She patted her head, fluffing the glittery pieces of ribbon clippings and tinsel out of her frizzy blonde hair.
I swept around her, catching a whiff of pine and sugar.
Concentrate on saving the tower,I told myself.Chloe will only be a distraction.
But I bet she would be a tasty one.
7
Chloe
The next day was another early morning. I stifled a yawn as I listened to Anastasia tell us about the day's challenge.
"This is the Home for Christmas Signature Challenge," she said. "Everyone has a Christmas dessert that is steeped in family tradition and that people associate with you. This is an opportunity to let your personality and family holiday traditions shine."
I knew exactly what I was going to make—an Austrian wedding cookie my oma made at Christmas. I went into the studio pantry and gathered pecans, French imported sea salt, and some of the best butter I had ever seen. At least Dana and Gunnar weren’t skimping on ingredients.
"This challenge is again sponsored by Trader Mike's," Anastasia concluded. "Make fabulous desserts at home."
I wondered how they had convinced the chain to sponsor an unknown web series. Then I remembered Dana was from the billionaire Holbrook family, and she probably had all sorts of connections.
As I arranged the pecans on the roasting pan, I thought about what I would do if I won the contest. I knew my cousin would come begging for money. I also knew I would probably give him some, even though I knew he would spend it on drugs. I was turning into an enabler like my oma. But that was a dark thought, and I was here to bake tasty Christmas desserts.
I toasted the pecans to bring out their nutty flavor, salting them slightly before putting them into the hot convection oven. I wanted to win, yes, but more so, I wanted to impress Jack. I had selected this cookie recipe because it wasn't super sweet. This dessert would be just the thing to break through Jack's icy exterior and stoke the flame of holiday cheer.
You want to stoke something else too, the naughty little elf in my subconscious said.Maybe lust? Sexual desire?
No, I told it,I only want to see his eyes roll back in his head when he bites into one of my cookies.
You want his eyes to roll back when he pushes inside of you with that thick, hard—
"Rolling pin," I said out loud. Nina looked over at me, and I blushed.
"Do you need a rolling pin?" she asked me, holding out one from her station.
"Uh no …"
Yes…a big, thick—
Shut up, naughty elf.
"These cookies don't need a rolling pin," I muttered to myself.
Nina walked over and felt my forehead.
"I hope you aren't turning crazy like Hartleigh," she said with a grin.
I swatted her hand away and busied myself chopping nuts, mixing the loose, crumbly dough, and pressing the cookies together. The trick was to not pack the mixture too tightly. The cookie needed little air pockets for one to fully taste all the flavors.
While these cookies were somewhat time intensive to assemble properly, they weren't actually all that difficult. I didn't have to decorate them, only roll them in confectioners' sugar.
While the cookies baked, I looked around. Anastasia was chatting with the other contestants. Normally I felt bad for chefs in cooking shows when the host would take up three of the twenty minutes contestants were allotted to make a complex dish, but the Romance Creative producers gave us enough time that I didn't mind chatting with Anastasia about my cookies and listening to other people talk about their signature desserts.
"I think Jack will love these," Hartleigh said as she talked about her pomegranate scones.
Even though I despised Hartleigh and how she acted around Jack, her scones did sound amazing.
Ethan, another contestant, was making a cranberry-pear pie. He seemed a little frazzled as he tried to cut an intricate pattern out of the pie crust and make sure his filling was cooking correctly.
