raise our drinks to getting old

raise our drinks to getting old by ssaarah

“And the benefit this weekend is looking on track.” My assistant Janine was going through my schedule and I looked up.

“Do I have to be there?” She nodded.

“Black tie. For the Water Conservation Group.” I sighed. I was all for water conservation but I’d rather write a check than schmooze with all the fake as.s people I used to be around 24/7.

“Okay.” I nodded.

“The Hudson Wedding wants to take a tour this Friday, and they’re hoping BLANK will help cater desserts.” I blinked.

“I don’t think Tar-Miss Archer has ever done that before.” I said seriously, setting my arms on my desk and paying more full attention.

“Yes I know, but they said the last time they visited here they stopped at her Café and it was the best pastries they’d ever had.” I smiled softly at the compliment. Tara’s pastries were the best I’d ever had as well. She deserved the spotlight for them.

“I’ll ask her.” I said, standing up swiftly, never able to resist a trip to the bakery on the edge of my land.

“Um. I can just e-mail her…” Janine said, eyeing me warily.

“I’m in the mood for a latte anyways.” I shrugged, grabbing my suit jacket and deciding to walk through the winery. I had chosen this land carefully and it’s beauty still overwhelmed me every day. The sun was about to set and I knew as it went down it would goat my winery in a soft golden glow that would slowly change every color before leaving it in a dark blue. I never got tired of it. When I reached the little road that BLANK was on I noticed Tara in the window, wiping off a table. I shook my head since I’d more than once told her to hire more employees to do her busy work but she insisted on being more hands on than anyone I knew. It was one of the things I loved about her. And there were many. Too damn many.

“Mr. King.” She smiled brightly at me, her whole face lighting up as I came into the bakery. Her long brown hair was in some kind of complicated braid around her head with tendrils of hair curling around her face and where on most girls I would find it ridiculous, on her it looked effortless.

“How many times have I told you to call me Caleb?” I asked, raising a brow at her. She shrugged.

“You’re kind of my boss.”

“More like your landlord.” I corrected. She laughed and practically danced over to the counter. The way this girl moved was like a dancer, she had complete control over every inch of her body. Confident and graceful.

“Whatever. What can I get you?”

“Coffee and a sweet. Surprise me.” I said, saying the same thing I always did. Tara used me as a guinea pig for her newest bakery and drink concoctions, and all of them were hits in my book but I gave her the necessary criticism anyways.

“Deal.” She turned around to start working and I forced my eyes away from the view of her perfect as.s, all round and tight and fuc.king begging me to touch. And more that I didn’t let my brain think about.

“But that’s not the only reason I’m here.” She turned slightly as she ground coffee beans.

“Oh?”

“Have you ever catered a wedding?” I asked, grateful for some other pretense to talk about. Not that it was ever hard to talk to Tara, but usually the topics weren’t distracting enough to tear me away from thinking about her in an entirely inappropriate way. With work at least I was focused.

"Nope." she shook her head, as she sliced what looked to be some kind of chocolate cake. "I feel like you're asking for a reason."

"Yes, the reason why I'm here." I said, not only to her but to remind myself.

"You got my attention." She said as she plated the dessert. "Wait a sec and hold that thought." she added softly and ran to the back really quick before coming back to add a scoop of ice cream to the top.

"What is this?" I asked, eyeing the cake then looking back at Tara as she filled a cup of coffee for me.

"Your favorite." She smiled, knowing I liked chocolate, "And something new. If you're brave enough to try it." I reached for the spoon and looked over the ice cream. It didn’t look exciting but I knew Tara and knew it would have a spin of its own.

"It looks like regular ice cream to me." I pointed out quietly, bringing the spoon to my mouth and trying not to moan. It was sweet in a creamy way but excellent, I couldn’t really put my finger on it. "Vanilla?" I tried, knowing it was wrong even before she shook her head. "Cream or something?"

