Author's note: Another chapter already?! Yay!

Happy reading!

Chapter Eighteen

Peeta pulled Katniss into his arms and rested his head against hers. "Can I have a kiss before I go?"

She smiled and nodded. "Make it a good one."

He grinned and covered her mouth with his. He slowly slid his hand up her back and cupped the back of her head.

Without breaking the kiss, Katniss reached up and pulled Peeta's hand down. He tangled their fingers together. The kiss slowly came to an end.

"Sorry about—"

She shook her head. "Not a problem."

He rubbed her back and stepped away. "I need to go work on decorating cakes for a while. I'll see you at Gale and Prim's?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Can Cal and I come tomorrow so I can get some work done? Caleb can help a little. You can help a little. Admire my ass like I know you do every time you watch me work."

She chuckled. "You and Caleb can work on the room, but I think Callie and I will find something else to do."

"Like what?" He trailed a finger down her cheek. "Hm?"

"I don't know. We'll figure it out. Unless she wants to help. And then I will watch the three of you work and admire your ass." She laughed and pressed a kiss to his lips.

He laughed. "See you in a few hours." He ducked out of the door made his way to his car. He pulled out his phone and saw he had ten texts, two missed calls, and a voicemail. All from Finnick.

"Dude, you need to come hang out and not be working so much."

"Text me back. I'm bored."

"Peeeeetaaaaaaa!"

"I need a grown man to hang out with."

"Answer my texts."

"What are you even working on? You always answer my texts. Even when you're working."

"I sound like a clingy boyfriend. Sorry."

"But a text back would be nice."

"I miss you."

"Our kids are arguing and neither are listening and Annie's laying down. I need you to answer me."

Then he checked the voicemail. "So I called and you didn't answer. And I was bummed. So I called the bakery and Delly said you weren't there. So what are you doing, man? Or who? Are you with Katniss?"

Peeta deleted the message and pressed the button to call Finnick back as he drove to the bakery. "Hey, what's going on?"

"I don't know, Peeta, you tell me." Finnick challenged. "Where have you been all morning?"

"Hanging out with Katniss, all right? I deserve a little time with an unmarried person every now and then." Why did he feel defensive?

"Do you ever hang out with Delly or Madge?" Finnick challenged.

"They are my employees. And Delly has a crush on me, so that would be weird and she might misconstrue that."

"The way you're doing with Katniss?"

Peeta sighed. "I know what I'm doing with Katniss."

"But you liiiiike her." Finnick sang. He laughed.

Peeta shook his head. "She's technically my boss right now since I'm painting Caleb's room. And she's coaching Cal. Anything romantic is off-limits."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"So are you guys going to come to Gale and Prim's thing?"

"I think so. Annie's feeling really rough today."

"I can bring Finn if you want. You two can hang out at home. You can take care of your wife."

"I'll let you know. Thanks."

"I'm back at the bakery now and getting to work. Calm it with the texting. You're the most annoying boyfriend ever."

Finnick giggled. "You just called me your boyfriend. I have to call everyone!"

"Shut up, buttface. I have to get to work."

"I'm breaking up with you, Peeta. You're so mean to me."

Peeta laughed. "I'm so devastated. I'll see you later."

"Later, man."

Peeta walked into the lobby and saw it was virtually empty. Odd for a Saturday afternoon, but not entirely unseen. Madge leaned over the counter and flirted with an older man. Peeta walked over and smiled. "Good afternoon."

Madge smiled. "This is Haymitch Abernathy. Mr. Abernathy, this is Peeta Mellark. He owns the bakery and also is in charge of cake decoration."

"It's just Haymitch." He held out his hand. "You look familiar."

"I was at the bar where you work a few weeks ago with my friend Katniss. She's a regular."

Haymitch smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Katniss. The hot brunette."

Peeta chuckled. "Yeah, the hot brunette. Can I help you with anything, Haymitch?"

"My daughter is getting married and she put me in charge of finding potential bakers."

Peeta nodded. "All right, let's have a seat and talk about what your daughter might want in a cake." He took the clipboard off the wall and guided Haymitch to the corner table. "I can do anything from traditional to over the top and anything in between."

