“What?” I said irritably.
“You're judging the bake-off! Did they give you anything to eat? Are you suffocating in sugar? You have it all over your suit.”
I scowled and looked down. There was powdered sugar on my bespoke suit jacket. I brushed at it angrily but only smeared it around.
Great. Holly ruined my suit. I knewThe Great Christmas Bake-Offwas a mistake.
“That was a brilliant move,” Walker said as I followed him to the C-suite offices. “Everyone's talking about it.”
“Like our employees?” I frowned.
“The office manager is scheduling a viewing party with food and everything,” he said. “Also, Penny just called and said she want to have the bake-off contestants do a holiday party baking competition for one of the episodes. And she's decorating the main lobby as part of theVanity Ragdigital content, so that will for sure get us more points on theTechBizlist.”
“I can't believe the list is so subjective,” I complained. “Why can't they measure actual metrics? They're just going to come, talk to people, and hand out surveys on how the employees feel. You can't measure that!”
“You can't fight it. You have to let the sea of public relations take you where it wants you to go,” Walker said, making hula dance moves. I resisted the urge to snatch the candy cane out of his mouth and stab him with it.
“Don't forget we have that meeting with my brothers coming up,” he continued.
Speaking of wanting to stab people.“I do not have the patience to deal with Greg and Hunter,” I said, sitting down at my desk.
“Last board meeting of the year,” Walker said. “Maybe we can have one of the contestants cater it. Are there any cute ones? Who knows, maybe Santa will put a girlfriend for you under the tree this year!”
“I would never date one of the contestants,” I said. “It would be nonstop baking and Christmas all year round. I'd go insane.”
7
Holly
“Youaretrying to steal him from me,” Amber spat as soon as Owen left. “You were flirting with him.”
“I wasn't flirting. I can't help it if his candy cane was happy to see me,” I said, knowing it would rile my stepsister up.
Her face went red as if she were about to explode.
“Relax, it's just a joke,” I told her hastily. “We were having a conversation. It was all for the show.”
“You don't even know anything about him,” Amber said as she went back to angrily pitting cherries. “I've read all about him online. He's a billionaire and a visionary. He built his company, Quantum Cyber, from nothing. He made billions on Bitcoin. He's revolutionized cybersecurity. I saw his TED talk; it was inspiring.”
“He sounds insufferable,” I said as I carefully removed seeds from the pile of bright-red pomegranates.
“He had a terrible childhood with a cold mother,” Amber continued. “He needs a good woman to take care of him.”
“And you're going to be the one to help him,” I said, trying not to gag.
“Of course. Once he realizes we're meant for each other, he'll whisk me off to his castle,” she said dreamily.
“He has a castle?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“He will once I tell him to buy me one,” Amber insisted as a cherry pit flew out of the metal device and hit me in the face.
“Oops,” Amber said. She’d clearly meant to do that.
The first tart would be a vanilla-bean custard on a pomegranate crust, with a brûléed sugar crust on top. The caramelized sugar would be as golden as the Christmas ornaments that sparkled around the room. To make the crust, I lightly folded in the bright-red pomegranate seeds, speckling the dough pink and red.
The second was a chocolate tart crust with a pomegranate filling and a thin layer of chocolate ganache on top. This tart would be less sweet but very rich. The third type would be a chocolate tart on a vanilla butter crust, with a layer of pomegranate reduction with candied pomegranate seeds to decorate it and provide a little tartness.
I was straining my pomegranate juice as Penny and Morticia skirted around the cameras to come talk to me.
