Page 20 of Bake You Mine
“Who is this Dani chick, anyway? She has the most comments of anyone. Because if she’s your girlfriend, make it clear that we’re just competing, nothing else.” She kept her eyes on Teddy, who had climbed from her lap to perch on her shoulder, even though half his body hung over her chest. The smug, furry prick had the gall to eye him up, almost sayingBet you wish you were me, huh?
“Dani is my ex-girlfriend. She might have thought we’d get back together or something because…” he trailed off, distracted by that damn shirt falling forward again.
“Because?”
Liam quickly averted his eyes. “Because…none of your business.”
“It’s not like I care one iota about your love life.” Her tone was as sharp as Teddy’s claws probably were as he dug into her shoulder for stability. “Ouch, Teddy.”
Liam leaned forward to shoo him off Aubrey, his fingers grazing against her bare shoulder. Was the rest of her skin just as soft? Now, that was a question he didn’t need an answer to. He jerked his hand back.
So caught up with the dirty thoughts dancing through his mind, he hadn’t realized he’d been staring down her shirt until she caught him, eyes narrowed.
Great, now she’d go nuclear on him.
“So, will you tell your ex to delete the reviews and tell your followers the truth? And could you delete this BS since I was dragged into a fight that has nothing to do with me?”
“I can try. I’m sorry, Aubrey. Truly.”
She exhaled and winced, closing her eyes. “Okay, then, let’s have an apologetic moment. I’m sorry for turning up like this. I hope you understand how distressing waking up to all that felt.”
He nodded. “I get it completely, and I accept your apology.”
Her mouth snapped open. “That’s great, but I need action. You might not be directly responsible, but this wouldn’t have happened on its own.” She exhaled and tugged on her T-shirt again, giving his dirty mind something to do.
“I’ll take care of this. I promise. I may not be able to fix the reviews. We both know how hard they are to remove. But I can do something about the comments.”
When she shrugged, he continued, “I’ll make a post when I’ve had a moment to think about what to say. In the meantime, tell your followers to block and report the hateful comments.”
Her face screwed into a scowl until he reached across,settling a hand on her covered shoulder. “I’m truly sorry, Aubrey. I would never have posted that if I had thought there would be blowback. I promise. I was just being honest and a little playful.”
She accepted his hand when he offered to help her stand. He lifted her as if she were a feather.
She swiped her phone. “I’d appreciate that. I’ll talk to you later.” She paused. “About the first challenge, I mean.”
Before he could reply, she was gone. Teddy hopped on the counter, demanding breakfast. While he chowed down, Liam considered what he’d have to do to make things right. He’d have to be careful around Aubrey, since he ranked dead last on her list of favorite people. It was probably a good thing—it made it easier to regard her as his opponent rather than a beautiful distraction.
“That’s the last of them.”
Samantha and Ella fist-bumped each other.
Despite his assurances that he’d handle his part in this mess, she’d left Liam’s in a tightly wound ball. No, being close to the big lug first thing in the morning, when most people are hardly at their best, yet he still managed to be disgustingly handsome, had left her more irritated than relieved.
God damn his stupid face! What happened to this crush being dead in the water?
“That fast?” Aubrey stepped across the kitchen, carefully avoiding Tom as he carried a forty-pound bag of flour over one shoulder. Her gaze bounced around the crowded space. Shewished all the competition BS was over, the cash prize in her bank account, and renovations underway.
Her eye twitched when she realized what would have to happen between now and then to get her there.
“Well, the troll comments are gone,” Ella said. “The reviews are gonna be a little trickier, you know that. We’ve contacted the site and now we wait. We could have a competition to increase our positive reviews again. Like visit the shop, leave a positive review, send us the link, and be entered for a hundred-dollar gift card or something?”
Aubrey knew better than to think the bad reviews would vanish. Her pride was smarted at such vastly untrue things being said. That said, Jenny, the food reporter fromThe Port Fortune Pinnacle,had contacted her to talk about the reviews, and most of the town knew they were bogus. It still hurt, but that was the Internet. Some things lasted forever. Because of all the drama, Jenny lobbied to put her and Liam on the cover, combining the “ReviewGate” story with information on the contest. She’d seemed a little too jazzed about that during their phone interview. Aubrey couldn’t begrudge her a juicy story in a city where the front page was usually reserved for fights at the city council meetings or traffic accidents.
“That’s a wonderful idea, Ella. Why don’t you draft the post and get it posted across our social media accounts?”
She smiled. “Will do.”
“It looks like Liam went through and deleted most of the comments from his page,” Samantha said.
