The Diva Frosts a Cupcake Read Free Page A

better than this.” She bit into it and pretended to melt.
    I handed Humphrey some cash. “Bring breakfast when you come. What’s in a breakfast cupcake?” I peered at something crumbed on top of the frosting.
    “Maple buttermilk cake with maple frosting, sprinkled with bacon.” He rattled it off like a pro.
    “Are you moonlighting at Sugar Baby?” I teased.
    Humphrey blushed. “Of course not. But I’ve tried all their flavors.”
    “I think I’ll pass on the ones with bacon, but Strawberry Lemonade sounds good.”
    He waved me away. “They’re on me. I’ll be there as soon as Renee comes back.”
    “Don’t forget to bring cupcakes.”
    Daisy and I returned to our own booth. I hooked her leash onto a table leg and flipped out the legs of two more tables. It turned out they weren’t at all difficult to flip upright by myself.
    Humphrey soon arrived and helped move them into position under the tent awning, creating a U-shaped booth.
    “Give me a hand with the cages?”
    They weren’t particularly heavy, but the cat cages were large and unwieldy. We placed them on the table in the back where the canopy would shield the cats from the sun, and had just lined up the cages when Humphrey grabbed my arm, and whispered, “Whatever Myra wants, help me get out of it.”
    “Myra? Who is Myra?”
    Humphrey nudged me with his elbow.
    A woman with generous curves descended upon us. Her teeth shone such a bright white I feared they might glow in the dark. Black eyeliner rimmed her expressive eyes and turquoise waves decorated her eyelids. Big, jet black hair sported an occasional turquoise tip. Her fuchsia and black zebra-striped leather jacket would have been sufficiently eye-catching on its own, but she had paired it with fuchsia leggings that hugged her body like a second skin. She turned heads as she sashayed her way toward us, the tight leggings showing off more than I wanted to see of her swaying hips. A purse decorated with a rainbow of hearts hung on her forearm, and interlocking heart earrings dangled down to her shoulders.
    “Humphrey,” she scolded sweetly, “you didn’t come to work last night. I was hoping I’d see you because I have an extra ticket to the cupcake feast tomorrow. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me?” Her voice surprised me. Soft and gentle, it didn’t match her bold appearance.
    Behind her, I could see Renee Gatewood in the Sugar Baby Cupcakes booth stretching her neck and leaning a bit to see what was going on.
    “Sorry, Myra. I bought a ticket months ago.” Humphrey’s shoulders relaxed.
    “Oh! You bad, bad boy. Now what will I do with my extra one?”
    Maurice Lester, a curmudgeon if I’d ever met one, ambled up. His nose arced outward rather prominently and was as narrow as he was thin. In dire need of a cut, his white hair hung limply along the sides of his face.
    Maurice was so fixated on Myra that I didn’t think he noticed anything else. “I’ll go with you, my dear. I would be honored to be your escort.”
    Myra cringed at his words. “I thought you already had a ticket.”
    “No matter.” He smiled, revealing long, horsey teeth. “They’ve been sold out for months. I can probably sell it for twice what I paid for it.”
    I stepped in to save poor Myra. “I believe scalping tickets is illegal. I’ll just refund your money, Myra.” Good thing I’d brought some extra cash for shopping. I held the bills out to her.
    Maurice reached for them, but Myra snatched them away from him, and in spite of the heavy makeup, I could see gratitude in her expression.
    “The tickets were ridiculously expensive,” Maurice complained.
    I bit my lip to keep from saying what I thought—
No one
forced him to buy one
. Besides, it was all for a very worthy cause.
    Myra edged away from Maurice. “Well, I’ll see you later.” She touched Humphrey’s sleeve, showing off long green fingernails with flashes of blue sparkle.
    The pink circles on Humphrey’s cheeks radiated