It was just a cake.

When Steve saw Bucky entering his office with a grin, he knew he wanted something. What was it? He really didn’t know. It could be something serious, like visiting someone who owed them money, or something stupid, like picking up his laundry. He never knew with his best friend.

“What do you want, punk?” Steve asked, lifting an eyebrow in Bucky’s direction.

“What? Why do you always think I’m going to ask you for something?” the brunette replied, placing a hand over his heart and faking offense at Steve’s words. The latter just looked at him, waiting.

“Okay, okay, you got me,” Bucky admitted with a cheeky smile. “I need a favor. Becca’s birthday is next week, and Mom asked me to take care of everything.”

Steve nodded, waiting to hear what favor Bucky was about to ask.

“I have an appointment at this fancy bakery near Central Park. Can you go in my place?”

Steve snorted out a laugh and shook his head. “What makes you think I want to spend my afternoon in a cake shop?” He already knew he’d end up going to the bakery, but he enjoyed teasing Bucky.

“Come on, punk. I have a date,” the brunette pushed. “You’re single. You have all the time in the world,” he teased back.

“Now I’m wounded,” Steve replied, placing a hand over his chest in mock offense. “But fine, I’ll go to this fancy bakery.”

His best friend was right—he did have a lot of free time since Sharon cheated on him. Well, actually, she fooled everyone in the organization. She had always been part of HYDRA, their biggest rival, and he had failed to see where her loyalty truly lay. She had been the mole for almost two years, and in the end, he couldn’t even kill her. In fact, it had been the other way around—she had almost killed him. He had ended up in the ICU, fighting for his life.

To say that experience changed him was an understatement. In the past, he had been the easygoing one between him and Bucky. Even as a mob boss, he was less violent and aggressive than his friend. But now, he was short-tempered and didn’t even like meeting new people—not knowing what their past held or where their allegiances lay.

Snapping out of his memories, he stood up, grabbed his jacket, and left the office.

When he arrived at the bakery, he could tell just by looking at it that it was expensive. He never understood why people spent so much money on these kinds of cakes when homemade ones were far better, but he reminded himself that this was Bucky’s choice.

He had just stepped foot inside when he felt a body collide with him. The loud clatter of a tray hitting the ground filled the space. His eyes traveled down to his torso, where his white shirt was now stained with pink frosting.

“Oh my god, I’m so, so sorry,” a soft voice said.

He looked at the girl in front of him as she hurriedly took out a cloth and started trying to clean the mess. His gaze was heavy on her, anger starting to bubble inside him, but something about this girl made him stop. Maybe it was the way she flinched almost imperceptibly, waiting for him to snap at her, or the way she looked up at him with big, deer-like eyes as she apologized. Or maybe it was just how cute she was.

“Don’t worry, accidents happen even to the best of us.”

He was surprised by how calm and reassuring his voice sounded. Hell, he was surprised he was even smiling at her after she had ruined a very expensive shirt.

He noticed the owner of the bakery calling her to the back, clearly unhappy about the accident. Steve felt a little sorry for her.

A few minutes later, the owner returned. “I’m sorry for the mess, Mr. Rogers. She was a new baker, but she won’t be causing any more scenes like this again.”

He sounded almost proud of firing her.

Steve felt a knot in his stomach. He had never been that kind of person—not even with all the power he held in the city. He wasn’t one to hold grudges over a clumsy accident. He didn’t like the idea of someone losing their job because of him.

Excusing himself, he stepped out of the bakery, searching for the girl. He spotted her walking away a few meters ahead.

With quick steps, he caught up to her, just in time to hear her talking to herself.

“Fuck men,” she muttered.

He suppressed a chuckle.

“Fuck this city,” she huffed, clearly fuming. And she had every right to—she had just been fired.

“Fuck…”

Steve decided it was the perfect moment to make his presence known. Clearing his throat, he said in a joking tone, “I hope my name isn’t next on that list.”

She turned around, a little startled, before chuckling. “I don’t even know your name, sir.”

Steve was surprised. There weren’t many people in this city who didn’t recognize him or Bucky. But he didn’t comment on it and instead hid his surprise.

“I’m Steve, sweetheart,” he said, stretching out his hand to her. He deliberately left out his last name, the last thing he wanted was for her to look him up and find out who he really was.

She introduced herself, shaking his hand with confidence. She wasn’t afraid of him, and that made him feel… good.

“Want me to put in a good word with the owner of the bakery? Get your job back?” he offered. He genuinely felt guilty about her losing her job. He knew that if he asked, the owner would rehire her in an instant and with a better salary even.

“No, thank you,” she replied calmly. “I’m a little too prideful to go back there after how the owner treated me.”

Back at the bakery, he hadn’t heard what the owner had said to her, but knowing someone had treated this sweet thing poorly made his anger bubble again. He hid it quickly, not wanting to scare her.

“What about this…” he started, his voice soft. He wanted to help her. “I went to the bakery because I was looking for a cake for next weekend. Do you think you can manage that?”

He saw her face light up, but just as quickly, she became serious again. “I would love to, but I’m pretty new in the city, and I don’t have any ingredients or a car to transport the cake. I’m sorry.”

That explained why she didn’t know who he was.

He wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip away, it was exciting. It had been two years since Sharon. Two years since he had found someone who intrigued him.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some money and handed it to her.

“It’s the least I can do for getting you fired. This should be enough to buy some ingredients…”

His phone rang before he could finish. Grimacing, he took it out.

“I need to go, sweetheart, but I’ll send you the details for the cake,” he said, walking toward his car.

“Wait… you don’t even have my phone number,” she called after him, stuffing the money into her jeans.

“I don’t need it,” he said with a cheeky grin. He just needed to ask Loki to get it for him.

Back at their building, Steve walked into Bucky’s office with a small smile playing on his lips.

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“I just met my soon-to-be wife,” Steve answered seriously.

“What!? You can’t be serious…”

“I’m deadly serious, punk.”

“Okay, okay, whatever you say, pal. Just make sure this one doesn’t have a shady past or try to kill you, yeah?” Bucky tried to make it sound like a joke, but deep down, he knew Steve always put his heart on a silver platter and trusted too much.

Steve only rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone, texting Loki to find her number ASAP.

It took Loki two whole days. When Steve finally received it, he stared at the screen longer than he’d admit. He typed a message, deleted it, then another, and another. He wasn’t used to making the first move.

Finally he sent:

“Hi :)” It was simple and non-threatening.

“Sorry, who is this?”

“You wound me. Two days, and you’ve already forgotten me, sweetheart?” he replied, trying to joke about it.

“Steve! Hi. I’m sorry, your message took me by surprise.”

He didn’t know why, but he felt a knot in his stomach when she used his name.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I hope the money I gave you is enough for baking the cake.” 

“It was more than enough. I’ll give you back half of it, or more,” He liked how honest she was. She had just lost her job and could have easily overcharged him, but she didn’t.

“Nothing about that. That money is yours now,” he answered quickly before adding another message. “Any suggestions you have about the cake?”

From there, they started texting back and forth. She asked questions about the cake, and he answered. He liked how eager she was to work with him.

He also knew she was still looking for a job. To make sure she didn’t run into any trouble, he assigned one of his men to keep an eye on her. From what he could tell, she was oblivious to the dangers lurking in the city, and he didn’t want her getting hurt in any way.