Hot Cakes BONUS Scene!

 

 

December 27^th…

 

“Oh my God, please make it stop.” Camden looked at Aiden. “I’m begging you.”

The “it” he was referring to was Dax Marshall. More specifically, it was Dax’s singing “Walking In a Winter Wonderland” as he came into the conference room for their morning meeting.

“Don’t tell me you’re hungover?” Aiden asked.

Every year, Aiden and Cam gathered in the office conference room on the twenty-seventh of December with their three other partners and best friends, Dax, Ollie, and Grant, for their post-holiday celebration and gift exchange. And every year, Cam came in hungover.

But Aiden had expected this year to be different.

After all, Cam usually got rip-roaring drunk the night before because he’d run into Whitney Lancaster, his ex and the woman he was still in love with. Literally run into her. One year he’d bumped into in the grocery store and sent her sprawling into a display of marshmallows. Last year, he’d nearly hit her with his motorcycle in the crosswalk on Main, and she’d spilled brightly colored panties and brightly colored frosted sugar cookies all over the street.

And because he’d never gotten over her, the run in always sent him to a bottle of whiskey.

Well, that wasn’t true. In the beginning the run-in had sent him into a case of beer or a bottle of cheap wine. But as he’d made more money, he was able to get the good stuff. Not that the price tag on the bottle had done anything to help him erase the memories or the regrets or how much he got wound up after seeing her.

Fortunately, this year he had no need for whiskey or anything else. He had probably reluctantly dragged his butt out of bed because of Whitney this year too, but now it was because she was in that bed with him.

Dax finished the song on an exuberant—and off-key—“Winter Wonderland!” with arms spread and a dumb grin on his face.

“Not this year,” Cam said to Aiden. “But turns out all those times Dax’s singing and whistling made my head ache, it wasn’t because I was hungover. Turns out he’s just really a horrible singer.”

Aiden chuckled.

As did Dax as he dropped into one of the high-backed leather chairs. “If you think I was a jolly as fuck before I fell in love, just look out now.” Dax leaned back and linked his hands behind his head as he propped his heels on the edge of the mahogany table.

“I seem to remember you being pretty damned jolly and into mistletoe even before this year,” Ollie commented from across the table.

“In fact, I seem to remember a woman named Mistletoe keeping you warm in December last year,” Cam said to Dax.

Dax looked up at the ceiling with a frown, as if pondering a deep, philosophical question. After a moment, he shook his head. “Nope. Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“You don’t remember the four girls you kissed under the mistletoe at the Christmas party last year?” Cam asked, clearly amused.

Dax shook his head. “I don’t remember any women before Jane. Now, if you want to ask me about Jane and the mistletoe in our bedroom…” He paused and grinned. “I’m not telling you anything.”

Aiden lifted a brow. Dax had no real boundaries so him not spilling about something, especially something that made him happy, was very unusual. But then, Dax being committed to one woman and living in a tiny Iowa town and being the owner of a nursing home was also pretty…unusual. To say the least. And yet, Aiden had never seen his friend more content and sure of himself.

“Because you’ve suddenly turned into a gentleman?” Aiden asked.

Dax snorted. “Because you all wouldn’t believe the story anyway. You think Jane is this serious, responsible good girl. But…” He trailed off, shaking his head, grinning.

Aiden could admit that he’d always known Jane to be down-to-earth and straight forward and yes, very responsible. But she was warm and funny and… yeah, okay, a good girl.

Dax was as good for take-on-the-weight-of-the-world Jane as she was for the lost-boy Dax. They were a perfect couple and Aiden was thrilled they’d gotten together.

Dax started humming “Frosty the Snowman” and Cam groaned. Which made Dax grin.

Aiden loved these guys. They gave each other so much shit, but they loved each other and always had each other’s backs.

The conference room door opened and Grant, the only missing partner, came in. He was carrying a bakery box.

Everyone sat up a little straighter.

Bakery boxes, in general, didn’t catch Aiden’s attention. But when Grant carried one, it meant the stuff inside was from his wife, Josie.

Josie Lorre’s baked goods were the only ones Aiden would cheat on his own fiancée’s treats with. But Zoe totally understood. Zoe owned Buttered Up and she made amazing pastries and desserts. Josie was simply better at it. Which was definitely saying something. Zoe was good. Great, even. But Josie was magical. Everyone knew that. Even Zoe.

