Page 14 of Screwed
She began to assemble the flowers and leaves, arranging them on top of the fondant cakes, using the best ones together. She stepped back to eye the creation. “There. I hope Mama likes it.”
“Does she know you do this?”
“No. I mean, she knows I like to bake. I always did, even when I was a teenager. She didn’t really know what to make of it. I think she was afraid I’d get fat.” She made a face. Mama was always on a diet, counting calories and working out to keep her slender shape. But both she and her mother had small bone structures and were naturally slim, so she’d never understood Mama’s obsession with not putting on weight. “But I learned to do this stuff in Europe.”
“Well, I’m sure she’ll love it.”
“I need to take a picture. Hang on.” She arranged the cake so the light was right and took a few pictures. She’d post them on Instagram and Facebook later.
“Okay! Let’s check those macarons.”
“Time to eat them?”
“Nope. Now we put them together with the cookie dough.”
She carefully peeled each cookie off the parchment. One broke. “Damn. They’re so delicate. I always lose a couple.” The rest came off easily, though, and she piped cookie dough carefully onto the flat side of a macaron and topped it with another. She handed the first one to Cash. “Here. Try it.”
He took a bite. It crumbled a little, but that was okay. He slowly chewed and swallowed, and she watched his face, her insides quivering as she shifted from one foot to the other.
“Jesus. I think I just heard angels singing.”
Happiness bloomed in her chest. “Yay!”
He popped the rest into his mouth. “Christ. Why does it taste so good?”
“Lots of butter.”
He groaned. “Great. Do I need to worry about my cholesterol?”
“You’re a young, fit man. I’m sure you don’t.” Um yeah, he was definitely fit. Firm. Muscled.
“Right now I don’t even care. Give me another one of those.”
She smiled and handed one over, then continued assembling. “Oh! I just had an idea of what I could do with the leftover flowers.” She paused, then reached for a plate. Carefully, she built a macaron tower, then topped it with some of the smaller rejected flowers, adding one at the base. She stepped back.
“Nice.” Cash nodded.
“It’s not bad. But seriously…if I made the macarons bigger…like an eight-inch cake, layered them with filling, and decorated with flowers that matched…oh yeah.” Excitement bubbled up inside her, like it did whenever she got a new idea. “Oh, I want to try that right now!”
“Think you’ve got enough sweets at the moment, darlin’.”
“I know.” She sighed. “Maybe tomorrow.”
He burst out laughing.
“Oh never mind. I have to go to my parents’ tomorrow for the birthday party.” She frowned.
“You don’t look like you’re jumping up and down about that.”
“They still haven’t forgiven me for leaving Beau.”
“Jesus.”
She scrunched her face up into a smile. “It’s okay. I can handle them. I just hope they haven’t invited him.”
“Ugh. Theyhavekept in touch with him.”
She eyed him. “You know that?”
