Icing On The Date (The Bannister Brothers #1) (12 page)

He opened the sprinkles and stepped up to the counter. A lick of heat burned through her as his hip bumped hers.

Just the nearness of him had the butterflies returning. But not normal butterflies. These babies were on warp speed, amped up on coffee and sugar with a side of energy drinks.

She introduced him to Estelle. “This is Owen. He helped me make some cupcakes the other day, so he knows the drill. Just put him to work where you need him.”

“It’s nice meeting you, Owen. I am a huge fan of you and your brother.” She raised her hand in a quick fist pump. “Go Brawlers.” A smear of pink frosting clung to the side of her hand and she wiped it on her apron as a soft tinge of pink colored her cheeks.

Gabby didn’t think she’d ever seen Estelle embarrassed.
Geez, what was it about this guy?
Her baker was blushing and dropping spatulas, and she had super-sonic butterflies crashing around in her stomach.

Did women just spontaneously combust when they were around him?

Owen offered Estelle one of his most charming smiles. “Well, thank you. I’m always glad to meet a fan. My brother and I both appreciate your support. I’m getting Gabby tickets to the game this weekend, why don’t I send a few more for you and your family?”

“Oh gosh, that would be so nice. You don’t have to do that. Thank you.” Estelle’s words tumbled out in a rush, and Gabby thought her baker might faint.

“All right, Rock Star. How about you focus on the sprinkles and quit distracting my help.” Gabby nudged him with her hip and earned a chuckle in return.

“Yes, ma’am. You just tell me what you need.” He had already finished a whole row of sprinkles and was refilling a bag with white frosting. “I don’t have practice until noon today so I’m all yours.”

I’m all yours?

Oh. My. God. She just died a little inside. Who cared about the cupcakes or the bakery—she needed to get naked with this man right now.

Justin popped his head into the kitchen. “The crowd is chanting for Owen to make another appearance. I don’t know how long I can hold them off.”

“Okay,” Owen said. “But this time, Gabby is coming with me.” He looked around the counter filled with chocolate cupcakes. “I’ve got an idea. Do you have any of those mini Oreo cookies?”

Gabby nodded. “Sure. I’ve got several bags.”

“Great. Pass me one.”

She pulled a bag off the counter, ripped the top open and passed it to him.

He handed her a chocolate cupcake. “Here, frost this one with vanilla frosting.”

She squeezed a circle of white frosting on the cupcake.

He gave it a sprinkle of chocolate and stuck a mini cookie on top. Holding the cupcake, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the bakery.

“Hey Summit fans!” he yelled into the crowd as he stepped up onto an empty bench at the front of the store. A cheer went up, and he pulled Gabby up onto the bench next to him and wrapped an arm around her waist.

She couldn’t believe the amount of people that were still in the store and lined up on the sidewalk out front. A surge of fans pushed through the door, squeezing into the small bakery area.

“I want to introduce you all to a friend of mine. This is Gabby Davis, and she runs this bakery. And she makes the best damn cupcakes in Colorado.” Another cheer went up. Owen grinned at her. Not a regular grin. A total and complete shit-eatin’ kind of grin.

What was he up to now?

“I might be the one that plays hockey, but she’s an expert when it comes to icing.” He held up the cupcake. “Gabby and I have created a special cupcake in honor of the Colorado Summit. It’s a chocolate cupcake with white frosting to represent the ice, chocolate sprinkles and a chocolate cookie ‘puck’ on top. With three kinds of chocolate, we’re calling it the Colorado Hat Trick.”

Another cheer went up. But Owen wasn’t finished. “And Gabby’s offering a special deal. If you order your own Summit Hat Trick which is three dozen cupcakes, and you agree to pick them up in the store tomorrow morning before the game, she’ll give you five dollars off. And I’ll even autograph the box.”

He was smart. She had to give him that. Not only did he upsell the easiest cupcake to make, he ensured that she would sell them three dozen at a time, get them picked up instead of her having to deliver them, and he gave her ample time to prepare them by the next day. He was kind of a genius.

She grinned up at him and the crowd let out another cheer. She waved to the group. “Thank you all so much for visiting the store this morning. I hope you love the new cupcake.” She punched a fist into the air. “Go Summit.”