Not that Aiden ever turned Zoe’s down. When he referred to Zoe’s ‘sweet delicacies’ he didn’t mean just the ones with butter and sugar in them. The baking innuendo in their relationship got a little out of control at times, in fact. They routinely did inappropriate, but delicious, things with frosting, sprinkles, and batter. And he couldn’t look at her cupcakes—her literal cupcakes—without getting aroused.

She’d brought home a chocolate pie just for the two of them on Christmas Eve. It was his favorite of Zoe’s desserts and it had played a maybe-strange-but-important role the Christmas Eve when everything had changed between him and his best friend’s little sister. So it was not only delicious and a lot of fun to use for naughty not-what-pie-is-really-for activities, but it was also symbolic that they’d come full circle since the Christmas before.

Wow. Aiden couldn’t believe how much had changed since the night Zoe had snuck into his bedroom in pink lingerie and asked him to be her first.

He’d definitely been her first. And he was going to be her last. They were getting married. They were building a life together. He couldn’t imagine not waking up with her every morning and going to bed with her beside him every night.

What the hell had he been thinking last Christmas Eve when he’d told her no?

But he felt himself grin. He’d been thinking that he wanted a hell of a lot more than what she was offering at the time. And he’d gotten it. It had taken some convincing, but that had been fun too. She’d even admit that now. When she was feeling sweet and soft. Which didn’t happen all the time, but happened more now that he was around than it had before. Zoe McCaffery wasn’t easy, but she was worth it. And he could make her sweet and soft more easily than anyone else could.

He fucking loved that.

Grant set the bakery box from Josie in the middle of the table. Dax was, of course, the first to reach for it. Grant and Aiden lived with bakers and Cam was a hell of a baker himself. Jane, for all her wonderful traits and talents, was not great in the kitchen.

“I love your wife,” Dax told Grant, lifting a homemade, chocolate glazed donut from the box. “I hope that’s okay with you.”

“You keep your admiration from afar and we’re fine,” Grant told him, taking his seat next to Ollie. “But you kiss her again like you did after dinner at Maggie’s and I’ll kick your ass.”

Aiden laughed as he reached for a donut as well. Everyone had gathered at his parent’s house for Christmas Eve dinner. His mom, Maggie, had made most of the food, but Zoe and Josie had helped out and when Dax found out that Josie had made the cheesy potatoes—which he’d declared to be the best he’d ever tasted—he’d dipped her back and planted a smacking kiss on her lips.

“Jane didn’t mind,” Dax said, licking chocolate frosting off his thumb.

“Jane’s a nice person whose superpower seems to be understanding you and she is, for whatever reason, patient with you,” Grant said.

Dax nodded. “She really is. It’s probably the sex.”

“It’s not your charm and intelligence and wit?” Ollie asked, looking amused.

“He’s charming and intelligent and witty with us and I still want to smack him a lot of the time,” Cam said.

Aiden laughed. He felt the same. Yet, he loved the guy. He loved all of these guys. They were all very different personalities, but that was what made them work. They were the perfect team. Aiden had learned that a long time ago and never took it for granted. And never wanted any of them to change.

Grant rolled his eyes. “Well, Mr. Charming, no more kissing my wife,” he said, pointing at Dax.

“Not even Prince Charming?” Dax asked.

Grant just lifted an eyebrow.

“Fine,” Dax said. “Jane’s a better kisser anyway.”

“Bullshit,” Grant said bluntly.

Dax lifted a shoulder. “It’s good you don’t believe me. I don’t want you kissing Jane.”

“I don’t want to kiss Jane,” Grant said. “Because I don’t want Jane to leave you. Because you need Jane. We need Jane with you. You’re much easier to deal with since she came along.”

Dax grinned. It was all true and he knew it better than anyone.

Then he frowned. “You’re saying if you kissed her, she’d leave me for you?”

Grant just shrugged.

But rather than get offended, Dax laughed. “Oh sure, you’re going to be able to handle two women. Especially Josie and Jane. Sure.” He laughed even harder.

“What are you talking about?” Grant asked with a frown.

“Well, I know you can’t live without Josie. So if you kiss Jane and she leaves me for you, you’re going to have them both. And you, Mr. Spreadsheets, Mr. Organize Everything, Mr. Plan-Everything-Ahead, are going to live with two women? Including one whose family is a chaotic, if charming, mess?” Dax asked. He laughed again. “Sure. That would totally work out.”

