Free Icing On The Date (The Bannister Brothers #1) by Jennie Marts Page A

another a few more out loud.
    Has Bannister gone from brawling to baking?
    Who is this mystery baker? And are there wedding cupcakes in the future?
    The favorite picture that seemed to have received the most attention was of Owen leaning forward and giving Gabby a frosting-smeared kiss. Gabby’s eyes were closed, and her face was tipped up in bliss. And Owen’s face was covered in a huge grin.
    “What is this, Bannister? Who is this girl?”
    Owen gulped. The last thing he wanted was to get Gabby involved in another one of his messes.
    “Is that the girl from last night? The caterer?” Bane asked. “What’s her name? Gabby?”
    “Gabby? Gabby who?” Harvey asked. “Somebody tell me who this girl is.”
    Bane grinned. “She’s Owen’s angel.”
    “Shut up.” Had he really told Bane that Gabby was his angel? He swore he was never getting drunk again.
    “Well, she’s my angel now,” Harvey said, a smile breaking across his face. “Because this girl is going to be the answer to our prayers.”
    “What are you talking about?” Owen could feel the scowl settling on his face.
    “This is the first time I’ve seen the press portray you in a positive light in years.” He tapped the picture of the now infamous kiss on his computer screen. “Someone caught you on camera with an actual smile on your face instead of a scowl. Like the one you’re wearing now.”
    Harvey studied the screen, chuckling as he read. “And the women are going crazy for this. Everyone wants to know who this girl is that seems to have captured the ‘elusive playboy.’”
    Bane arched an eyebrow at him. “You do look pretty happy in that picture, bro.”
    “We were just goofing around. It’s nothing serious.” He didn’t feel happy. The only thing he could feel was the tension in his forehead as he gritted his teeth. “It was no big deal.”
    “It’s certainly a big deal now.” Harvey leaned back in his chair, grinning like the Cheshire cat. “Tell me. Who is this girl?”
    “Her name’s Gabby Davis. She’s a caterer who helped me out last night so I owed her a favor. She has this little cupcake shop and needed some help today because her brother bailed on her.” Actually she’d been the one to bail her brother out. “All I did was help her sell some cupcakes.”
    “Looks like you were helping yourself to her cupcakes.” Bane smirked at him. “And she’s got some pretty nice cupcakes.”
    “I said to shut up,” he growled at his brother.
    Bane held up his hands. “All right. All right. Don’t need to get all touchy about it.” He grinned again, waiting for Owen to get the double entendre.
    “Look, she’s just a girl. She’s not important,” Owen said, ignoring his brother. “We don’t need to get her involved.”
    “Oh, she’s already involved. Up to her cupcake-baking eyeballs,” Harvey said. “You need this girl. She’s gonna be your icing-covered ticket out of this mess.”
    He felt like he was in more of a mess now. He didn’t want to use Gabby.
    In fact, he didn’t want to involve her at all.
    “Look, she’s nobody. We barely know each other. And I made it pretty clear to her this afternoon that I wouldn’t be seeing her again.”
    “Well, you need to make it unclear . In fact, I want you to see her again. And soon. Like tonight. Or even tomorrow. Why don’t you call her now?”
    “Yeah, why don’t you call her now?” Bane chuckled. He was having way too good of a time with this.
    “No. I’m not calling her. She’s a nice girl. And I’m not gonna use her to make me look better.”
    “Yes, you are,” Harvey said. “You need the good publicity. And since when have you worried about how a woman was being affected by your nonsense?”
    Since he’d met Gabby, apparently.
    “She’s not like the usual women I go out with. They know what they’re getting into. They like the publicity. But Gabby’s different.”
    Harvey tapped a pen on his desk. “Okay. I hear what you’re saying.