Always Room for Cupcakes (Cupcakes 1)

He smiled and rang me up, then placed the ring in a small box and handed it to me.

Before I could take the box, he grabbed my hand and asked, “How about dinner?”

I bit back a gag and replied sorrowfully, “Oh, I don’t think my boyfriend would like that too much.”

His face darkened, but before he could say anything, I yanked my hand out of his hand and said happily, “Thanks so much. Daddy’s going to love it.”

Then I got the hell out of there.

I felt like I was going to throw up.

The Douche had picked up the kids an hour earlier, not saying a word to me, probably still butt hurt over yesterday’s exchange. I was curious over what he had to be upset about. I was the one who’d been told that all it took to get my husband to cheat on me was a stiff drink and some dirty talk.

As soon as I’d kissed my kids goodbye, I rushed to the shower and began the process of getting ready for my first date in over thirteen years.

I knew we were going to dinner, but I wasn’t sure where, so I went with a short-sleeved, cobalt-blue jersey dress that matched my eyes perfectly, and would be appropriate whether the restaurant was casual or fancy.

I used light makeup, just enough to highlight my features, and styled my hair in long, loose curls. I’d thought about straightening it, but ran out of time shaving every hair known to man off of my body. This took long enough to be embarrassing.

Now I was ready, heels on, clutch in my hand, and waiting nervously for Cade to arrive.

I heard footsteps falling on the outside stairs and had to concentrate on my breathing so I wouldn’t hyperventilate.

I bit back a squeak when the pounding started on the door and looked out the peephole.

Holy shit, he looked good.

I took in as much of him as I could through the tiny circular window. Motorcycle boots, dark jeans, and a red and black button-up shirt. His hair was down and I could see it had some curl to it, the dark tresses kept back off his face and falling to his shoulders, and his beard looked groomed.

When he knocked again, I realized I’d been staring through the peephole long enough for him to get impatient, so I stepped back, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

His gaze started at my feet and slowly worked its way up, so by the time his eyes met mine, I felt like I’d just been given a full-body caress.

Jesus!

“Hi,” I said, my voice coming out a little breathless from his perusal.

“You look gorgeous,” was his reply, which caused me to grin broadly.

“Thanks, so do you.”

“You ready?”

“Yeah.” Then I looked down at myself and asked, “Will this be okay for the bike? I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want to wear pants…”

Cade gave me a half grin and sho

ok his head. “No, I wanna keep you safe, so that precious skin needs to be covered whenever you’re on my bike,” he said, pointing down at my bare legs.

“Oh, I thought … since you said you wanted me on your bike, that meant…” I stopped talking at his knowing grin, and realized I’d just repeated what he’d said verbatim. Great, now he probably guessed I’d been replaying that little scene over and over in my head.

“I just meant I wanted you with me,” he corrected, causing a nice tingle to run through me. “And you don’t have to worry about it. I figured you’d dress up, so I brought my truck.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, pleased by his thoughtfulness, then stepped out and locked the door behind me.

As he pulled away I found myself looking at his large hands on the wheel. He was a big dude, probably somewhere around six foot three or four. Everything I’d seen about him so far had been large. His hands, his feet, his biceps. It made a girl wonder…

“What are you thinking about?” Cade asked with a deep chuckle, startling me out of my perusal and making my cheeks turn red.