Take the Cake (24 page)

He was definitely good, and she was definitely in trouble.

~~~

“So how’s your writing going?” Kate said as she scooped up some more risotto. “Your words still giving you trouble?”

“Quite the opposite,” Michael said, reaching for another slice of bread. “They won’t give me much of a break.” He paused and chewed with obvious enjoyment before he continued. “When I got back from your place this morning, I went for a run and thought I’d catch up on some sleep.” He paused to leer at Kate who coughed into her glass of wine. “But then I got busy brain.”

“Busy brain?” Kate looked up from her meal, licking her lips.

Michael shrugged as he kept eating. “The characters kept talking to me, so all I could do was keep writing. I even managed to lose track of time, so I haven’t eaten much today.” He looked up to see Kate regarding him with a quizzical expression. “What?”

“Your characters talk to you?”

“Uh.” Now he felt foolish. “Well, yeah, sometimes.” Kate waved her fork for him to continue, so he went on. “I guess, when the story is flowing well, it all unravels in my head visually.” He stumbled for a moment, realizing that he was talking about his writing process with Kate more than he ever had with anyone else. “When I’m truly involved with it, it’s more like I’m transcribing what’s going on, rather than creating it myself.”

Kate gazed at him and took another mouthful of risotto while she considered what he’d said. Michael glanced at her and then occupied himself with his meal, feeling foolish at what he’d revealed.

“Well, I guess that means you’re a strange man, Michael Forrester,” she said at last, and then leaned over to give him a quick kiss. “But I like you anyway.”

“That’s good to know,” Michael said with some relief.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Kate replied. “I have my moments where Wren is sure I’m not going to appear on the cover of Sanity Fair anytime soon, so perhaps like attracts like.”

They finished their meal, the conversation bantering back and forth as they teased information out of each other, each taking a quiet delight as successive details were revealed. Michael discovered Kate had a love of classic literature, which explained why she hadn’t read any of his books to date, and Kate discovered Michael had started reading books from his childhood, having been re-introduced to the Berenstain Bears courtesy of the bakery.

The evening wound on, and Kate ended up pink-cheeked and giggling perhaps more than the conversation merited, leaning against Michael more and more. After a while Michael slid his hand under the curve of her knee and hitched her leg over his thigh, pulling her closer to him. Kate leaned in toward him.

“Mr. Forrester, it appears that you have an ulterior motive this evening.”

“It would appear so,” he agreed. “What do you propose we do about it?” He smiled into her eyes.

“One or two things spring to mind,” Kate replied after what she hoped was a thoughtful, rather than a tipsy, pause.

Michael ran his hand along her thigh. “Such as?” he said in a quiet tone. “I’m going to need a demonstration to be able to follow your point, you understand.”

“You writer types, always so literal,” Kate answered with a shake of her head. She leaned forward and brushed a soft kiss against his mouth, then gently ran the tip of her tongue along his lower lip before he parted them and let her in.

The waiter reappeared and removed the plates with as little noise as possible, carrying them back toward the kitchen with a small smile.

Michael watched the waiter walk away, noting the smirk on the man’s face as he approached another server. “They’re talking about us,” he said.

“Wasn’t that the woman who waited on us the other night?” Kate asked after glancing to where Michael was looking. “I guess we are getting a little hot and heavy for public viewing.”Michael ran his hand up Kate’s side in a bid to pull her closer still. “We’re either going to have to behave or leave,” Michael whispered. “They look like they’re contemplating bringing out a mattress for our use right here on the restaurant floor.”

“You want to take this somewhere else?” Kate said in a breathless tone.

“Hell, yeah,” Michael replied.

Chapter 15

Serenity and Sleepovers

“Morning, boss.”

“Wren, don’t call me boss.”

“Sorry, boss.” Wren popped her gum with satisfaction as she followed Kate into the store.

“Another day, another dollar,” Wren sang as she hung her bag up on the hook and closed the cupboard, waving a greeting to Emily who had just arrived.

“Is that today’s quote?” Emily asked as she dropped her bag to shrug out of her coat and carefully tie on her apron.

“Uh-uh, I can do much better than that,” Wren said as she walked out to the coffee machine where Kate had already started to make their morning coffees. Wren stood a few paces away, hands on hips as she assessed Kate’s wardrobe choice for the day. Kate looked up to see Wren watching her.

“Do I meet with your approval?” she asked, pouring some milk into a stainless steel jug and starting to froth it.

“It’s a start,” Wren commented with a business-like nod. After repeated begging, Kate had given Wren a few pairs of her jeans to be jazzed up, and today she was feeling particularly pleased with her creative vision. Kate’s jeans featured a strip of carefully frayed gold ribbon that had been stitched to the leg seams. After Wren waved an imperious hand, Kate obediently gave a slow turn, revealing the gold dragonfly that Wren had silkscreened onto the back upper thigh of one of the legs.

