Page 41 of Holly Jolly Cake Fight
Someone was interested in her, and every sign still pointed to this being devious in some way, but she had given up fighting it. She wanted to have someone’s attention, craved it for however long she got it for this time. If they parted ways at the end of the week, came back together at the end of next month for the finale, and never saw each other again, Candace decided she was okay with these little flashes.
“You’ve bought stuff from Black Friday sales, at least,” he said.
“No, I’ve always worked that day.”
Zara stepped in front of the cart, blocking them briefly so she could grab some dried navy beans. “Online? Amazon or Best Buy or something?”
Candace grabbed herself a bag of lentils. “I guess. It’s good for business supplies.”
“Then you’ve done Black Friday,” Zara declared. “Bye!”
“What do you think she’s making with all that?” Candace asked as the girl vanished around a corner.
Laurin cringed at whatever thought popped into his mind. “A few things, hopefully. Unless she was a Deathmobile,” he laughed.
“A what?”
“You know, from Animal House?” When Candace shook her head, unfamiliar with the movie, Laurin continued. “It’s about a college frat house. There’s a parade, and everyone is supposed to have a float for it, but this one frat just drives around destroying all the other floats. They’re the Deathmobile.”
Candace let that roll around for a second before chuckling. “You think Perfect Patty sent Zara over to distract us? To butt in on our conversation about Black Friday? She might have saved us, in fact. What we need to be talking about is the decorations.”
Laurin nodded and jotted down some numbers on their shopping list. “Okay, that’s the total for what we’ve got in the cart so far.”
Candace scanned the list, lamenting all the items they hadn’t been able to pick up. She’d hoped to cook all fresh, but the produce department had been picked clean. They were saving a ton of money buying frozen, but it wasn’t going to be nearly as grand a meal as they’d planned on the drive to the store. “We still have seventy dollars left.”
“Yeah. That means we can get a good roast beef instead of a turkey — assuming they have any — with plenty of money to spare for decorating. How do you think you’ll be for time?”
Candace did some more mental math. She was making a soup, all the sides, and the cake. She wanted to get the soup andcake ready to go tonight, but the sides would be tomorrow. “I can pull off a table runner tonight. I don’t think I can do much more, but we have the money to buy decorations, right?”
Laurin did his own math. “Bear with me on this. I’m new. How are they about repeated techniques? I know they make a lot of comments about it on the aired content, but is it really that big of a problem?”
“That’s more for the multi-bake seasons. You know, when each episode has several challenges? The judges have to be considered, too. Jannie and Kate won’t care if you give them the same thing every week. It’s just the judges, so if you have different judges every time, it’s hardly ever an issue as long as it’s only once or twice.”
Laurin beamed brightly at her, but there was something different about the smile. He usually had that easy, carefree joy about him, the hallmark of someone who genuinely loved whatever environment they were in. This smile was far more direct. His eyes were entirely for Candace even as they peeked around her. “Where’s our camera?”
Candace glanced over her shoulder and found the guy fumbling to get through the wall of customers that had moved into Zara’s wake. “Stuck back there.”
Laurin hooked Candace’s waist, dragging her so quickly behind a display of fried onions she yelped. She barely had time to get any of that air out, though, before Laurin’s lips cut the sound off.
The kiss was hot and fast, and his hands worked efficiently, one holding the small of her back to keep her from falling into the shelf while the other strolled down her thigh to snag her knee and drag it up to his hip. If she hadn’t been covered on all sidesby displays and Laurin, everyone would have seen her panties with such a move.
She didn’t care. His lips were soft and brutal, sweet and focused, devastatingly effective. Candace grabbed onto his shoulders to get some leverage, just so she had some control in this. As soon as she did, he backed off, leaving her stunned.
A whole gaggle of customers had caught the way-too-public display of affection, either pointing or laughing or very awkwardly scurrying by. If any of them looked closely enough, Candace would surely have been recognized, but Laurin had a hand on her cheek, tugging a loose strand of hair behind her ear and wiping away smudged lipstick, the whole time effectively obscuring her face.
“What . . . ahh. . . what did you do?”
Laurin’s grin was all too wicked and delicious. “I kissed you. In thanks for sharing that tip about the judges, instead of giving me just enough answer to get through this challenge.”
Candace subconsciously licked her bottom lip, and Laurin’s eyes snapped right to that.
“That . . . that was a thanks?” Candace asked breathlessly.
He screwed his face into a very dour, manly scowl. “I’m going to thank you again that way, too,” he said, all seriousness. “Would you like to be thanked that way again?”
She nodded, parting her lips in preparation this time. Yes, in fact, she did want that thanks again.
Laurin feathered only his fingertip over her lip this time before pulling away. “Not in a Walmart, though, and not when a cameraman is — damn, he’s free. Let’s go get a roast.”
