Whitney could only focus on one nerve-wracking, headache-producing thing at a time though, so she looked at Piper.

“They are totally having fun,” Piper assured her. “No one’s even thinking about alpacas and cake not going together.”

“Okay, so what do alpacas have to do with cake?” Jane Kemper asked as she and Zoe McCaffery came to stand with Whitney and Piper.

Whitney sighed. “Nothing,” she said. “Absolutely nothing.”

“It’s fun,” Piper said, giving Jane a look. “It’s just one big fun time. That’s all that matters.”

Zoe looked at Piper and then slowly nodded as if catching on. “Right. That’s right. Totally true. Big-time fun. It’s great.” She gave Whitney a huge grin.

Whitney knew that Jane and Zoe and Piper were just trying to make her feel better. But she appreciated it. Zoe was engaged to Aiden, one of Whitney’s bosses and, maybe more importantly, she was a McCaffery. The McCafferys and Lancasters had long been rivals. It wasn’t so much that Hot Cakes and Zoe’s bakery, Buttered Up, were actual business competitors, but their grandmothers had been best friends at one time and when Whitney’s grandmother, Didi, had split off to start Hot Cakes, it had ruined their friendship and started a family feud that had lasted for nearly three generations.

Then there was the little detail of Whitney breaking Zoe’s brother’s heart and… yeah, Zoe even pretending to try to make Whitney feel better about this event meant a lot.

Whitney blew out a breath. “Thanks, ladies.”

“This is all a huge mess,” Paige Asher said as she came walking up.

Whitney sighed.

“No, it’s great,” Piper said, trying the wide-eyed look at Paige that had worked on Zoe and Jane.

But Paige shook her head. “No, it’s really not. I can’t bid on Ollie.”

Okay, that was not great. Whitney frowned. “You have to, Paige.”

Piper nodded. “You do. You have to bid on him.”

“Bid on him?” Zoe asked, frowning and looking between the three of them.

“The bachelor auction,” Piper said.

“Wait, I thought it was a dessert auction,” Jane said. “Ollie, Cam, and Max are going to bake the final three recipes on stage and then Didi is going to pick the winner. People are going to bid on those three desserts and the proceeds are going to the food bank.” Jane looked from Piper to Paige to Whitney. “Right?”

“Yes,” Whitney said. “Except that they’re also bidding on an hour with the guy who baked the dessert. They get to have dessert with the baker.”

Yep. Somehow this had also turned into a bachelor auction with three very hot men. One of whom was her ex.

Whitney rubbed her head again. Okay, that part had been totally her idea. Well, not the part about Cam being one of the bakers. She’d suggested it thinking Grant and Ollie would do it and they’d recruit a couple of other guys. But then Grant had gone and fallen in love with Josie and it didn’t seem like he should be up for a dessert date auction. And then Cam had volunteered to be a part of it. Actually, he’d insisted. Whitney hadn’t included him initially because he was still living in Chicago then. Well, and because she would have never thought to auction him off to another woman.

Yeah, there was that too.

Not that she’d admit that part.

The third bachelor baker was Max, one of the long-time factory workers who literally baked Hot Cakes every day.

The three were actually perfect for this. On paper. Two were owners of the company, the other a very long-term employee. Cam was a hometown boy who had donated a lot of money to the community in the past ten years. Ollie was used to being up on stage, entertaining and engaging an audience at Comic Con and other gaming cons because of Warriors of Easton. Max was well-liked in town and had been a part of the community for a long time. He was funny and charming and would have no trouble being up in front of everyone.

They were also all very good looking and single.

Whitney felt her stomach start to flutter with nerves again and she pressed a hand against it. She didn’t have time to be nervous about the guys too.

The guy who was going to bid on Max was already planted in the audience. Max and Elliot had been exchanging texts and Snapchatting for the past month or so. Elliot worked for Fluke in Chicago as a programmer and Dax had introduced them. Elliot had enough money, thanks to Dax, to bid whatever it took to get that dessert date with Max.

The same was supposed to be true for Ollie. Oliver was… not the suave playboy the other guys of Fluke, Inc. were. He was good looking and rich and funny in his own way, but he was… a nerd. And Piper, who knew him best, had insisted that they plant a date for him as well.

Paige was a friend and she and Ollie had no chemistry, but Paige could talk to anyone for an hour. She’d agreed to bid on Ollie—with Whitney’s money.

That left Cam. No one was planted to bid on Cam.

And that made Whitney’s stomach tighten.

Every woman in town knew who he was. He was the bad boy who’d gone on to become rich and successful. He’d donated tons of money—into the millions of dollars—to the town in the form of a new sports complex, scholarships, a wing on the school, and new equipment for the medical clinic. And he’d helped save Hot Cakes and the three hundred and forty-seven jobs there… and the families who depended on those jobs. Truly, he’d helped save the town.

He was also gorgeous. Muscular, tattooed, short beard, piercing blue eyes, with a general brooding, rebellious air, and a naughty grin that would stop you in your tracks.

There were plenty of young, single women in Appleby who knew exactly what they were bidding on and would likely happily dip into their savings for a chance at dessert with Cam.

Whitney hated everything about this event suddenly. And, if she were honest, the alpacas were actually a very small part.

“This whole thing is great,” Piper insisted again. “We’re getting the town involved and interested. Everyone is coming down to bounce in the bounce house, eat tacos, pet alpacas, and then watch three hot guys make dessert. The auction will raise money. There is nothing bad about this plan.”

Except Cam going on a date. That Whitney basically set him up on.

This was all so stupid.

He’d certainly dated other women. Camden McCaffery had not been sitting at home alone every night since Whitney had ended their relationship.

Hell, she’d been on dates too. That’s what people did after they broke up. They were sad for a while, but then they moved on.

That would have maybe consoled her if he hadn’t told her last night that he wanted another chance with her.

And now she was going to get to watch a townful of women bid on him right in front of her on a stage she’d literally helped construct for an event she’d come up with.

This was not great.

“Yeah, it’s all great,” Paige said to Piper. “But I just can’t bid on Ollie. You’ll have to get someone else.”

“Why not?” Piper asked. She was frowning at Paige. “You promised.”

“Yeah, well, that was before Elliot brought Christopher with him.”

Piper’s frown deepened. “What?”

Paige leaned to the side. “Do you see Elliot?”