Kate poured the steamed milk into the first coffee, set it on the counter, then reached back to tie her apron. Wren made her twirl again so that she could make sure the dragonfly would still be visible. Emily picked up the coffee cup and took an appreciative sip before cooing over Kate’s refreshed wardrobe.

“Wren, do you think you could do the same for me?” she said with a hopeful smile.

“Nope, sorry,” Wren said, then continued just as Emily’s smile faltered. “I’ll do something different for you. No duplications or knock-offs for my girls.”

“Really?” Emily’s face lit up with excitement.

“Absolutely,” Wren replied, reaching for her stub of chalk. “I’m happy to do it for you, Emily. We’ll set up a time for me to raid your closet, and then Brad won’t know what’s hit him. Speaking of which …” She turned to Kate. “What does Michael think of the new style?”

“I don’t think he’s noticed,” Kate commented, pouring the next shot of espresso into the second mug, and nodding her thanks as Emily handed her the milk.

“You’re kidding, right?” Wren asked in disbelief.

“C’mon, I’m usually in a T-shirt and something,” Kate answered, frothing the milk as she talked.

“Yeah, Wren, it’s not like he’s David,” Emily teased, nudging Wren as she passed.

“Well,” Wren spluttered, “yeah, but—”

“I can’t see Michael taking me to a fashion exhibition,” Kate said, flicking a wink at Emily as she poured the milk over the fresh coffee, and then spooned on the milk froth. “How about you, Emily?”

“Nope, Brad looks like he has a migraine coming on when I want to go see a chick flick,” Emily supplied, “although he goes along with it anyway.”

“And yet here’s Wren dating a guy she admits drives her nuts, but he takes her to see stuff she’s interested in all the time,” Kate said, raising an eyebrow at Wren.

“Dating?” Wren protested. “Wait a minute, have I ever said we were dating?”

Kate gave Emily an amused look as she handed Wren her mug. “I wouldn’t say you’ve come out and admitted it, but I’d have to say that all signs point to yes.”

Wren took her coffee and leaned against the counter.

“C’mon, Wren,” Emily chided. “What would
you
call it?”

Wren shrugged. “I don’t know.
He
seems to think that we’re dating, but I’m not so sure.”

“Okay.” Kate set down her cup and put a companionable arm around Wren’s shoulders. “Let’s examine the facts, shall we? How often do you guys see each other?”

Wren mumbled something into her cup as she sipped at her coffee.

Kate cocked her head and raised an eyebrow at Emily, who had started to get the ingredients ready for the sandwiches and bagels to be made for the day. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

Wren sighed. “Once or twice a week.”

“Hmm.” Kate sipped at her coffee and nodded thoughtfully. “And how about on the weekends?”

“Sometimes,” Wren allowed again.

“How often over the last month have you seen him on a Saturday night?” Emily piped up from her place at the counter. She paused at her task as she and Kate waited for Wren to answer.

“I guess,” Wren said, the words coming slowly, “we’ve caught up three Saturdays in the last month.”

“Ah,” Kate said, raising an eyebrow to Emily, who nodded.

“What?” Wren looked up, and then looked from Kate to Emily and back again.
“What?”

“Wren, try not to take this too hard, but it sounds like you’ve got yourself a boyfriend,” Kate said.

Wren gaped at her for a moment before picking up the chalkboard with a flourish and reached for the chalk. “If you’ll excuse me,
some
of us have work to do.”

Kate and Emily watched her go.

“Subtle,” Kate commented and then turned to Emily. “So how are things going with you and Bookstore Brad?”

Emily gave a quiet smile of satisfaction. “All good, boss. How about you and writer boy?”

“Great,” Kate replied. “He’s cooking me dinner tonight, and I’m having my first sleepover.”

Emily’s eyebrows went up at that. “Finally,” she said, slathering some avocado onto a bagel. “I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to spend a night at his place.”

“Hey,” Kate objected, “I’ve been to his place before.”

“Uh-huh,” Emily answered, “but this will be the first time you’ve stayed the night.” She paused and waggled her spatula for emphasis. “This means things are getting serious.”

“Right.” Kate was amused now, glancing over at Wren who was making her way back inside, tossing her stub of chalk from hand to hand. “Okay, girl, so what is it today?”

Wren reached the counter and leaned over with a broad smile. “Today’s is:
Seek serenity, and if you can’t find it, seek cupcakes.
” She dropped the piece of chalk into its glass with a plink and dusted her hands with satisfaction as she gave Kate a superior look. “Top
that
, boss.”

“Damn.” Kate turned and walked slowly into the kitchen. “That’s a good one, I’ll give you that.” She stood in front of the oven, hands on hips, thinking hard, and then pulled out one of her recipe notebooks. Thinking back to Wren’s daily quote, a random word association began to flicker through her mind, and then she began to smile as she shut the notebook with a decisive snap. She knew what she was going to make.

