Page 1 of The Bet

Chapter One

Chloe

I shove on my ‘whip it real good’ oven mitt, open the stove door, and inhale the scent of fresh-baked vanilla cupcakes.Yum. Delicious.As I study the golden tops and tap one of them with a butter knife, my mouth waters.Perfection.

After removing the two muffin pans of freshly baked goods, I sit them on the countertop and slip off the glove. The best thing about opening a small bakery next to my parent’s restaurant is being my own boss.

At twenty-three year’s old, it’s a luxury few of my friends have. They’re busy working for other people while I’m topping delicious cakes with oodles of buttercream frosting, chocolates, and cookie crumbs. Even after two years, I still love baking.

When my cellphone chirps, I frown.It’s after ten o’clock. Who’s calling this late?Please don’t let it be Jim.I’ve been dating Jim Ferguson for three months and can’t get up the nerve to break it off.

I groan.Why can’t I be mean?I grab my pink, glitter-covered cellphone from the countertop and smile.Jenna.Jenna Anderson has been my best friend since elementary school. I swipe the screen open and hit the image for the speaker. “Jenna!”

“Hey, Sugar. How’s it going?”

I shift my weight and rest my hip against the cabinet. “Great.”

Great. Absolutely great.I’m not about to blabber on about my pathetic dating life. Jenna took a nursing position two hours away after graduating from nursing school, and we rarely have time to chat.

“Fantastic. I wanted to catch you before I went in for my shift.”

“I’m glad you did. Is everything going okay?” I tilt my head and listen to the rock music playing in the background through the phone.

“Yeah. Well…” Jenna clears her throat. “Never mind. When I know more, I’ll fill you in.”

“Okay.” I bite the inside of my lip as my stomach churns.Why is she beingevasive? Please, don’t let anything be wrong.

Stop worrying. It can’t be important, or she’d tell me.It isn’t like Jenna to keep things from me.

“Have you heard from Rich?”

“No.” My pulse races. Rich is Jenna’s older brother and the man I’ve been crushing on for the last couple of years. Fine. I’ve liked him since high school, but there’s no need to split hairs.

“Doesn’t he come in to get breakfast sandwiches for the guys?”

“Usually.” I shove off the cabinet and pace in a large circle around the island.Might as well get my steps in.“But I haven’t seen Rich in the last couple of weeks.”

The bad part about operating a bakery is the dimples I’ve developed on my thighs. Not that it matters. No one is getting into my panties to check them out. I fight off a groan of frustration.

“Doesn’t Jim work at the fire station with Rich?”

“Yeah, Jim started last month.” Which happens to coincide with Rich’s newfoundavoidance of me. He’s probably struggling to figure out how a curvy girl like me got hooked up with a guy like Jim. Hell, I can’t figure it out. I’m not the kind of girl that has guys falling to their knees, begging for me to go out with them.

“I was hoping you could find out what’s going on with him. I’ve tried to call Rich several times over the last week, and he either ignores my call or begs off as soon as he picks up,” Jenna sighs.

“Maybe he’s seeing someone new.” I cringe. God, I hate it when he dates someone. I feel guilty fantasizing about him while wanting to stab the woman’s eyes out.

Quizzing Rich about his personal life is not my business, and the last thing I want to do is think about Rich hooking up with some perfect woman. One without dimples. I saw the girls he dated in high school.

“I don’t know. Rich hasn’t mentioned anyone in forever.”

“I doubt he’s celibate. He’s probably found ‘the one’ and keeping the woman a secret.”Rich probably gets more on a Friday night than I’ve had in my entire adulthood.

Granted, that wouldn’t be hard to accomplish since I’m a twenty-three-year-old virgin who isn’t the least bit interested in giving up my cherry to some douchebag – which happens to be the only type of guy that seems interested in me. Jim included.

“Why would he do that?”

“So you and your mom don’t start ordering flowers and wedding cake. By the way, I do have dibs on the cake. Cupcake bars are a huge hit these days at weddings. Have you seen those photos with all the different flavors of cupcakes?”

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