CHAPTER THREE
NANCEE STOOD AT the kitchen island and allowed herself a couple of minutes of sheer pride. She’d just finished a huge order for Flour Power—three dozen Christmas dinosaur cupcakes, a true decorating challenge—and she felt good. It reminded her of working her way through college at a bakery near the school. She hadn’t been given much more than “dinosaurs with a Christmas theme” as a guideline. In the end she’d used candy dinosaurs and added little upright Christmas trees, so every cupcake was a mini-forest.
She’d also had three shipping orders to fill, including one for eight dozen “assorted holiday cupcakes.” She’d worked for almost twenty-four hours straight, but it had been worth it. She’d used half-pint mason jars for the cupcakes being shipped, allowing her to create a popular cupcake-in-a-jar experience for her customers. The cupcakes were baked in the jar and then decorated. This allowed them to be shipped without being destroyed by being bounced around. Because they would be eaten with a spoon, she was able to make the batter extra moist without worrying that the cupcake paper would fall off.
The shipping boxes were fairly heavy. The mason jars, even the small ones, added weight. Nancee double-checked the contents, then the labels before sealing the boxes.
“Looks like I got here in time.”
She jumped, screamed and spun to see Shep standing in the doorway from the front of the house. He had on a heavy navy peacoat over dark jeans and a cream-colored sweater. His slightly-too-long hair was tousled. The man looked good, she thought, trying not to be bitter about the fact. Rested and showered. She, on the other hand, probably had batter, or at the very least frosting, in her short red hair.
“Don’t you ever knock?” she asked.
“Gladys gave me a key and told me to let myself in. I can knock next time if you’d prefer.”
If she said she did, then she would sound crabby and petulant. In truth, she didn’t mind him showing up as much as she was bothered by the fact that he seemed to cause the space around him to shrink.
Gladys’s kitchen was oversize by nearly every standard. Years ago, she’d decided to become a caterer and had had her kitchen remodeled to commercial specifications. There were huge double ovens, miles of counter space and all the bells and whistles required to make a health inspector happy. Gladys had grown tired of the business but had kept the kitchen. Nancee was now able to take advantage of that. But despite the openness of the grand work area, Shep’s presence made everything seem...small.
He was tall, but six-three wasn’t all that uncommon. A lot of guys had broad shoulders. Dark hair and green eyes completed the appealing package. She held in a sigh. Maybe it wasn’t him at all. Maybe it was her.
If only he hadn’t kissed her. Or if only he’d kissed her more.
“Nancee?”
“Huh?”
“Did you want me to knock?”
“What? Oh. No. It’s okay. I’ll get used to it.”
He shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the back of the bar stool by the island. “Gladys said you would need some help delivering your cupcakes today. I thought I’d offer.”
Seriously? After a night of Cheetos and vodka, that was her aunt’s takeaway? That Nancee should spend more time with Shep? Wasn’t avoiding him the best way to get over him? Not that she needed to get over anything. They hadn’t been a couple in years. She barely remembered anything about him.
Okay, that wasn’t exactly true, but no one had to know. She could pretend to be over him, and that would be good enough.
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