Page 1 of Bake You Mine (Port Fortune #1)

one

The bastard was after her eggplants.

Aubrey forced her way through the Monday morning farmer’s market crowd until she was shoulder to shoulder with Liam. More like shoulder to elbow, but whatever.

“Hey, lay off my eggplants.”

Liam turned, his fingertips pressed into the vegetable’s tender flesh, and her brain took a flying leap. He probably had a fantastic eggplant of his own, and not the kind priced at four dollars a pound.

Oh, God. He was staring at her like her filthy thoughts were on a billboard above her head. This was why she usually avoided speaking to him.

“For tonight’s special, I was thinking a modern spin on eggplant parmigiana.” He blinked at her. “What does a pastry chef need with vegetables?”

There was the #hotchef bravado.

“You’re making assumptions,” she mumbled.

Elevation Eatery, Liam’s restaurant, was located two doors down from Aubrey’s patisserie, Petit Chou.

Until recently, a series of quickly failing businesses occupied the awkwardly shaped space between them.

Since the last tenant vacated, Aubrey and Liam had expressed interest in expanding their businesses into the space.

Farmer Moe cleared his throat. “Aubrey called ahead to reserve the eggplants. You’re out of luck.”

Liam shot a glare at Moe before turning his attention to her. “You still didn’t answer my question. What do you need with eggplants?”

Moe began bagging up the contested vegetables and a few pears she’d reserved for tartlets.

“We have lunch specials at Petit Chou every day. Today’s is an eggplant and onion puff pastry tart.”

A low, grumbly noise emanated from the back of his throat while he considered this. Aubrey’s mind nosedived further into the gutter. “Too bad the smell of sugar gives me cavities,” Liam said.

As if he had a single cavity, given his perfect white teeth. Not that she’d say that, because it would imply she’d been paying attention. The last thing she needed was for Liam to catch on to her crush.

“I can’t trust anyone who doesn’t like sweets.”

A smile took over his full lips. “I’m far from the only one. There are four of us in town. Maybe five.”

Liam could be charming when she (rarely) summoned the courage to talk to him. She had to leave before she revealed she was no more immune to his charms than anyone else.

“That’ll be twenty-five even for everything, Aubrey.”

She reached into her jacket pocket, pulled out a few crumpled bills, and passed them to Moe. He passed her the bag.

People swarmed around them. It was a beautiful mid-September morning, and half the city was crowded into the market .

She still had two more stalls to hit, so she took her bag and turned away. Liam failed to take the hint and followed her.

His presence overwhelmed her central nervous system. She paused in front of a bulletin board advertising upcoming city events. Her gaze settled on a poster for next month’s Port Fortune Night Out. The words melted together as she tried to center herself.

“Rumor has it Gary’s had a meeting with the historical society, and they’re going to allow the expansion.” Liam’s voice carried over her shoulder.

Most of the buildings on Sweet Briar Street were designated as historic, making this an exciting advancement.

She exhaled a shaky sigh. She turned to find a beautiful display of jams from one of her favorite sellers. Visions of thick vanilla brioche toast served with tiny jam pots came to mind. Liam may be a delectable (if infuriating) distraction, but nothing could match her passion for her work.

“I’ve heard similar things. Nothing’s been decided yet.”

He swooped in front of her, blocking her path with one heavily tattooed arm.

“This is serious. I hope you won’t hold a grudge when he eventually decides to let Elevation have the expansion.

It’s the obvious choice. It’s not like you couldn’t eventually find another spot for your froufrou pastries. ” He smiled as if to soften the blow.

She dropped her sunglasses onto her face, although Liam did an excellent job blocking the late September sun. “Are you done?”

As much as she tried to cover her fears with a jab at Liam, she worried about her business and future in Port Fortune.

Commercial space in the growing city was minimal.

Petit Chou had outgrown its small space, but without a potential expansion, they were stuck.

She had time before her lease ran out, but if she wanted to move, she’d have to start considering her options.

She took a step back from him.

He was quick to follow. “Hey, I wasn’t done.”

“You don’t know anything about what I do or don’t need. It’s becoming challenging to keep up with demand. Especially since we just signed a new delivery contract to supply baked goods for both locations of Port Fortune Roastery, and we’re taking on more commercial and custom orders in general.”

“But I run a full-service restaurant?—”

Text message alerts pinged on their phones.

“Who the hell would be texting both of us?” Liam asked.

As if it were that obvious that they ran in entirely different social circles.

He groaned. “Gary.”

Good afternoon, you two! Let’s meet at the vacant space this afternoon to discuss an exciting project idea!

“It’s never good when Gary gets an idea,” Aubrey said.

Their landlord was a dictionary definition (somewhat) loveable eccentric weirdo.

Liam grunted. “Why would he want both of us there if he’s giving me the space?”

God, he could be so smug. She whipped off her sunglasses and jabbed them at him. “I guess we’ll have to see what Gary says.”

Their eyes locked, and her breath caught. He’d never stared at her with such intensity, homed in on her as though fully aware of her. No, that couldn’t be right.

Her body descended into flight or fight mode. She was no better than a middle schooler with a crush on the most popular boy in school .

“I guess we’ll find out this afternoon,” Liam said.

She slid her sunglasses on. “See you later, I guess.”

Once this issue was settled, she could return to ignoring Liam and her unfortunate crush on him.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you like watching her walk away.” Liam’s best friend and Elevation’s head chef, Damon, sidled beside him.

