"Dude, I'm telling you, this girl's muffins are magical...oh and her cookies! And bread….the pies, oh God, the pies….!'
"Okay, Man, I get it. You think she's hot," Mason said, rolling his eyes as they walked down the sidewalk toward Chimera Confections. For the past week, Liam had been going on and on about this girl Hayden and her amazing muffins. At first he'd thought his friend was speaking euphemistically about either her boobs or ass (he didn't want to know), but it turned out that she actually was a baker.
His comment made Liam sputter. "I mean, yeah, but it's just...Have you put something in your mouth and just felt like the person who made it has given you a gift? Like you can taste their passion?"
Mason somehow managed not to comment on the oh so tempting double entendres as they entered the bakery. There was a decent line and the people ahead of them were chatting easily. Upon seeing who was manning the counter, Mason raised a brow. "You didn't tell me there was that kind of eye candy here."
The young man behind the counter had broad shoulders and a muscular chest that were nicely displayed by a tight white t-shirt. His face was even better, a nice mix of handsome and cute with eyes like sea glass and clear, lightly talked skin. His hair was hidden by a dark, backwards ball cap and mason wondered ideally if he might be….
"Stop drooling," Liam groused as they got closer. He wasn't not checking out the hotness in an apron before them, but clearly he was focused on his missing pastry goddess.
When it was finally their turn, Liam opened with, "Where's Hayden?"
Nice.
The hunk blinked at him and then huffed. "She didn't show up for her shift and then texted 3 hours later to say she quit and had moved out of town," he grumbled. "Leaving me to do both our jobs. Now, what can I get you?"
Liam seemed crestfallen. "If she's gone, the pastries won't be the same."
"I'll have a cold brew and one of those cinnamon buns," Mason put in and the hunk began to prep the coffee.
As he worked, Hunk asked, "What does Hayden have to do with pastries? Girl doesn't know pie crust from puffed pastry."
"But she said she made all the food."
Hunk snorted. "This is my place. I make everything we sell," he said, pushing Mason's order across the counter. "What do you want?"
"Vanilla Latte and an eclair," Liam decided sullenly and soon they were leaving the hottie's counter.
"How's your eclair?" Mason asked when he had finished his own, frankly amazing, cinnamon bun.
For a moment, Liam seemed torn before admitting, "It's one of the best things I've ever eaten."
"So, Grumpy Hunk back there's your Magic Pastry Cream Boy?"
Liam threw him a truly sour look, but Mason only laughed, knowing they'd be going back to bakery soon.
The next day, the shop was just as busy, the line stretching out onto the street. A mouth watering atom hung in the air, freshly baked bread. Normally, Liam preferred sweet things, but damn.
A nervous looking young man was working the counter, filling orders and making brief small talk. When Mason grinned and asked him for something sweet, the poor guy nearly tripped over his tongue.
"Get his number and flirt after the rush, Corey," The hot baker said as he emerged from the kitchen and holy shit. He'd been gorgeous yesterday, but today he wore a tight black singlet, spots of flour all over and he was hefting a tray of that amazing bread. His arm muscles bulged and Liam just wanted to lick him.
The surly expression changed to startled before morphing into a smirk. "Leave me your number and we can discuss licking later."
Fuck.
He'd said that aloud.
While Liam tried to will the floor to swallow him whole, mason stepped up (because Mason was the best) and exchanged their info with the hot baker, whose name was Theo (and cot counter guy Corey's digits for himself).
A few nights later, Liam found out that, like his culinary creations, Theo tasted even better than he looked and smelled.