Page 55 of Holly Jolly Cake Fight
A long-term competition, with a victory that included sharing a bed for a very long time.
“I just want to take care of you, Candace. And I’d like you to take care of me.”
Her lips pulled tight in defiance. “Your diet seems perfectly fine, and it sounds like you’re pretty independent. Not sure how I could take care of you.”
“I live with my mom and my daughter,” he reminded her soberly. “My entire life is baking and PTA. My football mates don’t get my life. The moms I sit in the drop-off lane with don’t, either. I like being a father and a son, but I’m still a man.”
Candace rolled her eyes. “So you want to trade food for sex?”
“Not sex.” But then he grinned and stole a kiss. “Yes, absolutely sex, but more than that. I spend all day saying and doing the right thing. What happens here, on camera? All those rules they have and these personas they expect us to match? That’s every day for me. I can never be anything but a family-friendly version of myself. Just taking Vivvy to the park can be a nightmare if my eyes wander in the wrong direction. And I’m good with it most of the time, but then I’ll stop and think about it and realize that there’s this whole part of me that’s withering away.”
“So then, trade food for locker room talk?” But she said it with a chuckle as she dragged her hands down to his butt and gave it a good squeeze. “You’ve got a great ass, Laurin.”
“I like your boobs.”
Candace’s laugh was much louder. “Okay, but let’s be better at this man talk thing.”
He shrugged. “I said what I wanted to say. I like your boobs. And your hands and your eyes. Your lips. I like your nose, too. Pretty much everything. I just want there to be a bit more of everything. So I’m going to make us both a big breakfast before we head over to the set. But first, I’m going to put my face between your legs until you’re screaming enough that there better not be a cameraman in the kitchen, and then I’m gonna suck my way back up to your lips so I can really make you scream.”
Candace giggled and said, “That’s much better man talk.”
He kissed the corner of her lips and said, “I really like your cunt, too.”
She gave him the most baleful look, but soon enough, her head was tilted back and she was screaming too much to care.
Candace’s whole body buzzed. There was no way word wouldn’t have spread by now. The crew loved to gossip about the talent. But even if the cameraman had kept quiet, everyone would have known by looking at her.
“Stop blushing,” Laurin murmured under his breath as they walked through the pavilion, but he was the one who was standing too close to her and puffing his chest too proudly and shooting daggers at anyone who looked at her funny. He was still his casual self, but there was a new edge to him.
Not new, Candace thought. He’d grown protective of her in their time together, even before last night. It had bothered her, but for the wrong reasons. She’d concocted all these wild theories of wicked intentions. Actually, he was genuine but a touch territorial, and he’d been easing into his claim over her for a while now.
She wasn’t sure if she was okay with that. But that wasn’t the problem at hand. Neither was the creeping unease that grew as the other, more pleasant feelings for Laurin grew. She’d spent her entire life feeling like a ship without an anchor, searching for the next harbor. The problem with harbors was that the ship could only ever travel to the harbor. They would never meet in the middle. And when the storms came, the ship was the one destroyed against the harbor’s sea walls.
Whatwasa problem now was the way he kept looking at her, and the way it made her toes curl and her cheeks flush. He wasn’t touching her, but he would be holding her hand when the cameras were rolling. He had all season. It would be weirder if he didn’t, especially after their victory.
“Stop looking at me, and I’ll stop blushing,” she muttered.
He leaned in too close and said, “Stop blushing, and I’ll stop looking,” with a wink. He got close enough to end any lingering doubts from anyone looking their way to whisper in her ear, “And try not to walk like you had the best fuck of your entire life last night. Mike’s going to be mad at us for giving him extra editing work, trying to hide those bowed legs of yours.”
“Oh my god!” she cried out, unable to hold her laughter back. “Why are you so annoying?”
He flashed some serious white and pearlies. “Because it makes you laugh. What do you think today’s challenge is going to be?”
“Oh, uhh . . .” Candace scanned the work area, noticing that she didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing how cozy she and Laurin had gotten because there wasn’t anyone here. All the worker bees were gone. There were only two big camera rigs and one hand cam being tinkered with, plus a drone being assembled. They were used occasionally, but Candace could only recall them at outdoor shoots. None of the light crew or the service crew was here. “The flashiest thing will be the final challenge,” she said as she looked around for Jannie, but the hosts were also absent. Same with the photography director. “We don’t have proof boxes, so it’s not going to be bread. Could be cupcakes? Or pies? Or—oh.” She pointed to the sugar-blowing equipment Laurin favored. It was no longer tucked in a corner but on full display in an open area. Most of the wall decorations were the same as the last time they were here, when the dinner challenge was announced, but the sugar blowing station and the displays had been embellished with giant gumdrops and ribbon candies.
Laurin’s eyes lit up, and no wonder. If it was candy making, he was going to get another win, for sure. But then his lips twisted into something devious. “I’m going to make caramels today.”
“Okay?” Candace replied in a high, confused tone.
“And I’m going to take some home.”
“Yeah?” They would likely be going home tomorrow, so that made sense. Weird, though, when caramel was cheap and easy enough to make.
“And tonight, you and I are going to have some fun with caramel sauce.”
Candace’s eyes went wide as those dang toes of hers curled. The caramel wasn’t for his family, it was for her.
Well, for him, too, she supposed.