Jane’s family—her dad, sister, step-sister and step-mom—were definitely a bit of a mess. Aiden had to agree that Grant might not be the best guy to step into all of that. While Dax, on the other hand, the most go-with-the-flow guy Aiden had ever known, was a perfect fit.

Looking around the table, Aiden knew that all of his friends had ended up with the perfect women for them. The women were good for them, for sure, but the men had all found their place loving those women and everything that came with their lives too.

Except Ollie.

Aiden glanced at the lone bachelor left in the group.

Though Ollie seemed fine with it. Or, at least, he seemed unfazed by it.

Then again, Ollie seemed unfazed a lot. He kind of lived with his head in his own cloud a lot of the time.

The five men had been friends for ten years. They had started a company that had become an international conglomerate and they had millions of dollars between them. They each had a role in the company and they’d fulfilled those roles with enthusiasm and talent that had taken them, quickly, to the top.

But Ollie was their soul. He was the creator of the game that had made them rich and successful. He was the wizard behind the actual product.

So, they let him stay in that little cloud for the most part.

Aiden did wonder, though, if they were actually doing him any favors.

“We exchanging gifts or what?” Dax asked, finishing off his donut and draining his cup of coffee.

“Definitely,” Cam said. With a grin. That meant he’d found a gift he was excited about giving.

They never exchanged actual, useful gifts. None of them ever wanted for anything. They were millionaires. If they did want something, they just bought it themselves. They saved the gifts like back scratchers and weighted blankets for their mothers and sisters to give them as gifts. They leaned heavily on the gag gifts when they got together.

The tradition had started as a fun joke when they were in college and all came back to. Campus after Christmas break. The first year they’d taken things from home to gift or re-gift. There had been:

A wrench—clearly not new.

Three boxes of macaroni and cheese.

A tube of toothpaste—also not new.

A pair of socks—that had, actually, been new.

A pan of lasagna—from Cam’s mom and easily the best of the gifts.

A Christmas ornament—a red, glass ball that had clearly been plucked off the tree on the way out the door as an afterthought.

Of course, it taken a couple of years for Dax and Grant to admit they both actually came from money and were already millionaires and had no need for hand-me-downs or things swiped off shelves.

Dax had declared that the tradition had made him feel more like a real college student, while Grant had figured it was easier to not let the guys know too much of his background until he knew them better and by then the gag gifts were just too much fun.

“You know, it’s strange, but great to see you here and not miserable,” Grant told Cam.

“Trust me, no one’s happier about it all than I am,” Cam said with a grin. “Much prefer waking up with Whit rather than a splitting headache and a deep hatred for whiskey.”

“Which never kept you from drinking more of it,” Grant pointed out.

“It was a love-hate relationship.”

“And now you’re in a love-love relationship,” Dax said, batting his eyes.

“Yep,” Cam said simply. With another big grin.

The grumpy, bad-boy of the group was now in love and taking care of Whitney’s grandmother with Alzheimer’s and baking cookies. And grinning a lot.

Aiden was thrilled for him. He and Cam had been friends since childhood and seeing his best friend so happy was almost as good as being blissfully in love himself. The fact that they’d both come home and found that happiness with girls right here in Appleby was just the cherry on top of this very sweet situation.

He did love a great dessert analogy.

“So I got you this year,” Dax said. He leaned forward and slid Aiden a wrapped box with a huge red bow on the top.

They drew names so each one of them got one other guy a gift. It was a toss-up as to who you wanted to get your name. All of the guys loved a great joke, had the money to pull off a great joke, and the group had pretty much no boundaries when it came to what was appropriate and inappropriate.

Aiden eyed the box suspiciously. “Do I need to have a cage ready or anything like that?”

Dax scoffed. “Nothing alive in there. It doesn’t have air holes does it?”

Aiden pulled on the end of the bow loosening the knot and letting the ribbon fall away from the box. He lifted the lid and peered inside. Then started laughing.

“Nice. I guess it’s a pretty obvious one.” He pulled the gift out of the box. It was a package of Christmas boxer shorts. The first was bright green with a candy cane hanging off the front right over the fly and said, in bright white letters, Well, it isn’t going to lick itself.

The next was a pair of red satiny boxers that had a Santa face on the front with the fly as his mouth. They said Tell me again how good you were this year.

And finally, there was a white pair with the red sleigh on the front and the words, Want a Ride?