Owen laughed and tipped her back into a dip, dropping a quick kiss on her lips.

The crowd went wild and outstretched arms held up phones, snapping pictures.

This felt like a perfect moment. Like another chapter to add to the fairy tale that Owen was creating in her life. Her store was full of customers, and a cute smart prince of a guy that she really liked had just helped her business, then tossed her into a dip and landed a seamless kiss.

Her intern, Leah, grinned up at her and gave her a quick thumbs up. Gabby didn’t know if that was due to all the business or the hunky hockey player whose arm was wrapped around her. It didn’t matter.

Leah and the dark-haired friend she had called in to help were taking orders as fast as they could at the counter. So, this story also would also have a Cinderella element because now before she could go to the game tomorrow night, she would be working until midnight slaving over a hot stove making dozens of cupcakes.

But that was a part of the story she could handle. Working at her business was easy. She knew how to do that.

The handsome hockey-playing prince was another story. Gabby had no idea how to handle that. Would this story have a happily-ever-after or end with the prince moving on to a new princess that had a better castle and less pumpkin in her carriage?

Chapter Ten

The crowd surged against them the next night as Gabby and Justin arrived at the game and tried to find the right gate for their seats. Owen had only been able to get two tickets “on the glass”—whatever that meant—so the rest of her staff were sitting in other seats in the auditorium.

Whether it was a gift from Owen or not, her staff deserved this night out treat. They had busted their butts the past two days. Thanks to Owen’s new cupcake idea, they had sold close to fifty orders of the Summit Hat Trick special and had stayed in the bakery working until past midnight.

Before he’d left for practice the day before, Owen had autographed a hundred boxes. He’d explained that he would be busy with the team the rest of the day and had left Gabby with a toe-curling goodbye kiss and a promise to wave to her at the game the next night.

The whole staff had stayed, working through the day and they had baked and packaged close to two thousand cupcakes.

The same kid who had delivered the flowers and the dress stopped by the bakery mid-afternoon with a couple of pizzas, everyone’s tickets and two official Summit jerseys. Both read Bannister across the back, but one had a B in front of the name and the number eighty-four stitched on it and the other had an O and the number twenty-one.

A note explained that the second jersey of Bane’s was for Justin calling it a ‘brother’s jersey for her brother.’ The jersey with Owen’s number had a note attached that read “wanted you to have a REAL jersey.”

She wasn’t going to retire her Manning jersey, but she could add this one to her collection.

The gift of the pizza was a hit—the perfect thing to give her staff the much needed energy to keep baking. Leah’s friend, Beth, another student from the culinary school, had hung in there with them all day. Gabby had told her if business kept up, she’d consider hiring her on part-time.

Even Justin had stayed to help—and had stayed sober—which was another gift in itself. He’d mixed batter and joked around with the women, keeping the mood light and charming the two culinary students.

Gabby had been amazed at Owen’s perceptive thoughtfulness. How did this guy that she just met seem to know exactly what she needed? He seemed to show up when she needed him and knew just what to do to alleviate her problems. He seemed too good to be true. But Gabby had also seen a dark side to him.

Maybe not a pitch black kind of dark side, but definitely grey. When his guard was down, she glimpsed a desperate need to do the right thing and a feeling of always coming up short. She’d seen his sullen expression and brooding personality the first night she’d met him.

She didn’t believe that Owen always felt as self-assured and confident as he acted. Sure he was charming and could probably sell ice to an Eskimo, but he wasn’t arrogant. He was confident, yet still thoughtful.

It seemed funny to say it about a guy that was over six feet tall and built like a Mac truck, but Owen was sweet. And cute. Like crazy, panty-melting cute.

He was also a bit of a playboy, and if social media was any indication, there were a lot of women who weren’t as thrilled that he was paying so much attention to Gabby.

The pictures from the morning at the bakery had hit the internet by that afternoon, and Leah and Beth had read some of the posts and tweets to them as they’d sat down to eat pizza the night before.

