Chapter 8
“I should’ve brought rum instead of coffee.” ~ Parker
Parker
I reach the entrance to town hall and swear under my breath. My hands are full since I’m carrying a tray of cookies and a tray of coffee.
“I need more hands,” I mutter as I try stacking the trays.
“I got it.” Jeremy opens the door for me while simultaneously rescuing the tray of coffee.
“Thank you.” The billionaire might annoy me, but I can be polite.
“You’re welcome.”
Okay. I’m calling it. It is totally unfair Jeremy is a billionaire who also has a sexy, deep voice to match his handsome face. He couldn’t be a troll I can ignore? Rude.
I wiggle my hand. “I can take the tray back now.”
“I’ll carry it.”
I purse my lips. “Don’t you have somewhere you need to be? Money to burn? Code to write? People to fire?”
He raises a brow. “Money to burn?”
I shrug. “While doing an evil laugh.”
He chuckles. “I guess I need to practice my evil laugh.” He clears his throat. “I’m meeting Eli.”
“Here? In city hall?”
“He told me to meet him at the meeting room in city hall.”
“Impossible.”
“Is there no meeting room?”
“No, there is a meeting room. But the meeting room is booked for a meeting about the Mermaid Treasure Hunt.”
His brow wrinkles. “Mermaid Treasure Hunt?”
“It’s one of my favorite holiday events.
Participants are given a treasure map with clues of where gifts are hidden around the island.
Whoever manages to collect the most gifts wins.
And, because this is Smuggler’s Hideaway, you have to drink a shot of moonshine every time you find a gift.
Which is why the treasure hunt is conducted on bikes. ”
“And you’re helping to organize the event?”
I can’t stop the smile from spreading on my face. “I’m hoping Pirate’s Pastries will be chosen as a location on the treasure map.”
“You’ve never been a stop before?”
I lift my free hand and cross my fingers. “Maybe this year is my year.”
He smiles at me and my breath catches. He has two dimples – one on each cheek – to match the dimple on his chin. He went from sexy to panty-melting-sexy with a smile.
“You’ve got this, Parker. Your bakery is fabulous. Smuggler’s Hideaway would be stupid not to include you.”
“Thanks.” Ugh! I sound breathless.
I am not allowed to go all breathless for a billionaire who cares more about money and getting what he wants than other people. I clear my throat.
“Anyway, you can’t be meeting Eli in the meeting room since the committee already reserved the room.”
We reach the meeting room and my heart thumps in my chest.
Being a stop on the treasure hunt would expose the bakery to a ton of new tourists. More than half of the tourists to the island are repeat visitors. All I need is one chance to show them my baked goods and coffee is just as good – if not better – than the chain coffee place on the boardwalk.
My hand shakes as I reach for the door. Jeremy nudges me out of the way. “I’ll get the door.”
“Since when are you a gentleman?”
“I’m not.” He winks as he ushers me into the room.
I slow to a halt when I notice the room is empty except for Lana, the mayor, and Jennifer, the town secretary.
“Am I early?”
Lana motions to a chair across from her. “No, dear, you’re right on time.”
“And you brought goodies,” Jennifer cheers.
I set the tray of cookies on their table while Jeremy hands out the coffee.
Lana licks her lips as she rakes her gaze over Jeremy. “Extra points for bringing man candy.”
My cheeks warm and I sputter, “Oh, I didn’t… He’s not…”
“I’m meeting Eli here later,” Jeremy finishes for me when I run out of steam.
Jennifer flips through her agenda. “I don’t have Eli in my diary.”
Jeremy frowns. “He messaged me to meet him here at this time.”
“Today?” she asks.
“Yes. Today.”
Lana winks at him. “I, for one, don’t mind if he stays for the interview.”
“Interview?” My brow wrinkles. “What interview? I thought this was a meeting of the committee for the Mermaid Treasure Hunt.”
“Have a seat, dear, and I’ll explain.”
I sit on the chair Lana indicates. When I’m seated, I scan the room and realize it’s set up for interviews. Lana and Jennifer are sitting at a large table at the front of the room and there’s one chair in the middle, which I’m sitting on. The rest of the chairs are pushed to the back wall.
Great glistening krakens. This is an interview. I thought I was a shoo-in.
“I’ll just…” Jeremy sits in the back of the room and digs out his phone.
Great. The billionaire is going to sit there and watch my interview? As if this isn’t nerve wracking enough, a man who has hit it out of the park with his business is going to watch me fight for the survival of my bakery. Awesome. Just awesome.
