Close to You

ever given her
anything but compliments regarding them.
    It was just one review, she told
herself. To Carmen, she decided to laugh it off. “I’ve never had
complaints about my scones, but I suppose there has to be one to
keep me humble.”
    “ We found more than
one.”
    The royal we was beginning to get
on her nerves. “There was more than one?”
    “ Several. One called the
croissants oily, another said the biscotti ‘ had the consistency of drywall .’”
    Drywall? Eve gasped. She started
toward her laptop, sitting on the far counter, to see these reviews
for herself.
    But then she stopped. Now wasn’t the
time to flip out. She had to deal with Carmen to make sure she
still had a shot at Daniela. Clearing her throat, she said in her
most pleasant voice. “Carmen, I can assure you I’ve never had
anything but glowing reviews about my pastries.”
    “ Yes, but—”
    She cut in, thinking fast. “If these
reviews had cropped up in the past few days, I wonder if there’s
something else going on. I assume you’re interviewing other places
in San Francisco for Daniela’s launch party.”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Hmm.” She let the sound
hang in the air, not wanting to accuse anyone of anything, but not
willing to go down without a fight. Frankly, she couldn’t imagine
someone would deliberately seed Yelp with bad reviews to sabotage
her chances of hosting Daniela Rossi, but she was willing to let
Carmen think that.
    The publicist took the bait too.
“People have been known to go to great lengths to host
Daniela.”
    Eve rolled her eyes but said
nothing.
    “ Okay, we’ll overlook this.
We’ll see for ourselves soon enough when we visit your
store.”
    “ You’re visiting Grounds
for Thought?” she asked, excited again.
    “ Daniela would like to get
a feel for each place in the running before making a final
decision.”
    “ And when will this
be?”
    “ We’ll let you know. In the
meantime, I suggest you take care of those Yelp
reviews.”
    Like there was anything she could do.
But she just said, “Of course. Thank you for calling,
Carmen.”
    The moment she was off the phone, she
ran to the laptop on the opposite counter. Standing, she looked
them up. Sure enough, there they were, just like Carmen
said.
    Sketchy. They were all posted three
days ago. She looked at the previous dozens of reviews, all of
which were glowing.
    The kitchen door creaked open.
“Eve?”
    She looked up to find Treat peeking
in. Her cheeks flushed instantly, but instead of greeting him what
came out of her mouth was “I’m so pissed.”
    He walked in, a frown furrowing his
brow. “Tell me.”
    She waved at her laptop. “Someone
posted bad reviews about my baking.”
    “ That’s crazy.” He leaned
over her shoulder to read the postings. Then he shook his head.
“These look like they’re written by the same person. Look at the
word choice. They sound too similar.”
    “ You think so?” She reread
them.
    “ Definitely. Besides, Eve,
your baking is delicious.”
    She looked over her
shoulder, startled to find him so close. He was right there . She was suddenly
conscious of the smell of his leather jacket overlaying the scent
of soap. A lock of his hair had fallen loose of his ponytail, and
she had the strong urge to brush it away. Instead, to keep her
hands occupied, she tucked her own hair back.
    He searched her face. “You make magic
in here, and you know it. A couple bad reviews won’t make a
difference.”
    “ They will if Daniela Rossi
believes them and takes her launch party elsewhere.”
    “ I don’t know you well, but
I get the sense you wouldn’t let that happen.”
    His voice raised goose bumps on her
skin. “No, I wouldn’t.”
    “ I didn’t think so. Where
are your shoes?”
    The non sequitur made her blink.
“What?”
    “ Your shoes.” He nodded at
her flip-flopped feet.
    “ Over there.” She pointed
to the corner where she’d kicked them off.
    “ Are they
black?”
    “ With a little pink.
Why?”
    “ You’re going to kill me,”
he said cryptically. Then he smiled and brushed her hair, which had
fallen forward again, back.
    “ I’ve tried
barrettes.”
    “ What?”
    “ To keep my hair out of my
eyes, but they make me look like I’m five.”
    He grinned. “You don’t look five to
me.”
    “ What do I look
like?”
    “ A smart, sexy woman.” He
snaked his hand around her waist and pulled her closer.
    Her lips parted. He was going to kiss
her. Her heart pounding, she gripped