Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 145731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Right, right. That’s what I’ve been doing while you’ve been arranging baking photo ops,” I say as I open the oven and slide in the first tray of peanut butter blossoms.
When I close the door, I explain at last. “Isla’s setting up a kind of speed-dating thing for tomorrow. Three guys, three women. We all meet, exchange cookies, and chat.”
“That sounds so wholesome,” Corbin says.
The ideas man, always at work, points to Corbin. “Maybe you should host cookie swaps at your future bakery.”
Corbin’s eyes flicker, and he grabs his phone, dictating a note into it before setting it down. “That’s kind of a cool way to meet someone.”
Tyler arches a brow my way. “But aren’t you worried, Rowan?”
“About what?” I ask, spooning batter onto the next tray.
Tyler smirks. “That all of the women are going to be into the other guys there.”
I smack him upside the head.
“Ouch,” Tyler says, rubbing his temple.
“Good. It was supposed to hurt,” I say.
Jason comes to my rescue as he answers Tyler. “That won’t happen. Want to know why?”
“I do,” Corbin says.
Jason squeezes my biceps with affection. “Because Rowan’s unstoppable even when he’s up against some fierce opponents—and he’s got an open mind about dating. Don’t you, Rowan?”
Why do I feel like Jason’s selling this to my friends? No—not to them. To me. “Do I?” I counter, full of skepticism.
“C’mon,” Jason says. “This is going to be good. It’s about time, isn’t it?” He shoots me an earnest look, like he believes this cookie swap might lead to something real, and I feel a little shitty about my plan to fake my way through all his sister’s setups.
Only a little.
“Whatever happened to your words from the other day?” I say, deflecting. “It’ll be good, even if it’s not forever? Now, you’re saying it’s going to be forever? Make up your mind, man.”
Jason rolls his eyes. “It’s just cookies. But it’s also not just cookies. It’s a start. A real start. One date can lead to another. And then to…who even knows.” He finishes with a hopeful smile.
Ah, shit. Jason really believes there’s someone out there for damaged old me. He believes in—gulp—the possibility of forever. It’s nice and all that Jason thinks I deserve love. But the reality is, romance doesn’t grab a mic and say you deserve me like a talk show host doling out cars as gifts. Romance is a car. It can still break down and leave you stranded on the side of the road, taking care of the kid all by yourself, and having to explain to her why her mom left.
I don’t want my best bud to get too hooked on the idea of me signing up for forever, or even something real. “It kind of feels like just cookies,” I point out, digging the spoon into the batter again.
“Nope,” Jason says, shaking his head. “It’s you—putting yourself out there. That’s a big deal. That’s why we’re all here, right?”
He sounds like a coach, making a speech before the playoffs. With zero sarcasm, Corbin chimes in with a “hell yes.”
Tyler gives me a genuine smile as he seconds him. “Yup. We’re here for you.”
Jason turns back to me. “Proud of you for putting yourself out there.”
Guilt worms through me like a marble, rolling around. I stare intensely at the tray as I drop another spoonful of batter onto it. Jason’s such a glass-half-full, hopeful guy, but I’m not sure he’d be so proud if he knew what I was up to. Not sure he’d be so proud either that I’d been thinking dirty thoughts about his sister.
A dark cloud swirls over me. I hate letting my friends down, especially Jason, since he’s been with me through thick and thin. “We’ll see,” I say, hoping that’s enough for him for now.
But when I look up from the tray, my best friend’s eyes flash with…disappointment. Shit. I really hate letting him down. “Hey, I’m going tomorrow, aren’t I?”
We get to work making ganache while I try not to think about Isla taking a bite of a peanut butter blossom cookie.
14
A TOUGH CHRISTMAS NUT
ISLA
“You can’t host a Christmas cookie swap without mistletoe,” I say with a smile, stretching on the step ladder to add another sprig to an archway inside High Kick Coffee. “Right, Birdie?”
The former Vegas showgirl and owner of the shop gives me a decisive nod from the front counter, where she’s arranging a string of green garlands. She lets me host matchmaking events here from time to time, like today. The shop’s technically closed, but she’s keeping it open on a Saturday night for this private event. She’s a lover of love, and she’s also the grandmother of Tyler and Miles Falcon from the Sea Dogs.
“I’m pretty sure you would be arrested by the Underground Grandma Matchmaking Society if you skimped on the good stuff,” she says, hanging a section of the greenery alongside Leighton.