Aiden had to admit these were a great gift.

“Figured you’ve been wearing those pink silk boxers since you made an ass of yourself at the bakery,” Dax said. “Thought you could use some new ones.”

Aiden had indeed been wearing the bright pink boxers since then. Only on special occasions, of course. But Zoe found lots of ‘occasions’ to request he have those on. The first time he’d worn them had been at Buttered Up, during their busiest time, when he’d publicly declared his love to Zoe. And groveled to get her back.

And yes, he’d been wearing only the boxers. Well, and a matching necktie.

He nodded and gave Dax a grin. “Thank you very much. Really good choice.”

“Here’s yours.” Grant slid a box to Dax.

Dax opened the box without hesitation, diving right in, the way he did in most things in life. A moment later he pulled out something red, flat, and plastic.

He held it up with a grin. “Strawberry sex wedge.”

Aiden’s eyes widened and he looked at Grant.

Grant shook his head. “It’s an inflatable pool float. But yeah, it’s a strawberry.”

Jane’s favorite thing in the world was strawberry flavored desserts. Dax’s favorite thing in the world was…being a big kid. Toys, candy, goofing off and having fun. It was a gift that combined the two things nicely.

“Nah, it’s totally a sex wedge,” Dax said. He’d pulled the strawberry from the package and unfolded it. He lifted it to his mouth, clearly intending to start inflating it right then. “She’s on her back, you put this under her hips, and—”

“It’s not a sex wedge,” Grant cut him off.

“I beg to differ. But it’s probably best if we just try it and I report back and let you know,” Dax said. He took a big breath and blew into the strawberry.

Grant shook his head. “That’s not necessary.”

Dax grinned. “It’s no trouble.” He took another breath and blew again.

“Why do I always regret it when I get Dax’s name?” Grant asked.

No one answered.

“Here’s yours, Cam,” Aiden said. He lifted the heavy box from the floor beside his chair to the table.

Cam torn the paper off and opened the box. “Nice.” But he was grinning as he started to pull cleaning supplies out of the box

Aiden chuckled. “Hey, I don’t want you to think I skimped on this and it’s all just dusting spray and toilet bowl cleaner. There is a really nice set of rubber gloves in there too and I got you a new apron.”

It wasn’t even truly a gag gift. Cam would absolutely use everything in that box. Ever since he and Whitney had gotten back together, he’d taken over as her “house husband” and took care of the home and her grandmother and pretty much everything else in Whitney’s life so that she could focus on being a kick ass partner at Hot Cakes.

That box of cleaning supplies was absolutely as much of a gift for Whitney as it was for Cam. But Aiden really did want to get a photo of Cam in his apron and rubber gloves.

“Here you go, Grant.” Ollie slid a box across the table.

Grant opened the box top and peered inside. He withdrew the gift. “Oh my God.”

“That’s for your office desk,” Ollie said.

Grant actually grinned. “Okay, that’s hilarious.”

He held the gift up. It was a three-photo picture frame. Inside each frame was a photo of one of the cats he and Josie had adopted. Though the adoption had been inadvertent, they hadn’t thought for a second about not keeping them, and the cats were absolutely a part of their household now.

But, even better, the photos had been edited so it looked like the two female cats,Val and Melody, were wearing fancy dresses and the boy, Alan, was wearing a tuxedo.

Ollie looked proud of himself.

“Last but not least, bro.” Cam slid a box to Oliver.

Ollie opened the box, frowned and looked at Cam. “Hilarious,” he said dryly.

Cam grinned. “I thought so.”

“Come on you gotta show all of us,” Dax said. He reached for the box and pulled it closer. He reached in and withdrew what appeared to be a stuffed animal. Then another. Then another. Then another

“Are those llamas?” Grant asked.

“Actually, they’re alpacas.”

They all turned to watch Piper as she swept into the room as she often did, commanding all of their attention and coming into the conversation as if she had been there the entire time.

Piper always swept in. She wasn’t a woman who simply entered a room or walked from one place to another. She swept and strutted and sashayed. Plain old walking didn’t have enough flare for Piper Barry.

“Like the alpacas on Drew Ryan’s farm?” Grant asked.

“Yep,” Cam said. “Just like those. Piper found a woman who knitted those for me. From wool from Drew Ryan’s alpacas.”

“Isn’t it nice and soft?” Piper asked as she rounded the table, refilling their coffee cups and setting down bottles of water.

