Eli hadn’t missed it. He spoke slowly as he fully faced her, his gorgeous accent back in place. “You see me as you would your father?”
Oh, he had taken it in the worst way possible. Because the way he was looking at her right now, she was feeling things no one should ever feel toward their father.
“N-no. I mean, not in that way. I—well, none of this is coming out the way I mean.” She stumbled over her words, and the more she tried to backpedal, the worse it got.
Eli took a step toward her, and the smell of his cologne hit her, making her heart race, leaving her breathless. “What do you mean?” he asked, his tone soft.
Adeline didn’t know anymore. Her brain felt foggy. “That…I’m a jerk who is asking for your forgiveness.”
His lips quirked up into a smile. “All right. You’re forgiven.”
She took a step back, needing some space to breathe. Away from him. Away from his cologne. “Great.” Adeline’s gaze landed on what looked like a picket fence in the sand. She took a few steps toward it, unsure if her eyes were playing tricks on her. “Is that…”
“Jessie’s spot,” Eli finished. “Yes.”
Adeline’s lips parted. She couldn’t believe it. Someone had built a fence to make sure Jessie never again lost her spot for the Sunset Stroll, or at any other time, by the looks of it. Adeline took another few steps. It looked big enough for at least four camping chairs to fit comfortably inside. Adeline turned back to Eli. “You did this for her?”
Eli seemed embarrassed, his gaze dropping to the sand. “I had a little time on my hands.”
Adeline could see through that lie a hundred miles away. Why wouldn’t the actor want her to know the sacrifice he’d made to do a good deed?
“I haven’t been to the stroll for the past couple of nights, but I’m sure Jessie will have seen it, and the moment she sees you, she’s going to wrap you in a tight hug. Because that’s one of the nicest things someone has ever done for her. Seriously. Thank you.”
He seemed even more embarrassed now, pink tinging his cheeks, but he met her gaze. “You’re welcome.”
Adeline caught herself staring but struggling to look away. Eli was such a complex person that she didn’t know what to make of him. He was still talking with that ridiculous though insanely attractive accent, which told her that Eli was supposed to be his character at that moment. And yet, he didn’t seem to be acting. The soft look in his eyes—that was genuine. There was no way someone could fake that.
She tore her gaze away and glanced back toward the boardwalk. “Oh, look, the line is shorter. We should jump in while there’s still food left.”
The abrupt change of topic didn’t seem to catch Eli off guard. Instead, he continued to watch her, a slight smile in place. “Do I make you nervous?” he asked.
“Not in the slightest.” Adeline squared her shoulders as if that would prove it.
He didn’t look like he believed her, but he didn’t push it, instead starting back toward the Thanksgiving festivities.
She quickened her steps, then matched his pace. “Can I ask you a question?”
Eli gave her a side glance. “Sure.”
“What were you going to bet me?”
His eyes danced, like he was going to tease her as he had done before, but then he seemed to think better of it. “It was more of a challenge than a bet.”
“Oh?”
As they approached the line entering Caleb’s scuba store, they slowed their steps. “I wanted to challenge you to a bake off. I see now that might not have been the best of moves.”
A bake off? Adeline refrained from laughing out loud. Sure, he had been a pastry chef in one of his movies, but acting like someone who knew their way around a kitchen and actually knowing what they were doing were two different things. In a baking challenge, there wouldn’t be anyone to call “cut” if things went awry.
“I agree, that challenge would not have been in your favor,” she said, picking up a plate from a table inside the entrance to the store. “There are some things that acting classes just can’t prepare you for.”
Eli gave her a curious look. “I had only meant that challenging you to a bake off wouldn’t have been respectful, considering what you do for a living. I didn’t want you to think that I was trying to show you up and what you do for a profession. It would be like you challenging me to an acting competition.”
Wait, he actually thought he could win?
