“Taylor—”
Her expression shifts, brows knitting with confusion.
“You shouldn’t have let what go this far?” she asks.
My brain scrambles for the right words, coming up empty.
“I—it’s not—”
“You didn’t want me to know what?” she cuts in.
“I was going to tell you.”
Wrong. That was the wrong thing to say.
“Tell me what?” Her voice cracks. “Just say it. Please.”
I step closer with a hand raised, careful, like she might turn and run. Almost the way you’d approach a scared animal.
“Okay—yeah, okay. I didn’t want you to know who I am. My family. But I swear, it wasn’t about lying to you.”
She lets out a small, disbelieving laugh.
“Alex, you literally just said you didn’t want me to know who you are.”
Because everything changes when people know.
I run a hand over the back of my neck, heart pounding.
“I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone,” I say, voice rough. “It was part of an agreement with my father. But I also didn’t want this to change. Us. The way you see me.”
Taylor’s eyes glisten now. She shakes her head like the pieces are rearranging inside her mind in real time.
“Why are you here if none of this matters to you?”
Her usual sunny disposition has darkened, and I swallow the lump in my throat, knowing I’m the cause of it.
“You don’t need the money. You don’t need the networking or connections. So… what is this?”
I brace myself against the counter and drop my head.
“My last name is Harrington.”
“That doesn’t mean anything to me, Alex.”
Of course it doesn’t. That’s exactly why I was sent here in the first place. To make our name mean something here in the States.
“That’s fair.” I take a deep breath. “My family owns one of the biggest restaurant groups in Vancouver. My father’s expanding into the U.S…”
She studies me as my words trail off, searching my face. Probably looking for any sign of deception. She doesn’t say anything, so I drop my eyes to the ground and continue.
“Julian and I have been working toward opening our own concept and my father threatened to pull funding if I didn’t come on this stupid show. Play by his rules, win people over down here… You get the drift.”
My shoulders sag in relief with the admission. I didn’t realize how much keeping this from her was weighing on me. My next breath feels like the first one I’ve taken in weeks.
Taylor stands there with her arms crossed and her hip cocked, chewing her lower lip. She narrows her eyes as she speaks.
“And that’s all fine, obviously not everyone here came with the sole intention of baking. Look at Lila.”
