Fake It Till You Bake It(84)

He held out the phone. Jada took it and quickly read the text from someone listed as Guy in the phone.

Hey, son, I need an extra 5K, just to get me through the next month. Rent’s due and money’s tight.



Jada passed the phone back to him. “Does he ask for money often?”

Donovan’s jaw tightened as he stared at the ocean. “I send him money every month. My mom doesn’t know—the only one who does is August. I thought if he had a decent financial base, he could get his life back together.”

Jada rubbed the tense muscles of his back. “And?”

“It worked for a while, but gambling addiction is real. I don’t think I fully understood that until I was in the league and sent him enough money to live a comfortable life. He got pulled back in, and yeah, I don’t know. When he’s winning, he flies high. When the losses hit, it gets ugly. Lately, he’s been even more persistent than usual asking for more.” He turned to face her. “All those texts and calls I’ve been ignoring? They were from him. Leaving him in the lurch seems cold-blooded, but I don’t know what to do.”

The moonlight cast a shadow over his face, but it didn’t hide his uncertainty, his unease. Jada laid her head against his shoulder and stared, unseeing, at the water. She wished she had some words of wisdom to offer. Wished she could take on his hurt. “You’re a good son.”

“It doesn’t feel like it a lot of the time.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Though the night had been heavy, there was nowhere else she’d rather be. No one else she’d rather be with.

Donovan squeezed her thigh. “Let’s talk about something else.”

Jada nodded, eager to shake off the weight of the evening. “Sounds like a plan. You know, you promised me a surfing lesson.”

His lips curved. “I haven’t forgotten, but seeing as it’s dark now, that’s going to have to wait. I have some good news.”

Jada clasped her hands together. “More good news?” She held up a palm. “Wait. New rule. Whenever you have good news, you must share immediately. Congrats again on the new contract, but I’m still mad you didn’t tell me earlier, by the way.”

He chuckled. “I’d planned on telling you after dinner, but Mrs. T spoiled the surprise. Adam finally got his head out of his ass and negotiated like the world-class agent he is.”

They shared a look, remembering the agent’s initial asinine requests that either Donovan break up with her or Jada sweet-talk Grams.

“So, yes, congrats on the contract.” She slapped his arm. “What’s the other good news?”

“I’ve been in contact with Rose.”

The photographer from the book club meeting?

Jada’s mouth dropped. Of all the things he could have said, that was nowhere close to her top ten contenders. “Why were you in contact with her?”

“Because I wanted her to send me the photos she took of us.” The “duh” was unspoken, but very much implied. Jada’s heart flip-flopped in her chest. “Anyway, we’ve been texting back and forth, and she agreed to do a photo shoot for the store.”

She’d barely picked her chin up. Now he’d shocked her again. “A photo shoot? Are you serious? Why?”

His eyes twinkled. “I don’t know if you remember, but the first time you were in Sugar Blitz, you said the place was stale, and for some reason, I’ve never been able to forget it. Rose is going to come and take photos of our cupcakes—fun, lively photos—we can hang on the walls.”

Excitement zinged through her. Jada gasped. “And she can also take photos of you, August, and Nicholas baking and interacting with customers and joking around. It’ll be perfect!”

Donovan grimaced. “Yeah, I’m not sure August is going to go along with that.”

“Why not? I’ll talk to him. He likes me. Yay for good ideas!”

“Thanks.” A dangerous, sexy light entered his eyes. “I have another good idea.”

She set aside her glass, the blood already thickening in her veins. “Do tell.”

He set his glass next to hers, then leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her neck while he slid a hand under her dress. “How about I show you instead?”



* * *



While Donovan provided an excellent distraction from her parents and their opinion of her and her life choices, the next day Jada was still obsessing about what Grams said. And the way she’d felt when he said he’d sought out the photos they’d taken.

So she did the only thing that made sense when she got home from work. She called her best friend over to eat ice cream.

“Then he defended me to my parents.” Jada set aside her bowl and hopped up from her couch. Pacing would calm her. Maybe. Hopefully.

Olivia’s spoon clattered into her bowl as her mouth dropped open. “He defended you to Dr. and Dr. Townsend-Matthews? Bet they reacted well to being told they were wrong. They always have facts on their side.”

Jada reached the end of the room and headed back toward her friend. “Well, Donovan speaks their language. He runs on logic and so do they, so he knew exactly what to say to get them to stop lecturing me. It was quite impressive.”

Olivia wiggled her eyebrows. “Was it now?”