Sprinkled with Love

“So they’re wrong.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going through this again.”

“Again? What’s that supposed to mean?”

She was just angry enough at that moment not to be embarrassed when she admitted everything to him. “That when I used to work for you—that they all thought—that I thought—things between us were going to turn serious. The whole town was talking about it. That we made a good pair. They would ask me all the time if we were getting married.”

Avery raked his fingers through his hair. “But I don’t understand. You and I, we never even dated.”

“You don’t have to tell me. Obviously they were all wrong. Because no matter what I did, you never noticed me in that way. Even when I asked you to the Christmas Stroll.”

His eyes widened. “But I couldn’t. You worked for me. And—”

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“Of course it matters.”

“I’m not doing this. I’m not dealing with the questions and assumptions again. I’m leaving.” She turned and started to walk away as fast as her legs would carry her.

“Jillian, don’t go. I’ll fix this.”

She didn’t even want to know what that meant because there was no way he could fix this. Because she’d been fooling herself when she told herself that she was over him. She wasn’t. Not at all. It’s the reason none of her other relationships had worked out.

She was in love with a man who didn’t want a future with her.

Chapter Sixteen

He wasn’t giving up.

Not on purchasing the ranch. And not on Jillian.

The more time Avery spent with Jillian, the more convinced he became that there was something between them—something more than friendship. Perhaps he’d moved too fast. And winning the raffle drawing for the honeymoon suite had been the ultimate in bad luck.

At the time, he thought he’d been doing a good thing when he bought those raffle tickets. He had a history of never winning those giveaways anyway. He’d actually never even bothered to ask about the prize.

And to top it off, his mishap with the butter had cost him the first round of the Bake-Off. As it was the local vet, Matthew West, won it with his chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Avery sighed and shook his head as he sat in his pickup. He sure hoped the second round of the competition went better.

It was Monday evening, time for his prearranged baking lesson with Jillian. They’d settled on lessons three nights a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He hadn’t heard from Jillian since round one of the Bake-Off. He thought of calling her to see if she still wanted to work with him, but he knew it would be too easy for her to turn him away. And if he were truthful with himself, he didn’t want that. He wanted to continue with these baking lessons.

That fact surprised him. He was the one who didn’t want anything to do with this Bake-Off originally and now he was looking for ways to keep going. He knew he had a competitive streak, but there was something more to this desire.

Jillian’s face came to mind. She’d been so good to him. He just didn’t understand how she’d jumped to the conclusion that he would do anything to hurt her. In fact, the opposite was true.

He pulled his truck up in Jillian’s driveway. He was relieved to find her car there. Now he just wondered how he’d get past the fron

t door. He thought of coming armed with flowers, but he didn’t want to repeat Glenn’s gesture. Instead, Avery arrived empty-handed but armed with a heartfelt apology.

He stepped up to her door and paused. He sucked in a deep breath, leveled his shoulders, and knocked. When there was no response, he knocked with a little more force.

“Coming,” Jillian said.

Well, that had to be a good sign. He was half-expecting her to tell him to go away. Unless she was expecting someone else. The thought of Glenn came to mind. Avery’s jaw tensed.

The door swung open. Jillian stood there in jeans and a red top that clung to all of her amazing curves. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She wasn’t smiling, but at least she hadn’t slammed the door in his face.

“Well, don’t stand out there. Come in. It’s cold out.”

He stepped inside. “You look nice. Were you expecting someone else?”