Nik shook her head when she saw the pink and white polka-dot
Cupcake Park sign. What was she doing bringing Carlos here? She
would never hear the end of it from Courtney. But he'd looked so sad
about his cousin. Cupcakes were the first thing she could think of that
might cheer him up.
"Hey!" Nik said to Courtney, who stood behind the counter with a
smirk on her face. "I brought you a customer."
Courtney waved as she carefully placed an assortment of cupcakes
into a box for the woman standing at the register.
"Hey, Carlos, good to see you again. Welcome to Cupcake Park. Nik
can give you the rundown of all of the flavors while you wait. She
knows them almost as well as I do."
Nik gave him a wry smile as they went up to the counter.
"As much as I hate to say this, she is correct. I curse the day one of
my best friends opened a cupcake shop so close to my apartment. And
unfortunately, it looks like business is booming, so she'll be here for a
while, tempting me with her delicious sugary treats. I think she did this
to get revenge on me for something."
Courtney and her customer both laughed.
"I can't tell if you're the worst possible advertisement for my store
or the best. I guess time will tell."
The customer picked up her bag containing two big boxes of
cupcakes.
"Get the strawberry ones," she said. "Those are my favorite. Those
and the coconut-lime ones. Ooh, and the matcha ones!"
Nik shook her head after the customer left the store."All of those are very good, but she's wrong. He should get the
confetti ones and the lemon ones."
Carlos smiled at Courtney.
"Those flavors all sound great, but I need to start with some red
velvet. These are for my cousin, and those are her favorites."
Courtney smirked at Nik, and Nik put her head in her hands.
"What did I say?" He turned from one to the other.
"When I was opening this place, I insisted that I needed to have red
velvet cupcakes. Nik argued strongly against them. She said my whole
shop was going to be about unusual and interesting flavors, and that
red velvet cupcakes weren't good enough for me."
"They taste like nothing!" Nik said. "They're just a vehicle for cream
cheese frosting, but you can put cream cheese frosting on other
cupcakes!"
"I guess I can see who won this argument," he said, and gestured to
the case full of red velvet cupcakes.
"A good cupcake shop has got to have some crowd pleasers,"
Courtney said.
Courtney was always so happy that she'd been right about red
velvet, damn her.
"You're shopping for your cousin?" Courtney asked Carlos. "Any
special occasion, or a just because cupcakes are great?"
He smiled at her, but he had that sad look in his eyes again.
"Sort of. She's pregnant and newly on bed rest, so I wanted to bring
her some cheer."
"Oh no, your poor cousin. Okay, some cheer, coming right up. How
many do you want?"
Carlos put his bags of books on a chair.
"A dozen. At least. If I know my family—and I do—everyone is going
to be coming by her house in the next few days, and they'll all eat one,
minimum."
"Okay, got it." Courtney pulled out a big pink box. "Here, I'll put
together an assortment of Cupcake Park's greatest hits, and Nik cantake you into the back to show you my kitchen, aka my pride and joy.
One question: how do you feel about spicy food?"
He looked at Nik and they both laughed.
"I feel great about it. Why? Do you have a spicy cupcake?"
Courtney grinned her slightly evil grin.
"Nik, you tell him all about my spicy cupcake while I put together
this box of treats, okay? And yes, yes, I'll give him some of the confetti
cupcakes."
Nik led Carlos through the door marked employees only and tried
to ignore Courtney's knowing look. It was like she thought the whole
reason Nik had brought Carlos here was for Courtney to start up the
rebound refrain again.
To be fair . . . she'd been thinking a lot about that moment on the
couch the other night. Maybe too much about it. If Courtney did start
up the rebound refrain again, she might be somewhat more receptive.
Maybe.
"How long has this place been here?" Carlos put his hand on her
lower back to steer her around some cardboard boxes stacked on the
floor.
"Just over a year." Would he slide his hand up her back to put his
arm around her shoulders? Come on, give her this one thing. YES.
YES, HE WOULD. She leaned toward him and tried not to let her smile
show her triumph.
"Did she have another bakery somewhere else?"
Nik shook her head. How could he expect her to have an actual
conversation with his arm around her like that, and his warm body
right next to her?
"No, she used to be an investment banker, isn't that wild? But she'd
saved up a ton of money and had always loved baking. About a year
and a half ago, she saw this place for lease and took the plunge."
"Wow," he said as they walked through the kitchen. "That's
inspiring."
She nodded and looked up at him."Agreed." She wanted to touch his hair so badly. It was slightly too
long and a little messy from the wind. If she could just brush it back
with her fingers . . .
