Page 6 of Bake You Mine
Without meaning to, Liam snorted. Aubrey was kinda funny when she wasn’t being a pain in the ass.
Ugh,ass. What had gotten into him today?
“No, I doubt we could afford the man’s per diem anyway.” Gary chuckled to himself. “I presented the idea that you two”—he waved his hands back and forth— “will vie in a competition of sorts for the vacant space. To promote your businesses and the city. It’ll highlight that historic charm, as well as the need for redevelopment to keep the city striving into the twenty-first century.”
The city was short on commercial real estate, but especially on Sweet Briar Street.
“So, did you get approval from the historical society for construction?” Liam asked.
“Yes, as long as we keep the changes to the façade to a minimum, all should be well.”
“Thank God for that,” Aubrey said. “I wouldn’t want there to be any façade fiascos.”
Liam let out another snort. Had she always been this funny?
“Yes, yes, very important. As I was saying, the contest can also shed light on the city’s need for new development. I still have hopes for a revitalized riverside development. But withoutfurther investment, it’ll be stuck in permit lingo for the time being.”
“It’s never a good idea to have a feud with the mayor, Gary,” Aubrey said.
“Oh, it’s not a feud. More like a…disagreement.” Gary dismissed the thought with a roll of his eyes.
Mayor Albright and Gary were neighbors. Their historic mansions overlooked the river in the most exclusive neighborhood in the city. No one could pinpoint exactly how the feud started, but it was probably why Gary’s permits took twice as long to process as anyone else’s. Since the mayor was head of the chamber of commerce, this was an attempt to gain favor with him and the town bigwigs, who weren’t always so fond of Gary’s antics.
“So, returning to my original point, we’ll have a competition?—”
“Which you’ve yet to tell us anything about aside from hints of the Food Network,” Aubrey said.
“As I was saying,” Gary carried on as if she hadn’t spoken, “this chamber of commerce project could benefit us all. The mayor brought up the loosest ideas of a contest, but I’m the one who took the concept and ran with it.”
“Look at you two, getting along,” Aubrey said.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Gary said.
Liam half-listened to them. Maybe it was overconfidence, but he’d kind of always assumed Gary would announce that Elevation would get the space. After all, it’d been his idea. There’s no way Aubrey had thought of the same thing. She’d just heard about his concept and glommed onto it.
That Gary was proposing some idiotic contest made him panic.
He didn’twantto leave Port Fortune, not really. But he couldn’t deny that his growing boredom was causing hiscreativity to crater—that and having to tack on #hotchef to every post he made.
Before Gary could answer, Liam cut in, “You could probably find space, Aubrey. After all, it was my idea to expand, anyway.”
“The hell it was!” Aubrey tapped her foot so hard that her croc shot off her foot. Pink and covered in cherries, of course. She shoved the shoe back on her foot after putting it into sport mode.
“Is that why you’re annoyed? That your idea isn’t as original as you thought?”
Liam groaned. “Okay, fine, whatever. We both came up with the idea simultaneously. Still, your lease isn’t up as soon as mine is, and you don’t need as much square footage.” He placed his hands together, an appeal to her mercy.
The stupid #hotchef tag did bring in customers. Some nights, they had to turn folks away because the wait was too long. She wouldn’t know what that was like, given that most of her business was carryout.
“The universe doesn’t revolve around you, hot chef. My business is just as important as yours. Besides, this was Gary’s idea, not mine. I want to hear what he’s proposing.”
“I didn’t mean to infer that it wasn’t?—”
“It’s too late for negotiations, I’m afraid,” Gary interrupted. “It’s not up to me. The Chamber has decided. The contest will commence.”
Neither said a word as they glared at each other while Gary looked on.
“Perhaps stop aiming your bedroom eyes at Aubrey, Liam. She appears to be immune to your charms.”
