Icing On The Date (The Bannister Brothers #1) (6 page)

He grinned at her. “Not a bad day, huh?”

She giggled and wiped a chunk of frosting from his chin. “I can’t believe it. I sold every one. And people were having such a great time. And leaving tips. It was awesome. Thank you.”

“Yeah, it was awesome. I had a lot of fun.”

“The crowd loved you.”

“They loved your cupcakes.”

She grinned at him, her chin tipped up. It would be so easy to kiss her. To take that delicious mouth. To fill his hands with her luscious curves. Everything in him ached to pull her to him and kiss her until she couldn’t stand up.

But he still had a smidgen of good sense in him and knew that would only be leading her on—giving her the idea that there was something between them. Or that there
could
be something between them.

And he knew there couldn’t be. It had been fun—really fun. In fact, he couldn’t think of a time he’d had so much fun or laughed as much, or as easily, as he had with her today. But it didn’t matter. He couldn’t think about that. Time to cut this thing off and move on.

He checked his watch. “We’d better get things packed up if you’re going to have time to get those other cupcakes delivered to that party tonight.”

His voice must have come across as a little too serious. Her face fell, a look of confusion in her eyes for just a moment, then she pasted back on her smile. “Yeah. Of course.”

They cleaned up the truck and headed back to the bakery. They didn’t speak much on the trip back, and Owen could feel the tension in the air. He knew he’d hurt her feelings, been a little too curt in his response to her, and he felt like shit about it. But it couldn’t be helped. Better he feel like shit than her.

Pulling up to the bakery, Owen hopped out and carried the empty tubs inside. “I should probably head out.”

“Yeah. I’ve already taken up too much of your time today. Sorry about that.” She’d followed him in and dumped the rest of the supplies on the counter next to him.

He leaned a hip against the counter. “I don’t need you to be sorry. I had fun. I just don’t want to give you the wrong impression.”

She lifted an eyebrow as she looked up at him. “And what kind of impression would that be?” The sarcasm dripped from her voice.

“Look, I’m not the kind of guy you need hanging around you.”

“Oh, the old ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ routine. I pegged you for being a little more original.”

Damn.
He had to give her props for the tough act.

He rubbed a hand across his scruff of whiskers and shook his head. “It’s not like that. I just don’t have the best of reputations.” And he sure as hell didn’t want to ruin hers. And he would.

She shrugged, trying for nonchalance, but he could see the hurt in her eyes. “I don’t remember asking you to hang around at all. You
volunteered
to help today. I appreciate it. But I know you’re a busy guy, and I don’t want to keep you.”

Ouch
. Damned if she didn’t give as good as she got. He’d been dismissed. “Thanks again for helping me last night. I really do appreciate it.” He crossed to the door, but turned before he let himself out. “It’s been fun. See ya, Angel.”

Chapter Five

Gabby pulled into her client’s driveway and turned off the car. Getting out, she slammed the door behind her.

Who did that guy think he was?
Owen Bannister could take his “See ya, Angel” and stick it. And there weren’t a lot of angels running around the place she imagined he could go to.

She grabbed the boxes of cupcakes and headed for the door. She hadn’t asked him to help her. Hadn’t needed or even wanted his help.

Okay. Maybe that was a lie. She had needed help. From someone. Anyone.

And if she were being honest, she’d wanted it from him. If she were really being honest, she’d wanted a lot of things from him. Including his body.

Dang
—why did the guy have to be so good-looking? And muscular? And charming?

It didn’t matter. He’d made it clear he wasn’t interested. Even though he’d been the one to kiss her. Both times. Well, three times now, if you counted last night.

And she definitely counted last night. Just thinking about it had her blood heating and funny little tinglies bouncing around in her chest.

Even if he’d turned out to be a class-A jerk, the guy could kiss.

And bake. Surprisingly, he’d actually been a huge help to her today. He hadn’t needed a lot of instruction and worked quickly and efficiently helping her to prepare the cupcakes. And he’d been a huge help in selling them. She’d sold out in record time today and made close to a hundred dollars in tips alone.

She wondered how many of those customers thought they were donating to a good cause. Like Owen was only there to help a charity. Well, she was the only charity that was getting that money. And she needed it. The tips alone would help pay the electric bill for the bakery this month.

Had he considered her a charity case, too? Had he only been helping her because he felt sorry for her? No. He couldn’t be. Most people didn’t kiss someone like that just because they felt sorry for them.

He’d felt something too. She knew it.

Great. Now she was thinking about the kiss again. She needed to stop. Focus on her client.

Plastering on a smile, she rang the doorbell of the enormous house.

