But what had Whitney done? She’d gone back to her office and gotten immersed in her work. Of course she had. That’s what she did. Today had been almost worse than usual. She’d flown through her to-do list, high from the meeting and knowing that the guys were excited about the new bars and then her talk with Cam.

Her heart flipped even now thinking about that.

It had been so much more than a talk. The way he’d looked at her. And cupped her face in his big hands. And looked into her eyes. The intensity in his voice when he’d told her that she was amazing and creative and sweet. And a little broken and hurt.

Her heart twinged now remembering that.

Cam saw her. He saw her now in a way he hadn’t in the past.

Maybe because there was more to see now. Maybe because he was more mature and more able to see it. She wasn’t sure. But they were not the same people they’d been ten years ago. This man she had very much had a huge crush on was not the same guy she’d crushed on in high school.

It all felt new and exciting and scary.

Scary because now they were adults and it could actually mean something now.

She took a deep breath and focused on her phone and Piper.

This was something else she needed to work on. If she wanted to have friends, she had to be a friend. That meant paying attention when people needed her.

Are you sure you can’t get away for a drink? Whitney asked. We should talk now. I’m concerned.

Don’t be concerned, Piper texted back almost immediately. This isn’t about Ollie.

Whitney took a breath. Something she knew even less about than girlfriends was romantic relationships. Cam had been her only one. And they’d been kids. And now, in retrospect, it was clear that a lot of that excitement had been about a whole series of firsts—her first boyfriend, her first kiss, first sex, first defying her parents—and the rush of sneaking around and breaking her family’s rules.

She hadn’t done that. Not before Cam. And not really since.

Her parents had been married for thirty years. They’d been high school sweethearts and, well, they’d just done what they’d been expected to do—go to college, get married, take over the family business, have kids.

Her grandparents had been married for fifty-one years. But she knew it hadn’t been all that happy. Her grandpa hadn’t been abusive. At least not physically. She was realizing now that both her grandfather and father had been emotionally abusive, and her grandfather had been financially abusive toward her grandmother, making all of the money decisions and doling money out to her like she was a child, requiring her to get his “permission” for the things she bought. And he’d taken over her company. The thing she’d first taken a chance on. The thing she’d lost her best friend over.

Yeah, Whitney didn’t know much about strong relationships. Except with her grandmother. And she wasn’t going to win any granddaughter of the year awards over the past couple of years.

I can come over to your house, Whitney finally typed to Piper. Piper was a woman she wanted to be friends with. Because she had a feeling Piper could teach Whitney how to be a good friend. Piper would tell Whitney when she was falling down on the job and she’d tell her exactly what she wanted Whitney to do to make her feel better. I can bring cookies or liquor. Your call.

The cookies were ones Cam had made but she didn’t think he’d mind if she swiped them for this.

In fact, she smiled thinking about telling him that she was “borrowing” the caramel-and-toffee oatmeal cookies he’d made last night to have some girl talk with Piper.

He’d approve. He’d like that she and Piper were getting close. He’d like that she was developing a friendship. He’d like that his cookies were a part of that.

Whitney felt a wave of heat sweep through her.

He was so damned sweet. And she wanted him so damned much.

She’d always been attracted to him and they’d had some hot moments over the past few weeks. But it was the freaking cookies and the dusting and the way he was caring for Didi and—more than any of that—the way he seemed so happy to be doing it all. He truly seemed to be happy to be doing all of it with the knowledge that Whitney could then focus better on work.

It was the weirdest turn of events.

And it made her want to strip his clothes off of him and cover him in cookie dough and lick every swirl of every tattoo on his body.

She really hoped he had some she hadn’t seen yet because they’d been covered by his jeans and shorts and…

Her phone pinged, pulling her attention back to her texting conversation with Piper.

The woman she wanted to be friends with.

Man, she really sucked at this.

Cookies and liquor both sound awesome. But honestly, it’s not like that. I’m out here talking to Drew about a project. It’s truly about alpacas. It’s not a date. Rain check on the drink? And the cookies?

Whitney sighed. A project with Drew? About alpacas? Okay, well, she was launching a new snack bar with fox footprints on them and she’d had alpacas and goats at her dessert tasting. Who was she to judge?

Deal, she texted back. Soon.

Definitely.

Whitney sat back in her chair. Well, that had not gone the way she’d expected. She chewed her bottom lip. There was one other woman who she would like to have drinks—or cookies—with. It was more of a longshot than Piper, who she saw every day and had gotten to know better over the past few months the guys had been in town. They at least had Hot Cakes and the guys in common. But there was one other option, and she really was in the mood to go out and be social.

She could just go home, of course. She always wanted to go home and see Didi. And take her heels and bra off. And now Cam was there and that made it even more enticing. Plus the house always smelled amazing now. A combination of cleaning products, which she knew were homemade by his mother because she’d overheard the guys joking about it one day, and food. Usually baked goods, but he also made casseroles and he’d talked Didi into burgers at an actual decent dinnertime the other night. They ate at Maggie’s most nights, but they ate at home every once in a while. And they always saved Whitney some food. They either brought her a plate from Maggie’s or they saved her some of whatever they made. So the house always smelled very homey when she walked in.

She was really getting used to having Cam around.

Not just because of the housekeeping/cooking/caregiving tasks.

But not not because of those.

Throw in some naked baking and/or orgasms and she’d never let him leave.

Hell, she’d be okay with him just walking around without his shirt on a regular basis.

Huh, it seemingly took just a few minutes of free time with her to-do list crossed off and her brain immediately, happily, shifted into another gear all together.

But she couldn’t just go home and throw herself at Cam.

Probably.

Until later. When Didi was in bed.

No, she scolded herself. Not even then.

She’d made a big deal out of the fact that she didn’t want to do the relationship thing, and then he’d made a big deal out of supporting her in that and she should really let him. And respect that. And stuff.

Free time was obviously a problem. If she had too much time to think about things other than Hot Cakes, she got into trouble. She needed to keep busy.