“Dusting my house and sitting up late with my grandmother is very nice,” Whitney said. “He’s been a good friend. That’s what we’ve been working on. But I’m not sure I’d call doing laundry and taking my grandma to yoga romantic.”
But suddenly she wanted these women to tell her it was romantic.
The things Cam had said, the way he’d looked at her, the way he’d kissed her—even tonight when she’d showed up here—the way he wanted her to succeed, the way he wanted her to have girlfriends and feel supported at work… those were all… something. Was that romance?
Hell if she knew. Just like she didn’t know how to do girl talk, she really knew nothing about romance.
“It is,” Zoe said. “It’s how he loves people. He takes care of things. He gets things done. He takes care of their problems so they can do the things they want and need to do. It’s why he’s the company’s attorney. He does the messy legal shit so the other guys can do the creative stuff. Or, in Aiden’s case, the leadership stuff he loves. Or so Grant can just play with his spreadsheets and calculator all day and not worry about the contracts and stuff.”
“He doesn’t like the legal stuff?” Whitney asked, realizing that had never occurred to her.
“He does,” Zoe said. “Because, like I said, he loves confrontations and fights. He likes the legal stuff. But what he loves is being a part of something with his friends. Taking care of stuff for them. Making their jobs and lives a little easier. I’ll bet he loved doing the insurance paperwork and the divorce-slash-cat-adoption-paperwork for Grant and Josie. That way Grant could just concentrate on what was making him happy… Josie.” Zoe gave her friend a soft smile.
Whitney thought about all of that. The way Cam had been happy to stay at the house with Didi, not caring about not being in the office, fine with some of the other in-house attorneys doing some of the legwork so he could be with Didi.
So it wasn’t the actual legal work he liked. It was the taking care of the people he cared about that he liked.
That fit, she realized. Of course. The guys had met in college when they’d been undergraduates. He and Aiden had started in business classes together and they’d met Grant and Dax and Ollie in their second year. Dax and Ollie had already created the beginnings of Warriors of Easton. They hadn’t known the game would take off like it had, but she could imagine they’d all sat around and dreamed of turning it into something big and talked about what each of them could contribute. It had been clear, she was sure, that Dax and Ollie were the creative parts of the team. Grant was older and was clearly the financial mind of the group. Aiden was a natural leader and CEO type. Cam had possibly chosen law as the piece that was still needed and that he could fill in order to contribute and be an integral part of the team.
She was fascinated by this.
“So him dusting her end tables is romantic,” Jane said. She said “dusting her end tables” with innuendo that her fiancé would have been very proud of. Clearly Dax was rubbing off on her.
Zoe laughed. “For sure.”
Josie shook her head. “There’s more.”
Whitney looked at her. “There is?”
Josie gave her a smug smile. “The baking.”
“He does that for Didi,” Whitney said. “She told him she’s missed Letty’s recipes all these years, so he’s making them for her.”
“Oh,” Zoe said, her voice soft and her expression touched. “That’s so nice. That she’s missed them and that he’s doing that.”
Whitney agreed. “It is. She loves it.”
“But,” Josie said. “He’s been doing more cookies and bars lately, right?”
Whitney looked at her suspiciously. “How did you know that?”
“Because you haven’t gotten any from me in a while,” Josie said with a grin.
“Well, he’s…” Whitney thought about what Josie was clearly implying.
“He’s been baking the ones you like.” Josie sighed. “You’re getting them from home and don’t need me anymore.”
“Hold on,” Zoe said, scooting forward in her chair. “You bake for her on the side?”
“No. We’ve been secretly selling her Buttered Up products for a long time.”
Zoe frowned, then her eyes widened. “What?”
Whitney’s eyes were also wide. “You knew?” She’d always been so careful. She’d paid two little girls to go into the bakery for her.
Josie laughed. “I knew. The Swanson girls spilled the beans the second time they ever came in for you.”
Whitney groaned. “You must have thought I was an idiot.”
Josie shook her head and looked at Zoe. “No. I always thought the feud between your families was ridiculous, but I respected it.”
Whitney nodded her agreement over the ridiculous part. “But you never told Zoe?” She looked at the other woman.
“I would have forbidden her from selling them to you,” Zoe said with a little frown.
“And no one should go without our sugar cookies, and caramel bars, and cinnamon rolls,” Josie said. “So I kept quiet.”
Whitney gave her a smile, but she focused on Zoe again. “You would have forbidden her to sell to me?”
Zoe nodded. Then shrugged. “I was pretty stubborn and bitchy about your family and Hot Cakes. Until Aiden.”
Whitney saw the softness in Zoe’s expression when she mentioned her fiancé. “I’m glad that’s changed.”
“Me too.”
“Really?”
“Really. It makes having you and your grandma here for dinner a lot less awkward.”
They all laughed lightly, but Whitney couldn’t help but ask, “Do you think Cam would have brought Didi here if you still felt the same way about Hot Cakes?”
Zoe snorted. “For sure. Cam’s never shied away from something just because it’s awkward or tense. He loves a good confrontation.” She grew quiet, regarding Whitney for a long moment, then said, “Until recently.”
Whitney wet her lips, but didn’t say anything. The attention shifted fully to her.
“Yeah,” Jane said softly. “That’s romantic.”
“What is?” Whitney asked.
“When a man changes because of how he feels about a woman. Not
