“Maybe another night, okay?”
I nodded and met his gaze, glad to be thinking about something other than that scar and its very close proximity to his lips. “Sure. I’m holding you to it.”
“Good.” His eyes twinkled as he wagged his eyebrows. “By the way, can’t wait to try your pie tomorrow. Ms. Gentry asked me and a couple of the rodeo guys to be judges for the contest. Pretty sure I’m going to go into a sugar coma, but it’ll be worth it.”
I squealed as quietly as I could. This was perfect. Hunter loved my mom’s brown sugar pie. With my best friend as one of the judges, there was no way I could lose. Sarah was going to eat my dust.
“I’ll see you tomorrow for the contest, then,” I said, shooting him a smile.
He shoved off the windowsill and returned my smile. “Night, Char.”
Watching him walk off into the darkening night was kind of like watching a hero walk off at the end of a movie. I rested my cheek in my hand and leaned my elbow on the sill, trying to keep him in view for as long as possible, until he was gone.
For the first time, I was kind of looking forward to this competition.
If Sarah thought she could treat me like trash and flirt with my best friend, then she had another thing coming.
I couldn’t wait to win this thing.
Chapter Ten
“You’ve got this in the bag, baby. Or should I say, in the pie?”
Mom giggled as we sat on fold-up chairs in the arts and craft building at the fairgrounds waiting for the competition to begin. They’d set up a massive make-shift kitchen with electric ovens and white rectangular tables for the contestants to use to prepare their recipes. At my feet lay three cloth bags filled with the ingredients I would need to create my winning pie. I’d watched Mom make it enough times; I was pretty confident I could nail it.
Sarah should’ve been sweating in her over-priced gladiator sandals.
“Why didn’t I bring my portable curling iron?” Lexi asked, fussing over the curls she was currently strategically placing around my face. She’d decided a bun was the best look for baking. With a maniacal glint in her eyes, she held up a fancy bobby pin with a star on the end and stabbed it into the bun.
“Ow, take it easy.” I jerked away from her forceful hand. “It’s not good to bleed into a brown sugar pie.”
She bit her bottom lip and aimed a can of hairspray at my hair, totally ignoring my pleas. “Almost done...there. You’re picture perfect. Want to see?”
I swatted away her handheld mirror. There was no way I was going to look at the damage Lexi had done. As soon as this was all over, my plan was to run to the nearest bathroom and scrub off the hundred layers of makeup she’d pasted on me.
“I’m good, thanks. We all done here?”
“Done.” She clasped her hands together and looked at me all starry-eyed. “You look like a real rodeo queen, Charlotte. Doesn’t she, Beth?”
Beth looked up from the game on her phone just long enough to give me a quick, appraising look. “She looks good.”
I suppose for Beth that was high praise. Still, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about this makeover. Lexi could be pretty heavy-handed with the eyeliner and brow gel. But it was too late to go back now.
“I think you did amazing, Lexi.” Mom put an arm around me as Lexi beamed. “Our Charlotte is going to win. Now get up there and go bake us a pie.”
It looked like most of the other contestants were already in their places. I scooped up my bags and headed toward an empty table at the end. Geminia gave me a wink from three tables away as she pulled a frilly pink apron over her head. I smiled back and then started getting my supplies ready.
Butter. Eggs. Sugar. Check, check, and check. Plus, all the other little ingredients to make my masterpiece. The last thing I had to do was get my mixer in place. This was so much easier than sheep washing. In fact, I never wanted to see a sheep for as long as I lived, if I could help it.
I plugged my mixer into the power strip and went to test it, when a hand touched me gently on my waist. A familiar scent of cologne filled my nose as someone came up behind me and leaned close to whisper in my opposite ear.
“Good luck out there, Char Char.”
Hunter’s warm breath on the side of my neck sent an alarming cascade of electricity down my back. I looked over to see his lips curving in a reassuring smile. He’d worn an army green baseball cap and flannel shirt that brought out the green in his hazel eyes. The fabric around his generous bicep strained as he leaned his left arm on the table and his eyes did an agonizingly slow sweep over me.
I had the feeling he was assessing Lexi’s latest makeover. Thankfully, there was no disapproval in his gaze when his gaze finally made contact with mine again. He kept his expression basically neutral, although I didn’t miss the slight tension around his eyes, as if he were trying hard not to let his emotions show. Despite that, his sudden closeness and the sensation of his chest brushing against my left side made my legs feel wobbly. I clung to my mixer, hoping I wouldn’t just fall to the floor and embarrass myself—again.
“I’m not sure if you know this, but I don’t need luck,” I said, swallowing hard and then pointing a shaking finger at the stained and yellowed three by five notecard on the table beside me. “I have my mom’s famous recipe. It’s guaranteed to win.”
“Can’t wait.” He nodded approvingly and