The door opened, and Carla Jacobs waved her in. “Hi, Gabby. Come on in.” Carla was dressed in a snug-fitting orange Bronco jersey that dipped low in the front, showing off her ample cleavage. She’d obviously paid a fortune for that cleavage, might as well show it off.

Her long dark hair was salon perfect and hung down her back in flawless waves. Rhinestone jewels covered the pockets of her expensive jeans, and Gabby figured she could pay the rest of her utility bill with what Carla had spent on that pair of jeans.

The boxes of cupcakes in her hands kept Gabby from fiddling with her own hair. She’d barely had time to throw on her own Manning jersey and pull her wild curls into a ponytail. The over-sized jersey hung over her sparkle-less rear end.

Gabby followed Carla into a huge immaculate kitchen. The kitchen opened into a large great room with overstuffed sofas and a gigantic big screen television on the wall. Her whole apartment would fit into this one room.

A fire crackled in the fireplace, and several other people had already arrived, all wearing the orange and blue colors of the Denver Broncos.

Gabby set the boxes on the counter and opened the lid of the top one. “What do you think?”

“Oh, they’re perfect,” Carla exclaimed. “I love the little football picks.” She’d already set out a huge array of appetizers. Bowls of chips, various dips, meatballs, and a huge veggie tray lined the counter.

Carla passed her a tray shaped like a football. “I thought we’d put some on this tray, and I have another tiered dessert rack we can use.”

The doorbell rang again, and Carla bustled off as Gabby set up the cupcakes and moved the empty boxes to the laundry room off the kitchen.

A blond couple in their early thirties walked into the room, the woman holding a huge pan of pulled pork and absently chatting with Carla. Her husband followed behind her, carrying several packages of buns. The woman set the pan on the counter and smiled at Gabby.

A note of recognition lit the woman’s eyes and she shrieked in surprise. “Hey, you’re that woman from the cupcake truck.”

Gabby grinned, happy to be recognized. “Yes. Have you seen me out in the neighborhood?”

“No. I’ve seen you on Twitter. All day today.”

Disappointment filled her. “Oh. That must be someone else. I have a Twitter account, but I’m not on it much. And I wasn’t on today.”

“I’m sure it was you. And I’m pretty sure you’re trending.”

What in the heck was this woman talking about? She had to have her mixed up with someone else. “I’m what?”

“You’re trending.” The woman pulled her phone from her pocket and tapped the screen. “That means you’re showing up all over Twitter, and people are retweeting about you.” She held the phone out to Gabby. “Isn’t this you with that cute hockey player? What’s his name, Owen Bannister?”

Cute hockey player?
Gabby took the phone and stared down at a picture of Owen planting a frosting-covered kiss on her lips.

Oh. My. Gosh.

She nodded, unable to speak.

“That’s him, right? Owen Bannister, from the Colorado Summit?”

Gabby handed her the phone back. “That’s him all right.”

“Are you dating him?” another woman asked. Several women from the party had come into the kitchen to see what was going on.

She shook her head. “No. We’re just…” What? What were they? Acquaintances? Strangers? Friends? Almost more? She didn’t know what to say.

She wanted to tell them Owen was an arrogant jerk. But she wouldn’t do that. Even though he was kind of arrogant, and kind of a jerk, he was also kind of sweet. And kind of cute. Okay, really freaking cute.

But, he had enough trouble with his image—he didn’t need her adding negative comments to it. “We’re just friends.”

One of the women held up her phone, the picture zoomed in on their faces. “Looks like a lot more than friends to me.”

It held
felt
like more than friends, too. Or like a chance for more. Like a chance for something. “Looks can be deceiving.”

Another woman gazed at the picture. “I don’t know. You guys look pretty close here. And check out the way he’s laughing. Is he as cute in person as he is in this picture?”

Gabby peered at the picture. “Cuter.”

Much
cuter.

It was a good picture though. She’d googled images of Owen when she’d got back up to her apartment this afternoon. There were a ton of photos, but it was rare to see one of him laughing like this. Unless it was on the ice.

There was an occasional picture with him grinning, and it was usually with Bane and they were high-fiving a great play. But most pictures showed him either in the middle of a fight during a game, or wearing a somber expression or a scowl as he was out on the town with a beautiful woman dripping off his arm.

She assumed the scowl had more to do with the invasion of the press than with the beautiful women. But who knew? Even though they’d spent time together, she really didn’t know him that well.

And her internet search hadn’t turned up much more information. Well, not on the real Owen. There were plenty of stories about his screw ups, but not much on the easy-going funny guy she’d hung out with today.

Pretty much all her googling had turned up was more questions and taken more time than she’d planned, which contributed to her hurried rush to get dressed and get to the party.