“It's butter." she said eventually, propping her elbow on the counter watching me, the joy on her face making it too tempting to lean in and get a taste of her instead.

"It's real good." I nodded and stuffed my mouth with another bite, completely unprofessional but hell it was delicious.

"Thank you." She said softly before biting down on her lip. I looked away from her mouth even though it was one of the hardest things I’d done all day.  "What were you saying about weddings?" I straightened, getting back into work mode instantly.

"Some clients of mine asked if you could cater desserts for their wedding." I said very quietly after taking a sip of coffee to clear my throat.  She leaned back and I could see her thinking, wanting to know more, interest and excitement on her pretty face. I loved how every emotion was so evident with Tara. Most of the time.

"How many people? When? What do they want exactly? I can't give you an answer if I don't get answers myself first." she explained softly.

“It’s a bigger wedding.” I admitted. “350 people.” Tara widened her doe eyes and fuck me if that didn’t make my mind wander. This was an innocent conversation, this was business conversation for fucks sake and all I could think about is how I could make her eyes widen like that in a completely different way.

“Wow. I’ve never baked for that many people before.” She said softly, her eyes floating to the side as I could see her mentally calculating everything she’d need for a wedding that large.

“I’m not sure exactly what they want, but they were highly impressed by your shop the last time they visited.” I said, since I’d been to hasty to get to her I”d forgotten to ask Janine for the details. “But they would meet with you of course.”

“I’m flattered.” She said, her hand reaching up to brush a stray curl from her face. I swallowed and took another bite of the delicious cake and ice cream mix. I wanted to eat it off of her.

“Of course you’d have full access to my staff for preparations.” I said seriously.

“Oh don’t be silly, I have a staff.” I rose a brow at her. She was independent I knew, but there was independent and there was just plain crazy.

“You have 2 girls who work part time. That doesn’t exactly a wedding staff make.” I said seriously. “It barely makes a bakery staff.”

“And you know this because you spend so much time running bakerys?” She asked, her head tilting to the side and her voice sweet even if her words were sassy. I think I actually heard a little growl from my throat before I spoke.

“Stubborn woman. The staff comes with the wedding package. If you don’t utilize them I’ll be wasting my money paying them all night.” Tara sighed.

“Okay. But I still have to talk to them. I’ve never made a wedding cake before.”

“Surely it’s not much different from regular cakes.” Tara blinked and laughed at me.

“And you pretend to know about running a bakery.” She laughed more and I wanted to bottle the sound and sell it. It would be the best investment of my life.

“I never said I did.” I replied softly, wanting to tell her how beautiful she looked, wanting to reach for her, to pull her hair out of that braid and see it cascading through my fingers. And with any other woman? I would have. With any other woman I’d have moved in on her and over this stupid obsession. But she was off limits. I fu.cking hated having limits.

“More coffee?” She asked, reaching for a pot.

‘It’s delicious. What did you add this time?” She smiled, loving that I always knew when something was different.

“Cinnamon. It’ll help that big brain of yours function in all your high powered business meetings.” She reached out and poked my forehead and I smirked.

“I’m not exactly high powered.” I shook my head.

“Whatever. Look at you. You’re wearing a three piece suit before noon. If that doesn’t say high powered I don’t know what does.” I grinned, as I leaned in slightly.

“I think what you meant to say was how well I pull off this suit.” I replied, not able to help myself from giving in to temptation just a little, even if I knew she’d never understand the extent of my feelings. She laughed and her cheeks turned to a very light shade of pink.

"I don't think I meant that." She smiled, her bright eyes laughing with her.

"So do you think I don't pull it off?" I teased. She shook her head, reaching for a mug and pouring some coffee for herself too.

"It looks good on you." She replied, not looking at me and for once I couldn’t read her. "But if you're looking for compliments I think you should sit at that table." she added and glanced at the girls at the edge of the café, laughing with each other. They were 10 years younger than me at the least.

"I'll pass thank you." I dismissed the subject and moved to a more serious one, talking about dating was a bad idea. "How are things going here?"

