Fake It Till You Bake It(40)

Did he really sound like he had a stick up his ass? “I did say that. However, I can’t ignore the line outside that door. My sister tells me we’ve gained ten thousand fans on our Instagram account since yesterday. Online orders have increased three hundred percent since yesterday. All because of interest in our love life.”

“But we’re not dating. There is no ‘our love life.’” Her eyes were big and wide.

He couldn’t, wouldn’t get lost in them. This was a logical move, nothing more, nothing less. “I thought you’d be jumping at this opportunity. It was your idea, after all.”

“Yeah, but I’ve had time to think. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. Not be so impulsive. Really take charge of my life.” Her hands twisted together at her waist, her perfectly manicured nails painted a pretty lavender.

He shouldn’t be noticing such a small detail about her, but he did. He noticed everything about her, if he was being honest with himself. “I understand that desire.”

Her head lifted. “You do?”

He nodded. “I didn’t grow up in the most stable environment, so I sought to make my life as stable as possible once I became an adult.” He spread his arms wide. “Opening a cupcake shop is the most impulsive thing I’ve done in years, even if I did run all kinds of analyses to make sure it was a sound investment.”

“Until now. When you want to date me.” Her lips, painted a deep red, curved. His blood stirred. He knew how that gloss tasted and had loved it.

“Fake date.” He needed to remind himself of that fact, if no one else.

She chuckled. “Yes, my bad. Fake date.”

“I need this shop to be a success, to stay on the stable train, and the only way to make that happen is to have more customers. I’ve thought this through.”

She crossed her arms. “And what evidence-based and orderly conclusions have you come up with?” Jada was back to silently laughing at him. You could knock her down, but she would always get back up, ready and willing to put him in his place. He ordered himself not to smile.

“That we don’t have to do much more than what we did today.” He ticked the points one by one on his fingers. “We work here together. We don’t argue.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Aww, really? That doesn’t sound fun.”

He continued like she hadn’t spoken. “We don’t deny it when someone claims we’re dating. We take photos when asked. If someone asks us to kiss, we decline like we did today.”

“No kissing, huh?” She tapped him on the chest with a single finger. It was the briefest of touches, but it sent his heart rate skyrocketing anyway. He needed to get a grip. Like right now. It was also a reminder why kissing was out of the question. He liked order. He liked to stay in control. And yesterday, he’d lost control temporarily when he’d kissed her back. He didn’t need any distractions, and she practically had a neon light above her head that spelled out DISTRACTION.

Then why are you trying to convince her to do this, dumbass? Because it made sense given their predicament. He needed to increase store business so he could hire a manager soon. If people showed up because they thought they were dating, it didn’t matter as long as they bought cupcakes, which would help him meet his goal. That’s all it was.

She was shaking her head. “I’m not dragging you into my mess. I was impulsive. I have to work on that.”

He ruthlessly reined in the panic trying to sink its claws into him at her attempt to back out of his proposal. This was all about reason. “That’s why we have these rules. It should be pretty simple. We’ll ride the wave while we can. I don’t expect the attention to last long, but if it increases our brand awareness and gains us some new customers, then it’ll be worth it.” He tipped her chin up because really, why shouldn’t he take his chance to touch her? She’d scalded him through his shirt, after all. “Need I remind you that this ruse will help save your reputation and give you some armor to protect you from the arrows shot your way? I haven’t forgotten what that woman said out there. Or what you said yesterday. There are more people out there like her, aren’t there? People who delight in being mean to you, who don’t hesitate to call you all kinds of names?”

Her eyes widened. She nodded. He nodded back. Yes, he knew, and he was here to help. It was the truth. Yes, he was a selfish bastard for using her for his own purposes, but that didn’t mean he liked seeing that look of pain in her eyes.

Then she glanced away. “I’m still not sure this is a good idea. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that not all attention is good.”

“That’s why we’re in this together. We’ll rely on each other. We’ll control the narrative.” He held out his hand. “Are you in?”

Her teeth snagged her plump bottom lip while she considered his offer. He suppressed a moan. He would not let an unintentionally sexy action get to him. He was in control. He was always in control. He could handle one inconvenient attraction, especially since the source of the attraction lived to drive him up the proverbial wall. This was what was best for Sugar Blitz.

And him?

“It’ll be an adventure,” he added.

“Is that so? I can never resist an adventure. I’m in.” Her eyes were twinkling. Her soft hand slipped into his, the slide of their palms against each other sending a zap of pleasure up his arm and down his spine.