~~~

“You’re cooking?” David asked, shooting Michael a quizzical look.

“Yup,” Michael answered.

The two of them had met up for a morning jog and were making their way around the park for a second time. Michael’s fitness had been increasing by the day, and he was at last starting to push David’s endurance, albeit only slightly so far.

“So what are you going to make?”

“I haven’t quite worked that bit out yet,” Michael admitted, making David give a huff of laughter. “I’ll figure that out when I back home.”

“Just so we’re clear,” David said, “are you actually able to cook?”

“C’mon,” Michael protested, “you’ve eaten my cooking before.”

“If you can call it that, dude, but that was years ago. Have you progressed much past bachelor fare?”

“Oh, yeah,” he grunted, although he had to admit that David had a point. For a while there, he had subsisted on a small repertoire of tried and true recipes before his mother had taken him in hand and proceeded to give him a thorough kitchen education. The subsequent years of self-sufficiency and an assortment of girlfriends to impress had led to a level of culinary finesse that would have made David very surprised indeed.

“There’s a ringing endorsement,” David commented, “but you know there’s no shame in ordering Chinese.”

“Give me a break,” Michael protested, cuffing David on the shoulder as they jogged toward the park gates, laughing.

“How’s it going with you and Wren?” Michael asked, groaning as he leaned forward over his hips into a cool-down stretch, reaching his hands toward the ground.

“Going good,” David allowed, his lips curving into a slight grin.

Michael straightened up from his stretch and looked at David. “It must be good for you to be grinning like that,” he commented.

“Huh?” David looked surprised.

Michael waved a hand to indicate David’s face. “My mom said I had a goofy grin like that when I was starting to get to know Kate, so it looks like you’re not too far behind.”

“Right.” David gave an amused snort as they went through the rest of their stretches, and then looked uncertainly at Michael a few minutes later. “Is it that obvious?”

“Yup,” Michael replied, “but if you want to be absolutely certain, I can take you over to see the folks so that my mom can—”

“No,” David cut in hurriedly. “That’s fine. God, she’d be straight on the phone to
my
mom.”

The two men began to walk out of the park, still talking.

“I don’t think she’d be that bad,” Michael said in a mild tone.

“Oh, no? She told my folks about you and Kate weeks ago,” David replied with a grin.

Michael gave him a surprised look. “Really? But I only just told them her name last week.”

“Apparently she was just excited that her boy had met a girl.” David patted Michael on the shoulder. “So imagine how happy she’ll be when she finds out you’re not only still happily dating, but you’re cooking your girl a romantic meal.”

Michael gave him a hard look. “You wouldn’t.”

“Why not?” David waggled his eyebrows, enjoying himself immensely.

“Because then I’d tell yout mom about you and Wren,” Michael retorted.

They walked on while David considered his options.

“Okay,” he conceded with a slight sigh. “You win.”

