She greeted a lady who was setting up a stack of free stickers for kids next to the payment center at the end of the table under the tent.
“Sign in right there,” the woman said with a grin. “Are you Tammy?”
“Yes!”
“I could tell from the cupcakes. You’re the only vanilla flavor in this tent. I’m Laura.”
“It’s good to meet you,” she said, setting the cupcakes where Laura pointed. She shook her hand and felt the nerves slip away by the moment. She would spend some time in this tent todayin case Laura needed any help, and the woman seemed genuine with her smiles and was chattering about the menu she’d printed out last night and put in a pretty antique white picture frame.
“I’m going to grab the rest,” Tammy said. “I’ll be right back.”
“If you need help, grab one of those guys,” Laura said, pointing down the row. A trio of men were setting up tents for vendors, and her view of one in particular had her heart stuttering inside of her chest.
Tawk clicked one of the canopy legs into place and bent down, grabbed another heavy canopy from a pile of them and strode over to the next empty spot.
“From the looks of it, you’ve just spied the hot one,” Laura said quietly. “He’s got a lot of us ladies chattering. We think he’s a shifter.”
And hot he was. Tawk was wearing a heather gray T-shirt that clung to his muscles, a backwards baseball cap, and jeans over work boots. She was staring, so when he turned and looked right into her eyes like he’d known she was here the whole time, she knew she’d been busted.
Hi, he mouthed.
She gave this lame little wave, just wiggling her fingers.
Laura laughed. “Girl, I get it. I’m happily married, and old, but good Lord, if I was single and about fifteen years younger, I would be chasing that man. No ring on that finger. Not that I am checking. Again, I’m happily married. That’s just what Joanne said.”
“Joanne,” Tammy mumbled softly, watching Tawk set up another canopy with the confidence of an Alpha male who knew exactly what he was doing with this show.
“Joanne is a couple tents down. She’s with Cornerstone Baked Goodies. Girl, these cupcakes are good.”
Tammy ripped her gaze from Tawk’s butt in those fitted jeans to Laura, who was indeed chewing a bite of one of thecupcakes Tammy had brought. Laura held up a few dollar bills and put them into the cash box. “I’m making sure we don’t have any duds in this tent,” she said with a wink. “That and this is my favorite flavor. I was excited when the list came out and yours had been given to my tent. Simple sells the best here, every single year. And all proceeds go to Darby sports league. It’ll cover the kids’ equipment for three sports this season. Anything leftover goes to the toy drive in the winter. This is the biggest the bake sale has ever been before…” Laura was rambling in a friendly way, but Tammy was distracted by Tawk as he talked to one of the other guys and gestured over toward her.
He nodded at the guy and then sauntered straight for her, looking like a damn supermodel. His eyes were bright, and glowing, and the smile on his lips reached them, making him look even more handsome. He didn’t even look tired. He looked…happy to see her.
“Good morning, stranger,” she said as he approached.
His grin grew. That man could carry a smile, good Lord. He tilted his head toward the parking lot. “I’ll help you bring in the rest.”
“Bring in the rest,” she repeated softly.
“Of the cupcakes.”
“Oh! Right. The cupcakes. Of course. That would be…very helpful.”
Movement caught her eye as Tawk headed in the direction of the parked cars, and Laura was under the Sugar and Spice tent with two enthusiastic thumbs up.
Heat dumping into Tammy’s cheeks, she shuffled her feet to catch up to Tawk’s long strides. “Um what are you doing here? Besides stalking me, obviously,” she teased.
He huffed a laugh and slowed, waiting for her to catch up. “I found myself in the middle of a boring morning with nothing to do.”
“Seriously? That’s why you’re here? Boredom?”
The smile slipped from his lips, and he scanned around them. “I’m here for the witch then. Or for the coffee. Or maybe for the cupcakes.”
“You’re here for everything but me,” she joked.
“Yes. You are interesting, but I am here for everything but you.” His tone had gone dark and serious, and truth-be-told, his words had stung.
“I was just teasing,” she said, feeling the mood shift. “I’m…I’m glad you’re here.” Shoot. She didn’t know why she’d said that. He wasn’t being nice, but she was still admitting her generous feelings, and she felt embarrassed. “Um, I can get the cupcakes on my own. I’m not sure if Jess is here yet. Good luck with feeding today, or whatever it is that you do with Jess. Okay. Bye.”
