OPERATION: BUTTER UP THE FOX
My stomach tightens.
Beneath the title is a numbered list.
I stare at the words.
Win vote?!
My heart aches, and I’m reminded of why I move so often. Why I don’t let Gran’s talks affect me. Why I don’t have or want a home.
Candi peers over the top of the notebook.
“Did she bring you baked goods? Invite you to spend time together under the pretense of discussing the competition? Ask you to sample her recipes?”
“You don’t know what happened between us,” I grind out.
“I know Lila.”
“No. You know how to hurt her.”
Candi purses her lips. “She doesn’t want the crown because she loves Crescent Cove and wants to be the next Frosting Queen. She wants the prize money. Did she tell you why?”
My throat tightens. “She wants choices.”
“She wants to leave.”
…if you stay, I will too.
When I don’t answer, Candi steps closer.
“Lila has been trying to win Frosting Queen for years. This time, she finally saw an advantage. A newcomer who didn’t know either of us. A judge she could influence before anyone explained who she really is.”
Candi is a liar. I know that.
But she didn’t write the list.
I step around Candi and nearly break into a run back to my rental.
“Tell Lila I’ll see her at the competition,” Candi calls after me.
For the first time, I looked around a place and imagined a future instead of an exit. But it’s always easier to be the first to leave than to be left.
CHAPTER NINE
Lila
Ismooth both hands down the front of my sunshine-yellow dress and scan the crowd again.
No Max.
He was supposed to meet me before the open tasting so we could?—
Well, so we could see if either of us has an exhibitionist kink.
Unfortunately, we never exchanged phone numbers. That’s the downside of having the most amazing sex of your life and then falling asleep before covering basic details.
A few feet away, Candi turns from rearranging the curtains along the side of the stage. The sight of her standing here in a colorless dress and her reigning Frosting Queen sash makes my hands curl into fists.
