I was starving and exhausted, which was to be expected after almost a dozen hours at work with only three hurried bathroom breaks and one miniscule slice of pizza I’d eaten hours before. I was counting down the minutes until I could lock the door and leave for the night. Less than thirty minutes separated me from turning the closed sign to face out and I couldn’t wait.

I worked at Sweet Like Candy, a bakery and candy emporium. The shop was one of my happy places, which meant work was a joy and not a burden. My schedule normally allowed for an hour-long lunch break and all the delicious treats I could eat, but not that day. This was due to it being a Friday, and one where we’d had a ton of orders to fill. The shop had been slammed with non-stop customers picking up orders, calling in with requests and, of course, there were also deliveries.

We’d normally have been just as busy but the day had gone completely off the rails the moment both our delivery crew called out with food poisoning. Never had I been so glad to have skipped all-you-can-eat wing night at the pub they went to after work on Thursdays. With them both out my boss, Gina, had to drive the van to deliver the most elaborate wedding cake of the day since it was her creation, and she had to take two shop assistants with her since the cake was so heavy. One of us always went with the event cakes in case there was on-site work that needed to be done. Normally it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but the cake was going to a venue that was two hours away. But taking the two additional assistants away hurt. It hurt more when the afternoon manager, Mac, called out with food poisoning, too. By that point I’d been cursing the stupid pub in my head a million times over.

With Gina doing delivery duty and Mac out, I was left manning the store on our busiest day of the week with only two high school girls to help at the counter and our elderly secretary manning the phones. The day had been long and stressful, but I still found the joy in it. I was lucky to be starting a week-long vacation after one more day of work, which meant I had something to look forward to. Although I’d resisted when Gina ordered me to take time off, I found myself more excited for it than I’d originally anticipated. I’d even gone ahead and booked myself a day at the spa.

Since it was the end of the day and there had only been one order left for pick up, I’d let the rest of the staff go home at five o’clock. I hummed along with the song on the radio as I finished cleaning the inside of the display cases before working my way around the counter to wipe the exterior. Toni Basil’s Mickey began playing over the speaker as I sprayed the glass. The song gave me a little extra pep in my step and I found myself bobbing along to the beat as I wiped away the handprints that had been left throughout the day. I was shaking my rear end as I worked a particular sticky set of handprints when the chime sounded announcing a customer.

“Just one second,” I called over my shoulder. “I’m almost finished.”

After one last good swipe of the glass, I turned to face the customer with a smile.

“Welcome to Sweet Like…”

My sentence trailed off when I came face-to-face with a man who I was drawn to in the most elemental of ways. He was tall, maybe six foot two or so. He had a short beard and dulce de leche colored hair. When I looked into his eyes, I found they were focused on me intently. His lips moved as he mouthed the word wow, but he didn’t say it out loud. He was wearing a pair of navy blue dress pants and a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Never had a set of forearms looked so sexy. We stared at each other for countless seconds before the sound of a little boy talking broke it up.

I’d been so caught up in staring at him I hadn’t realized he had a little boy with him until that moment. Looking down, I saw a blonde haired child with a giant smile and two perfect dimples holding the man’s hand. My shoulders sagged with disappointment as my cheeks flushed. I was unreasonably devastated that the man was clearly married, with a young child. If only I’d met him before, I thought.

“You’re here for the robot cake, right?” I asked with forced enthusiasm.

The man’s eyes never left me as he nodded. “Uh-huh… robots.”

He seemed dazed, but his voice was sexy and deep. Something about it set off butterflies inside of me. It was like I’d been waiting to hear it my whole life. I mentally chided myself for thinking such thoughts about a married man with a child. Forcing myself into action, I turned and walked behind the counter. I’d gotten the cake out before I’d started cleaning, so it was right next to the register.

The little boy lit up when I lifted the lid to show him the cake. He tugged at his father’s pant leg and shouted, “Up! Up! Pick up!”

I grinned at his enthusiasm. The cake was quite something, decorated with robots and gears. Definitely a little boy’s paradise. I had worked for hours to get the fondant figures to look just so, and I was proud of the cake. Right at the top it read Happy Birthday Emmett.

