“I’ve not seen anyone else yet. I literally just got here.”
He smiled at me and stretched tall. “I’m considering this a vacation, and I was excited to start.”
“A vacation?” Maybe a holiday in hell.
“Yeah. You know, baking things I love. The Fairmont is quiet, so maybe I can get some time to think.” Brody shrugged.
Justin wondered why he’d had said that with such a serious tone. Was he having problems?
For a second, he looked as if he wanted to run, and suddenly I felt more confident. If he was nervous as well, then I wouldn’t be alone. “I want to visit Banff as well.”
The producers of WBBS were putting us up at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel since the show was being taped in the convention center. It was great because it was within walking distance of the town. I loved what I’d seen on the internet about the town of Banff, with its gorgeous shops and the mountains all around. I actually had a long list of things I wanted to do while we were here.
Anything to stop thinking about everything I needed to do all the freaking time. I’d imagined walking along the street, looking into the huge Christmas shop, doing the tourist thing, snow falling around me, totally anonymous. I could buy a coffee and people watch and hope there wasn’t any social media users in town.
“Banff is gorgeous, I saw some of it as I drove through,” I said.
“We should go. I mean the bakers. We should visit, and maybe go to the hot pool on Sulphur Mountain, and there’s a lookout point on the mountain with a crystal bear. We could do that as well.”
He was so animated that I wanted to touch him just to steal that spark of energy, but then he was staring at the chandelier again.
“That’s stunning,” Brody announced and pointed up at the huge display. I quickly took my stare from checking him out and instead looked at the crystals above us.
He makes cakes. He’s funny, cute, but he’s married, and Marc is a lucky guy.
He was standing close, and my mind was spinning too fast. I was getting hard in the middle of an expansive garden room with a definitely-not-single gorgeous baker who was my competition. I should be less worried about my libido and more concerned that I wasn’t going to make it past week one. The first season had been easy for me to win, not because I’m the most amazing baker ever, but because it was a test show, and I was lucky. I was up against other amateurs who were lost when asked to make choux pastry. Hell it was so bad that we’d muddled through together. No one had even really known about the show or watched it until the college kids found it, and abruptly it went viral. Every season had to have new and exciting challenges, so it got harder and trickier for the contestants. The level I’d managed compared to what Brody had to do to win his season was like the Wright brothers going up against Boeing.
They will see right through me. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t—
“Hey, you okay?” Hands gripped me, and I stared up at Brody, who peered down at me with a concerned expression. “You went all weird there for a moment.”
I blinked at him and then pointed up at the chandelier. “Vertigo,” I lied. I’m good at lying.
“Wow, okay then, no more staring at the pretty.” He sounded so damn serious, but all I could think about was that I would be very happy to stare at the pretty that was Brody Thomas.
Any day of the week.
Chapter Two
I’ve got the taste of nuts coming through
Brody
No more staring at the pretty? What the hell was I going on about? My twin called it post-Marc-brain, and pointedly told me I needed to stop talking to fill any kind of awkward silence and think first. Given that Adam was the master of being an idiot I don’t think he had room to criticize, but that was siblings for you. Idiots. All of them.
Why did I tell Justin that I was considering this a vacation? Only God knows why. The fact I’d admitted I needed peace and quiet was maybe too much of a giveaway about my current situation.
Stop thinking about the shitfest that is my life!
And now I ran out of things to say, and it all had to do with the man in front of me with his eyes and his body and his stunning smile.
I knew at some point I’d be meeting Justin. I just didn’t expect that I’d have such a strong reaction to finally standing next to him. Given that we were in the same baking competition it was inevitable but within the first five minutes of me standing in the grand entrance? How was that fair? I was windblown, snow-blown, and I know for a fact that I was red in the face, and all I’d wanted was a few moments of peace before I found a bathroom to fix myself up. There’d been no sign of anyone else in here, nothing apart from footprints leading up to the front door. I didn’t question the chance of someone else being inside when a particularly icy gust had me jumping and throwing open the door. I’d seen Justin straight away, standing completely still and staring at the sweeping staircase. I called hello, but he didn’t hear me, and at that point I could have turned and run, but I didn’t. So, I wasn’t exactly creeping up on the sexy, famous Justin, but he’d been so lost in thought that he’d jumped out of his skin when I called his name.
And in all of that, I’d made myself look like an idiot.
He’d been very kind not to laugh at me or comment on my Rudolph nose.
“Are you excited about this?” he asked after a moment’s pause, and I had all the answers in my head, sound bites about challenging myself and how happy I was to be raising money for charity, but he smiled at me when I paused, and that smile sent shockwaves through my body, all of which appeared to collect in my groin.
Thank the baking gods for my long winter coat.
“Yeah.” Very clever answer. Not.
I think it was his gorgeous blue eyes with long lashes that were messing with my libido, add in pouty lips that I’ve wanted to taste ever since episode one of WBBS, plus his tousled blond hair and I was gone. The moment I set eyes on him, a nineteen-year-old kid from the system and clawing his way through to the final, I was in lust.
My celebrity crush was standing next to me. I froze and was acting as if I’d never met anyone famous before. I’ve baked cakes for politicians and movie stars, so I was used to meeting people who were successful. But with Justin, I was torn between treating him with respect and deference to knowing he was in the same boat as I was at the start of the competition.
“Me too. Excited I mean. I just hope I can stay in the competition past week one.” That was exactly the same fear I had. With divorce papers in my pocket and my business bleeding revenue into my soon-to-be-ex-husband’s pocket, I needed this show right now. Although it was for charity and there was no cash prize to get Bakes by Brody back on its feet financially, getting past episode one would certainly help with my self-esteem and give Bakes by Brody, 3B for short, some well needed publicity. He didn’t immediately say he was worried about not getting past the first show, but he looked thoughtful.
“No matter how far I get, after I’m done, I’ll probably hang around and do various behind the scenes videos, maybe highlight all the work that goes on behind the scenes for the perfect bake. A kind of reveal show or something.”