Page 1 of Hot Pursuit

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Jo

The kitchen resembled a war zone. Flour hung in the air like a slow-motion explosion. Dirty bowls littered the counter. Crumbles of dough spotted the floor. Whisks and spatulas floated in the water-clogged sink. But Jo hardly noticed. She was transfixed by the little mounds rising higher and higher in the oven.

Her newest creation.

The pookie.

Jo pursed her lips, thinking. Something about that wasn’t quite right.

Or maybe the cookie-pie?

What about the cook…ie…

No, wait.She shook her head.That doesn’t work.

The coopie?

Jo chewed her bottom lip as she watched the pie crust start to brown. The sugar-butter glaze she’d decided to add at the last minute had been the perfect touch. Now she just needed a name. It was all in the name. Jo still held that she invented the cronut long before it became the newest fad. But she’d called it the doussant. Because, well, it was a doughnut and a croissant… a doughnut-croissant… a doussant.

Long-festering resentment brought a sneer to her face.The freaking doussant!

If only she’d flipped the words around…

If only she’d called it a croissant-doughnut…

If only—

Jo sighed.

Cronut. So simple. So annoyingly catchy.

The oven dinged.

Jo leapt from the marble counter of the center island, sending another wave of flour into the air as she landed on her feet and rushed across the tile floor to open the stainless-steel door. A wave of tangy-sweet goodness hit her nose, making her eyes flutter closed with pleasure.

The coopie.

Simple.

Catchy.

Perfect.

Her lobster oven mitts were still on her hands, so she reached into the heat and grabbed a baking sheet in each claw, then nudged the oven closed with her hip. And though she knew she should wait, her impatience won out—as it usually did.

Hot, hot, hot!

Jo juggled the coopie in her palms, shifting it from one to the other so it could cool for a moment before she took a satisfying bite. Sinking her teeth through the flaky pie dough, she sighed as the ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie stuffed inside hit her taste buds like a blissful, sugary explosion.

Oh. My. God.

Her mind spun with the million directions she could take this. Pie crust stuffed with caramel apple bars. Pie crust stuffed with rainbow sprinkle sugar cookies. Pie crust stuffed with molten chocolate brownies.

Jo dashed to a stool and hopped onto the seat as she slid her laptop across the counter. She flipped the screen open and immediately began typing.

@TheBakingBandit: Guys, guys! Are you awake? Are you there? I have it. I have the idea for my future bakery. This is it. For real this time!