Bachelor at Her Bidding (Bachelor Auction Book 2)(42)

I’m sorry I hurt you.

Written in neat white handwriting on what looked like a dark chocolate slab.

“Wow. I wish my boyfriend would apologize to me like that when we have a fight,” Shannon said.

“Ryan Henderson isn’t my boyfriend.” Not anymore.

“It’s still a nice way to apologize,” Shannon said. “Are you going to forgive him?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Rachel said, feeling color heat her cheeks.

“I guess I’d better get back to the patients, then,” Shannon said.

“Thank you.” Rachel grabbed her phone and texted Ryan. Thank you for the cake. It looks beautiful.

He replied swiftly. It’s a salted caramel éclair filled with caramel mascarpone and topped with praline.

He was giving her tasting notes? She couldn’t help smiling. Even though this was clearly meant as an apology, Ryan couldn’t resist talking about food. The kind of food he really ought to be making – food that was practically art.

She resisted the éclair until her mid-morning break. But when she tasted it she almost moaned in pleasure. Lily Taylor had been right when she’d said that Ryan Henderson made food that was better than sex. This was amazing.

But a cake couldn’t make things better between them. Even if it had been a nice gesture.

All the same, she ended up talking to her sister about it that night.

“A message by cake. Art you can eat. That’s cute,” Susie said. “Did it taste good?”

“Amazing.”

“Did you at least take a picture of it?”

“No – I wish I had, now,” Rachel said.

“He clearly feels bad about what happened between you,” Susie said. “And he’s a nice guy, Rach. He just did something stupid. Give him a break.”

“I can’t,” Rachel said.

Susie sighed. “You’re being stubborn. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“I know.” But she couldn’t help the way she felt.

*

Tuesday morning saw another box on Rachel’s desk. This time, it looked like some kind of cheesecake, except it was a perfect rectangle and every layer was in a perfect straight line without even the slightest wobble. The top had a pale yellow glaze, and there was a decoration of candied pineapple and angelica which made it look as if half a tiny pineapple was resting on one corner. The attention to detail was amazing; this time, Rachel took a photograph of the cake on her phone and sent it to her sister.

And then she texted Ryan. Thank you for the cake.

Tropical cheesecake. The bottom is a coconut crust, the next layer is mango confit, and then passion fruit cheesecake. The glaze is pineapple.

He could have been writing an entry on a menu in a very exclusive, very upmarket pastry shop in the city.

And maybe, she thought, that was what he’d do in the future. Maybe he was testing out his menu on her.

Except this cake also had a label with a message. I was an idiot.

Yup.

Her phone beeped with a message from Susie. That’s amazing. Have sent pic to the girls. We think you should forgive him.

No, Rachel texted back. She wasn’t ready.

*

Ryan continued his campaign on Wednesday with something she’d never seen before – a large cream puff with a smaller cream puff on the top to make it look almost like a snowman, except there was pale purple glazing on the cream puffs and a collar of cream dusted with gold around the snowman’s neck.

Thank you for the snowman, she texted.

Not snowman. It’s a religieuse, came the reply.

Religieuse?

Originally in Paris these were made with dark chocolate glaze, so the cake looked like a nun wearing a habit. That’s why it’s called a religieuse, after the French word for a nun. This one has violet-flavored crème and glaze, with blueberries in the middle and candied violets on the top.

It’s pretty, she texted back. And it tastes good. Like nothing she’d ever tasted before, but the violets reminded her of a spring morning in Montana.

As before, there was a message on a chocolate label. Of course you wouldn’t want me to dump my family. I know family’s important to you, too.

Hmm. Well, she was glad he realized that now.

*

On Thursday, there was no box on Rachel’s desk when she went to work.

Obviously he’d given up.

And she was shocked to realize that she actually felt disappointed.

Not that she had any intention of admitting that to her sisters and their friends when they met up at Susie’s house that evening.

Except… There was a larger white box on the counter in Susie’s kitchen.

Rachel narrowed her eyes at her sister. “Is that what I think it is? Ryan sent the box here?”

“No peeking. And I have strict instructions on presentation,” Susie said.

“How did he even know I was coming here tonight?”

Susie wrinkled her nose. “Um.”

Rachel blew out a breath. “You talked to him?”

“He called me and asked where we were meeting up because he wanted to send you cake. Rach, I know he hurt you, but he’s a good guy at heart. He’s not a selfish jerk like Nick was. He’s hurting just as much as you are, right now. He’s got huge dark circles under his eyes, ones that are even bigger and darker than the ones under yours.”