I smiled across the counter at the sweet little boy who was on his father’s hip as he clapped excitedly. “Look! Thems is my ‘bots!”

The man was staring at me like there was going to be a test later. He blinked down at his son, almost like he’d forgotten he was even there.

“That’s right, Emmett. Those are your robots, just like you wanted. They’re awesome,” he said. “You think I can eat the blue one after you blow out the candles tomorrow?”

The boy’s brow furrowed in concentration. “How many ‘bots is there?”

The man looked back down at the cake. “There’s yellow, blue, green, gray, and white,” he noted. “When I point to the robot, you count.”

Emmett nodded his head and clapped. “I good at countin’!”

The man pointed to them one at a time and the little boy counted up to five. “You can has a leg,” he announced after he finished. “I share one leg with you.”

As they talked about which leg the man would eat I pulled the order slip off the box and entered in the time of pick-up on the counter computer. With it right in my face I saw in the notes from when the order was placed that although his wife, Jamie Brewster, had chosen the cake, her husband Harrison would be picking it up. I wrinkled my nose as I stared at the screen. He didn’t look like a Harrison to me.

When I looked up from the computer, Harrison Brewster was staring at me like I was an all you can eat buffet and he was on day eighty-nine of a hunger strike. My skin prickled with awareness as my mouth went dry. I’d never met anyone I was so attracted to. I couldn’t believe how let down I was by his marital status. I knew I was being overly dramatic, but it physically pained me to think of him with anyone else—of having a family with a woman who wasn’t me.

“It’s all paid for, Mr. Brewster,” I told him. “If you’ll show me where your car is, I’ll walk it out for you.”

“Mr. Brewster is my brother-in-law,” he said huskily. “I’m Ryan Walters, uncle to this little guy and his two older sisters, who are home helping,” he grinned, “their mom decorate for tomorrow’s party.”

His face went serious as he looked across the counter at me. “I’m single, no children of my own. Yet.”

The emphasis he put on the word yet, and the way he stared at me pointedly as he did, made me feel all sorts of flushed. I also experienced a large amount of relief. He wasn’t taken. I grinned up at him like an idiot as I rolled his name around in my head. Ryan. Yes, I thought, it fit him. He definitely wasn’t a Harrison.

“Hi Ryan,” I said shyly.

His eyes flared with heat, like hearing me say his name had pleased him.

“What’s your name?”

I licked my lips and smiled. “Julia.”

“So sweet,” he murmured.

My pulse raced as I smiled bashfully. Something monumental was happening, something I’d been searching for as far back as I could remember. We stared at each other silently for a few moments before Emmett interrupted.

“Unca Ry, you starin! Mommy say that is ruuuudeee.”

Ryan barked out a laugh and looked down at Emmett. “Buddy, trust me. Your mom would sign off on me standing here staring at Julia all day long.”

I knew I was blushing like a fool, but I didn’t care.

Ryan looked back at me and grinned.

“Kid doesn’t realize what a big moment this is. He’ll get it someday.”

Holy. Cannoli. Ryan Walters was definitely interested in me.

“Come on Ry,” Emmett whined dramatically, “I wanna take my bots home!”

I couldn’t contain my laugh.

“We should take the cake to your car before he explodes,” I giggled. “Let me pick it up—”

Ryan shook his head. “You don’t lift a thing,” he said. “I’ll carry it. Would you be willing to hold Emmett’s hand on the way to my car?”

I nodded before walking around the counter and holding my hand out to Emmett. That close to Ryan, I could smell his cologne. It was sporty, masculine, and immediately conjured up images of snuggling into him. I’d never been affected by a man’s scent before, but Ryan’s had me salivating.

Emmett was adorable, sliding his hand into mine without hesitation. Once Ryan picked up the cake, I trailed along behind him as we left the store.

“Did you make my bots?”

I grinned down at his sweet little face. “I baked your cake and did the robots. My friend Gina did all of the icing and put it together.”

“You did real good,” Emmett praised sweetly.

Ryan’s car was parked in one of the spots directly in front of the store. I eyed up the black Mercedes appreciatively as he put the cake in the passenger seat and buckled it in. I thought the car fit him perfectly. Sleek and impressive, the man and the car both had great lines, Ryan being the far more appealing eye candy of the two.

