Page 83 of I'll Carry You

Bullshit. She knew exactly how.

Because she was a glutton for punishment, and she wanted to see Jason. Not texting him, not talking to him was torture, and her family had sanctioned this. So she could do it and remain relatively guilt-free, right?

Go, compete, and give it her best shot. She was sure she had a chance to win that prize money. And then maybe she could seriously consider her father’s offer for the bakery.

Plus, she’d have one last chance to see Jason.

Her nerves made her knees bounce, and she gripped Colby's hand tighter. She had taken longer. She’d spent more time on her hair and makeup than on any single date she’d gone on with Jason. Not that there had been many dates.

Ugh.Was it possible to fall in love so quickly?

Because this felt a lot like being in love, she had to admit.

It couldn’tallbe lust, could it?

They arrived at last, and Jen gave Colby a kiss in the parking lot, then hurried on ahead of him and Dan. Jason hated lateness; he’d told her that much. She didn’t want to be late for this.

She hurried past the crowd at the front and then made her way toward the contestant holding area. Since only three couples were left, the area was far less crowded. The other two couples were already there. And so was Jason.

Her heart lurched, and she took a deep breath. She could play this cool if he could. After all, she’d need the money if she was going to get a head start on paying Jason back for the debts he’d paid off for her. No way she was going to accept a gift like that from him. But after she finished paying him back, she’d still have close to fifteen thousand dollars to put toward the bakery idea, if she did that.

My own bakery.The idea was surreal.

But it gave her a strange bubble of excitement she hadn’t felt in a long time. A chance to prove she was more than just the bimbo from Bunny’s. Just like this contest.

Jason lifted his cool blue gaze at her, and her legs felt as though they’d turned to liquid. Yup, total liquid. She stopped in her tracks, hesitating.

Maybe I can’t do this after all.

They hadn’t just been friends. Casual acquaintances.

They’d been lovers. And not like she’d originally suggested—they’d been lovers with no intention of slowing things down.

Her face must be going pale because her lips felt strangely cold and prickly.

Jason stood, gave her an amiable smile, and crossed the space toward her. “I’m only going to hug you so you don’t fall over, okay? Plus, everyone thinks we’re dating,” he whispered. He gathered her in his arms.

Jen’s arms felt limp, and she rested her cheek against his chest, relishing his familiar scent. She couldn’t avoid the tears that stung her eyes and slipped her arms around his waist. “I’ve missed you,” she finally responded.

“I’ve missed you, too.” Jason didn’t release her, and they stood in the middle of the store and the crowd, with the clock creeping toward the start time.

He seemed as unwilling to let go as she was.

Blinking back her tears, she finally pulled back and met his gaze. “Jason, I—”

“You don’t have to say anything.” He took her hand. “Everything that happened is my fault. I should have been honest with you about it all from the start, but I—”

“But that’s the thing. I actually understand why you weren’t. God, if my father was mega rich and left everything to a kid that was one of my brother’s maybe random love children...” She drew a deep breath. “What you said made sense to me. You didn’t know me.”

One of the crew members from the magazine came by. “Contestants, if you could go over to your workstations, please.”

She didn’t want to be competing. She wanted to grab Jason’s hand and leave and go somewhere else and talk to him until they figured this whole thing out. Now that she’d seen him, she had to face the truth—whatever it was—and work through this with him once and for all.

Instead, she avoided looking toward the audience and headed to the workstation with Jason. Even though they’d shown up to support her, she was certain her brothers would shoot daggers at Jason with their glares the whole time. Fortunately for her, even if someone in the town noticed, they wouldn’t think anything of it.And hopefully wouldn’t put two and two together regarding the bruise on Jason’s jaw.

The show started without a hitch, and within minutes, she no longer had time to worry about any of the situations with Jason or her family. They had been asked to make a dessert that represented their relationship right now, but only had two hours to make it. Unlike cooking a meal, most of her best baking took hours.

Settling on a chocolate tart, topped with marshmallow whipped cream and strawberries, she started on a graham cracker tart crust immediately. Jason stood beside her, observing her quietly. “How is this going to represent our relationship?”