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“Hi. What can I get you?” she asked pleasantly.
He grabbed two cookies and a chocolate-frosted peanut butter rice crispy bar. “What would go well with these?”
“Antacid. The good stuff is usually gone by noon.”
“Then why are you still here?” he asked. Maggie stared at him. Caught like a deer in the headlights.
“Um, working,” she said as her brain kicked in. She looked at the food pile he’d placed in front of her: the gingersnap and white chocolate macadamia cookies and the bar. “I don’t know what drink would pair well with this pile.”
“Go with your gut. I trust you.” He looked at her with more confidence than he should have. Maggie looked at the beverage menu for inspiration.
“I think simple is the way to go. Latte with two percent milk or whole?”
“Whole, please. Practice was brutal today.”
Maggie asked him about practice, and they chatted as she poured his drink. The tip he left was almost as much as the food and drink, but when she went to correct his error, he shook his head. “So, um, I wanted to apologize for the other day. At the farmers’ market,” he said, taking a sip of his latte and grimacing as if apologizing was painful.
She didn’t know why he was apologizing, but he didn’t need to. Not to her. Especially since she was the one who’d been rude. She waved him off, saying, “No worries.”
“No, I monopolized your grandma, leaving you to deal with all the customers. Guess I found her almost as interesting as you.” Interesting? Me? Maggie had been called many things, like loyal and hard-working, but interesting wasn’t one of them. “And she must have been a knockout like you when she was younger.” Despite her resolve to be cool and professional, Maggie felt herself thawing. Interesting and a knockout? He looked sincere, but this was Lucas. The man who’d pestered her for as long as she’d known him.
“You wore your helmet today, right?” she asked, deflecting his compliments.
“Always.” He held her gaze, and she felt something shift. In her and between them. She felt lost but found. It didn’t make sense, and she didn’t like it.
“Why are you here?” she asked quietly, sensing he wanted more than an upset stomach.
“I stopped in, hoping your pretty face would give me inspiration for the baking contest.” Lucas told her how the Tetons had entered the baking contest, about their side bet with the defense, and that the winner got to choose the charity. He babbled on, but Maggie had tuned him out quickly. He was in her baking contest. The one she had to win. But Lucas Rodriguez won in everything he did. “It’s going to feel so good to beat the defense.”
“You realize other people are involved. It’s not just you and the defense.”
“I know, but I only care about beating them.”
“That’s not how this works, Lucas. The winner is the winner of everyone.” She tossed her rag on the counter. “Why do you have to ruin everything? Isn’t it enough that you’re a big-shot football player?”
“I’m more than a football player, you know.” He sounded offended.
“Yeah, you’re a thorn in my side. Always popping up when I don’t need you. You’re like a wart that won’t go away.”
“You should see a doctor for those warts,” he joked. Maggie narrowed her eyes at him. Leave it to him to joke about her future. “Maggie, it’s just a baking contest. It’s not the end of the world.” But it could be. If she lost, she was done. It would set her back several years, and she knew Jack wouldn’t wait around for her offer. “Besides, you’re the one with the culinary degree, not me.” True, but for as long as she’d known him, he’d always won. Everything.
In college, he was a last-minute addition on the student council ballot. And he won, and then got the director position on the activity board, the position she’d wanted. They’d had several classes together, and the professors always chose Lucas ahead of her and everyone else. He’d even gotten the summer resort internship she’d been shortlisted for.
“Is your sister, the chef, going to help you?”
“No, I know what I’m making. Just tweaking it in my head a bit.”
“Then why did you stop for inspiration?” Maggie asked, relaxing a bit, knowing that he wasn’t using his sister’s expertise.
Lucas shifted, shoving his hands in his pockets. He cleared his throat. “It was an excuse to see you.” Maggie’s traitorous heart stuttered. He looked and sounded sincere, but this was Lucas. The man who ruined everything for her and now he’d thrown a major monkey wrench into her plans. He only had bragging rights on the line. She had her future.
They stared at each other. Lucas with hope in his eyes and Maggie’s with gathering tears. The front door opened, and Vivi rushed in. Maggie pushed Lucas’s food pile toward him, wondering if he’d eat it all or if buying them had been part of his plan.
“Goodbye, Lucas,” Maggie said as Vivi ducked behind the counter. She gave her coworker a tight smile and headed back to the office. She didn’t wait for his reply. Once again, she’d been rude, and once again, I don’t care, she thought as she turned on the computer.
Dealing with Lucas left her drained. It always did. She never knew what he was up to, so she always had to stay one step ahead of him. And what was with all the compliments? she thought as she organized the jumble of papers and bills Jack had left her to deal with.
She tossed the opened—and now empty—envelopes into the recycling basket, wishing she could toss out Lucas, too. But she couldn’t. He was Cal’s roommate and teammate. For this year. It wasn’t permanent.
