Rocky hurried along the street, late after picking up some new ribbons for decorating a cake he’d been commissioned to do for a Sweet Sixteen. It was ridiculously ostentatious but he would do it because it was also going to cost a pretty penny and he wouldn’t turn down the business.
As he rushed along, over the road that led down Baker Drive he almost tripped over his own feet when something assaulted him. It was as if his entire being was being attacked . . . well not exactly, not by a physical beating, but his senses went haywire and his Lion rose to the fore and roared so loudly that his head spun around because he wasn’t entirely sure that the sound hadn’t ripped free from his throat.
His heart thudded wildly in his chest and he could hear his blood thundering through him, rushing so fast he barely heard the car’s horn when it skidded to a halt, its bumper inches from hitting him as he stood rooted to the spot in the middle of the road. The driver’s wide eyes full of shock as he rolled down his window to ask if he was okay.
“Rocky! Hey, you all right?”
Rocky barely acknowledged him, couldn’t even remember who the hell he was as his nose flared to inhale a scent that had his beast chuffing in his head and his groin reacting embarrassingly. He raised a hand, nodding and forced his feet to move and get himself out of the way of the traffic. His head spinning like a top as he fought to locate the owner of the scent, but he came up empty, his beast now snarling like he’d snatched a kill right out of his paws.
“Shut up.” He’d growled right back, continuing on his way as his brain refused to focus on anything but the scent that almost got him knocked on his ass in the middle of the road.
It was only a short walk to the bakery, his pride and joy, and he fought to remember what he had to do . . . oh yeah. That damn cake. He’d been the third bakery they’d come to after the first two had said they couldn’t possibly do what they’d wanted. Jeez, even he’d balked at the design, but he’d told them he’d give it a shot and if after a day he thought he couldn’t come through he’d let them know so they would have plenty of time to source someone else. Yeah, right. If he couldn’t do it then nobody could. It was large, and had enough bling on it that it should have been on that TV show he’d caught a glimpse of the other night . . . dang, he couldn’t remember the name but it had outrageous girls in wedding dresses with so many crystals and what they called bling on them that they couldn’t even sit in their damn wedding cars. Some of them were kneeling on all fours in the back of their limos.
This cake would be right at home on that show with the amount of ribbons, crystals, and even a flashing decoration on the top. Classy . . . not.
Jilly, his part-timer, had almost choked on her coffee when she’d seen the almost finished product, laughing her head off. “What the hell?” she’d asked.
“Hey, it’s work and I don’t turn that down.” He’d shrugged.
“It’s an . . . an . . . hell, I don’t have a word for it.” She’d shook her head. “What is it exactly?”
“What?” He’d stopped placing more crystals around the bottom, standing to scowl at her and handing over the picture he’d been given. “It’s exactly like they’ve asked. Or don’t you agree?”
She’d looked at the photograph and then the cake, and nodded. “Yes, it is but damn! I’m still not sure what it’s supposed to be. It’s a mish mash of stuff put together.”
“It is.” Rocky sighed. “Apparently their daughter loves that group, so they’re on the bottom. Then she loves her dog, and the cat, and her pony, so they’re in the middle.” He stopped pointing out the animals. “And she also loves shopping . . . so she’s got her designer shoes, bags, and other items here. Her mother made sure that I had all the brands iced on and showing. And, last and most certainly not the damn least, her tiara and all the crystals and that word that’s been the bane of the last few days . . . bling! It’s a damn monstrosity, but it’s what was asked for and that’s what I’ve produced.”
Jilly snorted, her cheeks crimson as she continued to laugh. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I mean, it’s so, well, vulgar is one word but there are just so many others.”
“I know.” Rocky agreed.
Jilly had shrugged, sighing. “There’s only one person who could’ve made that monstrosity though, and that’s you, Rocky. Nobody else could’ve pulled it off.”
“I’m not so sure that’s a compliment.” He’d shook his head sadly.
Now all he had to do was add this last garish ribbon and it was done, thank goodness. He pushed open the door, Jilly looking up and raising an eyebrow as she saw it.
“Dang, that’s . . . bright.”
“It’s the finishing touch.” He sighed. “I can’t wait to get that thing out of my shop.”
“Me too.” Jilly shivered dramatically. “It’s freaking awful.”
“I’m just going to put this on quickly.” He walked past then stopped, warning. “The mother is due any minute, so please, try and be professional.”
“I’m not sure I can . . . I think I’ll take a break.” Jilly grabbed her jacket. “Text me when she’s gone.”
“Sure,” Rocky replied, frowning. “But this is coming out of your lunch hour.”
“Yeah,” Jilly shot back. “That’s cool, I just can’t, I mean, I really just can’t.”
He didn’t blame her. It was going to take all his self-control, but he’d do his best to remain professional. It was his business after all.
Rocky took his time placing the garish ribbon around the top of the gaudy creation and checked that everything was as it was supposed to be before returning to the front of the store to wait on the customer and his mind kept going back to earlier and the fact that he’d almost been knocked on his ass by a car while his senses were overtaken by . . . what? He had no dang clue. The only thing he did know was that the aroma had him and his beast off kilter with no idea why and that wasn’t like him. Not one bit. He kept to himself, with a strict control over his beast, and only ever allowed himself to let loose on rare occasions, and only then when he was far enough away from any Pack land so as not to cause offense to the Wolves inhabiting the areas.
The Alphas were aware of him and several had given him permission to roam on their land, if he gave them prior warning, but Rocky felt uneasy at doing so. He preferred to drive far enough away to ensure he wouldn’t come face to face with any other Shifters. That way his beast could truly behave as it should: king of the jungle. Albeit there was no jungle for him to be king of and no subjects to be king over. But if any other wildlife crossed their path they soon found themselves being hunted by a wild and ferocious Lion that was mighty and much larger than anything you’d find in any zoo.
