Cupid's Cupcake by Ivy Sinclair Page B

way. But there was something appealing at the idea of talking to an attractive man. It had been awhile.
    The only nagging thing in the back of Belle’s mind was the fact that, over the course of the last couple years, Brian Draper spearheaded some investigative reporting exposes that brought to light some nasty business practices in the area. Although his daily column normally covered the small business news in town, it seemed as if he was expanding his reach.
    It was st upid. The nonsense around Cupid’s Cupcake was a coincidence anyway, and it wasn’t as if she believed the myth herself. She was being a ninny, and one that was a bit to full of herself to boot.
     
     
    Belle stewed on Draper’s email throughout the next day, and after two calls and endless text messages from Tiffany, she found herself worn down. After arriving home from work, she stared at the email for another thirty minutes trying to decide what to do. Finally , cursing Tiffany, she grabbed her cell and dialed Brian Draper’s phone number. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was six-thirty. Perfect. He should be gone for the day, and she would leave a voicemail.
    “Draper.” His gruff voice sounded hurried.
    Belle dropped the phone in surprise. The phone flew underneath the coffee table. “Sorry! Sorry! Hang on a second!” She scrambled trying to see it and then smacked her head on the underside of the glass top. “Ow!” She finally got ahold of the phone and dragged it back out from beneath the table and pulled it to her ear.
    “Hello?” She heard a smile in his voice.
    Belle was going to hang up. She was mortified and had yet to say a word directly to him. But then she heard Tiffany’s voice browbeating her for being a coward in her head. She would never let Belle live it down if Belle didn’t go through with the story. Belle straightened her spine and used her most professional phone voice.
    “Mr. Draper. This is Belle Rivers.”
    “Ms. Rivers! I’m delighted you called,” he said. “I was afraid that my email may have been a bit random and so when I didn’t heard from you right away, I figured you decided to ignore it. You just made my night.”
    With that kind of enthusiastic response, Belle wished she had called the day before. His smiling face was still up on her computer screen. He really was quite yummy.
    Belle made a decision. She would be confident, charming, and interesting. She had taken an acting class in college. It hadn’t been that long ago. “I must admit I’m flattered that you would even consider a story about my little cupcake.” She was shocked to hear the flirtatiousness in her voice.
    “ I’m sure you know that cupcakes are all the craze right now, and when I caught wind of yours, I have to admit I was intrigued. People rave about it, so it must be something special.”
    “ That’s quite flattering. It’s something that I just stumbled into by accident that just took off,” she said. She felt wholly unprepared for the conversation. She should have written down some notes before she called. She wished for even one-tenth of Tiffany’s organizational skills at times like these.
    “Well, you are being modest now. From what I’ve heard, we aren’t talking about just any cupcake. I even had a direct quote from one of my co-workers that she would kill to get her hands on one for her Valentine’s Day dinner.”
    Belle knew what he was angling for, but she desperately wanted to keep him distracted with other details because where he was leading was ridiculous. “It is my grandmother’s recipe. I modified it and ended up being as surprised as anyone at how well it turned out. But it’s top secret stuff.”
    “I’m sure it’s delicious, but actually I was curious to hear your thoughts about the perception that if someone gives you a Cupid’s Cupcake on Valentine’s Day, it’s a sign that you are going to get married. According to my own tally, the cupcake to proposal ratio is pretty high.”
    And