Page 24 of Her Movie Star's Secret Plan

“One pink lemonade cupcake.”

The guy must have had quite the appetite. She grabbed him the pink frosted cupcake. “Anything else?”

“That’s it for now. I’m sure I’ll be back, though.”

“Glad to hear it.” Alexis smiled as she rang him up.

Owen looked at the guy with a concerned look on his face.

The man left, and Alexis said, “Is everything okay?”

“You don’t know who that was, do you?”

“No. Should I?”

Owen sighed. “That was my pastry chef.”

Alexis’s stomach dropped out from under her. “What?”

“He was scouting out the competition.”

“Did you tell him to do that?”

Owen gave her a tired look. “Are you ever going to learn to trust me?”

“What am I supposed to think?”

“That my pastry chef is a competitive guy that I don’t control.”

“Then get him under control.” Alexis regretted the words once they’d left her mouth. She was being rude.

But Owen didn’t seem to notice. “I think he’s after your unique desserts. That’s what sets you apart.”

Alexis was impressed. “You’ve been doing your homework.”

“I’ll tell him those kinds of desserts don’t fit with the vision I have for Hadley’s.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“I hope you’re starting to see that I’m not the enemy here.”

“To be honest, I’m not sure I can trust you. I don’t know what to believe. How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

“You don’t know that.”

“You have your own restaurant to look out for. I get that. You could have sent Vincent over to my bakery to sniff out my recipes. How do I know this muffin thing isn’t just a cover? It seems like too much of a coincidence that you’d be in my shop at the same time.”

“The muffin thing could be a cover. I guess you’ll never know.”

Just when she was about to kiss him too. She was such an idiot. She was letting her feelings get way too involved, and she was going to end up with her heart broken just like Chase worried would happen. But she was a glutton for punishment. It didn’t help that she kept seeing Owen every other day. And every time she saw him, he was better looking than the last time, with his golden tan and Hollywood smile. Hair her fingers begged to get tangled up in. She wished she could make up her mind about him, but her insides were at war with each other.

Part of her wanted to kiss Owen until her toes curled, and the other part wanted to hate him. And then there was a different part that wanted to trust him and form a friendship with him. But she struggled to trust men with a lot of money. That was probably because of her father. He used his money to control others, and her mother wasn’t much better. It was why she was so hesitant to ever take any charity from them or from anyone.

She learned early on that she needed to earn her own money if she wanted to be free. Because when her parents gave her money, there were always strings attached. Every loan or handout had conditions. They acted as if she owed them when they gave her money. So she worked hard and made sure she never got desperate enough to ask them for help.

“You’re not going to try to bail me out with money, are you?”

“No.”

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