special. Ganache icing, spun-sugar flowers.” She glanced at his dress uniform and the row of medals. “Impressive jewelry you’ve got there.”
Trace was still trying to get his mind around the idea of a cake that took five hours to finish. In his world you ate whatever appeared on your plate, as long as it didn’t move, and even that rule got broken sometimes.
He shrugged off her compliment. “No big deal. Just doing the job.”
“That kind of hardware doesn’t come easy. Something tells me there’s a story behind each one.” She tensed and nearly dropped her box as another skateboarder shot past close enough to bump her leg. “Damn.”
Trace caught her with one arm and steadied the cake with his other hand. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
A delicate wash of color filled her face. She didn’t pull away, only tilted her head, looking up at him over the box. “You’re fast with your hands.”
“Fast enough. What did you mean about my shoulder?” He kept the question casual, watching her face for any sign of calculation.
She shrugged. “You favor your right side. When our boxes went flying, you caught them on the left. So what happened? Gunshot wound? Training accident?”
The explanation was plausible. “Nothing very interesting.” He’d died, that’s all. He sure as hell wasn’t going to discuss that with her.
He crossed his arms. “Are you doing anything later?” At least they could have a drink before he left. Trace didn’t have to be at the cruise dock until the following morning.
She cradled her cake, and then her fingers tightened. “No.” There was an edge in her voice that hadn’t been there before. “I’m sorry, but there’s really no point.” She gave a shaky laugh. “Believe me.”
Trace watched her shift her box, then move off into the flow of messengers, workers and tourists.
Great legs. Strange encounter. She’d probably forgotten him already.
He shrugged off a sense of regret. He had a cocktail party to attend and lobbyists to charm.
DAMN.
Abso-freaking—damn.
Was she crazy?
Gina Ryan gripped her cake, scowling at her own stupidity. She’d been breathless, panting over a complete stranger, a man with trouble stamped all over him. It just wasn’t her style.
Oh, she’d been tempted to say yes to that drink. It was the hard set to his jaw, coupled with the hint of danger in his eyes.
Yeah, she was a sucker for a man who knew his own mind.
Trouble, she thought grimly. And she hadn’t been lying when she told him not to waste his time on her.
Meanwhile, she had two kinds of crème brûlée and a white chocolate wedding cake to worry about, not the hot challenge in a stranger’s eyes.
She waved as Andreas trotted back, carrying a big set of keys. “Room’s all set, Gina. You’ve got a big crowd upstairs.” He waved the keys. “These are for the kitchen next to your lecture area. Your big Hobart industrial mixer wasn’t set up, so I sent someone to track it down.”
Gina resisted an urge to pull out her hair. Without her mixer for the demonstration, this master pastry class was going nowhere fast. “Did they have a record of our request?”
Andreas followed her up a sidewalk bordered by forgotten newspapers and scattered leaves. “They knew about it. They just haven’t found the mixer yet.”
“I may have to kill someone,” Gina muttered. “Maybe myself.”
“It won’t be so bad. They’ll find you something close. You’re always quick on your feet at demonstrations.” Andreas glanced at his watch. “Twenty minutes to go. Good thing that guy in the uniform caught our stuff.” Gina’s sous chef stared back down the street. “The man was smoking. Those were a lot of medals, too.”
“Really?” Gina cleared her throat. “I didn’t notice.”
“Like hell you didn’t. You two vanished into some kind of alternate reality. Hell, the guy had his arms around you right in the middle of the sidewalk.”
“Because he knocked me over and I almost fell,” Gina muttered. “Plus, I was trying to hold my cake steady.” She nudged the big, white box. “The last thing I need is for this thing to get crushed.”
Andreas glanced back, grinning smugly. “Don’t look now, but he’s following us. Probably wants to ask you out.”
“He already did.”
“And you said no? Come on, Gina, I felt the tension snap between you two. You haven’t looked twice at a man in months.”
“And I’m not looking twice at a man now.” But she had to fight an urge to look back. She wondered if she’d have the willpower to turn down that drink if he asked her again.
“Too bad. He went in a different door.”
Gina tried not to care. “Forget about the hunk, will you? We’ve got to find a mixer and test the sound system. Was the chocolate there?” She took a deep breath. “If anything happened to my tempered chocolate…”
Pain stabbed at her forehead.
“You okay, Chief?”
No, not even close to it.
“I’m fine.” Ignoring the little blur in her vision, she walked past the uniformed doorman, away from the lobby filled with fresh roses and real Chinese antiques.
“Let’s move.” She checked her watch uneasily. As she strode past the gleaming marble lobby, Gina was proud of herself for not glancing back in search of a white uniform.
It took all of her willpower.
CHAPTER SIX
THE LOCATION COULD HAVE been worse.
At least there was running water, a decent gas oven and space to lay out her cakes as part of her master class on pastry. But the clock was ticking, and there was icing to finish. When transporting off-site, you never added final embellishment until you were almost ready to serve. Gina had learned that the hard way. Now she had two cakes that needed icing for final display.
Outside the participants were arriving. Stress beat a path down her forehead. “Reggie, where are the edible flowers?”
“Right here, Chief. Your buttercream is on the other side of the table. All three colors, present and accounted for.”
“Yet again you save my butt.” Without a pause, Gina opened the frosting made in the ship’s kitchen that morning and assembled her tools. “Andreas, are you okay with the crème brûlée?”
“Good to go here. The demerara sugar’s
