She moves toward the door, but at the last second, she brushes past me, her fingers trailing lightly against my arm.
It’s barely anything. But it’s everything. I watch her go, half-tempted to chase her, half-tempted to let her run.
Instead, I grab my beer and mutter under my breath, "Yeah. I’m really screwed."
Ollie pats my shoulder. "Glad you’re finally catching up."
I throw a peanut at his head.
It doesn’t help.
Because Cami just knocked my world sideways, and for the first time in my life, I don’t want to fight her about it.
Chapter 16
Cami
Me on You by Muscadine Bloodline
Jack Jessop has officially become a bigger problem than he’s ever been. We’re supposed to be enemies. Rivals. And now? Now, I don’t even know what we are. It’s confusing me and making me feel things, giving me hope, and I can’t be hopeful about Jack.
Standing in Steamy Sips, rolling out dough with a little too much aggression, I can still hear the way he said my name at the bar last night. Slow, like he was savoring it. Like he knew exactly what he was doing. He was fully aware of how everyone was watching us and how his voice was doing unspeakable things to my nervous system.
And I hated it. Except I didn’t.
Because now I’m standing here, pounding cinnamon roll dough like it insulted me, replaying every second of that interaction on a mental loop. The tension? Wild. The way he looked atme? Infuriating. The way my traitorous body reacted to it? Betrayal.
“Are you trying to kill that dough? What did it do to you?” Violet smirks as she straightens a stack of napkins.
“No,” I mutter, wiping my forehead with the back of my forearm. “It’s stress relief.”
“Right,” Mack says, expertly rolling the bread out.“She’s been beating up that dough for the past hour like that.”
“Hey,” I snap. “Snitches get stitches.”
“Stress. Definitely not because Jack turned you into a puddle of goo in front of us.”
I point my rolling pin at her. “Don’t start with me, you two.”
“Oh, but it’s so easy,” Violet grins. “We were there, Cami. He had you looking like you forgot how to function.”
"Gross," Mack adds and makes a face. “My ears!”
“I function just fine,” I argue, even though it’s a blatant lie.
Maggie, of course, chooses that moment to give her expert life advice. “Well, I, for one, think you should’ve kissed him right there at the bar,” she announces, plucking a cooling cookie off the tray like she’s on quality control duty.
“Oh my God,” I groan, pressing my palms into the counter. “I need new friends.”
“Too late,” Mack singsongs, tossing chocolate chips into the dough. I love her creativity. She mixes flavors and adds in things that are becoming a hit with the customers. I’ve loved having her help with the trailer so I can go back and forth to Jack’s kitchen and knock out a good chunk of my baking while the trailer is open during the day. He was right, that was a perk to being out here at Jessop Ranch. And he has a double oven, so that’s a win.
But these guys? They’re insufferable. Every last one of them.
But the worst part? I signed the damn contract forTheRancher Finds a Wifethis morning. Jenna showed up with a pen and a hefty paycheck, and even though I have no business adding reality TV chaos to my already chaotic life, I signed. Because money is one thing I can use right now to keep my trailer going and do some updates on the ranch.
And now I get to watch contestants fawn over Jack like he’s a prize pony at the rodeo.
I shouldn’t care. But I still watched today, arms crossed, while some girl batted her eyelashes at him like he was about to propose right there on the spot.