Page 17 of A Sweet Mess

“Always a pleasure.” Landon tapped two fingers to his brow in a playful salute to Tara and then tucked a couple of twenties in the tip jar. Turning away, he took the mugs from Aubrey’s hands and lowered his head to speak to her. His warm breath tickled her neck, and her toes curled in her shoes. “Your friend wanted to give me the boot, not free beer. I was worried you two got into a brawl.”

“Ha ha,” she mumbled, not meeting his eyes.

Enough heat to generate electricity.She could probably power the Vegas strip with her restless energy. Back at their table, she took a sip of beer before peeking at him through her lashes.

“As good as I remember,” Landon said, setting his mug down.

“Mm-hmm. Tara’s amazing.”

He settled back into his seat and stretched out one of his legs. His calf pressed into hers, and an electric jolt shot up to her head.Zing.His eyes glazed over for an interminable second before he snatched his leg away. Aubrey angled hers away as well, but they were still within inches of each other under the tiny table.

Her nerve endings were zinging across her skin like sparklers on New Year’s Eve. The double barrier provided by his slacks and her jeans weren’t thick enough, and the only business she could think about had the wordmonkeyin it—monkey business, monkeying around, hot monkey sex…

“I want you to create two dessert recipes featuring wine from Bosque Verde. Your portion of the filming shouldn’t take more than a week, but you’ll need an additional two weeks in the front end of your trip to sample the local wines to use in your recipes. There are more than two hundred wineries to choose from, and I doubt you would want to rush things.”

She stared at him, her face as blank as her mind.Ooh ooh ah ah?

“Aubrey?”

She was understandably impatient for their meeting to end, but her blank expression nettled him. It took superhuman strength for him to concentrate—being so close to her that he could smell the vanilla and spice off her skin—but he’d promised to help her. To do that, she had to commit 100 percent to the show.

“Are you still worried about closing the bakery during the filming?” Landon frowned at her stubborn silence and then shook off his frustration. He’d fucked up royally, and he was lucky to have her on board at all. “I’ll take a look at the show’s budget and see if we could compensate you for any lost revenue.”

“Comfort Zone is already running at a loss, so don’t worry about that.” Aubrey straightened in her seat, emerging from whatever fog she’d been in. “And I already said I’m in. I’m not questioning your logic. A few weeks in exchange for a chance at a promising future, right? I get that.”

“But you shut down as soon as I brought up the three weeks.”

“It wasn’t… That’s not…” Aubrey blushed and fidgeted in her seat. He studied her closely, cocking his head to the side. He couldn’t figure out what was going on in her head. “Comfort Zone isn’t just a business to me. It’s my dream. I can’t imagine going away for so long, but that doesn’t mean I’ll half-ass my way through the show to finish early.”

“I can understand that.” Relief washed through him inwaves of giddiness.Huh.Setting things right for Aubrey meant even more to him than he’d thought. “And you wouldn’t be at the peak of your craft if you hadn’t given it your all. I doubt you’re capable of half-assing anything.”

“Thanks. Okay.” Splashes of pink bloomed on her cheeks. She was lovely. “So where will I stay? I’m going to need a full kitchen to work on my recipes.”

“I’ve arranged for a villa, and I’ll make sure you have everything else you need.”

“Everything?You’llmake sure?” Aubrey’s eyebrows climbed to her forehead. “You got me the guest star opportunity through Aria, right? Your job is done. Shouldn’t the show take care of everything else?”

“Aria came up with the idea of inviting you on her show. I’d like to take care of everything else for you as the show’s executive producer.”

“The executive producer?” She sank down in her seat when heads turned at her raised voice. “You didn’t tell me that. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m telling you now.” He scanned her pale face. There was panic in her wide, darting eyes. “It’s a minor detail to our business arrangement, and it won’t affect your work. Other than hiring you, my duties won’t intersect with yours in any way. I’ve been on plenty of food shows as a judge, but this is my first time producing one, so my involvement in the show isn’t widely known. Aria is my coexecutive producer, and she’s the face of the show, not me.”

“But does this mean you’re going to be in Bosque Verde, too?”

“On and off,” he hedged as he analyzed her reaction.

Then the puzzle pieces slid into place. She hadn’t realized she would be spending time with him. She looked terrified at the idea. Landon couldn’t blame her—he had been anasshole—but her reaction stung. Which went to show he was out of his mind.

If she found out he would be in Bosque Verde for the duration of her stay, she would bolt out the door. He couldn’t let that happen. The show was the only way he could help her. To fix what he’d inadvertently stolen and nearly broken.

But he couldn’t stay away from the filming. Some might think him neurotic, but he wasn’t ready to relinquish control until he decided the production was running smoothly. He planned to monitor the construction and stay until the first few episodes were shot. They were filming in a brand-new kitchen, which was no more than a blueprint and some tile samples at this point. With all the variables, he’d be shocked if nothing went wrong.

“How much on and how much off?” Aubrey seemed to be holding her breath, waiting for his answer.

“Which would you prefer? More on or more off?” He grinned wolfishly before he caught himself. Flirting with her was the dumbest move he could make, but he’d forgotten himself for a moment. She was distractingly beautiful.

“Why would I have a preference?” She huffed and crossed her arms over her perfect breasts.

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