“Don’t mention it tonight, please,” Marc said.
Thorne nodded. He’d like to think Riley would eventually tell him. “I won’t. I promise.”
“Good,” Marc said. “I’m going to get Riley that drink now.”
***
When Marc headed through the swinging door with a tray, the low murmur of guests talking floated into the kitchen. Riley caught a glimpse of glittery skirts and well-pressed tuxedos before the door swished closed.
He held his breath. This was it. The guests were getting their first tastes of his and Susan’s creations.
A timer buzzed. Susan pulled trays of zucchini curls from the oven. The cheese was perfectly brown.
“I need more ham biscuits,” Susan’s daughter, Lilah, said as she entered the kitchen with an empty tray.
“Already?” Riley asked.
She nodded, smiling. “They can’t seem to get enough of them.”
Susan hugged Riley as she walked behind him to open the oven. “See? It’s going well.”
And it kept getting better.
Lilah, Marc, and the other servers came in and out needing more and more of all their offerings until there wasn’t much left.
Marc swished back in as Riley piped whipped icing onto the mini cupcakes. “They love it,” Marc said. “All of it. I’ve never heard so many compliments.”
Riley started to ask for specifics, but Kathryn entered just behind Marc.
“Everything is amazing.” She grabbed a zucchini curl and popped it into her mouth. “What are those?” she asked, moving closer to Riley.
“Devil’s food with Mexican chocolate icing.”
“Are those the ones Thorne is always raving about?”
Heat filled Riley’s cheeks. He was sure Thorne hadn’t actually told her why those cupcakes were so special to him, but he couldn’t think about them without getting heated. “Should we go ahead and start sending them and the other desserts out?”
“Yes, we’ll start the auction before too long. I think people will be apt to bid even more if they’re on a sugar high.”
“Good plan,” Susan said.
“Thorne would buy anything after he ate enough of these,” Riley said, finishing the last cupcake on the tray.
Kathryn laughed. “I just bet he would. Thank you for putting this together.”
“No, thank you for giving us the chance,” Susan said. “Have you met the rest of our crew?”
Kathryn shook her head.
Susan gestured toward Marc. “This is Riley’s former roommate, Marc.”
Marc grinned. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Don’t believe any of it if it came from Thorne.”
“I never take him seriously.”
Riley punched his arm.
“What? You don’t either.”
Kathryn laughed even harder then. “You’re both quite sensible.” She looked at Marc. “I’ve heard plenty about you too.”
“No matter what you’ve been told, I assure you I’m a perfect gentleman.” Marc took her hand and kissed it. “Any woman who can put up with Thorne her whole life has got to be amazing.”
“This is Susan’s daughter, Lilah,” Riley said, wanting to change the subject before Marc’s flirting got out of hand.
Kathryn shook Lilah’s hand. “It’s great to meet you. Does baking run in the family?”
Lilah laughed. “No. I hate it, but my mom pays her assistants well.”
Susan snapped her with a towel, and everyone started laughing again.
“Our other servers are Lucy, who I met in a cake-decorating class, and Andre, who went to school with Lilah and Riley,” Susan explained. “They’re still circulating.”
“Everything is fantastic,” Kathryn assured them again. “Truly, I would never know you hadn’t done a job this size before, and I doubt anyone else would either.”
When Kathryn headed out of the kitchen to schmooze more patrons, Susan hugged Riley, nearly squeezing the breath out of him. “This is really happening, right?”
“I think it is.” They were handling themselves well, and people loved the food. It seemed like the chances of this job leading to more were very high.
“You get more cupcakes ready, and I’ll load the trays,” Susan said.
She sent Marc and Lilah off with trays of assorted pastries while Riley finished the last cupcakes. He concentrated on the thick swirl of icing, making the tips high and perfect. He’d done this hundreds of times, and his hands simply knew what to do, so his mind wandered. Thorne hadn’t come back to the kitchen, and despite what he’d said earlier, Riley suddenly wanted to see him so badly it hurt. He wanted to share this success with the man he loved. Why the hell had he thought it was right to push him away?
“Do you want to go out there?” Susan asked.
“What?” Riley realized he’d been too lost in thought to hear her.
“Take this tray out, and look around. You should see the guests’ reactions for yourself.”
“I…”
“You want to see him, don’t you?”
“How did you guess?”
“You were smiling to yourself in an adorable secret way. That, and I just know you.”
Riley couldn’t love Susan more. He finished the last cupcake and glanced around. “There’s still a lot—”
“I can handle it. I’ll keep Lilah in here with me if I need help.”
Riley did want to see Thorne but also wanted to see how the guests were responding to the miniature desserts.