“First off, making chocolates is not the same as baking. It’s more like if I challenged you to a stand-up comedy competition or something. They’re both done on the stage, but that’s where the similarities end. Same with making chocolates and baking. They both just happen to be done in the kitchen. Jessie is the real baker in Starlight Ridge.” Adeline moved forward with the line, and, not being able to decide between the turkey and ham, she took some of both. “Second, I accept your challenge. Name the day and time, and I’ll be there. Jessie can come up with the rules and moderate things to keep them fair.”
This wasn’t quite Adeline’s style. She usually just made off-the-cuff bets that she knew were in her favor, but this could be exciting—something she’d never done before.
Except, Eli was suddenly quiet, and Adeline glanced toward him, wondering if he’d heard her. His brows were scrunched together, and he seemed to be concentrating awfully hard on scooping the cheesy potatoes onto his plate. After a moment, Eli’s expression relaxed, and he finally met her gaze. “In two days, then. Saturday. After that, I will hardly have a moment to myself.”
Perfect.
“What will the winner receive?” she asked.
Eli stilled, like he hadn’t thought that far. “I’ll come up with something. And don’t worry, it will be something good.”
With someone like Eli Hunt, Adeline could only imagine.
She smiled. “I can’t wait.”
11
What had Eli been thinking, challenging Adeline to a baking competition? He wasn’t worried about losing—he knew he could win. But he didn’t have time for stuff like this. He should be in his trailer, rehearsing his lines. Spontaneously challenging Adeline was exactly the type of thing Benjamin would have done, though.
Too late now.
In order to have a kitchen that was big enough, they’d had to set up the baking challenge at the bed and breakfast. Which would have been fine—last weekend. But now that the crew was starting to arrive, and they of course had heard what was happening the moment they’d checked in, he and Adeline were gaining an audience. The kitchen was big, but not that big. Not big enough to house both the crew and the entire town that seemed to have shown up for the event.
Anyone other than Jessie, who was both moderator and judge, wasn’t allowed in the kitchen, but there were plenty of people gathered outside the open windows, jostling to get a good view. A few had even managed to snag a spot in the wide doorway that led to the dining room.
Eli had tried to convince Jessie to allow him to shut the windows—it was freezing in there, considering they’d given full access to the brisk morning air. Adeline had backed him up, saying it would be difficult to bake while wearing a coat. No such luck. So, they had turned the ovens on early to pre-heat, hoping they’d be able to warm up the kitchen a bit.
“I’m not used to doing live events,” Eli murmured to Adeline, who was just tying an apron behind her back. “Maybe if we tell them this violates fire codes, people will give us some space.”
Adeline laughed, straightening the apron and pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “Fire codes aren’t going to make people back off. Then they wouldn’t be able to film us.”
“What?” He glanced at the gathering crowd. Sure enough, most had their phones out, and by the look of it, they were already recording.
But what had he expected?
He was used to people filming him or photographing him when he wasn’t looking, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. And besides, he was going to win. All of those cooking
and baking classes he’d taken in preparation for various roles over the years were going to pay off. Adeline didn’t realize the extent he’d gone to to make certain he really could think like a pastry chef.
He grinned at the thought.
“What are you so happy about?” she asked, her eyebrows raised as she adjusted the ingredients that had been placed on her half of the long counter.
“Just thinking about what I want to get out of our little bet.”
Adeline folded her arms over her chest and snorted. “You’ve sure managed to fit a lot of misplaced confidence in that persona of yours.”
What did she mean by that? Was she referring to Benjamin? Because it didn’t matter if he was Benjamin or Eli at the moment. He’d win either way.
“I think I just decided what I’d like if I win,” he said with a grin. This one had been Benjamin’s idea, all the way. “If you’re so sure that I don’t stand a chance, you won’t mind my prize being a kiss. From you.”
Adeline appeared momentarily stunned. Everyone watching had apparently heard, because there was a lot of whistling going on.
