Page 22 of Holly Jolly Cake Fight
Candace glanced back down at her hand to find him squeezing it and twisting it. “Not, umm, not too much.”
“Okay, you didn’t break anything,” he said as he secured the shirt around it. “We’ll have it checked out when we get back, clean it up properly. Some sleep, some ice, some ibuprofen, and you’ll be good for the next challenge.”
The way her gut churned and the pain ebbed only to flow again with the slightest shift had her questioning his claim. But when she attempted to scowl at him, she found his eyes immediately went to hers, the jade warm and hypnotic. Alone in the woods, no cameras around, his hand holding hers, it was so easy to forget that they were competitors and he might be here, bunking with her, for less than innocent reasons. It was so easy to forget they weren’t just two people having an intense bonding moment in the woods.
He was close enough that she could feel the heat not just from his hand but his entire body, gently warming her in the cool, still afternoon. If she were to tip her head up and he lowered his down, if she were to part her lips just so . . .
He hit her with another winning smile, the one that he flashed to everyone. “You ready to go back now?”
Candace swallowed, feeling very foolish with herself for letting her thoughts stray to the worst place, now of all times. “Yeah.”
“Good.” He took the cookies back but kept a hold of her arm to keep it stable and urged her to take a cookie.
She shook her head. “I already know what mine taste like. I’ll try yours when we get back.”
“Thanks, by the way.”
“For what?”
“Your note.”
She scowled. She’d practically forgotten about that. “I didn’t write it.”
Laurin shook his head. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“Am not!”
“There, even that sounded terrible. Just accept my thanks. I won’t tell anyone big bad Candace was nice to me, I promise.”
Candace snorted, letting some of the tension drain and lowering her hackles somewhat. “I wasn’t being nice to you, I was hedging my bets,” she said with an upturned nose. “I figured either you or Harper was going home, and it’ll be easier to beat you later than Harper. If I had thought to sneak glitter onto Greg’s table, I never would have told you how to survive today.”
“I believe you,” Laurin said as he helped her over the log.
His tone didn’t sound anything like belief, though.
Chapter 9
The other contestantsexchanged looks when Laurin and Candace returned an hour later in a golf cart Laurin drove himself.
They’d had some trouble getting back — the woods were even denser than Laurin realized as he’d entered them — and Candace had gone catatonic and splotchy purple in the face by then. Laurin knew full well how raw she felt; he’d lost himself to a bottle for several months after the best doctors in the world had given up on his knee.
They lucked out finding an abandoned golf cart with the keys in the ignition when they’d gotten back to the campground, and Laurin took it as a sign, borrowing it to take them back to the cabin. He took care of Candace as much as she let him, cleaning her knuckles and wrapping them in clean gauze.
She stopped him at dusting off leaves that clung to her sweater, and he excused himself to put on a clean shirt. She was back to a full scowl by the time they loaded into the golf cart again, but he saw through that now.
Despite the looks from the contestants, who were quick to notice his new shirt and her wrapped hand, the production crew acknowledged nothing. Deliberation must have gone on longer than expected, but everyone knew Greg was going home. That meant the delay had been over the winner.
That irritated Laurin slightly. There was no mystery that the top bakers were Candace and Belle, and Candace’s were better. He’d tried all of hers and two of Belle’s, and there was no way Belle’s refrigerator cookie was good enough to close the gap.
The bourbon in the turtles was all flavor and no burn. He had no idea how Candace had managed to cook off the alcohol so well, and she’d already made it clear in her interview that she wasn’t telling. And the strawberry cookies were absolutely the science she claimed they were. Laurin had always been impressed with the recipes she came up with, but to actually taste them?
She put his mother to shame.
When they were led back in, it was to a row of stools in front of the work stations. They were told where to sit, and Laurin was between Greg and Candace. The judges came out from the pop-up tent where deliberation was filmed, and by the time everyone was set to start rolling again, most contestants were holding hands.
Not Candace, though. Nope, Candace had her right arm across her chest, her damaged hand tucked away to prop up the other arm so she could chew on her nail. It was a signature move of hers, one fans of the show were forever commenting about on social media.
Why does Candace always look like she just can’t with this right now? #Food2LoveBakeOff
