Brent stepped out of Sunshine and Sparkles, glancing through the window at Jennifer standing behind the counter. What the heck had just happened? Women fell at his feet for the chance to date him—scratch that, screw him. But Jen seemed oblivious. Jen laughed at something one of her customers said. He imagined her blue eyes were bright as they crinkled in the corners. Two days in a row he’d tried to ask her out and failed. Maybe she wasn’t interested.

He was running a little late for his meeting this morning, but he had to stop by to see Jen. His days were better when he went to her place for a pick-me-up. He took a sip of the coffee and moaned. He should be worried that seeing Jen was the highlight of his day. He knew Bruce would tell him to snap out of it. His friend would set up a weekend to show him that Jen wasn’t the type of woman guys like them dated. Hell, he wasn’t sure what type of women he should date. So far, he’d not had much luck in keeping anyone for any length of time. They all cheated on him in their quest to rise in some weird ranking system that meant nothing to him, or they left as soon as he put out.

One day soon, after he had his race, he would sample the whole case of food Jen had to offer. Maybe then she’d go out with him. Work called, so he left the store and headed to his meeting.

The coffee kept him warm in the presence of the coldest human being he’d ever had dealings with. This man actually made him question the existence of the undead on earth, because calling him human was almost a disservice to actual real, live people with hearts.

Sometimes he hated his job, but he was good at what he did. People had told him he was making a mistake by moving to California, that he should stay in New York or maybe Boston, but he’d done very well for himself.

The man he was meeting with was the owner of a large shopping center. He was cutthroat and didn’t care about rules, the contracts signed, or the people who had shops in his buildings. He’d recently purchased a space not too far from here and was planning on kicking people out. Brent wanted to tell the guy to go to hell, but he had been hired to manage this guy’s properties and losing this contract would mean a lot of money lost for the company he worked for. Being in property management shouldn’t be this hard.

Keeping his head and exercising tolerance had kept him from telling slimy clients to do something anatomically impossible with their head and their butt. Maybe he could talk this guy into changing his mind before he wanted the people gone from their shops.

It took the jerk almost an hour to shut up. Brent had a couple more meetings with his staff before he could leave. After work, he had a crazy idea and went by Jen’s bakery to see if he could finally ask her on a date. Why did he get so nervous around her? Maybe tonight he’d be able to talk to her.

He pulled into the lot in front of her store and realized the lights were off. Sure enough, the place was locked up and Jen was nowhere in sight. Disappointment filled him. He had to figure out a way to ask her out. Jen barely even acknowledged his presence when he came in for his coffee. Maybe she was already married or dating someone.

The weekend concert was great, but he would have rather spent the time with Jen. He’d asked his sister, Melissa, to attend with him. As a classically trained musician, she appreciated the invite and stayed at his place overnight. They’d stayed up late, discussing life and music.

It amazed him how easy it was for some people, but for he and his sister, they’d had to fight for everything they’d ever accomplished. His sister had received a scholarship like he had. Had they not worked so hard, they’d both be back in the scrub of the desert barely surviving.

His workout ran long on Monday and he had an early meeting, so he didn’t stop by Jen’s bakery. On Tuesday, there was an emergency in a building he managed, and he had to skip his coffee stop. Melissa had called late with a question. The London symphony had asked her to join them for a year, and she wanted his opinion. He told her to go, but she worried about having to give up her house in LA. He listened to her talk for almost an hour before he told her he had to go to sleep. He felt unsettled on Wednesday morning when he woke. His daily dose of Sunshine and Sparkles coffee called to him, but when he arrived, he found out Jen wasn’t there. Instead of working in the shop, Mia told him she was attending a class on creating cupcakes with a unique twist. He missed seeing her, which was crazy. They weren’t dating, and she hadn’t shown interest in him. Why did he care so much that he hadn’t seen her?

That morning, during a meeting, he lost his temper with an employee. He’d never lost his cool at work and silence fell. He apologized immediately, but the damage was done. They’d messed up with a client. Nothing terrible, but when people’s money was at stake, they tended to get upset. Dealing with the aftermath of the error had them all on edge. It was priority number one, and he was forced to worked late into the evening. On Thursday, he should have skipped the coffee shop, but he needed to see Jen. She didn’t know it, but she’d become important to him.

