Page 53 of One Sweet Match Up

“Good point.” She smirked and reached for his arm. “Wait. You can’t join Betty.”

“What?” She wasn’t having second thoughts, was she? If she called everything off now, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

“Take off your jacket.” She reached her hands out. “I’ll hold it.”

“Thank you.” He peeled off his jacket and handed it to her. Then he proudly walked across the gym floor to Betty’s side and took the microphone from her.

He hadn’t planned a speech. Given that his heart was racing, maybe he should have. “Good evening,” he said into the microphone, his voice echoing from the loud speakers positioned on both sides of the court. “It’s a pleasure to be here tonight. The last time I was here I was in this uniform. Glad it still fits,” he joked, and laughter filled the gymnasium.

He continued, “I’m happy to be home, back in Buttermilk Falls. Tonight, I wanted to share my love for cooking with all of you.” As he talked, the cheerleaders gathered around Zoe and the dolly, grabbing sample soups and heading into the bleachers. “I’ve teamed up with one of the most talented entrepreneurs in upstate New York to provide reasonably priced comfort food. Zoe Mathews owns the Ice Heaven frozen yogurt shop. Tonight, we have samples of our new venture.”

He gave a cautious glance over at Zoe. He hadn’t shared with her his idea—or more like Mary’s idea—for the name of his portion of the business. He took a deep breath. “Enjoy a sample of Heavenly Soups by D. Foster. I’ll be offering a cozy comfort food menu of soups and sandwiches beginning tomorrow.”

“And if you stop by the Ice Heaven anytime over the next two weeks, you’ll have a chance to win some great prizes including gift certificates, culinary lessons, gift baskets, and a grand prize of one thousand dollars.”

The audience erupted in enthusiasm. He grinned. No doubt about that last prize. “Thank you for letting Zoe and me be a part of your evening. We’ll see you soon at the Ice Heaven.”

He handed the microphone back to Betty, who gave him another big hug and presented him with a basketball signed by all the players as a thank you for the samples.

Pleased with his speech, he rejoined Zoe on the sidelines. “How’d I do?”

“Amazing.” She nodded to the stands. “People seem to be enjoying it.”

That they did. Two young women in the front row gave him a thumbs-up. “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the name for my food.”

“I think it’s brilliant.” She pulled her blond hair to the side and grabbed the basketball out of his hands. “Looks like your soup is popular with the ladies.”

“Good.” There was still one woman in this gym he was eager to impress. Bending down, he pulled out two soup cups and two frozen yogurt cups. “Would you like to watch the game?”

“You want to stay?”

“Sure. Unless you have other plans?” He needed to stop assuming she’d want to spend time with him. It wasn’t like he had a blizzard to give her no other choice but to hang out with him like he’d had the last two times.

Zoe reached down and grabbed some spoons. “We’ll need these.”

Yes!She was staying. Hanging out with people that just sampled their food while supporting these two teams was a great way to end the evening. He led her up the bleachers to a row that had room for them to squeeze in. As they got comfortable, a couple behind them tapped his shoulder to offer their compliments on how delicious the soup and frozen yogurt was and that they’d stop by tomorrow for more.

Mission . . . freakin’ . . . accomplished. He handed Zoe a soup cup and brought his up to hers. “To our sweet match up.”

She laughed, touching her cup to his. “Welcome, Heavenly Soups. I hope it lives up to its name,” she teased before taking a taste.

“And the verdict?” he asked.

She dipped her spoon in for more. “It does.”

“Yes!” He fist-pumped the air. “You had me worried.”

“Did you really have any doubt?”

“Not really.” He added, “Does that make me cocky?”

She shook her head. “No. It makes you confident.”

Confident. He liked that verb used to describe him coming from her lips. There were other traits he’d like to show her he had if given the chance. Trustworthy. Loyal. Awesome in bed. Okay, the last was a recreational description. He was pretty sure he’d have to work hard proving the first two before he had any chance with the third.

Plus, he needed to show her he was all the things she was looking for in a soul mate. Smart, funny, supportive of her business . . .

She finished her soup and picked up the postcard she’d placed on her lap. “So, you really got all of these items?”

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