She felt a buzz from his pocket, and they both jumped and pulled
away from each other. He shook his head and reached for his phone.
"That was Jessie, wondering when I'm coming over. I should
probably . . ."
She nodded.
"Yeah, let's go get your cupcakes from Courtney."
They emerged back into the store. Courtney's smirk was in full
bloom. Nik glared at her, but it didn't make the slightest impact.
Carlos pulled his wallet out of his pocket and handed her his credit
card. "Thanks so much for the cupcakes. I'm sure Jessie will love
them."
"My pleasure." She ran his card and handed him the receipt.
"Thanks for coming by, and I hope this isn't the last time. And make
sure you warn everyone about the spicy chocolate cupcakes; they're the
ones with the chili pepper on top."
He laughed and waved good-bye as they left the store.
"Thanks for bringing me here," he said to Nik as they walked to his
car.
They stopped in front of his car, parked just a few doors down from
Cupcake Park.
"Keep me posted," she said. "About how she liked the cupcakes, and
how she's doing."
He opened the trunk and put the books and the cupcakes inside.
"I will," he said. "And about how she likes those fucked-up books,
too."
She laughed.
"Please do."
He opened his arms for a hug.
"Thanks for all of your help today. With the books, and everything
else. Now I definitely owe you a drink. Next week?"She let the hug linger and kissed him on the cheek when she
eventually pulled away.
"Absolutely. Text me and let me know what works for you."
She pulled out her phone as soon as he drove away, certain about
what she would find.
Sure enough:
If you don't get your ass back to my store, I'm going to murder you with my bare
hands.
Nik grinned and walked back to Cupcake Park.
• • •
Why did Jessie have to text him right then? He'd been about two
seconds from kissing Nik, and unlike Monday night, he'd been pretty
sure she would have kissed him back. And then the damn text from his
cousin had to get in the way.
He was already mad at Jessie for how nonchalantly she was treating
her preeclampsia, and she had to go and do this to him, too? Now she
was in for it. That was, if he could concentrate on anything other than
how good Nik smelled, and how soft her skin was, and how he'd
wanted to pull off her clothes right there in the bakery kitchen.
Jon opened the front door almost as soon as he knocked. Carlos
walked in, carrying the bookstore bags in one hand and the cupcake
bag in another.
"Hey, man, how're you holding up?" Carlos asked him. Carlos had
been very suspicious when Jessie had introduced him to the skinny,
white, bearded English professor she was dating, but now he liked Jon
a lot.
"Okay, except for your cousin over here trying to kill me." Jon
smiled at Jessie with so much love and worry in his eyes that Carlos
had to look away.
Jessica was reclining on the couch like a pregnant Cleopatra. Her
long dark-brown hair and big brown eyes added to the resemblance.
"Carlos!" Jessie smiled up at him. "I was wondering when my good-
for-nothing cousin was going to stop by."
He set the bags down on the coffee table and leaned in for a hug."What's your blood pressure right now?"
Jessica pulled away.
"Come on, Carlos. This is your cousin, not your patient. Take a deep
breath."
He knew she was his cousin. He wouldn't be half as worried if she
were his patient.
"Don't give me that 'take a deep breath' nonsense. Come on, what's
your blood pressure?"
Jessie reached for her bottle of water and took a swig.
"Now that we're on the topic, what's your blood pressure, Carlos?
When's the last time you went to the doctor?"
"Oh my God, Jessie, don't do that right now. This is serious!" Jon
shot a look at him, and he realized that snapping at his pregnant, sick
cousin probably wasn't the right move.
"Yes, yes, I know it's serious. Can we get to that?" She pointed at the
bag on the coffee table. "What'd you bring me? Wait, I mean . . ." She
arranged her face into a perfect fake look of surprise. "For me? You
didn't have to bring me a present, Carlos! No really, you didn't! Okay,
fine, if you insist." She grinned at him. Despite his irritation with her,
he couldn't keep from grinning back. "How'd I do? Did I look just like
Taylor Swift?"
"Fantastic, you were perfect. No one would have known the truth."
He gave up on the medical questions for the moment and handed her
the carefully wrapped stack of books. "Here, dig in."
She squealed and tore into the wrapping paper. He had to
remember to thank Nik for getting the bookstore to wrap the presents.
He would have just handed Jessie the bag.
"Oooh, I've been wanting to read this book! I didn't know it was in
paperback, awesome." She tore through the books, and when she
looked back up at Carlos, he was surprised to see her eyes full of tears.