Ollie didn’t answer that question. Instead, he shook his head at Cam. “You’re an asshole.”

“But you like me more than you like Ryan right?”

“At the moment? Or in general?” Ollie asked.

“Probably in general.”

“Well, I like most people more than I like Drew Fucking Ryan.”

Yeah, it was no secret that Ollie disliked the good-looking, charming, alpaca farmer who lived outside of town and had struck up a friendship with Piper. It also wasn’t a secret to most of them that the dislike was because of Drew’s friendship with Piper. But it seemed that Ollie didn’t quite understand that.

Piper was their Executive Assistant and basically the woman who kept their business running, as well as many aspects of their personal lives. At least, that had been true until four of them had found the women that they were now hopelessly in love with.

But that still left Oliver.

Oliver was the reason they’d hired Piper in the first place. Their dreamy genius was the soul of Warriors of Easton, the online game that had made them wildly successful and very young multi-millionaires, but he was also the man who had a hard time even finding his character files on his computer—even the ones labeled CHARACTER FILES—and doing things like making plane reservations and arranging for dry cleaning.

If it wasn’t for Piper, it was possible that Oliver would wear the same shirt three times a week and would still be eating mac & cheese and hoping for Cam’s mom’s lasagna leftovers.

“But you can’t hate alpacas,” Dax said to Ollie. “They’re cute, and gentle, and sweet.”

“I don’t hate alpacas. They just remind me of…him.”

“Huh,” Piper said. “Me too.”

Ollie frowned at her.

“Of course, so do big blue eyes and flirtatious smiles,” Piper added.

Aiden fought a grin. Piper had realized a few months ago that Ollie was jealous of her relationship with Drew. Now she enjoyed poking at him about it.

“What do you mean flirtatious smiles remind you of Drew Ryan? I’ve been giving you flirtatious smiles since the day we met. You’ve only really known Drew for a few months.”

Ollie glowered at Dax.

“Your smile isn’t the first thing I think of when I think of you,” Piper told Dax, ignoring Ollie.

“No? What is?” Dax asked, running his hands from his pecs down his torso to his lap.

“It’s a toss-up,” she said, stopping to look at him, her hand on her hip.

“Give me the top three things.” He flexed for her.

“Candy wrappers. Girls named things like Starlight sending very inappropriate messages through our company email address. And being awakened at three a.m. by calls from emergency rooms in foreign countries needing your health insurance information.”

Dax immediately laughed. Loudly.

All of those things were really good answers.

“All in my past,” he said. “Well, except the candy wrappers.”

Piper grinned at him. “And those are now Jane’s problem. Mostly.”

“All this talk about being your favorite reminds me that I got you a gift,” Dax said.

Piper didn’t correct him about him being her favorite because he’d clearly surprised her. “You got me a gift?”

“We all did,” Dax said, setting a long, thin box on the table. “You’ve always been here for our gift exchange and you’ve nursed hangovers and given us some of the best gift ideas for each other. It’s definitely time to include you,” Dax said. “We’re dicks for not doing it before now.”

Piper nodded. “You really are.”

Grant laughed. “So the huge bonus checks we’ve given you haven’t been up to par?”

She shot him a sly smile. “Oh, the bonus checks are absolutely well deserved and expected. That doesn’t mean I don’t like a good gag gift too.”

Aiden agreed. She deserved it all. Piper fit right in their group and they definitely should’ve included her before this year.

“We got Piper a gift?” Oliver was scowling across the table. Again.

“You don’t think Piper deserves gifts?” Dax asked.

“Not what I said, but I didn’t know you were getting her anything. You didn’t ask me for ideas.”

Dax laughed. “You think we need you to give us ideas for what to get Piper? We’ve known her as long as you have.”

Ollie’s frown deepened. “It just seems weird that you’re shopping for her.”

“Why is it weird that I would be shopping for one of my friends for Christmas?” Dax asked.

That was a good question. Why did Ollie feel left out of picking a gift for Piper? Why did it feel strange to have another man buying her things? Did he have any idea why he felt that way?

Aiden studied his friend. No one said anything. Not even Piper. She was watching the exchange with interest, though. Her gaze was on Ollie as well.

Everyone in the room knew that Piper had feelings for Ollie that went beyond a simple boss-employee relationship, or even a friendship. Feelings that Oliver was generally clueless about. Even when the guys hinted about it.

