He smiled as he thought about it. Kate hadn’t gone down easily. He only wished she stayed.

  Pondering the situation, Cole headed back into the viper pit, hopeful to catch a glance of her again.

  He tensed when he walked in and saw two men hovering around her. Her brow always crinkled adorably when she was thinking about something. The first guy wasn’t even close to her type. He barely spoke coherent English, tossing in a lot of dudes and rad for emphasis. She’d brush him off in a heartbeat. But the other guy? That one made his heart speed up.

  Even Cole could admit when another guy was attractive, and this guy definitely was. He couldn’t remember what he did. Maybe some kind of entrepreneur. Dan was well-spoken, but even worse, he was well read. Kate had a thing for books. Cole read only when he was forced to, but he liked audiobooks. Cole moved a little closer and tried to surreptitiously listen in.

  “Dickens is the worst,” Kate scoffed. “No wonder kids don’t like to read.”

  Dan laughed. “I agree. There are few classics I actually enjoyed when I was in school. Though going back to revisit them gave me a new appreciation for them.”

  Kate waved her hand around. “If I don’t like a book, it never graces my bookshelf again.”

  Surfer dude blinked and stared at both of them in confusion.

  “What’s your favorite genre?” Dan asked.

  Fantasy. Current events. Romance, though she’d deny it. His shoulders stiffened as Dan moved closer.

  “Fantasy mostly,” Kate said. “One of my favorites is Assassin’s Apprentice.”

  Dan’s nose wrinkled. “Fantasy?”

  Kate’s eyebrows rose. “Ah. Let me guess. You’re one of those literary snobs?”

  Cole’s eyes widened with delight. Was this the moment she totally blew it?

  To his consternation, Dan laughed. “I’m afraid I am. No one has truly introduced me to fantasy reading.” He pulled out his phone and opened his notepad. “If you give me a couple of your favorites, I promise I’ll read them.”

  Kate’s smile softened. Shit.

  Cole stepped in and took Kate’s wine glass from her. “Refill?”

  Her mouth opened but clicked shut. She nodded and Cole poured from the bottle right next to her. She was on her second glass, and they had an early morning. Hopefully they shut this down soon. If she wanted to win, she had to have her A-game on. Cole glanced at all of the other women as an idea sparked in his head. “Excuse me,” he murmured. Though he was loath to leave her with Dan, helping her win wouldn’t happen with them sitting idly by.

  SEVEN

  KATE

  Kate tried not to watch him, but she couldn’t. Cole moved like a panther in the jungle and these poor women had no idea what was about to hit them. She rattled off a few books she thought Dan should try and nursed her wine. The morning would begin far too soon, and from the way some of these women were drinking, stopping now could only help her.

  Cole stopped at a tall redhead and offered up a stunning smile. The poor girl blinked a couple of times and if Kate wasn’t mistaken, she swayed a little. She snorted quietly. Dan just finished typing up the book recommendations when another woman came by and took him by the arm. His lips thinned and he opened his mouth to protest, but Kate waved him away. “It’s part of the game,” she said quietly.

  Dan…wasn’t bad. Handsome, talented, well-read. So far, the guy was the genuine package. But she’d known him for exactly twelve seconds. Way too soon to know where the bodies were buried.

  Surfer dude wandered away after Kate had rattled off the second recommendation and was now sitting far too close to a woman wearing what barely passed for a dress. Her eyes wandered back to Cole, and she noticed he stood too close to her. Blood red fingernails touched the sleeve of his jacket, and Kate had to force down the urge to go over there and take Cole away.

  He isn’t mine, she thought. Not anymore. She’d given him up when he’d put his hands on another woman. Moments later, Cole leaned over to kiss the redhead’s cheeks before he wandered over to another woman. Her brow wrinkled. What was he doing? Was he so desperate for a wife that he truly was thinking about wooing someone here?

