I roll my eyes at her, and she cracks.
A full-blown smile rises on her face. “I’m messing with you.” She waves us past her. “Go. Have a great rest of your day.”
Mallory looks unsure, but she nods and walks toward where my car is parked. As she gets closer to Inez, the café owner reachesout a hand and grabs her arm. “Hey. Don’t worry about a thing. We’ve got your back.”
Mallory presses her lips together before blowing out a breath. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
She gets into my car, and Inez watches her tug her seatbelt across her chest.
“Is she always so anxious and high-strung?” she asks.
“She’s under a lot of pressure, and this show is a lot of stress.” I glance down at Inez. “Thanks for having my back.”
“Of course. We got you, Holland. This whole town is rooting for you. You and her.”
I shake my head. “She isn’t into me like that.”
“You sure about that?”
“She told me she’s not in a place to be dating anyone. She’s doing the show to earn some extra money to help her family.”
Inez hums. “That’s honorable.”
“I agree,” I sigh because the heart wants what it wants, and even though she’s not an option, my heart seems to want Mallory.
“I’m still holding out hope for the two of you. There are definite…feelings happening here.” She gestures to the car and back to me.
“Feelings are fickle.”
She tips her head back and forth. “True. But you and Mallory have a history, don’t you? You’ve been working together for years.”
She waits for me to nod my agreement.
“You respect her. She must respect you enough to stick around. That’s a foundation you can build on, if that’s what you want.”
“What about how she told me she doesn’t want me?”
“The Holland I know won’t give up without a fight.” Inez’s eyes twinkle in the dawn’s light.
I offer her a small smile, not sure I’m completely buying in to what she’s suggesting. I have no idea how I would go aboutconvincing Mallory to give me a chance. Not when I now know her reason for acting professional.
“In any case, I was only half kidding about the wedding cake.” Inez pats me on the shoulder and lets herself into the café. “Keep me in mind.”
I make a noncommittal sound in response, but as I slide behind the wheel and pull out onto the sleepy Main Street of downtown Cashmere Cove, I turn over what Inez said. Could I convince Mallory to give me a chance? Do I want to risk jeopardizing the professional set-up we have for a chance at more with her?
Yes.
The answer comes to me as clear and crisp as a well-struck drive, sailing on a perfect line over the fairway.
Yes, I do.
“Holland!” Mallory’s frantic voice pierces through my thoughts. She’s banging on my shoulder.
“What?” I jolt forward, the sound of my first name on her lips making my insides fizz. “What is it?”
“There’s a production van in front of us. What do we do?”
I blink, and sure enough, one of theMEM-branded vehicles is pulling into Daisy’s driveway.
