“Not high, since I rarely go to these things.” I brought the macaron to my mouth and paused. “Was this made by you?”
She rubbed her lips together, crinkled her nose, then nodded. “The macarons, yes. The mousse cups too. The rest comes from a bakery I collaborate with.”
I popped the whole macaron into my mouth—a mistake, probably, since it was bigger than I’d expected and I’d never actually eaten one before. Luckily, it tasted as good as it looked. Spitting it out into a napkin wouldn’t have impressed Bea.
She watched me, her lips rolled over her teeth. When I swallowed, she asked, “Good?”
“Yes. The best thing I’ve ever tasted.” I grabbed one of the last cups of mousse, impressed there was already a spoon with it. I took a smaller, more cautious bite of this one, but I needn’t have worried. “This is just as delicious. You’re very talented, Bea.”
Her cheeks glowed a faint rose as she began to place fresh desserts on the table. “It isn’t a big deal, but I’m glad you like them.”
Several people approached the table, so I moved closer to her. “How are you?”
“Fine,” she murmured. “A little flustered you’re here. I didn’t expect to see you again until next week.”
She plucked the mousse cup from my hand when I finished, replacing it with a chocolate macaron. This one, I ate slower, paying attention to the subtle notes in the flavor. I wasn’t really a sweets person, but she was well on her way to converting me.
“I told you my intentions,” I reminded her. “I won’t exactly be able to prove I’m a safe bet if we don’t see each other.”
I had been biding my time, waiting for the perfect moment to approach her. That had been a mistake—one I wouldn’t make again. Bea would only understand I meant what I said through my actions. Waiting for her to come to me wouldn’t get me anywhere.
“I’m not a guest here, Tore. This is my job.”
“I know.” I grazed my hand over her back—just for a moment, and only because I couldn’t help myself. “I won’t keep you from it.”
She moved along the table, straightening and refilling, graciously answering questions when she was interrupted by guests. This was a new side to Bea I was pleased to get to observe. I knew she was doing well in her business, but getting to see her in her element was a real pleasure I hadn’t expected.
Once the dessert table was reset, I followed Bea and her cart toward the kitchen. Before we reached the door, she stopped and faced me.
“I saw you talking to the mayor earlier.”
“Ah, yes. Sam thinks it’s important to keep open lines of communication with Dean.”
Her eyes flared. “Dean? You’re on a first-name basis with Dean Caruthers?”
“Sure.” I pushed my glasses up my nose, then dropped my hands to my sides, forcing them to be still. “He asked me to call him by his first name. It would be disrespectful to call him anything else.”
Her teeth were perfectly white and square, but what I loved most was how her canines jutted out just a little past her incisors. When she bit her bottom lip, she looked like a cute little vampire.
“That’s true,” she murmured. “I’m surprised you come to things like this. Doesn’t seem like your scene.”
“It’s very much not. Small talk is a waste of time, and that’s all that goes on. I’d rather spend two minutes making a donation than two hours speaking to people who think they have something to gain by making a connection to me.” I shuddered involuntarily.
“It seems small talk is par for the course when you’re a bajillionaire.”
I laughed. “I don’t recall learning that figure in math class.”
“That’s because you only took Calculus 700. We covered bajillions in remedial math since we’d all have to bow to our corporate overlords one day.”
“Bea…” I shook my head, “I can’t imagine you’ve ever bowed to anyone.”
She shrugged. “We all have bosses.” Then she grabbed the end of my tie and gave it two sharp tugs. “Except you, of course. You’re the boss of them all.”
“Even I answer to investors and clients.”
“Technically speaking. But they know you hold all their secrets in the palm of your hand. If they sass you, you could infect their systems with never-ending pop-ups.”
I stared at her for a beat before laughter burst out of me. Bea’s brand of teasing was my favorite. Quite possibly the only I’d ever enjoyed. It was blunt, easy to discern, and traveled right to the epicenter of my sense of humor.
