Page 109 of Christmas with the Denton Billionaires

Conversation murmured around them as the dark realization seeped through her. Chris slung his arm over the back of her chair, and she sat forward. She needed to put distance between them. He cleared his throat, and she could sense him seeking her attention.

But he wouldn’t get it. Not right now.

The press conference began and the questions for Chris came fast and furious, as always. He retracted his arm and rested his elbows on the table as he answered a few questions about the role he plays shaping the seasonal menu offerings at all the Denton Hotels worldwide and how he varies the recipes to account for seasonal and local harvests and whether he planned to continue his famous cooking show forever. Mara had to fight from rolling her eyes.

Toward the end of the press conference, one of the journalists finally dared to ask the question. “Is it true that you two have been dating since before the competition?”

Mara stiffened, glancing over at Chris. She tried to keep her face neutral, since she didn’t want to provide some meme-worthy reaction that would go viral somehow, somewhere. Everywhere. But what the hell could they say?We’ve only boned once in his condo, and technically “once” refers to an entire weekend, and once down the hall, so that’s hardly a relationship thankyouverymuch.

“Mara and I have been friends for a long time,” Chris said slowly, as though he was measuring his words. He glanced over at her, and she caught something playful in his gaze that only deepened her confusion. Maybe this really was all a game to him. Probably he’d pursued her just to get a ratings bump. She’d been the perfect pawn in his superficial ploy.

“We knew each other in high school,” Mara added sharply, adding a tight smile. “That’s all.”

“So Chris isn’t your celebrity crush?” another reporter asked.

Mara’s nostrils flared. Of course the only time the attention would turn to her was in relation to Chris. If she was dating him. Fucking him. They only cared about her in terms of sex with Chris. She was over this circus.

“Definitely not,” she said, her voice clipped. “We’re competitors, nothing more.”

Chris steered the questions away from their potential budding romance, and the press conference ended soon after. Each time she attended one of these, she felt like the overlooked rookie in a room full of star football players. And wasn’t that how it actually was? Chris the celebrity commanding all the attention, all the advertising dollars, all the millions of households.

And here she was, a regular woman trying to open a damn bakery once the dust from the competition settled.

She excused herself as quickly as possible from the press conference and headed to the multipurpose room. Dan caught up with her in the hall, grabbing her arm.

“Hey. You okay?”

She stopped walking, softening as she turned to him. They might not have seen much of each other over the years, but Dan was a good guy. He seemed to care.

“Yeah. Thanks for asking.”

“I think you handled it well. Just so you know, I didn’t ask any questions because I didn’t want to add to the fire. I could tell you were uncomfortable.”

She grimaced.Uncomfortablewas an understatement.Sold outwas closer to the truth. One weekend with Chef Chris, and he himself had sold them out to the tabloids. Unbelievable. But maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. She’d gotten caught up in amazing sex. This was also her fault.

She glanced back toward the press table and saw Chris get to his feet, his gaze sizzling on her and Dan. Anxiety spiked inside her, and she offered a smile to Dan.

“Everything’s fine. But thanks for checking.” She breezed past him intent on reaching the multipurpose room. Everythingwasn’tfine, but it would be soon. Once she got to work and started focusing on what really mattered.

Winning this damn competition.

12

CHRIS

Chris knew something was off.

It had been ever since the press conference that morning. Mara would barely look at him, and the frosty way she’d responded to the insinuation that they were together told him everything he needed to know.

Mara didn’t want to be with him, at least not publicly.

And maybe it was better that way. After all, what could he offer her other than a couple of weeks of sexual pleasure and excellent hot chocolate? The thought lurked inside him as he and his crew worked on the gingerbread creation for that day. They’d finally gotten the primary structure complete—a New York City-inspired gingerbread skyscraper, complete with the Statue of Liberty in the white-frosted harbor—and now it was time for the excruciating detail work.

Which meant he had ample time to stew and overanalyze what exactly was going on in Mara’s head after their exceptional weekend together.

Despite how well they’d left things that morning, jealousy still streaked through him whenever he saw Dan near her. The fact that she’d not only entered the building with him on her heels butalsogone directly to him after the press conference? It turned his stomach into a peach pit.

They were close to the end of filming for the day. Mara wiped her hands on her apron and headed out of the multipurpose room, but Dan intercepted her. They chatted near the doors for a few moments, and Chris couldn’t look away.

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