Page 5 of The Baker's Dozen

Sophie

With only two days until Christmas and less than twenty-four hours until call time, it will take a behemoth of a Christmas miracle to get me out of this mess.

Or, in actuality, an assistant-turned-bestie. Running my hands over my face with a groan, I lean forward and press the intercom button on my desk phone. “Lees, I need you.”

“Coming,” Lisa replies quickly. A light knock on the door swiftly follows, then Lisa pokes her head in. “What’s up, boss?”

I grimace. “I can’t do this.”

Lisa gives me a sympathetic smile. “If anyone can do this, it’s you.” She steps inside and closes the door behind her, then points to the towering pile of headshots on my desk. “Look how many you’ve already eliminated.”

I bark out a laugh, then sit back and fold my arms over my forehead, peeking out with just one eye. “Those are thekeeppile.”

Lisa’s eyes widen. “Oh.”

I snort. “Yeah.”

Her gaze creeps to the pile on the other side of the desk, and she grimaces, clearly knowing the answer. “And those?”

Actually, maybe I shouldn’t have called her in here; she’s just going to see what a failure I am and run for the hills.The ship is sinking!Save yourself!“I haven’t even looked at those yet.”

“Yettoday… or yet…ever?”

“Well…” I cringe.

“Ah.” Lisa looks up to the ceiling for a moment, pursing her lips as she considers my predicament, then she focuses on me again with a wicked glint in her eyes. “I have an idea.” She steps over to the desk and pulls a chair around to sit directly in front of me, then gathers all the photos into a pile and sets the stack on her lap. “Tell me first, what’s the problem?”

“It’s toohard.”

“That’s what she said.” Lisa waggles her eyebrows.

I can’t even laugh at her poor excuse for a joke. Maybe I bit off more than I could chew with this. Maybe I’mnotactually ready to produce my own series—

“Stop that.” She points at my face. “Whatever those negative thoughts are, shelve them.” She waits for me to nod, then continues, “This is a group that’s been checked, right? Clean backgrounds and all that jazz?”

I nod again.

“Perfect. All that’s left is to pick.”

“Exactly. It’s impossible.”

“Nah, you’re overthinking.” She pauses. “As usual.” When I groan, she chuckles. “I’m going to hold each card up, and you’re going to give me an immediate yes or no.”

“Like… my kneejerk reaction?”

“Exactly.”

I frown. “But they’re already in theyespile—”

“Humor me.” Lisa holds up the first headshot.

Dark hair and piercing blue eyes, this man’s gaze says he’ll seduce the pants off anyone who even looks his direction. I remember him from the first round of eliminations. He’d made a really basic steak and potato dish, but the way he cooked the food, his sauces… the flair with which he presented his meal… this guy is an artist.

“Would you fuck him?”

I nearly choke on a quick intake of air. “Lisa!”

“A simple yes or no will suffice.”

---