When he came around the car to where I was standing with Emmett, he seemed very focused.

On me.

“I need to see you again,” he announced.

I bit my lip and tried not to squeal like I’d just been handed a backstage pass at a Justin Timberlake concert.

“Like a date?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said huskily. “Exactly like a date.”

“But Mommy said you only date your fist,” Emmett announced in a singsong voice.

Ryan’s eyes widened with mortification as he shook his head frantically. “No I don’t,” he exclaimed. “I swear that’s not… my sister is… holy sh—I’m mortified right now.”

I laughed and waved him off. “It’s okay,” I assured him. It was kind of sweet the way his nephew had outed him. And if his sister said he dated his fist that was a good indicator he wasn’t a man whore. Somehow I’d already known that, though.

He blew out an exasperated breath as he looked down at Emmett.

“Buddy, what’s up with throwing Uncle Ryan under the bus? I thought we were tight.”

Emmett frowned up at his uncle. “I don’t see no bus,” he said.

“Figure of speech,” Ryan chuckled.

Emmett shrugged. “Don’t know what that means. Can we take my bots home now? I wanna show Rosalie and Alice.”

I gasped and looked up at Ryan.

“I’m guessing your sister is a big Twilight fan,” I said.

He grinned. “Yeah. She’s currently pregnant with Jasper.”

“Wow,” I laughed. “That’s commitment to a theme.”

“That’s my sister,” Ryan joked. “She’s nothing if not thorough.”

“You should come home with us and meet her,” Emmett blurted. “She loves cake.”

I immediately started shaking my head, but was cut off when Ryan said, “That’s a great idea, bud.”

My mouth dropped open as Ryan looked at me imploringly. “Come with me,” he said.

I wanted to go. It was the craziest thing ever.

“I can’t,” I murmured, surprised by how sad that made me. “I need to finish cleaning the store and locking up.”

He ran his hand through his hair as he stared at me. “How about I drop my dude off and then come back and get you? We could go to dinner or a movie. Maybe dinner and a movie? If you have errands to run or you want to go get a few drinks, we could do that, too. I’ll do whatever you want to do.”

It was out of character how badly I wanted to throw caution to the wind and go, especially considering I’d been up since four thirty in the morning and had been, at least in the moments before he dropped into my life, ready to go home and collapse. I needed to be sensible since I was due back at work at six in the morning. It killed me to do it, but I had to say no.

“I actually have to go home,” I admitted reluctantly. “I’m dead on my feet and I have to be back here at six in the morning… but maybe after that? If you’re free?”

“I’m free,” he assured me. “Any time. When can I pick you up?”

I gestured back over my shoulder at the store. “I work until two, but I’m open after that.”

“I’ll be here,” he smiled.

“For real, Unca Ry! Can we please take these bots home?”

We both laughed at how sweet Emmett’s little plea was. I couldn’t blame him for being impatient and lord knew he’d been more than patient with us.

Ryan reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell. He swiped his finger across the screen and then typed for a few seconds before he handed it over to me. “Add yourself to my contact list.”

He’d already started by typing in my name, so all I had to do was add my last name and my cell number. I did it quickly before handing it back to him.

He tapped across the screen, watching it for a few seconds before grinning and putting it back into his pocket.

“I just called your cell so you’ve got my number now, too.”

“Thank you,” I smiled.

We stared at each other for a few seconds, both seemingly unsure of how to say goodbye. Ryan finally threw caution to the wind and stepped forward. His beard tickled my cheek when he kissed a spot right next to my ear.

“Tomorrow,” he murmured. “I’ll be here.”

When he pulled back, I almost swooned.

“Thanks for the bots,” Emmett said cheerfully.

I’d forgotten for a few seconds that Ryan and I weren’t alone on the planet. I giggled softly as I looked down at Emmett.

“You’re most welcome.”

My heart raced at fourteen thousand beats per second as Ryan took Emmett’s hand and then put him in the car. After Ryan got into the driver’s seat, he waved before starting the car and backing up.

I closed the store in a daze, so much so that I had to check and re-check that I was doing all the things I should before I finally turned out the light and called it a night.