  Hailey sat down across from her, her blonde curls a little flatter than they were before. “Who’s that scrumptious man you were talking to?”

  Kate kept her expression neutral and shrugged. “Don’t know. I think he’s a farmer.”

  Now why did she say that? Calling Cole a farmer was like calling Brad Pitt a B-list actor. Wildly inaccurate and honestly, a little insulting. But when Hailey’s eyes flashed with interest, she realized her misstep. The woman was from a small town in Alabama. Maybe a farmer was exactly what she was looking for.

  To be fair, Kate knew a lot of farmers and Cole didn’t exactly fit the mold and neither did his brothers. Mark, the youngest, did a lot of the actual farming, and even he had an aristocratic air about him. Cole wasn’t directly involved in the day-to-day business. He handled most of the marketing. She would have heard if he’d moved jobs. Small towns were like that.

  The other woman tried to lead him off, but Cole tugged his arm away and raised his glass before he moved on to someone else. By the time Kate slid off the barstool, she’d counted no less than eight women he’d talked to. Some things never changed, she supposed.

  She said goodnight to Hailey and slipped away upstairs. Each room had their name marked on it in scrawled cursive. Kate pushed open the door to hers and sighed. This place was a castle. Each room was supposedly themed. Hers was Moroccan. If she had the choice, she would have taken something a little more sedate, but it wasn’t bad. A lot of gold and red and ornate furniture, but the bed she’d tried out earlier was sumptuous and the tub was large enough for her to sink down to her neck. In fact, Kate slid out of her shoes and walked into the bathroom where she turned on the taps and ran a bath. Being relaxed tomorrow would be the best thing for her state of mind.

  Two hours later, there was a knock at the door. Kate had just crawled into bed with her Kindle and was about to turn out the lights.

  “This better be good,” she grumbled.

  Cole stood outside the door holding two wine glasses and wearing a smirk.

  “No.” Kate shut the door.

  There was another quiet knock. “Better let me in,” Cole whispered against the door. “If anyone catches me out here, they’ll cry favoritism. Besides, I have news.”

  Kate tugged the door open and glared at him for a moment, before she jerked her hand at him to enter.

  Cole wiggled his eyebrows and walked past her, straight into the small area where a minifridge and small table had been set up.

  “Come. Sit,” he invited.

  She tugged her robe closer. “What do you want?”

  “It’s not what I want. It’s what you want.” He poured them both a small glass of the red wine he’d stolen.

  “If anyone catches you in here, there are going to be lots of questions.”

  Cole handed her a glass. “Good thing there aren’t any cameras upstairs.”

  She tilted her head. “And how would you know that?”

  He laughed. “I never go into something blind. The cameras are in all the common areas downstairs, including the bathrooms.”

  “Eww. Creepy,” Kate said.

  “Yep. Try to hold it if you can.”

  Kate snorted.

  “If you’re anywhere in the lower areas or outdoors, expect you’re being filmed. Upstairs, the bedrooms, and guest baths are camera free. But we’ll have to be careful because if someone spots us, it won’t be good.”

  Kate sipped on her wine and grimaced because she’d just brushed her teeth. “This will be the only time you’re in here, so I’m sure we’re fine. Now spill. Why are you here?”

  Cole reached into his back pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Everything you want to know about your competitors is right here.”

  Kate’s heart sped up, but she didn’t approach the paper. “What do you mean?”

  Cole’s gaze met hers. Her mouth went dry and all those stupid feelings for the man came rushing back all at once. She’d never gotten over him. Kate had been a fool to think otherwise. “It means I went to each of those women out there and did intel for you.” His bright green eyes snared her, and she longed to move forward, to stroke her fingers over his strong jawline and see if it felt just like she remembered.

  She took a step forward.

  Cole swallowed and looked down. “The list is by names or descriptions if I couldn’t remember their names.”