“I thought you’d see it my way,” Michael said in a placid voice.

They stopped at the intersection and then crossed when the light changed. The two men were hot and sweaty from their run, and their faces were red with exertion. They still drew a number of appreciative looks from women as they passed by, but neither of them paid the female attention any heed as they kept talking about the women in their lives.

“So this is what it’s come to, huh?” David mused. “We’re two strong, independent, thirty-something men, but we’re still afraid of our moms.”

“Guess that means they’ve done their job right after all,” Michael said with a laugh.

~~~

“Still hard at work, I see.” Wren popped her head around the kitchen doorway, her eyes sparkling. She could almost taste victory this morning. She was sure her serenity quote would have Kate stumped.

“Nearly there,” Kate said, flicking her hand at Wren in a shooing gesture. “I’ll be out with the first batch in a couple of minutes.”

“Did you think of a cupcake to match the quote?” Wren leaned around the door frame a bit more, trying to peer at the box Kate was opening.

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see,” Kate replied. “Go on back out there. You’ll see what I’m up to soon enough.”

“How about a hint?” Wren wheedled.

“Nope,” Kate said, smiling as she picked up the frosting bag and aimed it at the last cupcake. She’d dip into the box’s contents once Wren was out of the way.

“If I do my puppy eyes?”

“Uh-uh, scat,” Kate said. “Go on,” she said in a warning tone when Wren hesitated. “Don’t make me come over there.”

“Going now,” Wren squeaked and headed back out into the store.

Emily looked up with a laugh as she saw Wren re-appear. “No luck?”

“None,” Wren admitted. “But I still think I’ve got her on the ropes this time.” She swiped a slice of tomato off the chopping board and popped it into her mouth before Emily could protest.

“You’ve said that before,” Emily replied, making up another chicken sandwich, “but she gets you every time.” She slid the finished sandwich onto a plate and added a small garnish before putting it into the display counter.

Wren watched her work, admiring her deftness of touch. “What did we ever do without you? My sandwiches were never
that
good.”

“They always taste better when someone else makes them,” Emily replied with a shrug. “I prefer the ones you make.” She looked up as a thought occurred to her. “Does Kate ever eat cupcakes?”

“Uh.” Wren thought. “Actually now that you mention it, probably not as many as you’d think. She seems to have one every other day, and I know she has a soft spot for frosting.”

“Oh, who doesn’t?” Emily grinned, and then glanced over Wren’s shoulder. “Heads up, moment of truth at four o’clock.”

“What?” Wren spun around to see Kate appear with the first tray of cupcakes.

“Here you go,” Kate announced as she slid the tray into the display cabinet and then straightened with a flourish as she faced Wren. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Wren replied, having darted around the counter to pick up her chalk.

“
Peace Out
, vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting topped with
Reese’s Pieces
. Get it? Serenity … peace … pieces.” Kate gave Wren an expectant look.

Wren scribbled furiously on the mini chalkboard and held it out in front of her for critical inspection with a sigh.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” She sighed. “You’ve done it again, boss.”

“Only just,” Kate said, giving Wren a quick hug. “You really had me on the run this time.”

“I still didn’t win, though,” Wren said, managing a wry grin. Damn. She really thought she had her this morning too. She was just going to have to try harder.

“One day.” Kate chucked her under the chin and then headed back to the kitchen. “You’ll get me one day.”

“Mmph,” Wren said, crossing her arms and giving Kate a mock pout. “Well, you know I’ll be waiting.”

“You know you love it,” Kate called over her shoulder.

~~~

Michael frowned with indecision at the laptop screen, unsure if he loved or hated what he had written that morning. There were a lot of words on the screen, but their tone had become less assured as he had begun to tire. He re-read the pages and shook his head. It felt like a half-hearted attempt at best. Experience had taught him to remove but not delete, so he cut and pasted the bulk of the day’s efforts into a separate document. Perhaps it could be recycled into something more pleasing later. He got up from his seat and stretched, then checked the time. He still hadn’t decided what he was going to cook for Kate, and he stood at his desk, staring out the window, and let his mind wander. After a while, he shook himself out of his daze and picked up his wallet and keys, hesitating as he looked at the laptop again. No more words came, so he turned and left with a clear conscience.