CHAPTER FIVE

SIERRA

“Stupid, stupid, stupid… What were you thinking?”

“Are you talking to yourself again?” Mandy”s amused question breaks into my litany of insults. It”s not unusual for me to get lost in my own little world while working and start talking aloud.

Repeating a task I don”t want to forget.

Mumbling encouragement to croissants to be extra fluffy.

Odd stuff like that.

When I”m caught, mostly by Mandy since she”s my right hand woman, we laugh it off before returning to work. This time, however, I can”t bring myself to find the humor in the subject that”s prompted my latest musings.

Caleb and that almost kiss.

What the hell were you thinking?

“Hey, is everything alright?” Mandy peers around my shoulder as if the answer to my silence lies within the cupcakes I”m currently frosting for a PTA meeting tonight.

“Yes. No. I don”t know.” Is it alright that I almost kissed my archnemesis last night? Is it alright if I forgot we’re supposed to be mortal enemies because he’s so damn hot and hilarious? The answers to those questions continue to elude me, thus my muttering to these poor cupcakes.

“What”s going on?” Mandy may work for me, but she”s also my friend. And she knows better than anyone, except for Shannon, my feelings about him.

Still, I bite my lip, debating whether I should tell her about my lapse in judgment or not. What the hell? Maybe she can set me back on the straight and narrow. “Caleb and I almost kissed.”

“Whoa.” The stack of clean bowls she was about to put away clatters on the table. “Are you serious? When? Last night when you were baking together?”

“Yep.” The SCHS I’m attempting to pipe on top of the cupcakes looks like a red blob instead of the school’s initials. Huffing in annoyance, I scrape the shoddy lettering off and try again.

“Interesting.” Mandy’s elbows rest on the tabletop as her brows furrow in contemplation. Since I knew this large school order was due today, I had one of our part-timers come in to man the front of the bakery, which means the two of us are free to chat. Or shake some sense into me. Whichever works.

“What does that mean? Interesting. Sounds like a scientist observing the mating habits of ants for the first time.”

“The mating habits of—” She slashes her hand through the air. “You know what? That’s not the point. The point is that it kind of makes sense to me. This thing between you and Caleb. For years, you’ve had this rivalry going, but now that you”re working together, it’s not too much of a leap for the tension to be attraction rather than dislike.”

“Okay, Dr. Phil.” I roll my eyes at the psychoanalysis, but the unhinged part is that I”m not sure she”s wrong. I”ve always found Caleb attractive. But his other attributes—AKA being my neighboring competitor for the breakfast crowd—have always overshadowed those feelings.

Until now.

Because Caleb is exciting.

Spontaneous.

The little food fight we had last night was the most fun I”ve had in forever, even if it was a pain to clean. I”m not some uptight hermit, but the weight of knowing my business could eventually be in trouble due to the arrival of chain restaurants has put a damper on my mood lately.

Except for when Caleb is around.

“I”m just calling it like I see it,” Mandy says, plucking one of the piping bags from the table to help me frost the remaining dozens of cupcakes I have left.

“You didn”t see anything,” I point out.

“I may not have been a witness to this almost kiss, but I”ve seen the way Caleb looks at you when he doesn”t think you”ll notice.”

“Oh, and you”re just now telling me about this?” What are we? Rapunzel and Flynn Rider from Tangled?

Okay, but that would actually be awesome.

“I didn”t think it mattered because there was no way in hell you were giving him a chance. He”s your archnemesis, remember?” She uses air quotes this time. “But he does tend to stare whenever you”re around. I think you”ve kept this feud going for longer than he would have, and he’s just along for the ride.”

“Geez, you”re full of revelations today, aren”t you?”

“I had therapy this morning.” She winks right as Keely comes back asking for some help up front.

“Be there in a sec!” Mandy heads that way with one last parting shot. “For the record, I don”t think there”s anything wrong with liking Caleb. Aside from the whole muffin thing—” she grins “—he”s actually a good guy, and he hasn”t really done anything to trash your business.”

She has a point.

The chain restaurant has done more damage in the past six months than Caleb ever did in three years. “Thanks for the chat. Now go help Keely.”

“Aye aye, boss.” Mandy salutes me, then disappears through the swinging door separating the kitchen and the front.

There”s nothing wrong with you liking Caleb. That’s what she said, but I”m not sure I believe it. Not sure I”m ready to pull a one-eighty on everything I”ve thought for the past few years.

“Once I get through this competition,” I tell myself. “I”ll deal with whatever I”m feeling.

Until then, I”ve got a contest to win.

Starting with tonight’s event: Pastry Palooza.