Page 16 of My Brooding Valentine

Without waiting for a response, I rushed down the steps and headed over to my cabin, wondering how I’d managed to mess things up so much. More importantly, though, how could I go on with my life, not knowing what had gone wrong between us?

8

SAWYER

People always said I was a stubborn bastard. Mostly, it had to do with relationships. If someone wronged me, that person was basically dead to me.

That was how an ex had put it. Of course, it was after she cheated on me and expected me to forgive her. The relationship had never felt right to begin with, so it wasn’t worth fighting for.

And that last thought was the one that had me bolting out of bed early the next morning. So early, the sun hadn’t even come up yet.

Worth fighting for. Hailey was definitely worth a fight. The biggest fight of my life.

I should have marched over there as soon as she walked off my porch and shown her just how interested I was in keeping this going. But I’d been so offended that she assumed I’d just take her virginity and toss her aside that I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

So I’d sat over here, pouting. Eventually, around dinnertime, I’d hopped in my truck and gone to Tee’s Drive-In to grab something to eat.

An hour later, I’d arrived home, the food sitting like a rock in my stomach, to find that sedan still parked in her driveway. I could’ve gone and banged on her door then, but dumbass me had stomped my way into the cabin. I sat, miserable, downing beers while watching some shitty movie I’d seen a million times.

Not this morning, though. This morning, I was taking action.

I had my clothes on and was out the door before I even knew what I was going to say. Maybe I could just grab her and kiss her. If her door was unlocked, I might even sneak into bed with her.

No, that was a move I had to reserve for after we made up. Right now, I had to apologize for being an ass.

I was already on the porch, hand lifted to knock, when I noticed something was off. The silver sedan was no longer in the driveway. The driveway was empty.

Frowning, I turned back to the door and banged until my knuckles started to sting. Then I reached down and pressed the doorbell. No dice.

She was gone.

I turned on the porch and looked around. “Motherfucker,” I said to nobody in particular. “You’ve done blown it this time.”

It was freezing out here, and I wasn’t wearing a coat, but I didn’t care. I deserved to freeze. The physical pain was nothing compared to what was going on inside me right now. It felt like my heart was breaking and sinking to my stomach at the same time.

“You finally meet the woman of your dreams, and you blow it,” I said. “And what if she never comes back here?”

I didn’t have her phone number. I didn’t even know her last name. All I knew was she was from Billings, and she was preparing for?—

I froze at that thought. That was it. I knew exactly where she was going to be for the next few days. A place called Seduction Summit. It couldn’t be that hard to find. How many towns werenamed that? Even if there was more than one, chances were both towns weren’t having a national baking competition this week.

I’d track her down and tell her how I felt. And this time, I wouldn’t let her go. As long as she wanted me, I wouldn’t leave her side for the rest of my life.

9

HAILEY

My cookies were getting attention from other bakers. That had to be a good sign.

Normally, I’d be giddy with excitement, especially earlier, when I gave my roommate Dakota a taste. She was still talking about how yummy they were. But the smile on my face was forced, just as it had been since I arrived.

It was tough to celebrate anything without Sawyer in my life.

“You have me worrying my cupcakes aren’t unique enough,” Macy, a blonde with a bright smile and stunning blue eyes, said.

She was curvy. All of us were—not a bony woman in the bunch. Maybe that was because we were all bakers. We had a love for food.

Seven of us aspiring bakers were seated in a square formation in front of the fireplace in the Seduction Summit Lodge lobby. I assumed normally people would be running around in ski outfits, rushing to get to the lift. But not this week. This week, bakers had taken over the town.

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