Fake It Till You Bake It(45)



“Which is the exact opposite of what usually happens in romance,” said a woman named Cara, according to her name tag. The other women nodded.

“Thank God. What woman doesn’t want some fine-ass man at her feet?” said Alex, another club member.

“Yes, girl, yes,” another woman named Lydia said, holding up her hand for a high five.

“When Carlton arrives at the ranch, he doesn’t tell Becca why he’s there,” Kendra said. The group groaned in unison. Jada didn’t blame them. Every romance reader knew when a love interest kept secrets, doom was sure to follow.

“What do you think about that, Donovan?” Kendra asked.

All eyes turned to him. To his credit, he didn’t wilt under the attention. He’d clearly regained his footing and, unlike her, wasn’t obsessing about that moment when they’d been close enough to kiss. “Well, I’m usually a fan of honesty is the best policy. However, he had just accidentally overheard her conversation saying she would never listen to anyone trying to buy the ranch and would throw them out at the first opportunity. He’s also not sure he wants to buy the ranch. He was only there to get the lay of the land.”

Jada had heard enough. “Dude, come on. He wants to buy the ranch. We all know that.”

“He knows he doesn’t want to get his ass kicked before he can even say hello.”

The women laughed. Of course they did. Jada rolled her eyes. She would not be taken in by his charm. She didn’t even want to admit he had charm.

“Have you always been honest with your girlfriends, Donovan?” Lydia asked.

He nodded without hesitation. “Yes, I have.”

“Is that true, Jada?”

She considered him. Considered how he’d treated her from day one, and how he’d never been less than forthright with her. And how she appreciated it. “Yep, he’s never been afraid to let me know what was on his mind.”

He didn’t even try to hide his smirk. Her eyes narrowed. Then they rolled when the club members sighed as one. Now they’d have visions of Prince Charming dancing in their head. And maybe so do you.

Jada shook her head. Okay, again, that was enough of that ridiculous thinking.

Thankfully, Lydia turned her attention elsewhere. “What about you, Nicholas?”

“I believe that honesty is the best policy,” Nicholas said, rubbing the back of his neck, “which hasn’t always served me well when it comes to ending a relationship.”

Kendra’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re the love ’em and leave ’em type?”

“Well…”

“Yes,” Donovan chimed in. Everyone laughed.

Discussion continued with Donovan and Nicholas giving their male point of view about the story, with the women good-naturedly boo hissing every time they defended Carlton for not admitting the truth even though he had several opportunities to do so. They all agreed that Becca and Carlton were perfect for each other.

Inch by inch, tension melted out of Jada’s shoulders and hope beat back the nerves in her stomach. The wine flowed and the cupcakes were downed with unbridled appreciation. Success was officially within her grasp.

As the discussion came to a close, Kendra clasped her hands together. “Jada, in addition to imbibing wine and having a book discussion, we like to do a different activity each month to really make our book club stand out from other groups.”

“Oh, okay.” Unease skittered across her skin. Why didn’t she know what Kendra was about to say? They’d been in constant contact over the past few days.

She ignored Donovan’s intense gaze boring a hole into the side of her face. He liked order. He wanted to know everything before it happened.

Kendra’s leaned forward. “Rose is a photographer who does custom photo shoots.” She pointed to a waving woman seated at a table a few feet away from Jada. “We’ve been interested in the science behind cover photo shoots, and she promised to show us how they go down. However, the male model pulled out at the last minute, so we thought we’d have the book club members pose individually as Becca with a western, cowboy ranch–themed background.”

“Okay,” Jada said slowly. That didn’t sound too bad. It’s not like she didn’t like having her photo taken—well, before the whole reality-TV-villain thing happened, anyway.

Kendra’s voice rose with way too much excitement. “But with Donovan here, we’d love it if you two re-created the cover. We can display the photo on our website and social media accounts and hopefully attract more members. Y’all are both so good-looking, it makes perfect sense.”

The blood in Jada’s veins crystallized. Good thing, because running screaming into the night wouldn’t send the right message, and it would probably lead to yet another social media viral moment. Beside her, Donovan’s face had gone completely blank.

“You have amazing chemistry. You’ll be great,” Kendra continued like she had to convince them, clearly attributing their silence to being shy about stepping in front of the camera, and not to the fact that they weren’t actually dating.

Jada shook her head. “I’m not sure…”

“Oh, no, you have to do it,” Nicholas chimed in. August stepped away from the wall to finally join the group and nodded his approval at this new development.

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