Page 15 of Whisking It All

No wonder she’d snuck out of the hotel room that morning. Had she used him to cheat on his best friend?

“Sorry about that. I know how strict you are about your kitchen,” Ethan said. He wrapped an arm around Tessa’s shoulder. She visibly tensed beneath his touch.

Good. I hope she feels guilty as fuck.

Ethan gave Tessa a soft smile before turning back to Jamie. “You remember my daughter.”

All the air knocked out of Jamie’s lungs and the world tilted on its axis.

He hadn’t slept with Ethan’s girlfriend—he’d slept with his best friend’s daughter. How the fuck had that happened? The last time he’d seen TJ, she was a gangly eight-year-old with a permanent scowl on her face, nothing like the woman in front of him.

TJ—also known as Tessa Jayne.

Fuck!

“TJ’s setting up the pop-up bakery at Sugar Grapes this year since Cheryl’s on bed rest. I figured she could step in as your pastry chef for the festival, too, but I know how picky you are and that you’d want to taste her food yourself before you commit. It made more sense for her to prepare it here than at the bakery. Sugar Grapes isn’t stocked yet.” Ethan paused in his monologue just long enough to notice the death glare Jamie was shooting at Tessa across the room.

Did she know who I was when we met last night? Did she have any idea that she was taking her father’s best friend back to her hotel room? Was this all just another way for her to hurt her father?

Tessa swept away from Ethan towards the walk-in freezer, the movement breaking Jamie from his horrified litany of questions. “Let me just plate this up and I’ll come out and join you,” she said, her voice brittle and too bright.

Before Jamie could find out what exactly she was plating from his freezer, she was gone around the corner. He glanced up just in time to see the mesmerizing sway of her hips as she disappeared into his kitchen, his gaze snagging on the way her ass moved beneath the tight denim. He immediately looked away, closing his eyes against the onslaught of unwanted lust. It was no wonder he hadn’t recognized that surly kid in the confident woman she’d become.

No excuse. His stomach twisted. No excuse for betraying your best friend.

And when he’d come into the kitchen that morning, and she’d realized who he was, she still hadn’t told him.

Fucking fuck! What kind of game is she playing?

“Jame? You alright?” Ethan asked, assessing Jamie where he’d resumed scrubbing his towel aggressively over the counter that would never again be free of glitter.

“You didn’t tell me TJ was in town,” Jamie said, moving on to make coffee. He needed a task to focus on so he couldn’t think about all the inappropriate things he’d done to his best friend’s daughter.

“It all happened kind of fast. I called to set up the transfer of her trust, and we got to talking.”

The trust.

Jamie, his back to Ethan as he futzed at the coffee machine, squeezed his eyes shut. This was all about money for her. She didn’t care that Ethan would be crushed when she left. And what was worse, Jamie had been a party to hurting his best friend.

Ethan, oblivious to Jamie’s mental self-flagellation, continued on. “She mentioned she was between jobs, and with Cheryl not being able to run the pop-up this year… You know how I’ve been trying to get her to come back to town, especially since her mother died. When I think of all those years I missed out on really getting to know her, all the times Steph lied to me about my own kid… Well, this seemed like a good chance for us to get to know each other. Without her mother’s lies getting in the way.” When Jamie didn’t say anything, Ethan lowered his voice. “You’re not mad that I let her into your kitchen, are you?”

“No!” Jamie jammed his finger into the button on the coffee maker, the machine whirring to life. “No. Just surprised, that’s all. You know I hate surprises.”

“Okay,” Ethan said, dragging a hand through his hair.

He turned to face Ethan, guilt clawing at his throat. “You sure it’s a good idea to let her in on your business, even for a few months?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

Damn Ethan and his too-trusting nature.

“Seems awfully convenient. She just happens to be between jobs and willing to come back here, for the first time in years?”

“I told you—Steph lied to us both for years. Told TJ she wasn’t welcome and told me she didn’t want to be here. Who knows if she would have come back sooner if she’d been given the choice?”

“Exactly. Who knows? Maybe she’s angling for more than just the trust.”

“Like what? Like a father? A family?”

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