Page 14 of Don't Hurt Us
“Yeah?”
“Maverick’s here.Have you finished his cakes?”
“Not yet.Could you send him back here?”I glance up at the clock.He’s a little earlier than he was yesterday.I thought I’d still have thirty minutes to work before he showed up.
“Of course.”
She disappears and a few seconds later, Maverick strolls into my kitchen.His eyes move over the space and stop when they land on me.
“Hey.Sorry, I got a little behind this morning when there was an issue with one of the ovens and I got started late on your order since you didn’t need it as early as some of the other places.”I scrunch up my nose.I hate letting people down.“I should’ve texted you.”
“Nah, it’s fine.I can come back later if that’s easier for you.I'm in no rush.We don’t open the bar for another five hours.”
“If you don’t mind waiting like fifteen minutes, I’ll be finished.”I wince, feeling bad I didn’t call him.“I’m really sorry.I thought I’d be done before you got here.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it.”
Maverick closes the distance between us and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.His fingers trail down my neck and I feel like I'm in a trance as I stare up at him.That hair was driving me crazy, but I didn’t want to touch my face when I'm working.
“I don’t mind waiting.It’s actually kind of cool to see the behind the scenes of the bakery.”He motions to the white boards covering one entire wall of the kitchen.“I like the boards.”He grins.
“You can take a seat.”I push out the stool next to me with my foot and nod towards it.
Maverick lowers himself onto the hard metal and watches me intently.I try to block him out and focus on the job in front of me.I already started making his cakes a little fancier than I normally do and I can’t change it now.Luckily, I already got my icing smooth over the entire surface on all of the cakes and now I'm just piping.
Except my hands keep shaking.
“You’re killing me,” I groan, stretching my neck to one side and then the other.
“Me?”Maverick looks surprised.
“I don’t normally have people watching me.”I chuckle.“You’re making me nervous.”
I know there’s more to it than that.He’s not making me nervous, I'm just shaking under his attention.I can’t stop thinking of his callused fingers brushing down my neck and how it felt against my sensitive skin.I'm wondering what it would feel like to have those strong hands cradle my face as he kisses me.
“I can go hang out in the front.I don’t want to make this harder for you.”
“No!”I say a little too forcibly and wince.“I mean, no, it’s fine.I’ll be ok.Just tell me… something.I need noise to focus.”
Maverick starts talking about work and the town.He asks me questions about the bakery and the kids.He does an amazing job at keeping me distracted enough that I don’t think about him sitting here and watching me.
I blow out a long breath as I place the piping bag on the counter and grab a large knife.I get to work cutting each cake into twelve pieces and place each slice onto a piece of parchment paper, knowing it will be easier for the bar to serve them this way.
“I thought you’d need to use some sort of a guide to get the cakes cut so evenly,” Maverick murmurs.
“I used to,” I admit.“But I’ve been doing this for so long.We actually had a competition one day a few years ago.One of my employees said I couldn’t cut a cake evenly one slice at a time.So, we made five cakes and everyone had to try it.I did it almost perfectly.She didn’t.”I chuckle, thinking back to how terribly her cake turned out.
“That’s crazy.I'm impressed.”
“It’s cutting a circle into equal pieces.It’s really not that hard.”I roll my eyes.
“Well, I don’t think it’s hard to run a bar by myself, but most people would.We get used to the amazing skills we possess and don’t think it’s a big deal anymore.We sell ourselves short and are amazed at what other people can do.”
“Running a bar would be terrifying.How do you even remember how to make all of those drinks?”
“It’s easy for me, but I couldn’t remember any of your recipes.I couldn’t pipe a cake like I was born to do it.I couldn’t be a mom and run my own business without failing at one of them.You’re amazing, Syd.Don’t sell yourself short.”
“Sometimes I do feel like I'm failing at one of them,” I whisper.
