Fake It Till You Bake It(35)

“It seemed like it. They were like the Black Ken and Barbie. Gorgeous, funny, photogenic. All the viewers thought we were getting a fairy-tale ending with a proposal.”

“And then she dumped America’s Favorite Bachelor—that was the headline on the People cover—instead,” Sloane said. “The fans went crazy.”

Shana concurred. “Some of the other contestants said she was playing him the whole time and they were right.”

That didn’t sound like the woman he knew. Granted, he hadn’t known her very long, but the look of devastation and resignation on her face at the shop was real. He’d bet his entire net worth on it. And maybe that made him as much of a sucker as the dude on the reality show. “What happened next?”

“She stopped posting to all her social media accounts,” Sloane said. “No one knew where she was—until tonight. Tweet’s up to twenty-three thousand retweets, by the way. Why was she at the shop wearing the uniform?”

Donovan sighed. “Because she works there.”

“Since when?” Shana asked, her voice full of breathless disbelief. At least she didn’t screech like their little sister.

Donovan blew out a breath. “Since yesterday.”

“And you’re already kissing her. You move fast, big brother. Who knew you had it in you?” Sloane teased.

He groaned. “That’s not how it went down.”

“Then tell us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. How did she go from reality TV villain to Sugar Blitz employee to Donovan Dell’s girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” he said through clenched teeth.

“But you did have your tongue down her throat,” said his logical, straight-shooting older sister who would never be intimidated by him.

“No, I didn’t,” he said over Sloane’s snickers.

“Then tell us what’s up,” Shana said, clearly pleased with herself for maneuvering him into a corner.

Donovan started with how she’d come to work at the store and ending with the reason Jada had kissed him. “That’s it. She needed a temporary standin and I happened to be the guy standing there. No more, no less.”

His explanation was met with a few seconds of silence.

“Oh. That’s it?” Shana finally said.

“Yep.” Mostly. He’d left out the details about how that was the best first kiss he’d ever had. How her soft lips had clung so temptingly to his that he couldn’t help but respond. How the taste of her haunted him hours later and he could still taste her, especially if he closed his eyes and replayed the frustratingly short embrace in his mind. Which he’d done approximately fifty times since it happened. Yeah, his sisters didn’t need to know any of that.

“You’re not really dating.”

“Nope.” He ignored the twinge of disappointment that zapped him.

“Even though you’re trending on Twitter, and people are commenting that you two looked like soulmates as you gazed into each other’s eyes?”

Jada had the most amazing eyes he’d ever seen.

“Donovan?” His sister sounded way too hopeful.

He groaned. “No.”

“Oh. I was hoping what she said on the show was true. I really liked her and didn’t understand why she would go on a show just to humiliate somebody. Didn’t seem like her vibe.”

“We’re not dating.” He said it because it was true and maybe to remind himself. Just because he’d felt something new and sweet and hot during the kiss and had temporarily lost himself in the taste and scent and feel of her didn’t mean anything.

“Do you want to date her?” Sloane asked, apparently still hopeful. “Sounds like she could use a guy.”

“And dating her could boost your sales given the reaction tonight on Twitter,” Shana, the pragmatic accountant, added.

“No, I don’t, and really, Shana?” If there was a little tug of something near his heart that felt like regret, then whatever. He and Jada were not destined to be anything other than temporary boss and employee. No matter how soft her lips were or how good her body felt against his. “I have two focuses: making Sugar Blitz successful—without dating someone for the sole purpose of making that happen—and winning a Super Bowl next season. I don’t have time for anything else right now.” Especially someone who drove him crazy.





Chapter Ten


At 8:45 A.M., Jada made the right turn onto Sugar Blitz’s street.

What the hell?

Even from a block away, she had no trouble identifying the scene unfolding before her. A line of people started at the front door and extended down the sidewalk all the way to the stop sign at the end of the block. Were they here because of her? That was an arrogant assumption, but why else would so many people be here on a random Thursday morning before the cupcakery opened?

Shit.

Olivia had called her last night to let her know she was trending on Twitter and was the talk of Instagram. Jada had politely thanked her, ended the call, climbed in the bed, and chose to block out reality by binge-watching Nailed It! Low-stakes good times involving people who baked about as well as she did were all she could handle at the moment.

She didn’t want to think about Tamara’s video and the reactions to it. Apparently, that wasn’t the best decision. She should have been coming up with a game plan to handle the fallout of the Kiss instead. Jada blew out a breath. Oh, well.