“Oh, shut up. I’m thinking about something.” Something like Aubrey Dennison was kind of hot. How was that possible? Their little back-and-forth over the eggplant display had stirred him up something stupid. For whatever reason, her pert little nose usually turned up whenever he was around.

“I don’t know about you, but I was focused on how all men owe a debt to whoever invented yoga pants.” Damon gestured toward Aubrey.

Screw Damon for putting the idea in his mind, because those yoga pants clung to some places he’d never considered before today.

Liam delivered a smack to his best friend’s side. “She’s an annoying pain in the ass.”

Damon snorted. “See, you were thinking about it.”

“Oh, shut up. You’re married. You shouldn’t be looking, anyway.”

He raised an eyebrow. “My wife is like the air in my lungs, but my eyes still work.”

Liam watched as Aubrey spoke to the jam lady. Her face lit up when she talked to just about anyone else. Hell, today was probably the first day in months she’d said more than five words to him. She’d never given him the time of day, and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why .

Liam turned to Damon. “Any-fucking-way, eggplant parmigiana is off. She stole all the eggplants.”

Damon snickered. “C’mon, man. These jokes write themselves.”

Liam slapped his shopping list into Damon’s hand. “Can you get the rest of this? I need to see the butcher since the special’s gotta change.”

Elevation’s core menu was modern American, but Liam wasn’t fond of labels.

As executive chef, one of his favorite aspects was whipping up day-of, limited-run specials for that night’s dinner.

They garnered great reach on social media.

That was the kind of attention he favored versus that stupid #hotchef hashtag that Damon had jokingly tagged Elevation’s posts with.

Unfortunately, the moniker stuck to Liam like glue. His were the most popular posts under the hashtag. Now, he spent less time in the kitchen and more time taking selfies with customers.

Damon scanned the list. “I’ll handle it.”

Liam started through the crowd. The jam lady peeked over at him as she nestled little glass containers into a box.

Aubrey greeted him with a sigh. “Come to get jelly for your pork chops? Or whatever your special is now?”

“Now that you mention it, that’s a good idea.”

His arm grazed hers as he slipped into the stall next to her.

“I’ll have these dropped off by noon, Aubs.” The jam lady angled toward Liam. “Would you care for a sample?”

Judging by that smile, she meant a sample of more than her competition-winning apple butter.

“Maybe next time.”

Aubrey huffed out a breath before turning without a word. Damn if Damon wasn’t right. He did like watching her leave .

After wrapping things up at the butcher shop, Liam began the trek back toward Elevation. The walk lasted a good twenty minutes, if you were in a hurry. Today, he wasn’t, so he took his time. It was a respite from the usual hustle and bustle.

The walk gave him time to daydream about the menu and his plans for Elevation.

He’d never planned on returning to his hometown.

Less than three hours south of Washington, DC, Port Fortune, Virginia, was a small city that drew many day-trippers from DC, Richmond, and Charlottesville.

There was also a unique local population to cater to.

It was a quirky little city with a history that dated back to the Revolutionary War.

Still, it’d always felt like a cage he couldn’t quite rattle his way out of.

Until his venture capitalist older brother offered to help bankroll a restaurant.

It came with the string that it had to be in Port Fortune.

He’d initially turned down the idea—he wasn’t the small-town type.

Even though Port Fortune was technically an independent city, it wasn’t on the same level as the places he’d lived and worked.

San Francisco. London. New York.

It’d taken a year or two, but that cage wasn’t so stifling anymore. That didn’t mean there still wasn’t the urge to return to fine dining in the big city.

Aubrey’s patisserie came into view when he came onto Sweet Briar Street. A small crowd lingered outside. He couldn’t deny the place was cute, with the bright-pink double doors as a shock of color against the white brick building. A pink-and-white striped awning shaded the entrance.

The front window was filled with accolades from local and national publications, as well as a few “best of” awards. Her social media numbers were impressive, even without a catchy hashtag like #hotchef. Not that he spent a lot of time scrolling through photos of cake.

As he passed by, Aubrey walked by the window. She’d changed into her chef’s whites—or, in her case, pinks—and tugged her long brown hair into a messy bun. An enticing aroma wafted through the open door.

A pair of twenty-something girls regarded him, one whispering something that sounded like “hot chef” under her breath.

Aubrey’s head snapped up as he passed. Their eyes stayed locked until she ducked out of sight. Aubrey had a habit of gaping at him like he was the deer and she couldn’t slam on the brakes in time.

He sped up as he approached Elevation. The oversized garage doors at the front of the space were thrown open, filling the space with sunshine.

Front-of-house staff bustled around, setting up for lunch service, which started in less than two hours.

Two of them wiped down the communal plank wood table that occupied most of the dining space, with booths and the odd two-top table skirting the sides.

The vibe was modern and masculine. At the rear of the space, the kitchen sat partially open to the dining room, giving a glimpse into the madness.

Empty, the space suited his needs. As the restaurant began to fill up, it became apparent how badly he needed to expand. On busy nights, they were up to an hour’s wait, with some potential customers choosing to go elsewhere.

He found Damon in the kitchen, reviewing the delivery from the butcher that had beaten him home. Pork chops. He should send Aubrey a sample since she’d given him the idea.

Gary popped in through the back door.

“Liam! There you are. Did you get my text message?”

He chuckled. “Yes. Are you going to give me the space?”

Gary pulled off his glasses. “Oh, no, my dear boy. Are you and Aubrey up for a healthy bout of competition?”