Home is Where the Heart is (25 page)

“Why not?”

To Cassie’s dismay, Jordan wasn’t giving up.

“Well, why did you decide to buy the bakery for me anyway?” Cassie tried to turn the conversation around in her favor.

“It’s not a crime to do a nice thing for the mother of my son. I knew you weren’t going to take my money. And don’t change the subject. Why can’t you go out with me? It’s just one date. No strings attached.”

Besides, we’ve already had the make-up sex. The least you could do is go out on a date with me
, Jordan thought to himself.

“Are you sure about that?” There was too much history between them to have a date that was some meaningless night out together.

“I am if it means you’ll actually go out with me tonight.”

Cassie didn’t have much of a choice. She knew he wasn’t going to give up on the matter.

She turned away from the coffee machine for a moment to face Jordan, who had slipped back in front of the counter where the customers could sit, and leaned in toward him so the other patrons and staff couldn’t hear their conversation. She didn’t need people talking about her behind her back. She got enough of that already.

“Okay, I will go out with you, but it is not a date. I’m just returning the kind gesture and saying thank you at the same time.”

Jordan didn’t care if he looked corny, and in a split second, his demeanor changed and a huge smirk appeared on his face. “Then it’s not a date. I will be at your place tonight at six.” He looked around the shop. “Enjoy your new business venture. I’m sure you’ll make one heck of a boss.”

Boss? Ah, crap! It finally dawned on her that she was now the boss. Patty-Cake Bakery was officially hers under the strangest of circumstances. Of course she had dreamed of one day owning and running her very own bakery; she just hadn’t counted on it being today or having her ex-boyfriend leap in and buy her the place. She supposed she shouldn’t have been so readily accepting of his proposition, but she didn’t see any other choice. She didn’t think Jordan would back down.

Then just like that, she watched Jordan walk out the door, and despite recent revelations, Cassie got back to work, because she still had a job to do and cakes to make. She also knew that whether tonight was a date or not, it was certainly going to be one very noteworthy evening.

“W
hy am I here tonight?” Gabby asked her best friend after arriving at Cassie’s house shortly before five that evening to watch Jake while she went out with Jordan.

“It’s not like you need two people to look after Jake, unless this was one of your secret ploys to get Nick and me talking. ‘Cause if not, I’m sure he’s capable enough to babysit Jake without needing my help.” Gabby scrutinized her immaculately painted fingernails as she spoke. “Do you not trust his capabilities? Is that it? Because I wouldn’t either if I was you. He’s like a man-child. He hasn’t really grown up yet and still plays video games.”

Cassie came out of her walk-in closet shaking her head, wearing a long white skirt with a brown belt attached to the waist.

“It’s not like that at all. I do trust Nick, and he’s not a man-child like you say. A man-child wouldn’t have his own business. I called you before I realized Jake wanted Nick to look after him tonight, because he wanted to play video games with him.”

“Oh? So I’m your choice for babysitting, but not Jake’s. Yeah, that makes me feel a whole lot better.” Gabby pretended to be disheartened. “Now I know Jake likes Nick more than me.”

“I think it’s a boy thing. Sometimes I think he would like to spend more time with Jordan than me. At least I know if you’re here Jake will get to bed on time, and besides, I’m glad you’re here, because I need my best friend’s clear head right now.”

Gabby looked up at Cassie, surprised by what she just heard. “Oh my God! You actually want my straightforward opinions. So would you like me to tell you if I think you’re making the right decision letting Jordan back into your life?”

From her standing position at her dresser, Cassie stared back at Gabby through the mirror. “Do you think I’m making a mistake?”

Gabby shrugged one shoulder. She knew better than to admit her true feelings about her best friend’s baby-daddy. Whether she was making a mistake or not, it wasn’t her place to throw it in her face. Gabby would simply be here to support Cassie, no matter the decisions she chose in life.

She crossed her legs as she sat on Cassie’s bed. “We both knew the inevitable was going to happen eventually. You’ve both known each other basically your entire lives and share a child together. I think we all saw you and Jordan reuniting as a family, but whether or not you can both make it work is up to the two of you. No one can make that decision for you. I will simply be here for you if you ever need to talk.” Gabby stretched out one denim-clad leg, swinging it against the frame of the bed as she grinned at Cassie. “Now, on to more pressing matters; is this what you plan to wear on your date tonight?” She skimmed over Cassie’s choice of clothing.

She spun around in Gabby’s direction and looked down at the long white skirt she was wearing, which she had matched with a sleeveless dusty-pink tank top.

“What’s the matter with what I’m wearing? I already texted Jordan asking whether it was casual or fancy, and he said casual would be fine. I like what I’m wearing.”

“But you could do so much better to show off your amazing assets a little, and show Jordan what he’s been missing since he’s been gone.”

Gabby jumped up off the bed, going into Cassie’s closet and then coming back out showing another ensemble she much preferred to see her best friend wearing.

Cassie shuffled her bare feet along her plush carpeted floor, shaking her head at Gabby’s choice of clothes for her. She pointed at the shorts Gabby was holding in her left hand. “If you love those shorts so much, you may as well take them for yourself, but I think I like that shirt a little more than the one I’m wearing. I think my midriff is about as much as I feel like showing off tonight on my non-date.”

Gabby handed her the pink-and-white plaid tie-front shirt, and Cassie returned to her closet to change.

