Page 82 of Holly Jolly Cake Fight
Take three. Four minutes to go.
Laurin ruined this one, although he would have argued the point if there’d been time to. Candace’s name was called, everyone cheered, Candace’s excitement was mellow but more natural, and that wasn’t good enough for Laurin. So he spun her around and dipped her over his arm, leaning over her.
And kissing the life out of her on nearly-live television. Mike was freaking out, everyone in the pavilion was either laughing or cheering or booing — good-naturedly — but Candace’s arm went around his back, holding onto him so she could kiss him back, so none of that mattered. They kissed enough for her shock to fade to pleasure and his hands to get adventurous, and even though it was probably only ten seconds, she was very melty and calm when he straightened her.
“Whyyyyyyy?” Mike whined. “Why would you ruin a shot like that? We’re going to have to air this live. The FCC is going to kill me.”
“It’s fine,” Laurin said to Candace, since there wasn’t a good direction to speak to Mike. “She’s going to be fine. Right, bonbon?”
She nodded, and even though she looked very dazed, Laurin was confident. She even wiped the smudge of color off his lips, and damn, it was hard not to drag her back behind the pavilion again. He separated from her, backing up a little bit further so he and Patty would be out of the shot. All eyes were on Candace when they started filming again this time, but she had eyes only for Laurin. And when Jannie said her name, he mouthed, “I’m so proud of you.”
She lit right up. “I really won?” She laughed incredulously before she finally started shaking in excitement. “I really won! Oh my god, I won!”
Laurin rushed in then, but Patty and Jannie were right behind him, everyone hugging her and cheering, Laurin swiping her tears away as she laughed even harder.
“Mike wants you at corporate the day after tomorrow,” Jannie said as she took Laurin’s spot in Candace’s arms. Candace shot him a concerned look, but there was no time to figure out what that meant before everyone was coming down from the risers, and Laurin took a step back to let everyone else congratulate her.
Balloons and confetti rained down from a net that had been rigged to the ceiling, and he snatched Vivvy up to keep her from getting lost in the crowd. “I wanna give Candace a hug, papa!” she complained.
“You will in a few minutes. For now, why don’t you catch a balloon for us?”
Manon hooked her arm through his. “You did it,” she murmured, and nothing could have made him happier than Manon recognizing what the most important victory was today.
“Not quite yet,” he admitted, “but I’m almost there.”
“No, you’re there. Look at her. You’re there.”
Candace was laughing about something Debbie Drops It said, but her eyes were still on Laurin.
Yeah, he was there.
Chapter 27
“I can’t believeyou’re making me do this,” Candace whined as she walked out of the cooler, shivering. The ovens had been on since they’d gotten to the bakery at four that morning, nearly two hours now, but no amount of heat could prepare her for the walk-in.
“I’ve wanted these croissants for three years,” Laurin said from the handwashing station on the side wall. He cast a surprisingly believable and not-at-all-irritating pout over his shoulder, catching her staring at his butt. She didn’t mean to, but it was right there. He had the audacity to flex it for her as he said, “Indulge me.”
“Not that!” she huffed, although the croissants were also an irritation. Laurin had invited not just Candace to Christmas but also anyone who was going to be in the Atlanta area and needed a place to go. Harper and her husband, as well as Jannie, her wife, and their son, would be coming over that afternoon. The only thing Laurin had asked for — not just asked for but demanded and refused any additional items — was the orange blossom vanilla bean croissants Candace had made for Tea Party. Usually, she kept the pastry itself simple in croissants, instead sprucing up the filling, but she’d experimented by folding layers of orange blossom dough and vanilla dough together. It had paid off, making croissants that were both delicious and visually attractive. She was happy to make them for pretty much anyone.
Except actual French bakers.
This was her chance to impress Laurin’s mother with her baking, and Laurin was hellbent on ruining it. But that wasn’t what she was complaining about. “No, this.” She tugged on her apron, but carefully.
Her breasts had already popped out too many times to count.
Laurin had talked her into baking naked, which made her more than a little worried about how effective Laurin was at talking her into things. He’d capitulated on aprons, although when Candace had gotten the opportunity to really think about it while Laurin was in the back washing dishes, she suspected he’d deliberately gone too far with completely naked, so he could make the concession. They couldn’t have done this without at least aprons. There were no closable curtains on the front windows, and the counter blocked them only from the waist down. Anyone driving by would have seen her boobs.
At least two cars had already driven by while her nipples were escaping, so hopefully the dim lights had helped some.
Laurin wasn’t covert at all about checking out Candace’s butt as she wrapped up the remaining butter and leaned down to put it back in the lowboy beneath the counter. The flash of dimple told her that he’d gotten a clear view of her nipple when she’d bent, but there was nothing she could do except roll her eyes and grab a brush for the counter.
Laurin defended himself with, “I think it’s worked out well for both of us, after what happened last night.”
“Nothing happened last night!” Candace laughed incredulously. They’d had a perfectly wholesome Christmas Eve.
“Exactly!” At Candace’s glare, he amended to, “We had a lovely night. We bonded over our dislike of eggnog.”
“Because it’s filth.”
