Bake Until Marriage

Chapter One

Raven blinked at the email that sat in her inbox.

No. That couldn't be right. There was no way that could be right.

She squeezed her eyes shut and counted to a hundred before opening them again, thinking that this had to be a mistake. Or, at the very least, a bad joke. But, no. The email was still there, waiting for her to respond to it. She reached for the travel mug of tea next to her and leaned back in her chair, reading the email for what felt like the tenth time.

We would like to discuss a contract with you for the cake for the Wayne - Queen wedding...

Contract. Her. For the wedding that everyone was talking about. Everyone. She couldn't walk past a news stand without at least ten tabloids proclaiming "the wedding of the century" on their front page. Or get on social media without someone swooning over Damian Wayne and Emiko Queen's love story. And now her tiny bakery, shoved in some small corner of an "up and coming" neighborhood of Gotham, was in the running for making the cake for the wedding.

Holy hell.

She ran a hand over her face and sighed. How did they even know she existed? There had to be a hundred other bakeries in Gotham, and several more prestigious ones. Ones that had won awards and had a pedigree, and were far more suited for a wedding of this caliber. And besides, this was a Wayne and a Queen. The money between the two families should have prompted them to fly a French baker and patisserie. Or a whole team of bakers. So, why her?

The bell above the door chimed and Raven poked her head around the opening to the small supply closet that doubled as her "office". Whoever had just stepped in was standing next to the eclairs, bent over the display case, inspecting them. Her eyes flicked to the clock above her head and she sighed. Jeeze. Who came into the shop at five-thirty in the morning? She should really start being better about locking the door behind her when she came in to start with prep work.

Wiping her still-floured hands on her faded jeans, she stood up and walked into the shop. "Good morning! What can I help you with?"

His head lifted and unearthly green eyes met hers, inspecting her entire form with an expression that could only be described as restrained disdain. Who did this man think he was? Raven felt her anger flare for a moment before her heart dropped into her stomach as realization clicked in her head. Oh. Her new potential client.

Damian Wayne. Well, fuck. She was barely ready to start the day, and certainly not ready enough for an audition to bake a cake.

"Ah. Mister Wayne. It's nice to meet you. I just received the email from your wedding planner." She held out her hand and gave what she hoped was a professional smile, even if she was exhausted. "I'm Raven Roth. I own the shop."

His eyes flicked from her hand to her face, as if he was still trying to decide what to think about her and if she was worth his time. Raven struggled to not let her annoyance show on her face and let her hand fall to the side, feeling her anger flare up again. He didn't need to be so damn rude. He should know that some people didn't care that his name was plastered on every building in the city. With more effort than necessary, she forced another small smile and motioned to the case of eclairs he was eyeing.

"Did you want to try an eclair?"

He looked back at the eclairs as if he was considering changing his mind. With a slight sigh, he shook his head and turned back to her. "I stopped by for cake. Emiko seems to think that your bakery is the best in Gotham, and I wanted to see why she was so adamant on putting your bakery on our shortlist."