Page 18 of Bake You Mine
Liam reached for his check. At least Gary had given enough money to craft a decent menu.
“In case you were worried, I shouldn’t need the kitchen for much. Just the warming drawers to keep things at temperature,” Aubrey said.
He folded over the check and shoved it in his back pocket. “Same here.”
Gary poked his head through the open door. “Perhaps I should have clarified. You can do some prep in your kitchens, chopping vegetables and the like. However, this kitchen must be used for most of the challenge. I’m simply dying to see how you work under pressure.” He handed each of them a key. “I’ll see you both at the cocktail hour Thursday night, if not before. Toodles!”
Aubrey rolled her shoulders. “I wonder if we should search for hidden cameras.”
Liam stole a glance at her, in particular, at the giant purplemacarons on each side of her ass. He cleared his throat. “It could be fun, right? This doesn’t have to be a disaster.”
She brushed a piece of dark hair from her face. “We’ll figure out how to work in the small kitchen once we’ve settled on the menu.” She still didn’t quite meet his gaze.
Liam sighed. “Let’s take a look at it again, huh?”
He followed her into the kitchen, hating himself for enjoying the view.
She flicked on the light, illuminating a kitchen roughly the size of his 300-square-foot apartment in San Francisco.
Aubrey stepped into the kitchen, touching cabinets on either side. “Some of the patisseries in Paris have kitchens the size of cupboards. I can do it.”
“Are you insinuating I can’t?” he shot back.
She popped out her left hip and placed her hand there. “Contrary to what you may think, I don’t care what you do. Just stay out of my way.” They stared each other down before she exhaled. “Look, let’s just get through this, okay? This is only the first challenge. It will be a lot harder if we hate each other.”
He coughed at her word choice.Harder.“You’re right. We’ll still be neighbors after this. Wouldn’t want us to act as if we were strangers, hmm?”
She reached up to brush off the dust on the oven hood. “If you’re trying to make a jab at me, I won’t acknowledge it.”
He’d need to work on the landing the next time he attempted to joke with her. “You know what I meant.”
She shot him a glance before tapping a message on her phone. “I do. And I assure you, if I lose, there will be no temper tantrums. Can you agree to the same?”
Temper tantrums, no, freak outs, yes. The prize was life-changing. But he’d never admit weakness to an opponent. “I’m a little old for that, but I agree. We’re still neighbors, after all.”
She started to say something as her phone chimed. “I’ve got to pick up my kid from a friend’s house. I’ll see you later.”
“Hey, shouldn’t we talk about the menu?”
“DM me, and I’ll send you my number.”
He reached for his phone and typed out a post about the competition on his social media platforms, hoping, for once, to beat Aubrey to the punch.
Bleary-eyed and barely awake, Aubrey groped for her phone. It was buzzing non-stop. With a groan, she reached for it and rolled onto her side. Notifications were piled up at least a hundred deep. She kept scrolling as her heart plummeted to her stomach. She saw negative comments from Liam’s most recent post on social media about the contest and numerous one-star reviews for Petit Chou on the top restaurant review website. Their rating had gone from a solid 4.6 to a 3.9.
She pulled up the reviews first.
Petit Ew! I found a long hair in my croissant, and a cockroach skittered past my Louboutin! THIS PLACE IS NASTY. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
That review was from someone named Brielle A. She didn’t have a photo on her profile. Aubrey clicked on another review from someone named Dani P.
I’ve had better grocery store sheet cakes than those at Petit Chou. Avoid them!
There were at least ten similar reviews, most coming from brand-new profiles. She clicked over to read his post, finding nothing damning there, except for the last line, which declared he was ready to do whatever it took to win.
Nice to know Liam was just another pretty-faced asshole. At least he’d saved her the trouble and shown his ass now.
She threw on her clothes and ran downstairs.
