Ashley's eyes squeezed shut. She braced for impact, and then slowly relaxed when nothing came. She opened her eyes and looked at Xavier. "Are you okay?"
"Sure." With one hand palming the wheel, he whipped the car back into traffic. Ashley clutched her seatbelt and prayed they'd survive the drive.
Once parked, they hurried into the convention center and followed the brightly colored banners and signs lining the path to the Expo.
The last team to check in, they were escorted to their station by one of the producers.
Xavier dropped his box containing a few of Ashley's baking tools on the counter. "Made it with five minutes to spare."
He tugged on the apron emblazoned with the bakery logo. Aqua letters spelling out Bliss Bakery were sprinkled across a large yellow cupcake.
"You should think about a fallback career as an Indy 500 driver." Ashley adjusted her matching apron and turned in a circle. Thirteen identical stations with gleaming stainless steel appliances spread out before her, and to her left sat the large crowd and the TV crew. She savored the surreal moment. They were really here, and, for the first time, the one hundred thousand dollar prize seemed tangible.
Palms damp and pulse quickening, Ashley looked to her left and saw Andrew Blackstone from Blackstone's Bakery at the station next to theirs, talking to Tyson. Great, so her nemesis was at the station right next door.
Fabulous.
Xavier called out to his teammates and waved to a few people in the crowd.
The microphone feedback pierced the air with a sharp, shrill screech. Ashley winced as a hush fell over the crowd. Microphone in hand, the show's host introduced himself and ran through the rules. The thirteen teams would all start round one, with six teams advancing to round two, and round three would be narrowed down to three teams. The grand prize winner would be determined from there.
Then he introduced the judges. Two were stars of shows on Food TV. The third was a retired Frenzy player: a Hall of Famer and fan favorite.
While the host bantered with the judges, Xavier whispered, "Are you okay?"
"I'm more nervous than I thought I'd be." Wringing her hands together, she sneaked a glance at Blackstone's station. No matter what else happened in the competition, she had to beat him.
"Okay, bakers," the host's voice boomed. "For this round, you need to create two desserts featuring cocoa powder. One must be a cake. The other one is up to you. You'll have two hours to complete them both. Ready... And, time starts now!"
With a loud buzz, the countdown clock began. Ashley grabbed Xavier's arm. "Okay, this is good. We can make your mom's chocolate almond crinkle cookies, and my mom's favorite chocolate cake recipe."
He squinted into the distance. "I think I remember all the ingredients for the cookies. I can picture that recipe card, but..."
"Don't worry, we've got this. Grab cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, and I'll gather the rest of the ingredients."
They sprang into action. She rushed around her station and then gratefully focused her attention on the ingredients lining the counter.
The can of dark cocoa reminded her of being held in Xavier's arms, the strength of his embrace, and the chocolate-flavored kisses they'd shared when they'd baked cookies together for the first time. The memory warmed her.
She dropped butter and sugar into the mixer. Beside her, Xavier combined the cocoa, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg into a bowl, then added it to the mixer.
He moved slower than she liked, taking the time to triple-check his measurements. She couldn't fault his seriousness or attention to detail.
The host called out to Xavier and his teammates to check on their progress. They all joked back and forth, their teasing banter drawing laughs and cheers from the crowd.
Eyes on the clock, she added the chocolate chips, nuts, and raisins.
Xavier bobbled a cookie sheet, wincing as it crashed against the counter. "Sorry."
"Here, I'll prep them."
She finished preparing the cookie sheets, then in tandem, they rolled the dough into balls.
Xavier nudged her shoulder and held up one of the cookies. "How does this look?"
The memory of their time in her kitchen and how she'd shown him to roll dough flashed into her thoughts. She forced it away. "Good job."
A line formed between his brows. "Are you sure? I want it perfect."
Was he nervous? He had to be. She gently bumped her hip into his leg. "They're perfect. You've got great hands, remember?"
And a cameraman with a microphone rolled by, likely picking up her words. Heat surged into her like she'd touched a live wire.
Back to business.
She spaced the cookies exactly two inches apart. "Keep going. We need to get these into the oven. You preheated the oven to three-seventy-five, right?"
"No, five-hundred, I wanted to see what would happen." Xavier looked up from the cookies and grinned. "I'm kidding, okay? I double-checked the temperature. Looks like these are ready to go in now."
That five-hundred-degree joke nearly gave her a heart attack. She double-checked the temperature was set correctly, then handed him the oven mitts. He slid the trays into the oven.
After setting the mitts aside, he high-fived her. "Cake time. What do you need me to do?"
"Grab buttermilk and four eggs for me?" Without waiting for a response, she pre-heated the second oven to three-fifty and then prepped three round cake pans. When Xavier came back, she'd gathered the remaining ingredients and in a low voice, directed him on the order to add them.
They worked together, mixing flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in the mixer. Then adding in the buttermilk, water, oil, and vanilla. She took over mixer duty, watching until the batter turned smooth.
Xavier divided the batter evenly among the pans. Ashley hovered, hands itching to take over, but she didn't give in to the urge. This was a team event, after all. And Xavier was trying so hard.
He set the pans in
