Page 49 of Bake You Mine
She gazed up at him, a soft smile on her lips, as he cupped her chin.
“Look, if we’re going to do”—he gestured with his free hand—“whatever this is, we should be of the understanding that we’ll still be okay, even if we lose.”
“Do you mean personally or professionally?”
He settled his large frame onto the ottoman. “Both. I want to win?—”
She cut him off. “So do I.”
“Okay, we’ve established that.” He leaned forward so their knees touched. “No hard feelings, right? Either way? Win, lose, or draw?”
“There can’t exactly be a draw. But hey, isn’t your brother an investor in Elevation? It’s what he does, right?”
“Yeah, although he’s already tied up with some nightmare chicken restaurant. I don’t want to risk either mine or Brandon’s future unnecessarily.”
“That makes sense. I can assure you, no matter what happens, I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl.” She sighed. “Damn, it’s later than I thought. I should get home. I need to be at the shop by six, and it’s already nearly eleven.”
Liam and Teddy trailed behind her as she made her way to the door.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. When the winner is announced.” She slipped on her coat. “Remember your ‘no hard feelings’ line, huh?”
He caught her by the elbow and spun her around, so they faced one another. She braced herself against his chest. “You know that phrase is a double entendre if ever there was one.”
Aubrey’s eyes were as round as dinner plates. “I’d never thought about that, but yeah, it is.” She managed a breathy laugh. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“It’s kinda impossible when you’re around.” Before she could utter another word, he kissed her. A perfectly perfunctory kiss. It was meant to end the night, not act as an invitation to the bedroom.
She had to get out of here if she didn’t want to be a total zombie come the morning.
“Have a good night.”
“I can promise it won’t be half as good as it would have been if you’d stayed. I’m a patient man. I can bide my time.” He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.
Her mouth dropped open, and she shook her head. “Damn your smooth tactics; you had me half outta my bra there for a second.”
“I will, soon enough.” He gently shoved her toward the door and closed it swiftly behind her.
fourteen
Aubrey tapped her phone screen.Only four minutes had passed since she’d last checked. Typically, she had no time for lollygagging. Except they were amid the late morning lull. Business tended to pick up around eleven when people came in for the day’s lunch special. From about nine thirty until then, the pace slowed down some. They were also (temporarily) caught up on orders. The meeting with Gary wasn’t until two thirty, which seemed like years from now.
With a grunt, she pushed her phone aside.
“Waiting for a text or something?” Tom asked.
She hadn’t said much about whatever she and Liam were doing to anyone, not even Tom. She didn’t want to jinx it. When a text came through, she jumped out of her skull.
She swiped for the phone as if it were a ticking time bomb. She sighed. It was one of the moms in Daphne’s class asking about the upcoming middle school fall festival.
“Ready to find out who won the first challenge. And what’s in store for the next round?”
Tom pulled a stool up to the side of the bench. “You sure that’s all there is?”
An expert at reading Aubrey, he’d pick up on the most subtle clues. Poker face, engaged. “There’s nothing else—just nerves. I want to expand my brand.”
“There’s more than one path to success.”
She clenched her fists tightly. “You know how I can be.”
