Piper peered over her shoulder and Whitney turned as well. The programmer was standing near the far end of the stage talking to a tall guy with dark hair and glasses. He looked like all of the other guys milling around in t-shirts and jeans and tennis shoes or work boots. He held a glass of lemonade and seemed to be just hanging out, enjoying the day. Whitney knew everyone in Appleby. That guy was not from here.

“Yeah,” Piper said. “That’s Chris. He’s another of our designers. He works with Dax.” She focused on Paige again. “Wait, you know Chris?”

Paige sighed. “Yeah.”

“What’s going on?” Whitney asked. “How do you know one of Fluke’s designers?”

“Well, I didn’t know that I knew one of Fluke’s designers. But I flirted with that guy at Granny’s the other night,” she said, referring to the bar in town that specialized in, of course, hard ciders.

“Okay. So?” Piper asked.

“So we made out. Heavily.” She tipped her head. “Then I told him I was a real estate agent in Kansas City and gave him a fake number. And that my name was Kara.”

“But… why didn’t you want him to know who you were?” Piper asked. “Chris is a great guy.”

“Because I wanted to have a couple of drinks and make out with him and that’s all I wanted to have with him,” Paige said. “Which means, now that he’s here, I need to avoid him until he leaves. So obviously, I can’t call attention to myself by bidding on Ollie.”

“But—” Piper started to protest.

“Sorry. Thanks for understanding,” Paige said. Then she smiled and turned and slipped through the crowd.

Headed in the opposite direction of where Chris was standing.

Piper turned to Whitney. “Things just got less great.”

4

Whitney signed. “You think?”

“Now what?” Piper asked.

“You’ll have to bid on Ollie,” Whitney said.

“No way.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t. I… work for him.”

Whitney laughed. “So?”

“I just can’t.”

Whitney didn’t understand that, but she honestly didn’t have the time or energy to devote to another complication.

She glanced at Jane and Zoe but they were out. They were both spoken for.

Whitney sighed. “Then I guess we’ll just let the ladies of Appleby bid without knowing who the winner will be.”

“I… don’t know.” Piper didn’t seem thrilled with that either.

“I don’t think you have to worry,” Jane said, nodding to the crowd.

The baking show was going to start in about five minutes. The crowd was gathering closer to the stage and, yes, there were a lot more young women than men. Or older women. Or kids. The crowd was predominantly women about Cam and Max and Ollie’s age. Most of the women in Appleby knew that Max was gay, so it was safe to assume that Ollie and Cam were the draw here.

Whitney pressed her hand against her stomach.

Could she disappear during the baking show and auction? Dax was going to MC the whole thing. Piper was here and on top of things. Aiden and Grant were both here somewhere. Surely Whitney wouldn’t have to watch Cam strut out on stage in the blue jeans and tight black t-shirt Piper had decided he should wear to show off his tattoos and muscles. She wouldn’t have to watch him bake. Something he was actually quite good at. He was a McCaffery after all. He’d grown up in Buttered Up bakery. He’d been baking since he was old enough to hold a mixer. She was well aware that women found that sexy. And surely she didn’t have to watch him get bid on by the beautiful women who would be vying for a date with him.

She probably needed to go check on… the alpacas. Or something.

“That is why we can’t just leave Ollie up there to be auctioned off,” Piper said.

“Because a ton of women in Appleby have noticed that he’s good looking and know he’s a rich genius?” Jane asked. “Come on. Why can’t Ollie have some fun?”

Fun. Yeah. They might have fun on these dates.

Whitney glanced toward the side of the stage where Cam and Ollie and Max were waiting to take their places at the mini-kitchen stations they’d built into the stage for the contest.

He looked good. That black t-shirt did very nice things for his shoulders, chest, and huge biceps. But it was the smile he was wearing that really made her heart flutter. Dammit.

Being over him was a lot easier when he wasn’t here.

When he was here in Appleby, in the same office, working on the same projects, and showing up to this event as one of the baking bachelors looking gorgeous, it was really hard to ignore that she’d been madly in love with him when he’d left Appleby. And that she’d never had a reason to get over that.

Then she’d found out that as Grant’s attorney, Cam was supposed to draw up divorce papers for Grant and Josie after they’d gotten married temporarily so Josie would have health insurance coverage, but he hadn’t done it. He’d faked the paperwork, somehow knowing that Grant and Josie should stay married.

That was damned romantic. Hopeful. Sweet even.

Did Cam still believe in love? Had she not totally ruined that for him forever? She’d like to think so.

But she did not want to watch him find someone to date and possibly fall in love with right in front of her on stage in the center of Appleby.

She also didn’t want to date him herself.

Well… she didn’t think she should date him herself.

She did want to. Or maybe she just wanted to have sex with him again.

“Ollie isn’t really casual-dating, bachelor auction material,” Piper said, pulling Whitney back to the conversation at hand.

“Oh?” Zoe asked. “Why’s that?”

Piper chewed her bottom lip.

“From what I understand from the way the guys talk, Ollie gets plenty of attention at all the conferences he goes to,” Jane said. Ollie went to those conference with Dax. Jane had probably heard a ton of stories.

“Those are gaming conferences,” Piper said.

“So?” Jane asked.

“So those women are into Warriors of Easton.”

“So?”

“So he can talk Warriors all day,” Piper admitted. “And—” She drew in a deep breath. “I’m not sure how much they all talk. I think those women know who Ollie is and they’re fans and they flirt a bit and then… they don’t go out to dinner or shows or have conversations, if you know what I mean.”

Whitney did know what she meant. Ollie had casual flings and one-night stands with women who thought he was amazing because of the video game. But Piper looked annoyed, and a little sick, talking about it.

She knew exactly how Piper was feeling. She didn’t want to watch Cam be bid on either, but there was nothing she could do about that.

“Oh, there’s Dax,” Jane said. “I’m going to go give him a pep talk before he gets up there to MC.” She grinned and headed in her boyfriend’s direction.

Whitney shook her head. Dax Marshall needed a pep talk about getting up on stage and being fun and charming like Whitney needed… another alpaca.