"Some days are slower than others, but I have nothing to complain about." she answered simply, "I'm realistic, I didn't expect to open a bakery and have a huge success all of a sudden. You have to work hard for that, it takes time, and I'm already happy for how good everything is going considering that I opened only four months ago."

"You're right." I said, impressed by her outlook on everything. She was serious even though she projected a care free attitude she was very smart.  "You're also wise."

"I have my moments." She said, sighing and it was only then I noticed the small bags under her otherwise flawless eyes.

"You look tired." I said eventually.

"Oh god, thank you for that!" she laughed but she wasn’t offended, she wasn’t like my ex, always looking for a hidden meaning in the things I said.  

"I didn't mean it in a bad way-" I said anyways, too used to explaining myself.

"It's okay because it's true. I feel like no matter how much coffee I'm going to drink today it's not going to be enough anyway." Sheconfessed.

“Long night?” I asked and immediately regretted it. I didn’t want to know what or more accurately who had kept her up last night.

“Something like that.” She said with a smile, her face turning a little pink which made my fists clench as I sipped my coffee.

“Hmm.” I muttered.

“John says he hasn’t seen you in a while.” She added, confirming my thought that her mind was on him. Her boyfriend. My cousin. Yup. Hence the off limits. Seriously, 100% not a chance and still I was drooling over her like a kid in a candy shop.

“He’s a busy man. As am I.” She nodded, a pout forming on her perfectly pink lips.

“Yes. He is busy.” She agreed. I rose my brow a little jump going on in my stomach at the thought that maybe all wasn’t well in paradise with her and John. Even though that was completely ridiculous seeing as how even if they ended up breaking up? I still couldn’t go near her.

“He’s a lawyer. They tend to work a lot.” I teased. “But any man would have to be crazy to not make time for you.” I added without even thinking. She looked up at me, under long lashes that blinked back.

“He does.” She smiled. “I’m just greedy for more sometimes.” She shrugged and I bit my tongue to keep from saying something I’d regret.

“Those girls might die if you don’t talk to them.” She said finally, laughing as one giggled loudly when I glanced over again.

“They’re far too young for me.” I said seriously. Tara laughed.

“Age is just a number.” She shrugged.

“Says the girl dating an older man.” I pointed out. John was more than a few years my senior, and Tara much younger than me. Not too young of course, but still I didn’t exactly understand how they ended up together in the first place. Not that it mattered.

“Older men are more mature. Wiser.” I made a face.

“Please don’t add experienced. I don’t need to know anymore about John.” I said seriously and her laugh ran through the small space again.

"I'm not going to don't worry. I don't usually talk to people about my personal life, let alone to my boyfriend's cousin." She explained quietly. "So super busy man what's on your schedule today?"

"I could tell you but you'd get bored." I shrugged. She shot me a challenging smile as she looked into my eyes, something not many people did much.

"Try me." she retorted.

"Well okay." I laughed at her determination. "I have a meeting. Then another meeting. Then I have to go through papers to make sure none of my assistants f.ucked up."

"What's the point of having assistants if you have to control everything anyway?" she pointed out, cocking her head to the side.

"Is that why you're not hiring more help?" I asked back.

"Touché." she admitted.

"I knew it." I smiled at her. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Plans for today?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer because unless she was going out with girlfriends the answer would be that she was with John, and I hated thinking about that.

"Oh." She bit down on her lip but this time her face projected a sadness that tugged at my chest. I hated it on her, it didn’t suit her at all. "I had a cake to finish, it's for a girl so it's all pink and cute." She explained, her face changing so fast when she talked about her work.

"You just lit up." I pointed out.

"I love my job. My job is my love." She smiled and ugh. She was perfect. "I'm torn between cherry and strawberry." She added as an afterthought.

"What?"

"Sorry I was all in my head." she explained, "I made two different ganaches and I don't know which one to use for the cake. Want to try them and help me?"

