Page 45 of Cut The Cake

Yeah, and how had she repaid his kindness? She hadn’t been truthful with him. She’d kept so many secrets since she’d come to Heart’s Landing, she was having trouble keeping her story straight. But there was no way out. With the wedding so close, she had to protect Karolyn’s identity a few days longer. And that meant she had to lie to Nick again. Only, this time, she’d hurt him in the process.

Hating what she had to do, she held up her phone. “Listen. I, uh, I just spoke with Bob.”

“I figured.” Clouds shuttered Nick’s expression as he pitched the can into the trash can and washed his hands.

“He, um, we—we want to do something a little different for the wedding cake.”

At the sink, Nick’s shoulders stiffened. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing. It’s just …” This was harder than she’d thought it would be. She drew in a steadying breath. “He wants a naked cake. I tried to talk him out of it, but he’s adamant.” Unable to face the baker, she stared down at the image of the cake Kay insisted on serving at her wedding.

“No. I won’t make it.”

Stunned by his flat refusal, she resorted to the only leverage she had left. “Then I’ll cancel the order and find someone who will.”

“At this late date?”

Jenny sighed. He was right. With the wedding only days away, she’d never find another baker on such short notice. Instead, she’d have to reason with the one she had. “So you’ll make the naked cake for me?” she asked sweetly.

“No. I can’t,” Nick said, his voice flat.

A spark of hope lit in Jenny’s chest. She stared up from her phone. “You can’t make one? Or you won’t?” Furtively, she crossed her fingers. Nick was the best baker in the entire area. If he said he didn’t have a clue how to make a naked cake, she’d simply tell Karolyn it couldn’t be done.

“I can. I’ve made them before.”

“Oh.” Her heart sank. So much for taking the easy way out.

“They’re fine for serving small groups, like a dinner party or a small gathering. Anything more than a two-, possibly a three-tier cake, and it loses what little elegance it had to start with.”

“I see,” she said, disappointed. She didn’t imagine that explanation would go over well with her cousin.

“But that’s not the real reason I won’t make one for your wedding. There’s something more important.”

“Yes?” What could that possibly be? Not trusting her voice, she let her eyes ask the question.

“You,” he said simply. “You love frosting. When you ate that cupcake earlier, you were euphoric. Tell me I’m wrong.”

There was no sense lying about that. Not when the rich taste of buttercream still lingered on her tongue. Nothing she’d ever tasted, not even the desserts in the five-star Parisian restaurants she’d dined in while Karolyn had been on location last year, could hold a candle to one of Nick’s cupcakes. She kicked out a foot and scuffed the heel on the floor. “No, you’re right.”

“So why would you want a cake without frosting?”

Because it’s not my cake. Not my wedding.

Prepared to jump into the conversation, the words poised on the tip of her tongue. Every fiber of her being urged her to tell Nick the truth. But she couldn’t. Despite the guilt that twisted her insides into a pretzel, she clamped her mouth shut. Kay and Aunt Maggie were the only family she had—she couldn’t betray them. If she confessed her secrets to Nick and the word got out, the paparazzi would descend. They’d turn Kay’s wedding into a media circus and ruin everything. She couldn’t let that happen, couldn’t let her family down, not after all they’d done for her. With no other choice, she resorted to the one tactic that had worked in the past. “Bob wants it that way,” she said, shifting the blame to her nonexistent fiancé.

This time, though, Nick persisted. “What about what you want? Isn’t that just as important?”

“It is, but …” Her voice trailed off. Jenny grabbed a napkin and blotted her eyes. The wedding cake she’d ordered cost a bundle. She couldn’t believe Nick would risk losing the sale just to make her happy. He didn’t understand, though, and she couldn’t make him without betraying her family.

“No buts,” Nick said, using a tone that brooked no argument. “It’s about time you got something you wanted out of this wedding. If you can stand there and tell me you honestly want a plain almond cake with no icing, I’ll make it for you. But you’re going to have to tell me that’s what you want. Not your fiancé. Or your mother-in-law. Or your guests. Just you. What do you want?”

Jenny’s resistance melted like butter on a hot stove. “I want frosting,” she whispered. “Lots and lots of frosting.”

“Okay, then.” A slow smile worked its way across Nick’s face. “That’s what you’ll get.”

Jenny ran her tongue over her bottom lip. Nick’s creation was sure to be as tasty as it was beautiful, but that still didn’t give Kay what she wanted. Her gaze drifted to the cupcakes they’d just made, and she resisted giving herself a swift kick. Of course. The solution was so clear, she was surprised she hadn’t thought of it earlier.

She peered up at Nick. “You make cupcakes to match the cake for the bride and groom, don’t you?” She knew the answer as well as she knew the colorful stains on one of her favorite jackets. The day they’d met, Nick had been on his way to deliver a forgotten batch of miniature cakes when she’d collided with him.

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