The truth was they all suspected Oliver had similar feelings for Piper and simply didn’t recognize them. Or wouldn’t admit it. None of them had any clue why he would resist falling head over heels for such a wonderful woman. She was gorgeous, bright, creative, funny, absolutely the person to keep dreamy Oliver’s feet firmly on the grounds. But for whatever reason Oliver either ignored his feelings or honestly did not think he had them.

Still, those emotions reared their head in very strange and interesting ways at time. Entertaining ways, in fact. For instance, whenever anyone talked about Drew Ryan.

Or when another man got her a Christmas gift that wasn’t a check. Apparently.

Dax handed the box over to Piper. It was wrapped in bright sparkly gold paper with a huge red bow on it. Piper was absolutely bright and sparkly and they all adored her.

Aiden felt himself grinning as Piper’s eyes got wide with excitement. Dax had picked the gift out, but the other guys had agreed that it was hilarious and that she would love it.

Piper ripped the paper and bow off the box and lifted the lid. Her eyes rounded, then her grin grew, and she started laughing. She pulled the item out of the box and held it up.

It was a whip. A black leather whip.

“That’s what you got her?” Oliver demanded.

Piper had already tossed the box onto the table and was twirling the whip.

“Yep.” Dax looked smug. “She’s the one that whips us into shape. Seemed appropriate.”

“That seemed appropriate?” Oliver asked.

Dax lifted a shoulder. “Definitely.”

Piper ran her hand up and down the length of the handle.

“Where the hell did you get it?” Oliver asked.

Dax smirked at him. “A sex shop.”

It was clear that Dax was waiting for a reaction from Oliver. Aiden had to admit he was also interested.

“A sex shop,” Oliver repeated.

“Yeah. I walked into a sex shop thinking about Piper and what she might like from the shop and I picked this out,” Dax said.

“What the fuck are you doing going to a sex shop thinking about Piper?” Ollie asked.

Dax laughed. “Okay I actually went looking for a whip at a regular store but it turns out high quality ones are at sex shops.”

“I love it,” Piper finally said. “And hey, no one else is shopping at sex shops for me. Might as well have an expert in there.” She gave Dax a wink.

“I could have gone online but it really feels more personal when you pick gifts out after looking at them up close. And handling them,” Dax said.

Piper nodded.

Ollie scowled.

Cam laughed. “I think you should hang that on the wall behind your desk,” he told Piper. “That way everyone knows who’s in charge without you having to say a word.”

“And so it’s easy to reach,” Grant agreed.

“The only problem now is I’m going to have to get some new boots,” Piper said. She gave them all a grin. “None of my current footwear is nearly scary enough. Clearly.”

She pivoted on the bright red four-inch heels she was wearing and headed for the door. She paused in the doorway and looked back. She snapped the whip. “Thanks, guys.”

Then she swept out of the room with even more attitude than she’d swept in.

“Very good call,” Aiden said to Dax.

Dax was clearly pleased as he settled back into his chair and went back to blowing up his strawberry.

Cam nodded. “Very good. She’ll have fun with that.”

“What kind of fun?” Ollie snapped.

“Well, I don’t think she’s going to use it with Drew or anything,” Cam said. Then he shrugged. “But I mean…maybe she will. I guess a cowboy would know about whips right?”

“He’s not a cowboy,” Ollie said, frowning even harder. “For fuck’s sake. He’s a farmer.” Ollie picked up one of the stuffed alpacas. “An alpaca farmer.”

“But Piper really likes his…alpacas,” Cam said.

Ollie glared at him.

“And does that mean he’s definitely anti-leather, though?” Dax asked.

Ollie lifted the alpaca and looked it straight in the eye. “I hate this tradition. I think it’s time to retire it.”

They all laughed.

“We’re not going to retire it, are we?” Ollie asked the alpaca.

“Hell, no. We’re expanding it,” Dax said. “I think we let all the girls in on it next year.”

“Oh, yes,” Grant said. “Because I absolutely want to buy something for Jane.”

Dax grinned. “Bring it on.”

Aiden smiled and sighed contentedly. Damn, he loved these guys.

Moving them all to Appleby had definitely been a sweet decision.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this little scene with the Hot Cakes guys (and Piper, of course!)

Don’t forget that Piper and Ollie’s story, Gimme S’more, releases on January 19, 2021!

You can preorder it now!