Page 3 of Cookie
“I’m a man who knows what he wants on sight. The moment I walked in here, I knew you belonged with me.”
Her amber eyes shift between my baby-blues. They’re laced with confusion and hope and curiosity…temptation too. “This is the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Me too,” I admit, running my thumb over her soft knuckles. “But every adventure starts somewhere, right?”
She grins. “I suppose. But I can’t run away with you.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?” The idea of some other guy with his mitts on her makes me crazy.
“No. But I do have this place to run. Without me, there aren’t anymore cookies. The recipes are all living in my head.”
My heart stops beating. She isn’t a worker. She’s—
“Annie!” Her name is yelled from somewhere in the kitchen, hitting me in the chest like a heavy weight.
“See?” She pulls her hand from mine as she takes a step back. “This place would fall apart without me.”
“That’s too bad,” I say, trying to keep my tone light as the shock settles in.
She giggles as she grabs a paper bag and shoves an oat and raisin cookie inside. “I didn’t believe your proposal for a second, but I found it very entertaining. Here”—she thrusts the bag in my direction—“have a cookie on the house. I hope you find that sandwich you're looking for.” With a final smile, she excuses herself and heads out back. I can hear her musical voice as she discusses the ‘pop factor’ of the ‘fireworks cookies’ with another woman.
It takes me a moment to come to my senses and get the hell out of there. I came here expecting Annie Braithwaite to be an old lady I could sweet talk into signing a contract. Now I find out she’s a beautiful young woman who makes my heart beat like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. How am I supposed to get those recipes now? If I pursue her for personal reasons, she’ll think I’m only doing it for business gain, and if I tell her straight up that I’m a Hollis, she’ll realize I’m from the global food company and clam up. Either way, I’m screwed.
Annie
“Maybe less butter in the next batch,” Nina says as I nibble on a small piece of busted up cookie. Half of them exploded in the oven from the moisture reacting with the popping candy.
“Maybe.” The candy’s pop isn’t as big as I’d like it either. It’s more of a fizz since the big bangs happened in the heating process.
“It’s a cool idea. But I don’t know how we’re going to stop this from happening.” Nina twists her plum-colored lips as she picks at the broken pieces. “We’ve got less than a week to New Year.”
“I know,” I say. “But I have a couple of ideas.”
“Like?” When she tilts her head, her jet-black braid falls over her slender shoulder.
“Chocolate drops. We could dip the popping candy inside chocolate drops to protect them during the cooking process. Failing that, we could just make cookie sandwiches, putting the popping candy in the cream filling.”
She nods slowly. “I think they’ll both work.”
“Then we’ll whip up a batch of both and decide which one is best.”
“I’ll work on the cream-filling since the cookie dough is your department.” She pulls a tub of powdered sugar from the shelf. “Which reminds me; what did that suit want out there? Another recipe hunter? I hope you told him to fuck off.”
I pull my bottom lip between my teeth as I think about that crazy-ass guy in the expensive-looking shirt and pants. He’d pulled up in a rental and left his suit jacket in the car, rolling the arms of his shirt up as he walked toward the bakery so he looked casual. At first, I thought he was yet another executive type here to offer me ‘the deal of a lifetime.’ So, I ignored him and continued cleaning until I heard what sound like a groan coming from behind me. When I stood up, we locked eyes, and I swear my heart learned what it meant totrulybeat in that moment. Before then, it was simply pumping blood. Then he shows up and now my heart wants me tolive.
“He wanted me to runaway with him and have his babies,” I say, unable to stop the laugh that bubbles over when Nina freezes like Medusa just walked in here and turned her to stone.
“He actuallysaidthat to you?”
“He was teasing,” I say, waving it all off. It was the only explanation. Men who looked like him didn’t go after women who looked like me. As with baking, couples were made with very specific ingredients. Tall, lean and muscular men married tiny model-like women who were light enough for them to balance on the tip of one finger. They didn't go for women who were six foot tall with round…everything.
"He was teasing by saying he wanted to marry you and give you babies five minutes into meeting you?”
I nod. "I wasn’t sure if he was being genuine or if he was just being playful.”
“That’s insane. Who talks like that when they first meet someone?”
I shrug. “This guy, obviously. But he seemed harmless. Real nice to look at too.”
