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We exit the shop and I open the waiting town car door for her, settling in next to her in the back as she gives Davis the address of the bakery, only a few blocks away.
“What are we trying today?” I ask.
“Laura has a sampling for us of different flavor combinations.”
“As good as those ribs?”
“Yes,” she laughs. “But no barbecue cakes. I’ve attended samplings with other clients before, and my favorites are the tuxedo torte and salted caramel cake.”
“You’ve got a sweet tooth?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” she sighs. “And a savory one. I need to get my butt to the gym more often.”
I frown at her. “You look great the way you are.”
She rolls her eyes. “That’s nice of you to say, but-”
“I’m being serious.”
“I- We’re here.”
I watch her for a moment more, but her face doesn’t hold any clue to what she’s thinking.
A redhead with her hair pulled back into a high ponytail welcomes us inside, the smell of freshly baked desserts hitting me as soon as we walk in. Yeah, I’ll need to try everything in here.
“It’s great to see you again,” the woman says, pulling Mackenzie in for a hug. “I wasn’t sure if you’d forgotten about me.”
“I haven’t,” she smiles. “Business was slow for a bit, but it’s picking up now.”
“Awesome. Hi, I’m Laura,” she greets me, shaking my hand. “Are you ready to sample some cake?”
“Always,” I tell her, my stomach rumbling.
Over in the shop’s corner, away from the pastry cases, is a small table set up with bite-size pieces of cake, each one neatly labeled with the flavor.
“Mackenzie didn’t know what you’d like, so I prepared a variety. Our most popular is the chocolate raspberry truffle cake. It’s got raspberry liqueur and dark chocolate ganache inside the chocolate cake. A lot of couples also like the salted caramel one. It’s roasted almond cake brushed with Amaretto and has caramel infused buttercream and salted caramel drizzled between the layers.”
“That’s the one I like,” Mackenzie whispers, eyeing it hungrily.
“By all means then.” I spear a piece with a fork on the table and hold it out to her, waiting to see if she’ll eat it the same way she tried that mac and cheese last time.
She eyes me knowingly as she carefully takes the fork from me to try it herself, letting out a small groan as she chews. “I’m not sure what kind of witchcraft you do, Laura, but please don’t stop.”
The woman lets loose a belly laugh, turning toward the door as two customers walk in. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
I take my own bite of the salted caramel cake, discovering Mackenzie’s intense devotion to it. “Holy fuck. How do you know all the best places to eat in this city?”
She grins widely, covering her mouth as she chews the chocolate raspberry one next. “That’s my job.”
“All right, what else do we have?” I study the labels, each one sounding better than the last. Red velvet and cream cheese, lemon and blackberry buttercream, tiramisu and rum.
“How about the bourbon vanilla and coconut cream?”
“Eh, not a fan of coconut,” I tell her, selecting the lemon and blackberry one.
“More for me then.” She licks frosting off her fingers slowly, completely unaware of how provocative she’s being.
“Tell me what you think of this.” I slide my plate over to her, waiting as she chews it thoughtfully, her tongue peeking out to lick a dab of frosting off her lip.