  Kate skimmed down the list. There were French-trained culinary chefs, home cooks, amateurs, and people like her who trained at local colleges and honed their craft with practice. He’d even listed weaknesses. The redhead hated making bread and that tall brunette thought cookies were too trite. Cole also made notes about their personalities. Vicious, likes to look at herself, shady, lying, etc.

  She looked up at him and a laugh escaped her. “This is cheating.”

  “Yup,” he said with zero shame. He reached over and snagged her fingers. “Kate…” he swallowed and exhaled a breath. “I’ve never stopped loving you.”

  There was a chasm between them. Kate didn’t trust or love easily, but when she did, she fell hard and stayed on the ground. There had never been anyone else for her and she’d known it, but how could they move on after something like that?

  “You cheated.” Kate’s voice was raspy.

  Cole’s eyes shut briefly. “I was…scared. You and I had gotten so close. I was young and head over heels, and I don’t know…I made one horrible, awful decision that wrecked my life. It went no further than what you saw. And I never spoke to her or any of those other people.”

  Kate stared. “You were engaged.”

  “I know. Duty, I guess.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I wouldn’t have gone through with it.”

  “Maybe you would have.”

  He shook his head. “Not if there was an iota of a chance I could get you back.”

  Kate swayed. Cole stood and held her by the arms, her face level with his chest. If she moved just a few inches, she could lay her head on it. He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re the only one for me. You always have been.”

  Kate felt like she was in a stormy sea, her emotions tossed around and flooded with confusion. “You’re always with a woman. How do I know I can trust you again?”

  He tilted her head up to look at him. “Because they aren’t you. Look, I was forced here by my father, but my brother knew you were here.”

  Kate’s eyes widened. Cole shook his head. “I don’t know how, but this is Mark we’re talking about. The dude knows everything.” He sat back down and tugged her with him. Kate sprawled across his lap before she put her arms around his neck. Everything about this felt safe, familiar, loved.

  “They miss you, too. We all do. I don’t know how to say how sorry I am for what I did, and I don’t know how to make up for it. But seeing you again…” he shook his head. “It’s all I can do not to kidnap you and drag you to the chapel.”

  “It still doesn’t change the fact that my bakery is failing.”

  “Because of me,” Cole acknowledged.

  “Because of you.”

  He sighed. “How about this? You get through the first few days of competition, and we’ll see how it goes.”

  “It won’t change anything. The landlord raised the rent more than what I can pay.”

  Cole’s brow furrowed. “Have you ever thought of moving away?”

  She shook her head. “It’s my home.”

  “But the people there are terrible.”

  Kate had to laugh. “Not all of them. They love you more than they love me.”

  Cole scoffed. “They love our money more than they love anyone.”

  It wasn’t a lie. The Adler name was known far and wide. “But they hold me responsible for running you out of town.”

  He stroked her hand with his thumb, the touch sending butterflies through her stomach. “I ran because seeing you everyday shattered my heart into pieces.” Cole pulled her closer for a moment before he gently set her on her feet and rose. “I have to go. Study the list to see if you can use anything on it. Meanwhile, I’ll see if there are any other options for your bakery.”

  “Cole.” Kate’s heart warred with her mind. “You don’t have to do this.”

  He stopped at the door. “When it’s you, I always want to do anything for you. We’ll figure this out, Kate.”

  “Night, Cole.”

  “Night, darling.”

  Kate stared at the door long after he’d gone and wondered if she was about to get her heart broken all over again. There were a lot of men in this world, but there was only one Cole Adler.

  Unfortunately for her, he was the only one capable of holding her heart hostage.

  EIGHT

  “Did you hear?” Hailey asked as she sidled up to Kate. She wore her curly hair tied up in a ponytail, jeans, and a flowered blouse.

  “Hear what?” She was still trying to get everything ready before the first competition kicked off, but she’d brought a million things and wasn’t sure what she needed. Being over prepared was always her thing.

  “Five girls got kicked out yesterday!” Hailey’s cheeks flushed with delight.

