Page 65 of Let Me Win You

“Jess.” Corinne, one of the challenge organizers rushed to us. “I have your third member registered, I just need your signature to confirm the replacement.” She thrust her tablet to Jess for an electronic signature.

“What replacement?” Jess blinked at her in confusion.

Her mouth fell open as she stared at the man walking toward us.

My breath hitched, and my heart leaped so high, I feared it’d choke me.

“Morning, Jessica,” Invi greeted her while giving me the most adoring smile.

I froze as if struck by lightning. I’d been afraid to hope to see him again. But there he was, conveniently shaped and sizedlike a human man again. Dressed in a pair of black dress pants, a button-down shirt, and an olive-green, impeccably tailored leather jacket. With his fancy tousled hair style and meticulously trimmed facial hair, he looked more handsome than ever, and suddenly, I didn’t know what to do.

Since chronologically, it’d been only a few hours since he had first approached me in the club last night, did it mean we should be acting like practically strangers? Was I supposed to greet him as a mere acquaintance?

Thankfully, Invi solved the dilemma for me.

Not breaking our eye contact, he sauntered closer.

“My dearest Nicole,” he murmured, with the brightest, happiest grin before cupping my face and giving me a long, tender kiss.

And just like that, all awkwardness melted away. The memories rushed in instead—the time we had spent together and the intimacy we had built. It didn’t matter where it happened or what shape he was in. He was Invi. And he was mine.

“Did you steal the ring again?” I asked between his kisses, sinking my fingers into his very human hair on the back of his head.

“No. Didn’t need to. Avar was in a generous mood when he heard about you.”

“Um…” Jess cleared her throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’re running out of time here.”

Invi turned to her but kept me at his side in a one-armed hug.

“Invi? Is it?” Jess offered him a hand to shake, but he brought it to his lips for a chaise, old-fashioned kiss.

“It’s nice to see you again, Jessica,” he said politely.

“Do you know anything about cake decorating?” she asked.

“I’m very good with pastries and other desserts. I also practiced working with fondant before coming here.”

“You did, really?” I smiled.

He winked at me. “You know I can learn and perfect any skill, especially if faced with competition.”

“Well.” Jess sighed, running a hand over her blonde hair that was swept up into a high bun this morning. “We don’t really have a choice. You’re in.” She gestured to Corinne for the tablet, then quickly scribbled her signature to formally accept Invi on our team.

While we donned our coats and aprons and before the cameras started rolling, Jess quickly explained the concept of our cake design to Invi.

“The theme of the challenge isMake BelieveorEscape From Reality. So, we’re making a fairytale princess castle with a moat and a rose garden. We’re only allowed to have three layers of cake, but we have a wafer tower. That’s where the princess is going—on the balcony close to the top of the tower.”

“I’d like to put a swan in the moat,” I added. “But that’s only if we have any time left. Usually, the time is pretty tight in these contests. That’s actually the most stressful part about this whole thing,” I admitted. “I hate the rush and the tension even more than losing.”

“I’ve learned recently,” Invi said, “that there is more than one way to win. Still, you shouldn’t go into a competition thinking only about losing.” He flashed us one of his swoon-worthy smiles. “Let’s win this thing.”

The show started. The cameras were on. The host and the judges moved between our and Aidan’s work areas.

Focusing on our cake, I couldn’t help stealing glances at Aidan’s worktable. His team’s design quickly shaped up, and it was stunning. TheirEscape From Realityconcept had a futuristic flair, with the cityscape of tall skyscrapers and lights depicted through neon fondant and pulled-sugar details.

The design was sleek and unique. The judges seemed intrigued, clicking their tongues and spending quite a bit of time on analyzing the details.

“Fuck,” Jess cursed under her breath, standing over an open box with the parts of the cake we were allowed to bring to the show. “One of the wafer tubes for the tower is cracked. We can’t use it.” She gently lifted the other one out of the box. “The spare one survived, but we have to get it right from the first try. No do-overs if we mess up.”

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