That seemed to be a recurring issue around Jeremiah. Although, he’d acted odd at the game, barely looking at me.
I scoffed at myself. Charlie had been unwell, and Jeremiah’s focus had been—rightfully—on her.
“You could always text him and ask,” Jada said matter-of-factly, eyes still on her screen. “You have his number, don’t you?”
I took Bash’s hands in mine and clapped them together as I bounced him on my knee, letting his giggles distract me from the knot in my stomach.
“Yes…”
“Text him.”
“But—”
Jada lifted her head enough to raise an eyebrow at me.
We both knew that I had no excuse not to.
Except for the fact that I was developing a major crush on him.
Having spent time with him alone, I’d gotten to see more of his personality.
Not only finding him physically attractive, but enjoying being around him as well was very dangerous territory.
And I was about to walk right into the lion’s den.
“Fine,” I muttered, reaching for my phone.
Her expression turned smug as she resumed typing. “The mom look always works.”
“I’m not Bash.” I adjusted said toddler in my lap so he couldn’t grab my phone. “You can’t use your mom tactics on me.”
“Oh, but I do. You just don’t realize it.”
The door from the garage opened then, and Levi entered, kicking off his boots in the mudroom before joining us. He hesitated in the doorway, bright blue eyes jumping from me to Jada and back again.
“Do I want to know why my wife looks like the cat that got the cream?”
I opened my mouth, but Jada beat me to it. “Zo got asked to go to that hockey player’s house to help him and his daughter bake cupcakes.”
“Langfield?” Now Levi was excited, too.
“Ex-hockey player,” I corrected.
Jada just waved her hand dismissively. “Potayto, potahto.”
If I really wanted to be petty, I would have pointed out that the real saying was “tomayto, tomahto”, but I kept my mouth shut and returned my attention to my phone. I had gotten as far as opening my contacts app, and that was it.
I was making a mountain out of a mole hill in the extreme.
Jeremiah would probably think nothing of getting my text.
As Jada had pointed out, it was a logical question to ask.
I didn’t want to assume they wanted vanilla cupcakes when it was the most basic flavor by far.
If Charlie was going to have the best baked goods at the sale, she shouldn’t be bringing basic cupcakes that anyone could make.
His name was the first to pop up when I typed the letter L, and I quickly tapped the message icon before I could second guess myself anymore.
As if he knew this was important business, Bash sat completely still in my lap for once, his eyes locked on the lit-up screen. Thank God he couldn’t read yet.
I tapped the side of my phone as I waited, not daring to glance up at Jada or Levi.
My traitorous lips curled up into a smile.
I’m looking forward to it? Could I be any more of a dork?