The bell over the door jingled, startling him and bringing him out of his thoughts. Pasting a smile on his face he turned to the two females: mother and daughter who were dressed as if they were going to a nightclub instead of a local bakery.
“Is it ready?”
No, preamble, and no hello. Apparently good manners weren’t the order of the day either. Rocky did his best to remain professional, his smile tight as he nodded. “Yes, it’s been done exactly the same as the pictures you provided. If you’d follow me, it’s through here.”
He led the way, the clicking of their impossibly high heels grating on his ears as they followed, although not as annoying as the pop pop popping of the gum the daughter was playing with. Damn, his nerves were frayed and he fought to keep himself from turning and snarling as he strode faster toward their abominable monstrosity.
Instead he cracked his neck, stopped in front of the damn thing and waved them forward. “Here it is.” He picked up the photographs, holding them out. “These are the pictures you gave me, and I’ve followed them exactly.”
A high-pitched scream filled the room, quickly followed with a similarly piercing shriek. One from each of them. He watched as the girl jumped up and down, clapping her hands, screaming loudly, as the mother shrieked just as loudly, with words he had trouble following.
“They’ll be so jealous, sweetie! So jealous! It’s the best damn cake ever! Just look at all that bling!”
The mother was apparently overjoyed and Rocky was sure he saw freaking tears leaking from her over made up eyes. What? The woman was crying over this thing? Was she insane? Or did she just have that bad taste.
Her eyes swung to Rocky, her smile so wide he saw every one of her false white teeth. “It’s wonderful! Absofreakinglutely fabulous. I didn’t think you’d do it, but you’ve done it! My little girl’s friends are gonna be so jealous and so are their mommas.”
She reached into her bag, pulling out a thick wad of cash, and thrusting it toward Rocky, but he held up his hands. “Hey, that’s more than we agreed. I’m sure it is.”
“Hey, you deserve a bonus, especially if you can deliver it today. You can, can’t you?”
“I thought you needed it tomorrow?” he asked, bemused.
“Well, yeah, but that’s just so fabulous I want it on display early. You can deliver it today . . . can’t you?” Her tears were gone and her tone had gone from friendly to cold in a heartbeat.
This was the woman he knew. The one he’d met before. He sighed. Shit, he’d do anything to get the dang thing out of his shop and welcomed getting rid of it. “Sure. I can bring it almost straight away. I just need to wait for my assistant to come back from her break. Is that soon enough?”
The fake smile slid back into place, her daughter flinging her arms around her mother’s neck as she smothered her face with kisses as she pressed the cash into Rocky’s hand. “That’s perfect. You’ve got our address, get it to us as soon as you can.”
And with that the two squealed again, held hands and tottered off on those heels that clicked across the floor. For a fleeting moment he pictured them slipping on an errant piece of pie and falling flat on their faces . . . but it didn’t happen and they disappeared out the door like two toddlers hyped up on too much candy.
All he felt was relief. Relief that it was over, that they actually liked the cake, and that the bill had been paid, and more importantly . . . the dang thing would be out of his shop soon and he wouldn’t have to see it ever again.
He snatched his phone out and fired off a quick text to Jilly. The quicker she got back meant the quicker he could get the cake delivered and that would be the end of the order from hell. At least it was a well-paid job and he got a bonus.
Truth was, if he had to do it over again the answer would be a resounding no.
Rocky loved what he did, had worked hard to build up his business and he’d allowed his pride to get in the way when the customer had come to him grumbling loudly that she couldn’t get anyone to take on the job. That everyone else had turned her down saying it was “impossible” to create. He’d bristled at the word and heard himself say he’d try . . . even though he’d been flabbergasted at the absolute lack of taste in the design. The fact she’d offered a huge sum of money for him to do it hadn’t even registered, not really. It had been the personal challenge of creating the damn thing that had forced his lips to utter his agreement to take on the job. But never again.
He couldn’t create anything so grotesque ever again, no matter how much he was offered.
With the decision firmly made a long sigh escaped as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, just as Jilly arrived back. “Thank goodness.” He grinned. “Now I can deliver that thing and get it out of my head forever.”
Jilly giggled, her eyes twinkling. “I assume they liked it then?”
Rocky turned away, throwing his hands up in the air. “Yes, freaking loved it, and paid to have it delivered today so they could show it off. I’m happy with that because it means I can get the damn thing out of here. I’ll take it out the back and into the van, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“That’s fine, we’ve got a couple of orders getting picked up, but other than that it shouldn’t be too busy.” Jilly removed her jacket and donned her apron, before going to wash her hands. “I’ll see you when you get back.”
“See you.” Rocky left, knowing Jilly was more than capable of looking after the shop in his absence, but still eager to get back. He had a weekend coming up where he planned on leaving early to get away and allow his beast to run free and he wanted to let Jilly off early to make up for her covering for him on Saturday afternoon.
He had to make up a batch of his signature Rocky’s Cinnamon Rollers for the weekend rush and also Rocky’s Heavenly Twists. They were two of his biggest sellers and he loved the scents that permeated the entire shop when he was baking them, as did Jilly. Although she’d moan at him constantly about the temptation of both.
The perils of working in a bakery for a human. His metabolism meant he could indulge whenever he wanted and it never impacted on his waistline. He did, at times, have a sweet tooth, but he preferred a cold beer, a good movie or book and a pizza, and that’s exactly what he was going to do later . . . relax after a long day with a beer and pizza.