"I'm still not sure what you're talking about." I admitted. She stood up and motioned to the back.

"Come on, it's easier done than said. For once." She guided me to the back kitchen where there was a large commercial fridge before pulling out two bowls of what looked like some kind of fruit jello. She grabbed a spoon and dipped it into the first bowl, handing it out to me. I had an almost uncontrollable desire to just eat it directly off the spoon she was offering, pretending to have made a mistake when my tongue would hit her fingers, just to get a taste. But even I wasn’t that pathetic. Yet. I grabbed the spoon…with my hand, and took it to my mouth, the vibrant taste of fresh cherries and sugar and…almonds maybe? Something nutty. It was delicious.

“It’s excellent.” She smiled brightly and then took a new spoon and put it into the second dish. This one was ever sweeter, a ripe strawberry at the peak of season mixed with vanilla.

“Both.” I said finally. “Use both.” Tara laughed.

“I can’t do both.”

“Just make two cakes. Make them identical and choose from there.” I smirked. “And then give me the left over one.” She rose her brow.

“You have a silly way of helping me.”

“I think I just got you another customer instead.” I laughed.

“You’re no customer. I never charge you for anything.” She laughed but I didn’t say anything because we both knew I put a ridiculous amount of money in the tip jar every time I left.

“I’d pay for the cake.” I said finally, after a beat of looking into those gorgeous eyes which were a different color every day. Right now they were a light caramel color, almost cold with little flecks of dark brown.

“Well then I better start cooking now. Are you sure you want it identical? It’s pink.” I laughed.

“I’ll do something manly while I eat it. Drink a bear, watch football.” Tara shook her head and made a disgusted face.

“Beer would be awful with cake.” She said so seriously I laughed for real. Not my business laugh, or even what I now called my Tara laugh, the affectionate sound I made when she made me smile. Which was often. No this was a belly laugh and she lit up even further as I kept chuckling.

“I’ll remember that.”

"No wait!" she stopped me as she lit up again, walking around the table and kneeling down after opening a cupboard. "I think you'll have to eat the cake with this." She said, standing back up and handing me a bottle. I glanced at it, and then back at her.
"You're giving a bottle of wine to someone who own a winery?" I asked slowly. She set her hand on her hips and nodded.

"Yes and that'd be you right?" she asked, biting that damn lip again.

"Right." I smirked a little then furrowed my brow as I looked at it, comparing it to anything I had.

"It's a Spanish sherry, they don't sell it here." she explained as I read the label. "I use it for super special cakes or special occasions only."

"And you're giving it to me?" If there was one thing I didn’t need more of it was wine. But it was pretty cute of her too.

"I have a few more bottles." she shrugged, "And in case you're wondering yes I'm trying to impress you."

"Thank you Tara." I said honestly, as I followed her back to the store front

"You'll thank me when you'll try it."

“Not many people would have the guts to tell me they drink something other than my wine for special occasions.” Tara laughed.

“You might look intimidating, but I know you’re not.” She smirked, and the smile reached her eyes, so bright and full of life I tightened my hand on the bottle to keep from reaching her.

“I’m glad you do. I’m also glad other people don’t.” I teased.

“Yes, how would you boss everyone around if they knew you liked to come here and eat pink cake with me?” She asked, her eyes still twinkling.

“I’m not that bad.” I shook my head, though it was true I had a reputation for being a little uptight. What could I say? If you can’t do it right don’t bother to do it.

“Nah you’re okay.” She pushed back a stray hair and I let my eyes roam her face for just a moment, taking the way her hair shined, her long lashes framed big bright eyes and her mouth that looked so damn sweet it was made to tease a man. “Caleb?” My name on her lips almost made me groan as I looked back to her eyes, her face looked confused, almost like she’d caught me looking at her and didn’t understand.

“I look forward to the cake. And the sherry.” I said finally. “And I’ll have Janine send you all the information about the wedding. I’m sure you’ll want to meet with them.”