Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jen checked the time on her phone for the fifteenth time and slipped it back into her purse. “Don’t you think you can drive any faster, Dan?”

Dan looked back at her and Colby in the back seat of his car. “You realize I’m a cop, right? I won’t speed through Main to get you there faster when you’re the one who took forever getting yourself ready.”

She didn’t know how she’d allowed her father to rope her into going back to the competition.

Okay, that was a lie.

A lie she kept telling herself and her family. “I don’t know how you talked me into this.”

Bullshit. She knew exactly how.

Because she was a glutton for punishment, and she wanted to see Jason. Not texting him, not talking to him was torture, and her family had sanctioned this. So she could do it and remain relatively guilt-free, right?

Go, compete, and give it her best shot. She was sure she had a chance to win that prize money. And then maybe she could seriously consider her father’s offer for the bakery.

Plus, she’d have one last chance to see Jason.

Her nerves made her knees bounce, and she gripped Colby's hand tighter. She had taken longer. She’d spent more time on her hair and makeup than on any single date she’d gone on with Jason. Not that there had been many dates.

Ugh. Was it possible to fall in love so quickly?

Because this felt a lot like being in love, she had to admit.

It couldn’t all be lust, could it?

They arrived at last, and Jen gave Colby a kiss in the parking lot, then hurried on ahead of him and Dan. Jason hated lateness; he’d told her that much. She didn’t want to be late for this.

She hurried past the crowd at the front and then made her way toward the contestant holding area. Since only three couples were left, the area was far less crowded. The other two couples were already there. And so was Jason.

Her heart lurched, and she took a deep breath. She could play this cool if he could. After all, she’d need the money if she was going to get a head start on paying Jason back for the debts he’d paid off for her. No way she was going to accept a gift like that from him. But after she finished paying him back, she’d still have close to fifteen thousand dollars to put toward the bakery idea, if she did that.

My own bakery. The idea was surreal.

But it gave her a strange bubble of excitement she hadn’t felt in a long time. A chance to prove she was more than just the bimbo from Bunny’s. Just like this contest.

Jason lifted his cool blue gaze at her, and her legs felt as though they’d turned to liquid. Yup, total liquid. She stopped in her tracks, hesitating.

Maybe I can’t do this after all.

They hadn’t just been friends. Casual acquaintances.

They’d been lovers. And not like she’d originally suggested—they’d been lovers with no intention of slowing things down.

Her face must be going pale because her lips felt strangely cold and prickly.

Jason stood, gave her an amiable smile, and crossed the space toward her. “I’m only going to hug you so you don’t fall over, okay? Plus, everyone thinks we’re dating,” he whispered. He gathered her in his arms.

Jen’s arms felt limp, and she rested her cheek against his chest, relishing his familiar scent. She couldn’t avoid the tears that stung her eyes and slipped her arms around his waist. “I’ve missed you,” she finally responded.

“I’ve missed you, too.” Jason didn’t release her, and they stood in the middle of the store and the crowd, with the clock creeping toward the start time.

He seemed as unwilling to let go as she was.

Blinking back her tears, she finally pulled back and met his gaze. “Jason, I—”

“You don’t have to say anything.” He took her hand. “Everything that happened is my fault. I should have been honest with you about it all from the start, but I—”

“But that’s the thing. I actually understand why you weren’t. God, if my father was mega rich and left everything to a kid that was one of my brother’s maybe random love children...” She drew a deep breath. “What you said made sense to me. You didn’t know me.”

One of the crew members from the magazine came by. “Contestants, if you could go over to your workstations, please.”

She didn’t want to be competing. She wanted to grab Jason’s hand and leave and go somewhere else and talk to him until they figured this whole thing out. Now that she’d seen him, she had to face the truth—whatever it was—and work through this with him once and for all.

Instead, she avoided looking toward the audience and headed to the workstation with Jason. Even though they’d shown up to support her, she was certain her brothers would shoot daggers at Jason with their glares the whole time. Fortunately for her, even if someone in the town noticed, they wouldn’t think anything of it. And hopefully wouldn’t put two and two together regarding the bruise on Jason’s jaw.

The show started without a hitch, and within minutes, she no longer had time to worry about any of the situations with Jason or her family. They had been asked to make a dessert that represented their relationship right now, but only had two hours to make it. Unlike cooking a meal, most of her best baking took hours.

Settling on a chocolate tart, topped with marshmallow whipped cream and strawberries, she started on a graham cracker tart crust immediately. Jason stood beside her, observing her quietly. “How is this going to represent our relationship?”

She gave him a side-eye and reached for the melted butter he’d brought back from the microwave. “You’ll see.”

“What are you going to serve it on, a broken plate?” His mouth twitched in a smile.

“No.” She gave him a mock glare, trying to hide a smile. His ability to make her laugh wasn’t funny under these circumstances, but it was one of the things she liked about him the most. Sarcastic asshole . Maybe that was her problem. The asshole part. She’d fallen for him despite that.

She dumped chocolate into a double boiler. “Take this over to the stove and put this on medium heat, between four and six on the dial. Then stir the chocolate until it melts. I have to make these tart shells.” She found a heart-shaped mold that would work perfectly.

“Anyone ever told you you’re bossy?” He lifted a brow at her.

She smirked. “Only in the kitchen.”

He leaned closer to her and said in a voice only she could hear, “ Not only in the kitchen.” Then he turned toward the stove and started on the task she’d given him.

The feel of his breath near her ear made her shiver. She focused on her tart shells, feeling torn. She couldn’t control the response of her body toward him. Not unless she willed herself to hate him.

But she didn’t hate him.

She wasn’t even sure she should punish him like this.

