A Beautiful Star (Beautiful Series, Book 5) by Lilliana Anderson

chirps.
    “Why are you calling me ‘Red’?”
    “Because I like the way your cheeks go all red when you’re annoyed with me,” he explains.
    “You like the way my…ok, whatever,” I repeat with a sigh. “Will you stop sending me things, please?”
    “You’ve got the wrong guy this time; whatever you have, it wasn’t me. Maybe it was from that pretty boy you were kissing in the papers the other day.”
    “He’s not a pretty boy. You’re a pretty boy.”
    “That’s very sweet of you to say,” he jokes.
    “Well, I’m a sweetheart, what can I say. Listen, sorry to attack you. I should have checked the card first.”
    “You can call me anytime. I won’t hold it against you.”
    “Ok,” I laugh. “I’m hanging up now.”
    “Alright, you do that. But, Red, when am I going to see you again?”
    “I haven’t decided on that yet.”
    “You’re hurting me. I just want to be your friend and you’re putting up road blocks.”
    “I’m totally not buying this friend act.”
    “You should. Because it can’t be more unless you want it to be. Besides, we have a good time together. We get along. You want fun in your life, right?”
    “You’re trying too hard, Jonathan. I’m going now.”
    I can hear the smile in his voice. “Bye, Red.”
    Hitting the end call button on my phone, I walk over to my desk and pull the blue ribbon on the box to get to the card.
    For your tastebuds.
    Call me.
    Brad
    Smiling, I open the box and find a red velvet cupcake inside that I bite into–and yes, I eat it immediately–and it’s the softest, most flavour-filled baked treat I have ever had the pleasure of eating. And I’ve eaten a lot, so I know what I’m talking about.
    “You’re very popular lately,” Erin, our receptionist, comments on her way past my office. “You’re getting more deliveries than anyone else here. And the guy who dropped that off was H-O-T. Oh my lord, you are one lucky woman.”
    “He was here?” I ask, pointing at the box as I talk through a mouthful of cake.
    “I think so. Dark hair. Blue eyes. Tatts all over his arms. He was wearing a white bonds shirt and a pair of jeans and some Vans. He didn’t seem like a courier to me.”
    “That’s him alright. How long ago?”
    “Maybe an hour? I told him you don’t get in until nine, sometimes ten.”
    I swallow the last of the cake and lick the crumbs off my fingers and my lips, apologising that there was only one in the box as I do. Then, I thank Erin for dropping by, and when she leaves, I turn to my phone again, this time ringing the correct person for a thank you instead of a berating.
    “I was hoping you’d call,” Brad says when we connect. “Did you get the delivery?”
    “Thank you. I did. And I ate it already. It was sooooo good, I was in tastebud heaven again. Otherwise I would have called sooner.”
    Letting out a chuckle, he says, “Obviously. I was a little worried it wouldn’t get to you. Your receptionist had a bit of a hungry look in her eyes, and I thought she was going to nick it on you.”
    “Oh, I think that hunger might have been for a certain tattooed chef. She just left my office after telling me all about her crush on you. I believe the letters h, o and t, were spouted quite emphatically.”
    “I’ll bring her a cake next time too,” he says.
    “It’s quite possible that I’d just eat both.”
    “I don’t doubt that,” he laughs.
    “Listen, I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier when you dropped in. I would have liked to have seen you.”
    “That’s alright, I was in the area so I wanted to drop in with a little something and maybe make plans to see you again.”
    “I see, you used the old bring-a-girl-a-cupcake-and-she’ll-say-yes-to-anything trick, huh?”
    “Did it work?”
    “I believe it did. Just tell me when and where and I’ll make time.”
    “Here’s the thing. Remember how I said I travel a lot? It will have to be next month. Things are crazy at work because we’re working the new