“How is tonight not a date?” Gabby questioned aloud as she examined the shorts she now owned in the mirror. “I’ve never heard of a date not being a date before, and especially when the two people going out have as much history together as you and Jordan do.”

“I don’t really know how it works, but it isn’t a date,” Cassie replied as she entered her bedroom again wearing the shirt Gabby had picked, which definitely looked better than the first top, “and I’m only going as a thank you to Jordan for his kind act of buying the bakery and making me the boss.”

Gabby gave Cassie a onceover and grinned with a twinkle in her eyes. “Yeah, that looks better, and whatever tonight is, I’m sure you’ll definitely have Jordan’s attraction on you. He probably won’t be able to take his eyes off you all night.”

Cassie didn’t say anything to follow Gabby’s statement. She didn’t know if she was really ready to commit to a relationship with Jordan all over again.

Their conversation was cut short when Cassie overheard Jake’s high-pitched voice coming from the living room, and she asked Gabby if she would go see what he and Nick were up to while she finished getting ready; she still had to apply a little bit of make-up.

Gabby walked out into the living room, where she found her godson and Nick sitting cross-legged on the floor and their eyes fixed to the flat screen in front of them as they played whatever game was going to be the highlight of the night.

“Gee, no wonder you’re not in a relationship right now,” Gabby teased, choosing to take a seat on Cassie’s comfy couch instead. “So why is this game so popular anyway?”

“You can talk,” Nick said without looking away from the game. “I don’t see you in a relationship either. At least I’ve had more girlfriends than you’ve had boyfriends.”

“Whatever.” Gabby brushed Nick off. She wasn’t in the mood to banter with him tonight.

“It’s a great game, Aunt Gabby. You can watch us play. It’s a lot of fun.”

Gabby stayed on the couch watching them play the game, and a little while later, the doorbell rang. She answered it, and Jordan entered the house and stood in the doorway between the living room and foyer.

Jake dropped his game controller for a second to run into Jordan’s arms and give him a giant hug, but then he went straight back to his game.

“I see his priorities,” Jordan guffawed, sliding his hands down his straight-cut dark blue jeans. His son was more preoccupied with the game than him. Yep, Jake was definitely his son all right.

Gabby had to admit—he polished up okay in his jeans and checkered blue and black western-style shirt. You could take the boy out of the south, but you couldn’t take the south out of the boy.

“Where’s Cassie?”

“You know Cassie—she’s still getting ready,” Gabby answered as she took her position back on the couch.

Jordan rubbed his hands together, standing in one spot. “Same old Cassie as I remember. Always making me wait.”

Jordan couldn’t remember being as anxious as he was right now. He was beginning to think the second time around was more nerve-wracking than the first time he and Cassie got together.

“Yeah, it’s probably why you’re so perfect together,” Nick and Gabby said at the same time, causing Nick to briefly turn his head away from the television screen as his piercing blue eyes locked with Gabby, and for a split second, they shared a moment together. Then Jake’s tiny voice calling his name shook them from their fog and they went back to playing the game.

Jordan wasn’t quite sure what just occurred, but he figured something was definitely going on between his friends.

Cassie soon made an appearance, coming out of her bedroom looking mind-blowingly beautiful.

Jordan was awestruck by the exquisite beauty standing before his eyes. He couldn’t help but notice the brown cowgirl boots she was sporting underneath the pretty white skirt and let out a little chuckle.

“I see you’re wearing your boots.”

Cassie glanced down at her feet, shaking one leg out in front of her. “Yeah, I love my boots.”

“She practically lives in them,” Gabby added with a mischievous smile.

Cassie merely shrugged her shoulders, tossing her loose blonde hair over one. She loved her faithful boots and wore them as often as she could, because they were too damn comfortable to even consider replacing.

“You look pretty, Mommy,” Jake said, looking up at her then turned to his dad, “and you look handsome. Daddy is handsome, because that’s what you say, right, Mommy?”

Jordan and Cassie couldn’t help but smile at their son’s comment. Sometimes neither Cassie nor Jordan could believe how wise their five-year-old could be. He understood beyond his years.

“Thank you, baby, and that’s right.” Then she turned to Jordan, glancing at him up and down and admiring how good he looked. She was glad he still didn’t mind dressing down, opposed to the fancy attire she knew he wore when he went out with Brielle. It was almost like old times between them, and they didn’t care where they went or what they did, as long as they were together. “I’m ready,” she told him.

Jordan gave her one of his trademark smirks. “Jake’s right; you do look pretty.” Well, sexy, but he couldn’t very well say that when their son was presently staring up at him. His comment made her blush, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Gabby and Nick.

“Thanks,” she replied, “you look good too.” Her ex-boyfriend still oozed sex appeal, and she liked it a lot.

Cassie leaned down to give Jake a quick kiss before he quickly went back to his game. Then she reminded Gabby and Nick of Jake’s bedtime at 7:30.

“There’s dinner in the refrigerator. It just needs to be reheated,” she added. Cassie knew how much they dreaded having to cook. She, however, loved nothing more than cooking a lovely homemade meal, and took pleasure in cooking for others.

“I got it. I’ll make sure he gets to bed on time. After all, that’s why I’m here apparently,” Gabby said sarcastically.

“Then why am I here?” Nick inquired with a confused look on his face. His eyes darted between the women.

“For pure entertainment reasons. I’m the real babysitter looking after both of you,” Gabby told him.