His nerves were off the charts and he blew out a breath before he got out of his car. Today, he would ask her on a date.

The bell over the door dinged as he stepped in. He feared she wouldn’t be there. The place smelled amazing. It was like chocolate and bread had come home and made a baby. He almost thought about getting a pastry, something like her chocolate croissant, but he had six weeks until the race he was training for and couldn’t bail on his nutrition plan. The race wasn’t anything important, he wasn’t hoping to qualify for anything, but he’d worked hard to compete in the half-Ironman. He hoped to finish in one piece. His coach, Dan, had drilled in the importance of good nutrition, leaving him feeling guilty for even wanting a treat.

“Hey, Brent, long time no see.” Jen called out as she wiped her hands on a towel. “I thought maybe you had abandoned me and took up with another baker.”

His body heated, and he tried to laugh, but it came out as a snort. “Um, never. I—”

Her phone rang, and she glanced over her shoulder. He thought he’d lost her, but the phone stopped ringing and he guessed Mia, the other woman who worked at Sunshine had picked it up. The door opened behind him and Jen’s smile widened. He turned and saw a very attractive man step in. His heart sped up as the guy made a bee line around the counter and hugged Jen. She squeezed him back like she’d just found the only person she would ever need. Disappointment filled Brent.

“Hey, Michael, it’s good to see you.” Jen untangled her arms from the Michael guy and turned to face him. “How was the concert?”

Her question threw him as he wondered if she was talking to him. Since her gaze was on him, he guessed she was. “Um, it was…” He watched as Michael stepped into the back area of the shop. Jealousy filled him and though it was irrational, he was still angry. Jen didn’t owe him anything.

Jen set a coffee cup, his usual, down on the counter in front of him. “The concert, how was it?”

He tried to focus on Jen and the question, but jealousy still beat its drum loudly through his thoughts. “Good. I went—um, had a good time. It’s Thursday and I have work, lots of work, and there’s this—”

The door opened and a group of young men stepped in. They were with some sports team and were rowdy. Their shouts indicated they’d won whatever game they’d been playing. He pulled a five-dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to Jen. Why couldn’t he get her to go out with him? All he had to do was ask. His tongue felt like it was a million times bigger than it really was, blocking the words from leaving his mouth.

“Happy Birthday, Jen,” Mia said as she stepped out of the back area.

Shock pulsed through him, causing his heart to stall. He had information about Jen, and he had to find a way to use it for his advantage. “I didn’t know it was your birthday,” he said as Jen handed him back his change which he dropped into the tip jar.

“It’s on Sunday but Mia is taking off the rest of the week and leaving me here to fend for myself.”

“I’ll be here,” Michael called out from the back room.

Great, just what he needed, the very good looking Michael spending the weekend with Jen. He had to act, but the soccer team crowded him out of the area. He was a total failure when it came to asking this woman out. He’d graduated top of his class from Stanford, was a successful property manager, had dated actresses and models, but he couldn’t ask out this baker.

He was about to leave the store when he glanced back at the counter. Jen’s gaze was on him, but not his face, no, she was looking lower, her teeth raking over her lower lip. She glanced up fast and her cheeks turned pink. Maybe he was wrong about her interest or supposed lack of interest.

He should stick around and see if maybe she would go out with him. Just then his phone buzzed. One glance at the screen and he knew he had to answer. Another group, this one senior citizens, stepped into Sunshine and Sparkles, crowding the store. There was no way he’d get any alone time with her so he could ask her out, not with and irate client demanding to know what he was going to do to fix the screw up his company had made.

Maybe he’d have a chance tomorrow. Work drained him. The error wasn’t that bad, but the asshole who it had affected was trying to make him pay for something else that wasn’t his fault. It took four hours of talking to the man to get him see that the other issue wasn’t Brent's fault.

He needed a break. Unfortunately, it didn’t come the next morning. Instead, he woke to the sound of thunder. Biking outside in weather like this would put him at risk and swimming was out of the question. Instead he stopped by a yoga studio so he could stretch out his muscles, lengthening them to prepare for his race. On his way to Sunshine and Sparkles after his yoga class, he saw two wrecks. He slowed down, concentrating on the road. It was crazy, but people forgot how to drive in bad weather when it didn’t rain for months at a time.