"My daughter is very nontraditional. In fact, she is the most nontraditional person I've ever known. And her future wife is just as ridiculous. Her name is Glimmer, of all crazy things. She picked the name herself." Haymitch shook his head. "Anyway. Jo doesn't want to do all the work, but she does want a giant wedding. So here I am, hoofing it to all the bakeries in the area to get prices and design ideas. And then she'll narrow it down from there. It's a real pain in my ass, really. And my wife is off wedding dress shopping. And I'm going to be honest with you, I just found the closest place. So if you want the job, I'm going to say it's yours."

Peeta chuckled. "Well, as flattered as I am, I want to make sure your daughter approves. So let me make a little sketch and I can consult with her and her fiancée to make sure it's what they want."

Haymitch held out his hand. "Fair enough. I'll call Jo."

Peeta shook his hand. "I'll start working on this so it can be ready whenever you all are."

"Thanks." He nodded and smiled at Madge. "Come to the bar tonight and the first drink is on me. And I can guarantee there will be at least one available guy there to chat with you." He walked out and got into his car.

Peeta made some more notes and then walked over to the counter. "Has it been this slow all day?"

"Not really. It's actually started dying down." She picked up a cloth and started polishing the glass. "Delly's in the back talking to the bakers. We ran out of cheese buns and then they burned the second batch. They swore it was the oven, so she called in a guy to check it out."

"Good call. I'll go see what's up. Keep holding down the fort." He hung the clipboard back up and walked into the inner sanctum of his building.

Delly smiled sweetly as he walked into the kitchen. "Apparently the temperature is a little off. They're fixing it now."

Peeta nodded. "Thank you, Delly."

"No problem." She smiled. She looked around and stepped into the hall. "Look, I know you're my boss, but I want to ask you... Will you have dinner with me tonight?"

He smiled kindly. "I can't tonight. I'm sorry."

"Oh." She looked down.

"Rain check?" He asked.

"Sure. Just let me know when you're free." She turned back to the kitchen and Peeta hurried away. Not good. He thought. So not good. She already had a crush on me. He sat down with a piece of paper and a pencil and got to work on the sketch for Haymitch's daughter.

Annie plopped beside Katniss and poked her side. She whispered, "Rumor has it a certain baker spent the morning with you."

Katniss jumped and gave her a confused look.

"My husband found out and told me. So are you two an item now?" She had a giddy smile on her face.

"No. We are not an item. We just hung out and watched TV for a while. And then he went back to work. That's it. End of story."

"Yeah, okay." Annie smiled and moved away a little. "He's been looking over here ever since he got here. Did he even say hi?"

"He said hi." Katniss said almost defensively. "From across the room." She turned. "Hey, so what form of birth control did you use?"

Annie suppressed a sound of excitement. She took several calming breaths. "I took a shot every three months. Worked like a charm. You should do it. And you should get that." She nodded toward where Peeta was wrestling with Caleb as the boy laughed.

Katniss smiled and shook her head. "I just want options for any guy."

Prim leaned in. "What are we talking about?"

Annie said, "I think I almost have Katniss convinced to put herself back on the dating scene."

"Oh, you totally should." Prim slid into the seat adjacent to the couch. "We can watch Caleb any time. No questions asked. Even overnight." She winked.

"I can't get over you two." Katniss laughed. "But thank you, Prim. I'll keep that in mind."

Peeta dropped Caleb onto Katniss's lap. "Your son is exhausting. Do you feed him pure sugar?"

Katniss laughed and wrapped her arms tightly around her son. "I guess so. His uncle spoils him rotten." She kissed Caleb's temple. "We'll just have to take revenge spoiling your cousin."

Caleb smiled and nodded. "It'll be fun."

Peeta said, "I have to go see where my daughter wandered off to." He walked away, slipping his hands into his pockets as he went.

Katniss stared at his retreating backside and not so discreetly.

Annie mumbled. "I bet he tones those muscles while he's sitting at the table decorating cakes."

Prim laughed. "You were looking, too?"

Katniss said, "Well how can you miss it?"

The three women started laughing. Caleb looked between them and shook his head.

He got up. "I'm going to help Uncle Gale with the frying."

"You be careful." Katniss warned.

"Yes, Mama." He promised.

Katniss sat with Annie and Prim for a while longer before she decided to go outside to see about Caleb. She spotted Peeta across the yard with Callie, Finnick, and Finn. Caleb ran between them and Gale at the large kettle bubbling away with oil and fish pieces.

"You are an evil man." Katniss quickly sent the text and put her phone back in her pocket.

