“Before we go in there, I have something for you,”
Ty says, reaching out but stopping just short of actually touching me.
I stare at his extended hand for a second, then
flick my gaze up to his eyes. “Okay.”
Smiling, Ty crosses to a chair on the other side of
the kitchen, where he’d draped his chef’s jacket so it would be out of the way.
He grabs it and shrugs into it, but then picks up something from the seat of
the chair. Folded fabric, the same bright white as his chef’s jacket.
My breath catches in my throat. “Is that . . .?”
“I picked it up for you on my way home yesterday.”
He shakes out another chef’s jacket, cut and tailored for a woman’s build.
“Hope I guessed the size right.”
I take the chef’s jacket, holding it by the
shoulders and studying every seam, stitch, and button. “It’s gorgeous, Ty.
Thank you!”
He shrugs in that nonchalant way of his, but his
eyes twinkle with joy at my pleasure. “I figured we ought to match. And it’s a
gift. Whether or not we continue to round two or beyond, it’s yours to keep.”
“You didn’t need to do this,” I murmur, lowering
the garment. “I already owe you for the entry fee, and—”
“I would’ve had to pay the entry fee whether you
were working with me or not, so forget it.”
Ty fastens the buttons on his jacket. Then he takes
mine back and circles around me, holding the chef’s jacket open so I can slide
my arms in. The starched fabric crinkles a little, coaxing a giggle from me.
But the feel of Ty’s hands on my shoulders, the
sense of them reaching around to fasten the buttons, makes me freeze. When he
notices, he pauses, too. Then his hands drop away, and he clears his throat as
he turns and grabs the handle of the serving cart.
“We should get this down to the judges.” His voice
sounds choked.
Nodding, I finish with my buttons and follow him
out.
BLURB:
Life is good for Tess Gardiner: Her Savannah, Georgia, bakery and cafe
is thriving. She’s earned Master Pastry Chef status from the American Culinary Federation.
And she’s attending a regional culinary convention in Charleston, where she’s
been invited to sit on a small business panel discussion. The opportunity to
tout her success will, hopefully, lead to bigger and better things in her
professional life. As for her personal life? The relative contentedness she’s
enjoyed for years receives a sudden jolt when she comes face to face with Tyler
Brinks, the ex-boyfriend she summarily dismissed from her life eight years ago.
Tyler’s
success as a highly-trained chef has launched him into the stratosphere. He
already owns one ridiculously successful restaurant, and he’s aggressively
working on plans for a second. But he’s never quite gotten over Tess, and he’s
never really been sure what actually went wrong between them. So when a pastry
and baking competition is announced for the week following the culinary
convention in Charleston, Ty jumps at the chance to tempt Tess with the
challenge of being his partner, giving him the perfect opportunity to remind
her how good they once were together.
As the
competition heats up in the kitchen, it soon becomes clear to Tess that Ty has
more than cream puffs and cupcakes on his mind. And she can’t deny that her
feelings for Ty never truly cooled, but have been simmering all these years,
despite the way their relationship ended. Now Ty’s attention has her
wondering—is this just the path to final closure? Or could this be a second
chance at true love?
BETTER
THAN CHOCOLATE PURCHASE LINKS
WHEN
IN ROME PURCHASE LINKS
THE
ONE I’M WITH PURCHASE LINKS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
J.
Lynn Rowan started writing stories as a small child, usually starring her
favorite cartoon characters. Most of her work through middle and high school
was filled with typical teenage angst and melodrama, and usually mirrored the
books she loved to read. But eventually she found her own author’s voice and
decided to seriously pursue a writing career.
Historical
fiction remains J. Lynn’s “first love”, but she has enjoyed the journey to
becoming an author of romance and chick lit. She is a member of Romance Writers
of America, the Central New York Romance Writers, and the Historical Novel
Society. She is also a teacher who tries to instill a love of learning,
reading, and writing in her students.
When
she’s not writing, J. Lynn enjoys travelling, gardening poorly but
enthusiastically, studying various topics in American history for her own
expertise, and channeling Julia Child every time she steps into the kitchen.
A
native of Oswego, NY, she now lives in Charlotte, NC, with her own Romantic
Hero of a husband and their little rainbow, affectionately known as Babycakes.
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/JLynnRowan
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/JLynnRowanLit
Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/jlynnrowan/
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