Once she recovered, her eyebrow lifted, like his request hadn’t fazed her in the least. “I have something even better,” she said. “I happen to have a full-body chicken costume, similar to what the store owner in Toy Story 2 wore. Loser has to wear it all day tomorrow and allow as many pictures as the town wants to take.”
He supposed that was a bit fairer. Rather than the winner receiving an unwanted kiss, the loser had to suffer public embarrassment. Of course, it would be more embarrassing for him, because just the fact that Adeline owned a chicken costume probably meant she’d worn it before. In public.
As if she could read his mind, she followed it up with, “No one has ever worn the suit, if you’re worried about that. No sweat. No germs. It was a gag gift from my father and has sat untouched in the deepest corner of my closet.”
Eli smirked. “That’s not a very nice thing to do with a gift from your dad.”
Without missing a beat, Adeline said, “Well, he’s not a very nice dad.”
Huh. That was an interesting thing to say, but Adeline didn’t elaborate. Eli studied her for a moment before lifting one shoulder. “All right, we have a deal. But you also have to walk like a chicken, clucking included.”
The gathering crowd roared with laughter, and Adeline’s gaze darted to the open windows, then back to Eli. “Fine. But the same goes for you.”
“Fine.”
Jessie entered at that moment, pushing her way through the spectators blocking the doorway. She held two pieces of laminated paper in her hand. Her eyes were bright as she took in the scene before her. “Well, this is something I never thought I’d see.” She handed Eli and Adeline one of the papers each. “Here are your instructions. You have four hours to complete your cake.”
“That’s a long time for a cake,” Adeline said, her gaze flitting over the paper. Eli agreed as he turned his attention to the paper.
A three-tiered cake. Okay, no big deal there. Ingredients seemed simple enough, and there was a lot of leeway on how they wanted to give the cake their own signature style. Eli thought he’d probably do one layer of chocolate, one layer of lemon, and one layer of vanilla, with a cream cheese frosting between the layers, instead of the usual buttercream. It was a bed and breakfast, so they had to have cream cheese in the fridge, right?
It wasn’t until he got to the end of the instructions that he saw why Jessie was giving them so long. “Hold up.” His gaze shot up, meeting Jessie’s. She smiled. “You want us to make a wedding cake?”
“Where does it say that?” Adeline asked, sounding panicked. Her gaze bounced all over the paper, like she was trying to read so fast, she wasn’t reading anything at all. “There’s nothing indicating what kind of cake it is.”
“Read the very last line,” Eli said. “Place your bride and groom on the top of the cake.”
Jessie nodded, grinning like this was the most fun she’d ever had. “And make sure they are straight. No one wants a crooked bride and groom on their wedding cake.”
Adeline groaned. “Out of all the things you could have us make.” She rubbed her temples, like she felt a headache coming on. “I thought you’d have us make tarts or something, since that’s your specialty.”
“I can see why you’d think that,” Jessie said. “But the thing is that I’ve been having trouble coming up with just the right cake for Leanne and Isaac’s wedding, and the day is coming up fast. As long as this little film stays on schedule, we only have three weeks. The wedding scene is supposed to be on December twenty-first, the last week of filming before Christmas. And I haven’t been able to come up with just the right thing yet. I’m hoping you can help me with that.” She paused. “Holiday themed would be nice, but it’s up to you. You are the creators, and I left it open-ended for a reason. Whatever ingredients you need, I’m sure I have it on hand.”
“I think it’s brilliant,” Eli said, exuding Benjamin’s signature level of confidence. So what, they hadn’t gone over wedding cakes in his baking classes. He totally had this. It was no different than baking a regular cake, there were just three of them. That were decorated super fancy. And something that could potentially make or break the happy couple’s wedding day. No big deal.
“All right, start your timers,” Jessie called out, like she was an announcer at a racetrack. “Because…it’s time to bake!” She pulled out an air horn from behind her back and squeezed it.