  Kate blinked. “Five?! For what?”

  Hailey shrugged. “I heard they all had too much wine and got caught sneaking over to the guy’s house.”

  “Did any of the men get kicked off?” Her heartbeat kicked up a notch at the thought of Cole being gone already.

  Hailey laughed. “Of course not. Even if they knew, there were no repercussions. Isn’t that about right?”

  It was par for the course. “Who’s gone?” Kate whispered. Not everyone was there yet, but she’d spotted the redhead already.

  “I haven’t paid all that much attention. They’ll tell us when they get here, I suppose.” Hailey grinned. “I have to get back to my station. Good luck today!”

  “Good luck to you, too.” Kate watched Hailey bounce away and shook her head. How in the world did someone have that much exuberant energy in the morning?

  She’d had trouble sleeping last night, thoughts of Cole living rent-free in her head. Sometime after midnight, she’d finally fallen asleep. Five in the morning came way too soon, but she was here with hopefully everything she needed.

  The hosts came in ten minutes later, both looking like they’d had restless nights as well. The makeup artists rushed over and took charge, leaving us in relative quiet as everyone prepared for the day. A few women gave her curious glances, but she chalked it up to going to bed early. She wasn’t doing an awesome job of fitting in.

  Twenty minutes later, the hosts looked airbrushed within an inch of their lives and stood in front of the cameras, making last-minute adjustments. Kate’s heart skipped to a gallop, and she ran moist hands down the front of her jeans. This was it.

  Just as she’d taken another deep breath in and released it, Kate had a stunning realization.

  This wasn’t her.

  She wasn’t interested.

  What in the world was she doing? Yes, the rent increase would shut her bakery, but should she sell out for it?

  “Bakers, welcome to The Great Bachelorette Bake-Off! I’m your host Charity Keen here with Mike Rogers. Today we bring you America’s best bakers and stunning bachelorettes competing in a competition to see who will be the apple of our bachelor’s eye!”

  Kate tried not to cringe at the terrible pun. Charity Keen had blinding white teeth and enough makeup on to see from space. Mike Rogers had the same, though he seemed annoyed with Charity too.

  It had been less than a minute and Kate was all ready to run.

  This was not an auspicious start to the day.

  Thirty minutes later, Kate was elbow deep in flour and regret. There’d been no sign of any of the bachelor’s, but they probably wouldn’t show up until all the desserts were done. The first challenge was chocolate cake in any form. When Kate heard it, she almost fainted with relief. This was her jam. She knew chocolate cake like the back of her hand.

  The regret came not from the actual baking, but from baking under the scrutiny of two people who couldn’t care less and who probably hadn’t ingested a drop of gluten in years. The judges hadn’t been introduced yet, so Kate had no idea what to expect from there. Hopefully they had more qualifications than their two plastic hosts. The judges had no say in who dated who but were there to offer critical feedback. They got one cut every two weeks, so there was some danger there. Maybe not this round, but she wasn’t out of the woods yet.

  She scooped chocolate batter into cupcake holders and shoved them into the oven. Kate was pushing it close with making caramel, but this was her signature item at her bakery. Buttery, sea-salt caramelly drizzled on top of a vanilla buttercream icing and a deep, rich chocolate cake.

  She made them all the time, but it was still one of her very favorite things.

  Kate bent to focus on her work, drowning out all of the competition beside her.

  After today, she wasn’t sure she’d stay the entire time, but she’d be damned if she bowed out on chocolate cake.

  NINE

  COLE

  “Do you have it?” Cole asked.

  “I do.” There was the sound of crinkling paper.

  Cole fidgeted. “Who owns it?” he demanded.

  Sean laughed. “I knew this would be good for you.”

  “If you don’t tell me who…”

  “Kerry Parker,” Sean interrupted.

  Cole’s eyes shut in relief. Kerry liked him and thankfully, he’d never dated her. Even though she wanted him to. “Is she interested in selling?”

 

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