"You asshole. These are all so perfect. Thank you."
She reached her arms up, and he hugged her again, longer this time.
"I know how you feel about being bored, so I thought some reading
material was in order. I'll be around all weekend, so if you get tired of reading, I can come entertain you."
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"What do you mean you'll be around all weekend? Angie told me
you were leaving tomorrow to go up to Berkeley for Drew's
engagement party."
He had forgotten he'd told Angie about that. Damn it, why did she
have to tell Jessie everything?
He shook his head.
"Oh no, that's not this weekend. She must have heard me wrong.
That's in a few weeks."
Would she buy that?
"I always know when you're lying; you know that, right? I refuse to
let you miss out on your best friend's engagement party. I'll be fine. I
have Jon here, and Angie is fifteen minutes away, and my mom and
your mom and God knows how many doctors. You can't hover over me
like this for the rest of my pregnancy."
There was no way he could go; she knew that.
"Jessie. Come on. I can't leave now; you know that."
She set her mouth in that stubborn way she'd been doing ever since
she was a toddler.
"No, I don't know that. As a matter of fact, here's what I do know: if
you try to come over this weekend, I'm not even going to let you in my
house. So you might as well go to Berkeley because you're not going to
see me if you're here."
He turned to Jon, hoping he would talk some sense into her.
"You know she'll do it," Jon said.
Unfortunately, he did know.
"Fine." He shook his finger at her. "But I swear to God, Jessie, you
had better text me if anything happens. Promise me."
She rolled her eyes at him.
"I promise. Are we done with that?"
He nodded."Now!" She pointed to the cupcake bag, just out of reach. "What's in
the pink bag?" He sighed and pushed it toward her. Leave it to Jessie
to keep her mind on her presents.
"Oooh, it's heavy. Hmmm, what place did my hipster cousin
discover?"
"I'm not a hipster!" he yelled. This is what he got for his pains.
"Carlos. You hang out in Silver Lake. Come on."
"I have a perfectly normal haircut! I don't have a beard or Warby
Parker glasses! I never wear a hat."
She laughed harder and looked at Jon.
"I love doing this to him. He gets so mad every time!" She pulled the
cupcake box out of the bag and opened it. "Oooooh. Red velvet
cupcakes! And . . . is that Funfetti? Gourmet Funfetti cupcakes?" She
took a cupcake from the box and took a bite. "Oh my God. If this is
what hipsters eat, I've changed my mind about them; I want you to be
the hipsterest hipster in all of Los Angeles if you're going to bring me
baked goods like this. Jon, you've got to try one."
He grinned at the look on her face and at the frosting on her nose.
He was so glad he'd been able to make her happy, even though he was
still furious at her. The cupcake store had clearly been a good idea.
Another thing to thank Nik for.
"So I heard you picked up a girl by using my story. You're welcome."
Angela really told Jessie everything.
"I did not 'pick up a girl.' I just helped someone out of a difficult
situation, that's all."
Jessie took another bite of her cupcake.
"Mmmmhmm. Just one question: have you seen this girl since you
helped her out of that one difficult situation?"
Thirty minutes ago, and I was this close to pushing her up against
a wall to kiss the hell out of her until you texted me and interrupted
us, he didn't say.
He picked up one of the spicy cupcakes to play for time. After one
bite, he had no idea why Courtney had warned him about the chili
powder.s I'm sure you already know from my chatty little sister, I met up
with her for dinner a few days later, but it was no big deal."
When should he text Nik about going out for drinks? He'd said
"next week" so he should probably wait until then to ask. But he could
text her tonight about what a hit the books and the cupcakes were.
Jessie pursed her lips at him.
"You always say things are no big deal, but I don't believe you
anymore."
How had their conversation become all about him? Time to turn
this back to Jessie.
"Do you know what IS a big deal? Preeclampsia, that's what's a big
deal."
Jessie and Jon both went into peals of laughter. He glared at them.
Wait. There was the chili powder. Oh wow, it kind of snuck up on
you, didn't it? He mentally apologized to Courtney for doubting her.
"Oh, Carlos, thank you for that. I haven't laughed so hard in at least
a week."
He made a face at her.
"Hah hah hah, I'm glad that you found that amusing, but seriously,
Jessie . . ."
She held up a hand to stop him.
"Seriously, Carlos. I love you, but you are not my doctor. You're not
even an OB. I know what I'm supposed to be looking out for here.
Please relax so that I can relax. Go on your trip. Celebrate with your
friends. Drink lots of champagne, since I can't. And chill out."