Peeta chuckled as he read the text. He looked up at her and winked.

"What's going on?" Gale asked looking between his friend at his side and Peeta across the yard.

"Nothing. Peeta's... He's just being ridiculous. How much longer? Your wife is snapping at everyone that looks at her cross-eyed."

Gale laughed. "This is the last batch."

"Okay. I'll inform the ladies." She walked inside and relayed everything to Annie and Prim. Then she ducked into the bathroom to wash her hands.

Peeta followed. He leaned against the wall opposite the door with his hands in his pockets.

Katniss opened the door and saw him there. She leaned close and brushed a kiss over his lips. "You did that on purpose."

"Did what?"

"Put your hands in your pockets when you walked away earlier."

He laughed and shrugged. "I did. So what?"

"You know Annie and Prim watched your retreat, too."

"I'm sure they did. As we've both already established, I have a very lovely bottom." He combed his fingers through her hair. He whispered, "Another kiss?"

She shook her head and stepped away. "The toilet doesn't flush very well. You have to hold down the handle and then jiggle it a little so it doesn't keep running."

He grabbed her hand before she left. "I can't wait for Monday morning."

She smiled and kissed his knuckles. "I can't either."

For the rest of the evening, they avoided each other as much as possible without causing too much curiosity. But near the end, Peeta grew tired of it and found every opportunity to make Katniss smile. He loved that smile. And he loved the way her gray eyes looked almost blue when the light hit them just right.

"You're picking on me." She pointed out late in the evening.

"I'm not. I'm just teasing you." He argued.

"And teasing only me. Why are you picking on me?"

"Because of that dimple in the corner of your mouth when you smile." He looked away as the tops of his ears turned red.

Katniss made a big show of looking at her watch. "Oh, hey, look at that. Time for Caleb to get settled into bed."

"Mama, can't I stay here?" Caleb asked.

"Gale and Prim don't need you staying here tonight, baby."

"Why not?"

"Because you were with Gale all day and I'm sure even as much as he loves you, he needs a break."

Prim shrugged. "It's fine."

Katniss sent a look to her sister. "You aren't tired of him?"

Prim smiled. "I think you, ma'am, need to let him stay and you go to that bar you always end up at. Maybe you can pick up a guy there."

"I don't need a guy." Katniss argued. Because I kind of already have one. She added to herself.

"You at least need to unwind." Gale said.

"Hey, I'm not wound. Whose side are you on, anyway?"

He put up his hands. "Forget I said anything. Gather your kid and get the hell out of my house." He laughed and winked.

Katniss shook her head. "I will be taking Caleb home. He can stay some other night."

"You promise?" Caleb asked.

"Promise." Katniss said. She made a cross over her heart. "Tell everyone goodnight."

He threw his arms around Peeta first. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes." He said. "And we'll get some more paint on the walls." He looked at Katniss and then kissed Caleb's cheek. "Cal, we need to get going too."

She sighed. "Okay."

"Don't act so down." Katniss said. "You go home and get to sleep and then you get to come hang out with us. And you and I can do our own thing if you aren't in the mood to paint on the mural."

"Like what?" Callie asked.

Katniss shrugged. "You can play with the goat."

"You have a goat?"

"We do." She leaned in. "And I will let you try to shoot my special bow, if you want. Or we could just hang out and watch movies while the guys work."

"I like the sound of that." Callie looked up to her father. "Let's get home! Bye, everyone." She hurried out the door. Caleb laughed and followed after.

"Caleb Michael!" Katniss called as she hurried after him. "Bye. Thanks for dinner."

Peeta took a much more leisurely time saying his farewells. He stepped into the night and saw Katniss getting onto her son. Callie stood awkwardly on the other side. She opened her mouth to try to apologize, but thought better of it.

"Katniss?" Peeta said.

"Yeah?" She opened the car door and let Caleb climb inside.

"Can I talk to you a moment? Cal, get in the car." He pushed a button on his keychain and unlocked the door.

Katniss walked over. He stepped back into the darkness.

She followed. "Are you going to give me a goodnight kiss?"

"Will you let me?"

"I will."

He gently cupped her face and brushed his lips over hers once, twice, a third time. "See you in the morning."

"See you in the morning." She walked to her car and hopped into the front seat. "Okay, kiddo, ready to get home?" She looked in the back and saw Caleb already asleep. She chuckled and headed for their house.