Maybe she was just stupid. Dan had given her a lecture, warning her to watch herself around Jason and be smart about him. But they didn’t know him like she did either.

Wasn’t that what every woman in a bad relationship said?

The next two hours seemed to fly, with Peter coming by for a few interviews once again and the crew focusing more on what she was making. Everything she did seemed like it had to be perfect, as a cameraman followed her hands, focusing tightly on the food she was making.

What if people watching this on television thought she looked like an amateur? Or, worse still, a hack?

Her brain felt fuzzy, weary, but Jason was there each step beside her, charming the camera, joking with Peter as though they were old friends, easing the pressure she felt mounting on her shoulders. He was careful to maintain a distance that probably didn’t look awkward to others but felt like a chasm to her.

The timer ticked down toward the last minute, and Jen nodded toward Jason. “Fill that metal measuring cup with that spiced rum, will you?”

She’d pulled out the chocolate shell, shaped like a sphere, that she’d left in the blast chiller and set it on the ramekin she’d heated. The bottom of the sphere melted away and then she set the chocolate sphere over the plated chocolate tart covered with marshmallow whipped cream.

Just as she finished decorating with strawberries, the time was called and she stepped back.

Jason frowned at her. “I thought you said it was a chocolate tart,” he muttered in a low voice as they carried it to the judges’ table.

“It is.”

“All I see is a chocolate globe. A beautiful one, but—” He stopped talking abruptly as they reached the judges.

Jen snuck a glance at the desserts the other couples had made. One of them had made a sugar cookie house, complete with little cutout sugar cookie people. Why hadn’t she thought of something like that? It was cute and fit the Christmas season perfectly. Maybe it was because she hadn’t really felt in the Christmas spirit lately.

The other couple had made what appeared to be bread pudding with ice cream, which while it looked delicious, also looked homemade and messy. She bit her lip. She wasn’t in any position to be snarky, really. The judges might not appreciate the showy surprise she had for them.

One by one, they explained their desserts, and the judges tried them—and once again, Jen and Jason were last.

When it was their turn, they stepped in front of them. The judges stared at them with blank expressions, but it was hard for Jen to look at their faces. Even Peter, whom she’d known all her life. She’d gone on vacation with the Yardleys, for goodness’ sake. Lindsay had been her best friend since kindergarten.

Jen cleared her throat. “I—we made a chocolate tart with marshmallow whipped cream, because...even though our time together has been limited, every time we’re together, time is what we want s’more of.”

The audience chuckled. The cheesy line had sounded just as bad in her head, but whatever. Go with it. She should have told Jason to say it—he would have done a better job.

“But all I see is a chocolate ball,” Peter countered.

Jen nodded, then smiled. Please let this work. “It’s because there’s s’more to it. A visual depiction and surprise.” She pulled a lighter out of her apron, then lit the rum on fire. It lit into a brilliant blue. Tilting the flaming rum over the chocolate ball, she covered the outside of the chocolate with the fiery liquid. The chocolate sphere melted around the tart and coated the whole thing with chocolate.

The audience gasped, then burst into applause.

“Wow,” Jason murmured beside her. She met his gaze, and he winked at her. “Well done.”

Peter gave her a pleased look. “So can we say this is burning just as brightly as your love?”

More like our relationship is up in flames. Jen’s voice caught in her throat.

Jason gave a smooth grin and grasped her hand. “Something like that.”

Jen barely heard the judges’ comments about the dessert. She couldn’t stop thinking about Jason standing there, hand in hand with her, putting on a show. He’d come through on this whole thing for her sake?

Maybe because he felt guilty, maybe because he hoped she’d be satisfied with $25,000 instead of his inheritance.

Peter told the audience that the winners would be decided and announced on his Christmas special a few days after Christmas, and thenit was over.

As the audience rose from their seats, Jason released her hand. “Listen, I know we didn’t have the chance to talk much, but do you mind sticking around and talking for a few minutes? I hear you’re considering not taking Colby’s inheritance.”

She sighed. And they were right back to this. “I’m not.”

“You should, Jen.” He gave her a hard look. “It’s what’s best for both of you.”

Jen stared at the shiny, lacquered wooden floor of the Depot. She turned her head to answer Jason, but before she could, Lindsay and Travis were around her, hugging her. Considering how awkward they were with each other, she couldn’t help but give them her full attention. “That was brilliant,” Lindsay said.

“My grandmother wants to know why you haven’t been making those at the shop,” Travis said with a laugh, then pointed back at the audience, where Bunny was talking to Millie.

Jen shifted. “Because I need to save some things for my own place someday.” She grimaced. “Speaking of which, do you think you could spare some time to meet with your grandmother with me? I have something to tell you both, and I’d rather do it in person.”

Travis eyed her. “If I think it is what you’re implying, that wasn’t even slightly subtle.” He winked. “I’ll text you.”

As they let her go, Jen turned to find Jason once again. But he was gone from her side.

She frowned and looked around the Depot. Where was he?

The crowd was still too thick for her to see over, so she went back onto the stage area to see if she could see him. Please don’t let him have left without talking to her.

That was silly. He’d asked her to talk to him.

Then she saw him. He was standing just outside one of the front windows, talking to a tall woman with dark brown hair. She was slender, with striking features, and Jen didn’t recognize her.

Removing her apron, she pushed through the crowded store and went out onto the sidewalk. “Hey,” she said, coming up toward Jason.

Jason stiffened, and a worried expression crossed his face.

The woman turned toward Jen. Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, just who I was hoping to talk to. The woman who’s been fucking my husband.” She arched a perfectly shaped brow and held out her hand. “Didn’t Jason tell you? Amanda Cavanaugh, nice to meet you.”