“Owwww,” Adeline said, clutching her ears. “Was that necessary?”
Eli couldn’t agree more. His ears were still ringing, and there was a possibility that his eardrums had ruptured. It took a moment to clear up, but once they did, he noticed that Adeline was already pouring flour into her bowl.
Ringing ears or not, he needed to get started.
Many of the ingredients had already been set out in front of his workstation. Flour. Check. Sugar. Check. He supposed the eggs would be in the fridge, and he hurried over, scouring for what else he’d need. Eli noticed there were two sets of everything, so he grabbed his milk at the same time.
“Is there any strawberry jello?” Adeline called over to Jessie. “You know, the powder stuff?”
Jessie smiled. “Ask and you shall receive.” She opened a cupboard and handed a small box to Adeline.
So, she was going to do a strawberry layer. Not a bad idea if she was going for a holiday theme. Eli was questioning his choice to do lemon. But he couldn’t very well copy what Adeline was doing, so he’d need to stick to his original plan. He could still decorate the outside of the cake with holiday themes.
Eli was measuring his dry ingredients when he heard a tap on the window.
“Eli,” a woman called. “Hey, Eli Hunt. Over here!”
Eli glanced over his shoulder and saw a young woman holding a homemade sign up to the window. He recognized her as one of the lifeguards from the beach. The sign read, Eli Hunt, I love you! He laughed and turned back to his mixing. Eli had thought that fans from small towns would be different, but he supposed they were the same as anywhere else.
Adeline glanced over at the window where the woman still stood with the sign. “Eliza, you’re supposed to be on my side!”
“Hello, this is Eli Hunt we’re talking about,” Eliza called back. “And have you heard his accent?” She pretended to faint.
Eli laughed, and Adeline threw a scowl in his direction, though her lips were twitching, like she was fighting a smile.
Okay. How many teaspoons of salt? He glanced at the recipe. 4/3. That couldn’t be right. He looked again. 3/4 teaspoon. That sounded better. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. Now was not the time for his dyslexia to kick in.
“You okay?” Adeline asked from her side of the counter. She was placing her bowl on the mixer, but she was watching him, her eyebrows knit in concern.
Eli’s hand dropped, and he mentally shook himself out. He grinned, throwing every ou
nce of Benjamin that he could into it. “Of course. Just contemplating how you’ll look in that chicken costume. Sexy, I bet.”
Chuckles erupted from the doorway. Adeline took a step back, like she didn’t know what to make of the comment. If anything, she now looked annoyed. “You wish.”
“You don’t look sexy in a chicken costume?”
More laughter.
She slammed down the top to her mixer, and it shook the whole table. “No, you wish you could win.” Adeline turned the mixer on, the whirring drowning out anything else he might have to say.
Note for future reference: Benjamin might be a womanizer, but his charm didn’t work on someone like Adeline. Come to think of it, it didn’t work on the fictional chocolate-shop owner from Amaretto either. It would take half the movie for Katrina to finally start seeing Benjamin as more than the arrogant actor he portrays himself to be.
Eli turned his attention back to his recipe. Solving the puzzle that was Adeline Baker would need to wait. Right now, he had a cake to bake.
* * *
“This is looking all wrong,” Eli muttered. He pulled the three cakes out of the oven. They were golden brown, as they ought to be, but much flatter than he’d expected. If he made the wedding cake out of these, it was going to end up short and stubby. Not exactly what he was going for. Eli glanced at the clock. He didn’t have time to make more. Eli sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He was just going to have to make the best of it.
Eli stole a side glance at Adeline. Her cakes were already out and looking beautiful. She was just finishing mixing her buttercream.
He’d been dumb to think he could beat her in a baking challenge, considering she spent every day in a kitchen. But that was how Benjamin rolled. He thought so highly of himself that he figured he could do anything, win anything, and if Benjamin didn’t actually know what he was doing, he’d make it up as he went along.
Starlight Love Page 8