“This picture’s had over twenty thousand retweets. You’re practically famous. This tweet asks:
Is the cupcake girl sweet enough to capture this bad boy’s heart?
” The woman peered at Gabby. “What do you think? Did you capture his heart?”

“She’s captured mine with these cupcakes.” One of the husbands stood at the counter holding a half-eaten cupcake. A smear of chocolate frosting stuck to his lip.

A woman that Gabby assumed was his wife swatted at his arm. “Honey, you realize those are for dessert.”

He shrugged. “It’s a party. The normal meal rules don’t apply at parties. And these cupcakes are worth the mutiny. Can you get some for that thing we’re doing next weekend?”

His wife planted her hand on her hip. “That
thing
? You mean the holiday get together where I’m cooking dinner for half your family?”

He grinned, obviously used to ribbing her. “Yeah, that little thing. Can you get some of these cupcakes for that. It’ll save you from having to make dessert.”

The woman glanced at Gabby. “Can I get an order for next weekend? Or are you too swamped? It would be for about twenty people so we’d probably need like three dozen.”

Gabby nodded, happy to change the subject and to get the extra business. “Sure, of course.”

“See, I’m helping. You can thank me later,” the husband said, and winked at Gabby as he popped the rest of the cupcake in his mouth.

She left twenty minutes later, with another five orders from guests at the party.

Apparently knowing Owen Bannister was good for business.

Just not good for her heart.

***

Owen rushed into Harvey’s office and dropped into the chair next to his more punctual brother. He got a quick “hey” from Bane before facing Harvey’s wrath.

Harvey Skaggs had been the publicity manager for the Colorado Summit for the last ten years and had more than his share of experience dealing with athletes and their issues. From the scowl on his face, he wasn’t too happy to be dealing with the Brawling Bannisters.

“You’ve really stepped in it with this one, fellas,” Harvey said. He nodded at Owen. “And you. Didn’t you think you had enough bad press with this thing with Bane? You just had to go out and party it up. It made it look like you were celebrating your brother getting traded off the team.”

“That’s not what happened at all,” Owen told him. “I sure as hell wasn’t celebrating. And the only party that was happening was a pity party. For myself.”

“That’s not the way the press made it appear. You’re getting slaughtered by these reporters. It’s like they’re out for your blood. We need to do something to clean up your reputation. That exhibition game is next weekend—that might help. Do you have any other charity events coming up? Anything you can do with kids? Maybe we can get you a Santa gig down at the mall.”

A Santa gig? Was he serious?
With Harvey, you could never tell. “I don’t think I’m at that point yet.”

“You’re getting damn close. Don’t you get it? Your behavior reflects badly on the whole team. And with the few losses we’ve had lately, we don’t need anything negative affecting the morale of the team.” He sighed. “You’ve got talent, Owen, and you’re a great defenseman. You just seem to have poor judgment when you’re not on the ice. With your brother gone, the team’s already going to suffer. We need you to step up and be a leader right now, not bring the team down.”

The reminder of Bane leaving the team had a sour feeling churning in his gut. How was he supposed to be a leader to the team when he was the one who’d screwed up and been responsible for the loss of one of their best defensemen?

Who was gonna follow him? And why would they?

Bane dropped a supporting hand on his shoulder. “You can count on this guy, Harvey. Just watch, without me around, Owen’s gonna shine. He’ll hold up the Bannister name and come through for the team. I have faith in him.”

Yeah. Bane had always had faith in him. Why—he didn’t know. He felt like he’d let his big brother down time and time again. Sometimes he felt like he had a black cloud following him that caused havoc to anyone around him. That’s why it was easier to keep things light—not get too close to anyone. Like Gabby.

A pain tore at his heart at the thought of not seeing her again, but it was for the best. She was a nice girl—too sweet to handle the chaos that Owen Bannister would bring to her life.

She was trying to make a success of her business—the last thing she needed was his bad reputation rubbing off on her. But the look on her face when he’d said goodbye to her this afternoon had ripped a hole in his chest.

It was ridiculous. He’d known her less than twenty-four hours. She shouldn’t be having this much of an effect on him. He’d said goodbye to women he’d dated for six months with less emotion than he’d had walking away from Gabby this afternoon.

What was it about this girl that got under his skin? And into his heart?

It didn’t matter. She needed to focus on her business, and he needed to concentrate on the team and living up to the faith that his brother had in him.

Letting go of Gabby was the smart thing to do.

So why did it feel so dumb?

The door to the office opened and an intern rushed in. “Sorry to interrupt you, sir. But I thought you’d want to see this.” He held up his phone. “Owen is trending on Twitter.”

“For what?” Harvey turned to his computer and pulled up his Twitter account. “Last night was dumb, but I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Not enough to be trending.”