“Sad and self-centered?” Blaire supplies. “Honestly, I don’t think Maddy would be all that involved in raising her kids. She’s more the kind of person who would Insta-pose them and make it look like her family is picture perfect and then hand them over to the nanny to deal with the feedings and dirty diapers while she gets a facial.” She grimaces. “God, I’m making her sound horrible. She’s really not. We just had an atypical upbringing, and our parents made some less than perfect choices when it came to smoothing over the fallout of the partner swap, like overindulging us.”

“You’re not overindulged.”

“I’m a different person than she is, though.”

I have to agree with that.

She waves a hand around in the air. “Anyway, enough about that. Tell me more about you and your grandpa. You seem like you’re really close.”

“Mmm, yeah, we always have been, even before my parents passed. My first job was bussing tables at The Knight Cap as a teenager, and then later I became a bartender there. Plus, I ended up living with him and Grams during my last two years of college after my parents passed, and that brought us closer. We’re a lot alike. Same core values, same work ethic.”

“He sounds like a good guy.” Her voice has that soft edge, somewhere between empathy and envy.

“He is. Thinks you’re quite the looker.” I cringe, wishing I’d kept that detail to myself.

But it gets another chuckle out of her, which I like. We talk about our childhoods, all our time spent in family restaurants—it sounds like her experiences were a lot different than mine and I love the way her face lights up and her eyes go all dreamy when she talks about the patisseries in France and how they solidified her love of all things sweet.

The rest of the drive passes quickly, and soon she’s stopping in front of my building. I consider inviting her up for a drink. It sends a message I’m not entirely opposed to, but it could add a layer of complication. Especially since we work side by side and today is the first time we’ve spent more than five minutes in each other’s presence without arguing. So I decide against it and just go with: “Thanks for the entertaining evening. I had fun.”

She graces me with one of her gorgeous smiles. “Me, too. Thanks for coming along, and for not being all weird about my crazy family.”

“They made this the most exciting Thanksgiving ever. Nothing will top it.”

She widens her eyes and whispers. “You should see what Christmas is like with them.” Her gaze darts to my mouth, but she looks away just as quickly. “Anyway, see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.” I get out of the car. “Drive safe, Blaire.”

“I will.” She waits for me to let myself into my building before she pulls away, her SUV clunking down the street.

Under those layers of pretty fabric, full skirts, and perfectly coiffed hair is one hell of a dynamic woman. Yeah, it was probably a good idea not to invite her up. Otherwise I might have wanted to make good on that comment I made about a second helping of dessert in the form of a Blaire cupcake.

chapter thirteen

Dick and Bobby Invasion

Blaire

Despite my rather short sleep, I’m in a surprisingly good mood this morning. Maybe because I had fun at a family event for once in my life, and even though Skylar was her flirty, obvious self, Ronan didn’t so much as give her a second glance. It was a refreshing change from past events when I brought a date and Skylar basically tried to hump him in front of me. Despite the boyfriend thieving and how inappropriate she is, I do love her. We went through a lot together as teens, so as much as I can’t stand the crap she pulls, I’m aware that she’s more messed up than the rest of us.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t like all the attention he threw my way, either. I’m sure he did it to play up the whole fake-date situation, but still. He’s a good-looking guy who smells nice. Who wouldn’t want a hot man to lick icing off their mouth in front of their boyfriend-stealing sister and cousin?

I check my reflection in the rearview mirror before I get out of my SUV and cross the parking lot. The Knight Cap is still locked up, but it’s barely after eight in the morning, and usually no one is there before nine thirty. Although with Ronan needing to deal with the frozen bird situation, I’m sure he’ll be in early.

Daphne is visiting her parents, and Paul is with his family and after next week I’m on my own with the cupcakes. Callie offered to come in later, so it’s just me this morning.

I pare down the menu to specials in celebration of the holiday. My diehards who have to work like me pop in for coffees, scones, the festive turkey, brie, and cranberry wraps I ordered in, and cupcakes. Most of the cupcake orders have already gone out for the weekend, apart from a few stragglers, so it’s a quiet day.

Ronan pops his head in to say hello just before eleven, but I’m with a customer, so he doesn’t stick around. By six it’s a ghost town, which is to be expected, and I close early.

I pack the daily leftovers and make up a box of cupcakes for Ronan. My stomach does a twist and leap as I check my reflection in the mirror. I look tired, but otherwise I’m presentable, so I head over to The Knight Cap to deliver the cupcakes. Maybe I’ll stay for a drink tonight.

I glance at the building across the street, the one that’s been empty since we both opened shop. Brown paper still covers the windows, but there’s a new sign plastered across the front that wasn’t there yesterday. In huge gaudy red letters is the very familiar logo for Dick and Bobby’s, a chain of restaurants that boasts massive TVs and broadcasts every major sporting event in existence, even that not-real sport where people ride those hobby-horse things. Plus they televise all the MMA fights. And they have pool tables and all sorts of games. It’s the grown-up version of Chuck E. Cheese with booze, horrible greasy food, and sports. I’d like to believe it’s not going to be an issue since B&B caters to a slightly more sophisticated crowd, but we really don’t need new competition around here.

I open the door to The Knight Cap. It’s pretty quiet, only a handful of tables occupied. There are a few older men sitting at the bar, nursing pints and watching the football game.

Ronan glances at the door when it chimes, signaling my arrival. A fluttery feeling in my stomach makes me pause as images and sensations from last night flash through my head: the way he pulled me into his side, how I seemed to fit quite nicely under his arm, how it felt to have his fingers brushing along the back of my neck when we were seated at the dinner table. A warm shiver runs down my spine as I remember the shock of him licking me close to the corner of my mouth.

It’s so silly. He was just playing the part of my date, mostly because he couldn’t believe that my cousin was actually hitting on him in front of the entire family. Still, he’s smiling, and that’s a whole lot different from his usual “oh, you again” scowl.

He wipes his hands on a bar towel. “Hey, Alice, how’s Wonderland?” He winks, though, so I know he’s playing around.

“Wonderland was empty and I was bored, so I thought I’d stop by.” I set the box on the bar top. “Have you seen what’s going on across the street?”