A lot of the tweets were questioning how serious this new relationship was and how Gabby had finally hooked the elusive hockey player, but some were downright mean. She tried to laugh off the ‘haters’ as Leah and Beth called them, but it was hard to ignore the comments about her not being pretty enough, thin enough, classy enough to nab a guy like Owen.

She had no idea there were so many correlations between hockey and cupcakes.

“Just ignore those mean-girl posts,” Leah had told her. “They’re just jealous. Besides, you have a great figure and amazing hair, so just tell those bitches to ‘suck it’ and enjoy going out with Owen.”

Great advice. But not that easy to take. It was hard to ignore an entire pack of angry women who thought she wasn’t good enough to snag a Bannister brother. Hard not to scrutinize her outfit for the game, the way her hair curled, how much makeup she was wearing.

But now there was so much going on, she didn’t have time to worry about the way her jeans fit. She was packed in so tight with the rest of the crowd, no one even noticed her or her outfit.

An excited buzz filled the air, along with the scent of hot dogs, popcorn, and beer. Gabby had never been to a professional sporting event, and the sheer enormity of the crowd was overwhelming. She clung to Justin’s arm as he led her through the gate and down the aisle. Down to the very front row, directly in front of the glassed-in ice rink.

Ahh. “On the glass” made perfect sense now.

“These seats are awesome. We’re right behind the net.” Justin balanced two foil-wrapped hot-dogs, a bag of peanuts, and a couple of bottles of soda in his arms as he plopped into the seat.

“Is that good?” Gabby asked as she took the seat next to him. “That seems good. Right?”

Justin laughed and passed her a foil-wrapped package and one of the sodas. “Yes, it’s very good. These are some of the best seats in the house.”

She peeled back the foil and took a bite of the steaming hot dog. Her hands trembled from the excitement of the whole event. Shrugging out of her coat, she pushed it against the seat behind her, then shivered a little. The arena was cold, but the mass of bodies helped to warm it up and her nerves had her body temperature rising.

It wouldn’t matter if she was freezing, there was no way she was covering up the new Summit jersey. She didn’t care that it felt a little like high school, she loved wearing Owen’s name and his number on her back.

Her brother had spent the drive over filling her in on the basics of hockey, but his lessons hadn’t prepared her for the exhilaration of the crowd.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and several spotlights flashed around the arena. An announcer’s came on and asked the crowd to please welcome the other team.

An entire team of men wearing green and white jerseys came pouring out, skating around the ice, then lined up at the back of the rink. The announcer named the starting players, and they skated to the center of the ice amidst some cheers and a few random boos.

Then the lights went crazy again, and the announcer’s voice boomed, “Let’s get ready to rumble,” and the crowd went wild. “Please welcome your Colorado Summit.”

A circular message board flashed the words, “Make some noise.” And they did.

Gabby and Justin were on their feet, cheering and yelling with the crowd as the Summit skaters circled the ice. They lined up as well and the announcer named the starting players. They yelled and clapped when Owen’s name was called.

After singing the national anthem and more cheering, the players finally took the ice and the game began.

It was fast-paced and thrilling, and Gabby loved it. She loved watching Owen skate and the sounds of the puck whizzing across the ice. Justin had explained the position of the players, and she knew that Owen was a defenseman and protected the goal.

From her perspective, the players seemed huge, the pads and the skates adding height and bulk to their already muscled bodies. Sitting so close to the glass made her feel like she was practically in the game.

They were sitting behind the opposing net, and Owen seemed to be on the ice a lot. Every time he skated near, her heart doubled in speed.

Justin explained a few of the key hockey terms like one-timers, the blue line, and what ‘icing the puck’ meant. Now she understood Owen’s comment at the bakery about
her
icing skills. It would seem her kind of icing was much more fun.

Suddenly, Owen and another player slammed into the glass right in front of her, and she cringed at the impact as the referees blew their whistles. The crowd booed and screamed angrily at the other player.

“What happened?” she asked her brother.

“That guy just cross-checked Owen, which earned him a two-minute penalty. So, they’ll put him in that little box and their team will be down a player. They call this a power play, and it’s a great opportunity for the other team to score.”

Her heart pounded against her chest as the team took the ice and the crowd went wild. Owen was on the ice, and the puck cracked as it flew between the sticks of the players. Clustered around the net, the Summit passed the puck between the players, like a giant game of keep-away.

