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In a medium saucepan or skillet melt the butter over medium heat until completely melted.
Add the brown sugar to the saucepan and stir the mixture into the butter until fully incorporated. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
Let the mixture cool for about 5 minutes before whisking in the vanilla and eggs.
In a large mixing bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and fold them together (you can also fold in additional pecans if you'd like).
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the chopped pecans on top.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted into the center and comes out clean.
Let the bars cool completely before dusting the tops with powdered sugar.
The Unbreakup by Chloe Lynn Ellis (MMF)
Copyright © 2023 by Chloe Lynn Ellis and Red Hot Romance, Inc.
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including, but not limited to, photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. [email protected]
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, locales, and events are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, and events are purely coincidental.
Chapter 1
Cade
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“Okay, I take it back. The twelve-hour flight was totally worth it,” my girlfriend, Yasmin, says when we step off the boat and onto the white sand of the tropical island where my uncle will be marrying her cousin in a few days. “This is beautiful!”
She looks beautiful, her skin glowing under the tropical sun. The tightness around her shoulders that I’ve been seeing more and more often lately drops away, and I pull her close and kiss the side of her head, breathing in the familiar fresh coconut scent of her shampoo. “I think this wedding is going to be just the excuse we’ve been looking for to relax a little.”
“Not that we need an excuse to relax.” She shoots me a defensive look. “And it’s actually going to be pretty hectic. I think Sophia has stuff planned for most of the time we’re going to be here.”
“Great.” I force a smile. The sun suddenly seems hotter than it was a few seconds ago, the ocean sounds less soothing as we walk along the beach toward the resort where we’ll be staying. “So, I assume there’s going to be some kind of itinerary waiting for us in the room?”
“The bungalow,” she corrects me, because that’s what she does. “I don’t know if there’ll be an itinerary when we get there, babe. I just got off the boat with you. I’ve only seen the things you’ve seen.”
What should be the start of an amazing trip already feels tense and nerve-wracking, which probably isn’t the best omen for the next seven days. I’m not surprised, though. This is how the past few months have been, and I’m afraid this sort of simmering tension between us is getting worse instead of better.
But every time I try to bring it up, well… that’s just another fight waiting to happen.
“Anyway,” Yasmin continues, taking my hand and softening her tone a little. Maybe she feels the tension, too. Maybe she’s trying to tell me that we both need to chill a little. I hope so. I can chill. I can chill all day. “I do know for sure that I’ll be meeting up with Sophia later, after we’ve had a chance to unpack and whatnot. I promised her the two of us would have drinks and catch up.”
“That’ll be nice.” I nod, even though I’m already wondering what I’m going to do while she’s out having drinks with her cousin.
Maybe I’ll check out the bar or the beach or… something that doesn’t involve thinking or stressing or any of the things we came here to get away from. Regardless, that’ll be a problem for later, when my nerves are hopefully less frayed from an entire morning and half an afternoon of traveling snafus.
Thankfully, check-in at the resort is quick and painless, and there’s even someone waiting near the main entrance with a golf cart to shuttle us down to our bungalow.
“Now, this really is relaxing.” Yasmin flashes that beautiful smile that I can’t ever get enough of, the one that made my heart do a slow roll in my chest the first time I ever saw her. “Look how cute the bungalows are.” She points. “And they seem pretty private, too. Perfect for a romantic trip.”
A romantic trip? This is the first time I’ve heard her say those words in at least three weeks. She was excited when her cousin first announced that it would be a destination wedding and swooned a little about how romantic that sounded, but the closer the actual travel dates got, the more she started referring to it as an “exhausting” trip, a “long” trip, or “the trip from hell” instead.
Even if there’s still some tension between us, it’s encouraging to at least hear the words from her again.