“Shall we get started?” Lana asks. I nod and she continues, “There are ten stops on the treasure map each year. We try to vary the stops to keep tourists coming back every year.”
“Pirate’s Pastries has never been a stop before, but I’d love to participate.”
“As you know, participants who manage to figure out your location and find the gift hidden there are required to drink a shot of moonshine. As a stop on the treasure hunt, you’re also a sponsor of the event, which means we expect you to pay for the gift and the moonshine.”
I swallow. The gift and the moonshine? “I assume I can bake a gift. I figured I’d bake a cookie to match the clue used to find my location. I can make pirate-shaped cookies or little mermaid cupcakes. As long as I know the clue in advance, I can design an appropriate gift.”
Jennifer moans. “As long as the gift tastes as good as your Siren’s Snaps, your stop will be a hit.”
“And we have an agreement with Buccaneer’s Whiskey for you to buy the moonshine from them,” Lana adds.
“How much moonshine are we talking about?”
“We usually have about five thousand participants in the treasure hunt.”
I clasp my chest. “I need to buy enough moonshine for five thousand people?”
The mayor waves a hand in dismissal. “At least a quarter of the participants drop out early.”
“Which leaves nearly four thousand people for me to buy moonshine for.”
My stomach plummets. I can’t afford to buy moonshine for four hundred people, let alone four thousand. So much for participating in the Mermaid Treasure Hunt and growing my client base.
I stand. “I’m afraid I’ll have to withdraw my application to participate in the treasure hunt.”
“Oh dear,” Lana mutters. “This happens every year.”
Jeremy clears his throat. “Actually, Apparoo would be happy to sponsor the treasure hunt by providing the moonshine for all of the stops.”
I glance over my shoulder to glare at him. “I don’t need your help.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
“No, you just happened to have a meeting with Eli at the same time as my interview and when I withdraw my application, you happen to remember you were planning to sponsor the event.”
“Yes?”
I roll my eyes. “How stupid do you think people are on this Podunk island?”
He scratches the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. I never should have referred to Smuggler’s Hideaway as a Podunk island. It was rude and judgmental.”
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I don’t need some billionaire coming to my rescue.”
“Hold on,” Lana says before Jeremy can respond. “The town of Smuggler’s Rest would like to accept his offer to sponsor the event.”
“Go ahead. This no longer involves me.”
“Don’t be stupid, Parker.”
I spin around to face Jeremy. “Do not call me stupid.”
“Stop being stubborn.”
My eyes widen. “And now I’m stubborn. Wow. You really know how to compliment a woman.”
“If you’d calm down for a minute, you’d realize this is a great opportunity for the bakery.”
“I didn’t realize there was going to be a show this morning,” Lana mutters. “We should have brought popcorn.”
“Popcorn? Who needs popcorn? We have cookies.” Jennifer slides the tray of cookies across the table to Lana.
Great. My little spat with Jeremy is going to be all over the island before lunchtime. The residents of Smuggler’s Hideaway do love their gossip. I usually stay out of it. I’m too busy trying to save my bakery to care about gossip.
I march to the table and grab the tray of leftover coffee. “Feel free to finish the cookies. But please return my tray to the bakery.”
I continue toward the door.
“You’re going to run away?” Jeremy taunts.
I spin around so I can properly fire the lasers in my eyes at him. Jeremy Holland is a complete and total jerk. I can’t believe I was softening to the billionaire. I know better!
“I’m not running away. I’m leaving this meeting as I am no longer involved in the treasure hunt.”
He crosses his arms over his chest and I ignore the way his biceps bulge with the motion. Yep. I’ll be ignoring those muscles starting in a few seconds. Just as soon as my eyes listen to my brain’s instructions. Any second now.
“Liar. You’re running away because you don’t want my help since you have a problem with me.”
“Wrong. I don’t want your help because I don’t need some billionaire to waltz onto this island and save me like I’m some dimwitted woman who can’t handle life herself.”
I don’t give him the chance to respond before I throw the door open and stomp away.
Stupid billionaires sticking their noses where they don’t belong. Why was he even in the meeting? No way did Eli arrange a meeting in the town hall for this morning.
Whatever. I don’t care. I’m staying away from Jeremy from now on. I can ignore how he lives above my bakery. I won’t wonder what he’s doing while I’m downstairs baking. Nope. Not I.