Then suddenly the puck flew at Owen, and with a burst of speed, he skated forward and took a shot at the goal. The puck left the ice, sailed neatly over the shoulder of the goalie, and slammed into the net.

The crowd went wild, and the team hugged and high-fived each other. Owen broke off, skating behind the net to smack the glass in celebration in front of Gabby. His mouth-guard hung from his helmet, and he flashed her a wide grin.

A wide toothless grin.

What the heck?

Well, not entirely toothless. But a wide empty space sat between his two front teeth and his right canine. A huge picture of Owen flashed on the jumbo-tron as a camera caught him with the grin on his face.

After her initial surprise, she decided she kind of liked it. It gave his smile a boyish charm. And gave her a little comfort that maybe the guy wasn’t so perfect after all.

It figured
her
Prince Charming would show up with a dark side and missing a tooth.

The crowd didn’t care how many teeth he had, they went crazy cheering for him. The goal set the tone for the game, but was the only score for the next two periods. As the teams failed to score, the play got more heated and a few fights broke out.

The excitement of the team turned to distress as Gabby realized the prevalence of violence in the game. Owen took part in two of the fights, and the arena went crazy chanting “Bannister Brawlers” when he dropped his gloves on the ice and went after another player.

Gabby covered her eyes, cringing as she watched the fights ensue. Especially when Owen was involved. She’d seen too much violence and anger from her step-father growing up and a feeling of claustrophobia overtook her as another fight broke out.

She stood and pushed her way down the row. She had to get out of there. If only to catch her breath and escape the intense noise of the crowd. Hurrying up the stairs, she slipped out of the arena and into the women’s restroom to splash cool water on her flushed face.

Five minutes later, she plopped back into her seat.

Justin gave her a concerned look. “You okay?”

She nodded and spoke loudly near his ear. “I’m enjoying the game, just not a huge fan of the fighting.”

Her brother nodded in agreement. “I understand.”

A buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the second period and Justin stood. “Let’s take advantage of these VIP passes and go check out the Summit Room.”

They made their way down the row and flashed their lanyard passes at a security guy who directed them to the VIP lounge.

The Summit Room was elegant, with dark paneled walls and red leather booths. Framed posters and hockey paraphernalia decorated the walls. It was blessedly quiet after the noise of the arena.

Gabby sank into a booth as Justin offered to get them drinks at the bar. “I’m driving, so just grab a Diet Coke for me.”

Her brother headed for the bar as two blonde women approached her, uncertain looks on their faces.

One of them pointed a perfectly manicured nail toward her, a huge diamond ring sparkling on her finger. “Aren’t you the cupcake lady? The one who is dating Owen Bannister?”

Gabby shifted nervously in her seat and dropped her hands into her lap, embarrassed of her own shabby nails that were unpainted and dry from spending so much time in the kitchen and washing dishes. “I don’t know if you’d call it dating. Owen and I are just friends.”

The woman slid into the booth across from her. “I don’t have a lot of friends that kiss me the way Owen kisses you. I saw your pictures on Twitter, and he seems totally into you.”

“So how did
you
nab one of the Bannister brothers?” The other woman looked her up and down, as if analyzing her outfit and her figure.

Was this woman asking a legitimate question or just making a snide remark? It was hard to tell, but Gabby guessed it was the latter.

A warm flush crept up Gabby’s neck. She wasn’t used to being in the spotlight or under the scrutiny of jealous women. She didn’t know how to respond, especially because she felt like an ugly duckling next to these perfectly coiffed swans. “I didn’t nab him. I guess he just likes my cupcakes.”

Her blush deepened at the innuendo behind the words, especially when one of the women looked skeptically at her breasts. Hockey jerseys did not flatter anyone’s figure.

“You must make some pretty great cupcakes.” The first woman gestured to herself and her friend. “I’m Tiffany, and this is Ashley.”

“I’m Gabby.”

“We know,” the one named Ashley said. She narrowed her eyes at Gabby’s forehead. “You should get rid of the person who did your eyebrows. I have a really great woman that I could recommend to do something to fix the poor job they did.”