Page 21 of Bake You Mine
“Did you see his latest post?” Ella scrolled through her phone.
Aubrey hadn’t had much time to think about the whole kerfuffle after starting her day, with one disaster following the next.
Liam posted a simple black background with white text.
I deleted my post from yesterday since a few people took it too far and left negative reviews for Petit Chou and troll comments across Aubrey’s social media. They’ve been reported, and we’ve narrowed down who most of the commenters are. I’ve contacted them privately to let them know that their actions in my name were uncalled for and not reflective of who I am. Aubrey is my competition, sure. More importantly, she’s also my colleague and neighbor. Anyone who disrespects her disrespects me. I’ve already apologized in person, but I’ll say again: I’m so sorry.
Aubrey handed Ella her phone back, unsure of what to say. She’d expected him to post something on his story, an apology that would disappear in a day. This was the real deal. She was starting to wonder if Liam was, too.
Samantha propped her elbows up on the counter and batted her eyelashes. “That man is such a freaking dreamboat. Y’know, I was scrolling through accounts, for science, of course. Did you happen to see that story from a couple of days ago, wearing gray sweatpants? I think he was holding a salad or something, but who cares about that? I wanted to comment a row of red-faced tongue-out emojis.”
Rather than confirm or deny that she’d seen that photo (she had, and it had taken every ounce of willpower to swipe away), Aubrey said, “I owe him another apology. I was kind of a bitch to him this morning.”
“Nobody can stay mad at you for long,” Ella said. “Not even hot chef.”
“I don’t know. Liam and I could go into a grudge match if we wanted to. I’ll be right back.”
Going out of her way to see Liam again was a terrible idea. Especially since he’d rattled her entire being, between the sweatpants and the squeeze on her bare shoulder, she shouldbe running with her troops over the hill, waving the white flag, not running right back into battle.
Or maybe she should stop watching WWII documentaries with her father. Regardless, she’d also turned up at his apartment, ready for war. She couldn’t help but feel terrible.
She walked down the alley to Elevation. It would be her first time setting foot inside the restaurant. Because, yes, she’d beenthatcommitted to the idea of keeping him at a distance.
Liam popped out of Elevation’s open back door as she approached, scaring the bejesus out of them both. Aubrey jumped and careened against the brick wall.
“Jesus! You scared me half to death.” He clapped a hand to his chest.
“No more than you scared me!”
They glared at one another.
After a few long seconds, he smiled and kicked the door closed. He held up a key. “Care to join me?”
With a nod, she followed him. She found herself transfixed by how his hair cascaded across his forehead as he bent slightly to insert the key into the lock.
The door opened, and they stepped inside, their footsteps echoing on the creaky hardwood floor.
He flicked on the lights, and a spotlight appeared directly over his head, as if he needed any more reason to resemble one of those Renaissance angel paintings.
God, he was some kind of gorgeous.
“It’s a weirdly shaped space, but it’s got potential, huh?” He turned so they faced one another.
It was a dream come true. A dream only one of them could hope to have in the end.
“I saw your post, and I wanted to apologize again for how I acted this morning. I was up in your face before sunrise.”
He pushed that crazy dark hair out of his eyes, and sheslowly backed herself into the doorframe to steady herself. Liam was that guy, the one who made women swoon just by smiling at them. She needed hot chef kryptonite.
“You were pissed, and I was indirectly responsible for sending the troll army your way. I harbor no grudges. I’m sorry that this is partially due to my ex punishing you to get to me.”
“I appreciate you handling it so swiftly. For now, my comments are free of trolls.”
“We both have pretty big followings, and the trolls like to come out from under their bridges occasionally,” Liam said.
“Never like that. People come to my page for pictures of my work, not for me.”
Liam smiled, showing off the partial dimple on his left cheek. Because, ofcourse, he had to check off every trait in the hot guy handbook. “You really think that, huh?”
