Fake It Till You Bake It(68)

He side-eyed her. “I’ll bet. Wanna tell me what happened with John?”

Jada choked on a bite of that perfect asparagus. After taking a swallow of water, she glared at the man she’d been fantasizing about doing all kinds of wicked things to. Now those wicked things included murder. “Way to bring the mood down.”

His expression remained unfazed. “Need I remind you that you only realized you wanted to be with me after he showed up?”

“You said we were going to end up here anyway,” she immediately countered.

He ducked his head for a second. “We were, if you agreed, but I didn’t anticipate having to wait to see if he could win you back first.”

She was in so much trouble. He was entirely too cute. “That wasn’t going to happen.” While it was nice to know she hadn’t left John with any lingering damage, the rush of attraction hadn’t materialized. Neither had the overwhelming need to be in his presence. No, that feeling was only reserved for the man sitting a few inches away, currently scrutinizing her face.

“Did he take it well?”

“Yeah, for the most part. He was disappointed, but he took it like a gentleman. He said he had to give it one last shot, but he hoped we could remain friends.”

Donovan grunted. Then he shocked the hell out of her. “I watched the show.”

This time, a piece of chicken had the honor of getting stuck in her throat, sending her into a coughing fit. He reached over with a long arm and whacked her on the back. When she was done embarrassing herself and could breathe again, she glared at him. “You can’t say stuff like that.”

He had the audacity to smile. “Why not?”

Jada threw her hands up. “Because you’ve always acted like you barely knew what the show was!”

“Which is why I watched. Reality TV isn’t my thing, but I felt like there was a huge part of you I didn’t know or understand.”

Which was really sweet, and not simply mortifying. He’d watched the show? Her brain was having a hard time accepting the fact. She’d assumed he’d read an article and that’s why he knew who John was.

He held up a finger when she groaned. “I’d like to hear the story from you though. You done eating?” When she nodded, he deposited both of their plates on the coffee table and tugged her closer until her back rested against his hard chest. “Don’t worry. I got you.”

I got you. Such a simple phrase, but it did the trick. Had anyone, other than her grandmother and her best friend, ever really had her back? Certainly, no romantic partner for any length of time. Or her parents.

Jada filled her lungs, then exhaled. “I was contacted by the show through Instagram to ask if I was interested in being on it. I’d just bombed another audition in L.A. and said yes. I had nothing else going on.” She shrugged. “I’d seen an episode or two over the years. I did some research on the show and the contestants and discovered people had essentially turned being reality show contestants into full-time careers. I figured I could use the exposure to launch a lucrative career as a social influencer.”

“What happened on the show?” He drew circles on the back of her hand with a surprisingly soft index finger.

Finding it soothing, she concentrated on that motion as she went down memory lane. “I thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. An adventure. And it was! I never expected to fall in love.”

Donovan’s circling motion stopped. “And did you?”

Jada was glad she didn’t have to look him in the eye. “I thought I was, or could be. I mean I liked him. The dates were fun. We laughed a lot. Some of the other contestants told me I was a shoo-in. That I was clearly his favorite. I always tried not to get ahead of myself, to take each step as it came. That attitude actually worked to my benefit. I made things easy for him. He told me he could relax around me.”

He resumed stroking her hand. “But you turned down his proposal.”

That decision had changed her life forever in ways she’d never been able to imagine. Jada sighed. “Yeah.”

She held her breath, her whole body tensing. Was he going to ask why? That was always everyone’s next question. The question she still had trouble answering.

“Did you realize the reaction was going to be so brutal?” He shifted to cradle her body even more, causing her to sink into him. His strength buoyed her.

Jada shook her head. “Not at first. When the show started airing, my social media follower numbers blew up. Which was good. Viewers were rooting for us and messaging me to tell me they couldn’t wait until the final episode because they knew I was going to win, and we were the cutest couple. As the weeks went on and I got more and more messages, I knew it was going to be bad.” She grimaced. “But I still wasn’t prepared for the backlash. Or maybe my skin isn’t as thick as I thought it was.”

“Thick skin can be overrated.”

Jada twisted to meet his gaze. “Yeah, my therapist always tells me I’m allowed to feel what I feel. It’s sometimes hard to remember, let alone take that advice. She has me do affirmations when I really start to beat myself up. Apparently, I’m not supposed to be so hard on myself.”

“You’re not. You’re amazing.” He squeezed her waist. “One more question—why did you say no?”