Kacey’s hands flew to her face. “Oh. My. Gosh! I do. He’s one of my best customers. You nominated me?”

“I did, and I’d like to take you out to celebrate if you’ll let me.”

She pulled her lips in, showing a dimple in her left cheek.

“I think you’ve just been asked out on a date on national television,” Martin said. “Are you going to answer his question, or do we need to take this off-stage?”

“Yes. Yes, of course I’ll go out with you. How can I say no to that?”

Martin shrugged dramatically. “Apparently, you can’t. In our Valentine’s Day Bake-Off we’re not just baking, we’re making happy-ever-afters.”

The audience cheered.

“Come on over here.” Martin motioned to the two couples. “We loved having you on our show. We’d like to send you out on a very special Valentine’s Day dinner on us. There’s a limo waiting outside. Everyone give them a big round of applause.”

Martin marched over to Andrew and Kelly as the others left the stage.

“This might be the best match-up we’ve ever had on our show.” Martin walked to Kelly. “Do you have any idea who may have nominated you to be on the show?”

“No, sir. I’ve thought about it a lot. At first I thought maybe it was my friend Sara, but she seemed as surprised as I did when you walked into The Cake Factory that day.”

“You’re right. It wasn’t Sara.”

“Have you kept being here a complete secret?”

“I have,” she said. “Completely.”

“I bet you were surprised to see a familiar face on the stage then.”

She glanced in Andrew’s direction. “Yes. Very surprised. I saw him for the first time in seven years last week. He said he going to New York to help a friend open a restaurant. I didn’t suspect a thing.”

“Good one,” Martin said, giving Andrew a nod as he moved over with the mic to talk to him.

“Andrew York. Executive Chef, or Chef de Cuisine shall we say, for the infamous Francois Dumont. You flew in all the way from France for this competition.”

“Yes, sir. I did.”

“And you’ve kept this under wraps as well?”

“Yes, but it hasn’t been easy.” He glanced over at Kelly. “I don’t like lying to the people I care about.”

“Well, I’m sure everyone will understand when they see where you’ve been the last few days. So, tell me, Andrew, any idea who may have nominated you?”

“I’m pretty sure it was my Aunt Claire. She was the one who got me into pastry school in France. She’s been instrumental in paving the way for me to garner experience with the most celebrated chefs of all types.”