He didn't think he was going to be able to relax until she'd safely
delivered the baby, but he figured telling her that at this point was
probably not a good idea.
"Fine. Can I make you some dinner, then?"
As soon as he got home from Jessie's, he called Drew.
"Hey, man, how's it going?" Drew asked when he answered the
phone. "Ready for the party?"
"Very. I always told you that you crazy kids would make it.""Yeah, yeah, yeah," Drew said. "You told me so, I know. I'm never
going to be able to ignore your advice again in my life, am I? Anytime I
try, it's going to be 'Hey, Drew, remember that time you almost let
Alexa—you know, the love of your life—get away from you?' and I'm
going to have to give in. What a nightmare."
Carlos laughed.
"Yes indeed, your life seems like a total nightmare. I feel so bad for
you."
"You should," Drew said. "You absolutely should. I had to make
pancakes this morning. Me! Making pancakes! I spent hours on the
couch afterward to recover."
"What a tough life."
"It's terrible and I love it. Speaking of, what's going on with you?
Any women I should know about?"
He flashed back to that moment with Nik in the bakery.
"If you're trying to get me to settle down like you, dude, it's not
happening. You know that's not me. But are you at home? Do you have
a second?"
Drew's voice got serious.
"What's up? Something wrong?"
Carlos walked into his kitchen to see if he had any beer in his fridge.
"You remember my cousin Jessie, right?"
Oh thank God, there were two bottles in the back.
"Yeah, of course. Is something wrong with the baby?"
Drew knew him too well.
"Jessie has preeclampsia."
"Oh." Drew paused. "How far along is she? When did they find
out?"
"Twenty-eight weeks, and just a few days ago. Her doctor isn't that
worried, and she's on bed rest, but . . ."
They went over the details of Jessie's case, like they'd done together
about other patients hundreds of times, back when they worked together and would bounce questions and ideas off each other. Turning
Jessie into a patient, and not his cousin, gave him some of the distance
he needed.
"Okay. I feel a little better. Thanks." He wished Drew still lived in
L.A.
"No problem, man. Let me know if there's anything I can do. We'll
miss you this weekend, but I totally understand that you can't leave
Jessie now."
Carlos opened his second beer.
"Oh no, you're stuck with me. Jessie refuses to let me stay in L.A.
this weekend. She said if I don't go up there and go to the party, she
won't allow me in her house. Thank God I already told you I'd cook
stuff for your party. I'm going to need to keep busy the whole time."
Drew laughed.
"That sounds like your family. We can go to the store after I pick
you up from the airport tomorrow morning."
He already had some snacks in mind to make for the party. Fancy
pigs in a blanket would keep him occupied for a while, for starters.
"Perfect. Hey, on a different topic: did you see the thing about that
failed proposal at Dodger Stadium last weekend?"
Drew groaned.
"Did I ever. Thank God that happened after I proposed to Alexa;
otherwise I would have totally lost my nerve."
"Yeahhhh, so, funny story. I was sitting right behind them when
that happened."
"What? Are you kidding me?" Carlos heard some commotion in the
background, and then Drew clearly talking to Alexa. "That proposal I
told you about! Carlos was there. He was sitting right behind them."
Drew came back on the phone. "Alexa is dying over here and says you
have to tell me all the details."
"Put him on speaker!" Alexa shouted in the background.
Carlos laughed and told the story, with all of the details he could
remember. After spending all day talking about scary topics, it was fun
to tell them about how he'd met Nik."Wait, so after you threw this unsuspecting, traumatized woman
into your car—and then drove her through L.A. in that terror mobile,
you and Angela went out drinking with her?" Alexa asked.
"I can't believe you would say something like that about my car! Is
this what happens when people get a ring on their finger and stop
being polite?"
"The entire world knows you're terrifying to be in a car with," Drew
said. "Finish the story."
"Some friend you are. But, yes, that's pretty much exactly what
happened. Except we weren't just with her, we were with her and her
two best friends. It was me and four very angry women. I was just
grateful I got out of there alive."
The three of them cracked up, and Carlos wished again that they all
lived in the same city.
He would tell Drew the rest of the Nik story sometime when Alexa
wasn't also there. Nothing against Alexa, but this was a guy kind of
conversation. Maybe soon, he'd have more than an almost kiss to tell
him about.
"Okay, guys, I'd better run."
"Talk to you soon," Drew said. "Keep me posted on Jessie, okay?"
Carlos nodded, even though he knew Drew couldn't see him.
"Will do, buddy. Thanks."
"Anytime."