Page 76 of His Tenth Dance

“Smells good in here,” he said, not able to distinguish any one flavor above the others.

He could only see one woman as they walked into the kitchen area—someone with dark hair and dark eyes, with her name stitched across her pink apron.

“This is obviously Lennie,” Mission said.

“Yes,” Kristie said. “Lennie, this is Mission. Mission; Lennie.”

“It’s so great to meet you,” Lennie said, gushing and rushing toward them.

“Lennie teaches elementary school,” Kristie added.

“It’s a pleasure, ma’am,” Mission said, stepping forward to shake her hand as he tipped his hat at her.

He noticed the glance Lennie exchanged with Kristie, but he was too busy trying to figure out how to swallow properly to interpret it.

“Oh, he’s here,” another woman said.

Mission turned toward her. She wore a green apron with a bright yellow lemon on it and had long, dirty blonde hair with thick bangs

“This is Jocelyn,” Kristie said. “Jocelyn, this is my boyfriend, Mission Redbay.” She linked her arm through his, claiming him.

“It’s great to meet you,” he said, leaving off thema’amthis time.

“Well, you areveryhandsome.” Jocelyn grinned and grinned at him, as if she knew a great secret he didn’t.

Mission looked over to Kristie, who just rolled her eyes. “You’ve been talking about me, kitten?” he asked.

“Kitten?” a trio of voices said in unison—including one that belonged to a woman he hadn’t met yet.

He turned toward her. She didn’t wear an apron, but Mission knew this must be Harper.

“I’m Mission,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you, Harper.”

“And you,” she said, then all three of her friends zeroed in on Kristie again.

“He calls youkitten?”

Kristie’s cheeks blazed with color, but Mission didn’t feel bad. In fact, his own smile formed on his face and would not fall away. “It’s just because of her cats,” he said. “She said they were real grumpy and didn’t like anyone, but they took to me real quick.”

“I bet they did,” Lennie said.

Kristie gave her a severe look that had Lennie zipping her lips.

“Who wants to go first?” Harper asked.

“Weren’t we going to draw numbers?” Lennie asked.

“Oh, yes—let’s do that.”

The two brunettes put their heads together and quickly came up with some numbers.

“We want you to sit right here,” Kristie said, showing Mission to the head of the table. “In baking competitions, they judge on appearance, too.”

“You’re kidding.” A new bolt of fear struck through him, but Mission swallowed it down.

“Nope, not kidding. Twenty-five percent on appearance, twenty-five percent on creativity, and only fifty percent on taste.”

“Ah.” He took his seat and removed his cowboy hat. “Now I know why you go with all the different flavors. The creativity.”

---