“Oh yeah,” she says, her expression falling into a disappointed state that is very satisfying.
I decide to finish her off. No mercy. “And Ralph said these Covingtons have a sweet tooth, right?” I shrug. “So he’s probably here to demand a bunch of weird, custom orders because the elites hate to order off of the common menu. Am I right? Eh?” I make an effort to smooth things over with her. “And I’m sure you have a ton of prep work to do, so I won’t keep you from it.”
“Well, be sure not to keep him waiting. If he complains, Ralph will hit the roof. You know what he’s like during these special events.”
She walks off looking satisfyingly annoyed now that a very promising avenue of gossip has dried up. Hopefully, she’ll find the scent of another trail soon and leave me alone.
“I’ll take care of it right away,” I say as I head back. I’m pretty sure that it’s Jellybean waiting out there, and I’m not in any hurry to see him again. I still haven’t finished thinking through the events of this morning. Fear grips my chest and my stomach does a loop. I lean against a nearby counter.
“Kaylee!” Vivian screeches at me.
I turn back icily. She’s still here? “What?”
“He’s that way,” she points out to the hallway where my bakery has a window display that is open to foot traffic right off of the main lobby.
“Fine,” I say and trudge off.
I make my way back, sure to check behind me to see that Vivian is gone before I exit out to the display case that faces the general public. I smooth my white coat down with my hands and take a deep breath. Here goes nothing.
As expected, a perfectly groomed Jellybean stands in front of my display case. Now he’s in a different suit and pressed shirt. I instantly decide that I like him better with his hair messed up and his guard down.
I assume he’s here to talk about our arrangement, and I have some questions about that too. But as I slip quietly into public view, I see that he is engrossed in my display case. Seriously, he’s practically drooling on it. “Can I help you?” I ask sweetly.
His face snaps up to mine and he looks relieved. “Coconut!” he exclaims. “I mean, Kaylee. Thank goodness. I was looking all over for you.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Then you remembered that I told you I work here, right? And looked me up in the resort directory?”
“About that,” he says, crossing the distance between us. Well, as much as he can with the glass counter in his way.
He indicates with his head that I should come around to the outside of the display to meet him. Judging by recent history, it probably has something to do with privacy.
Apparently, every single conversation with Covingtons is confidential. I probably should have asked what the hell I was getting myself into this morning, but that ship already sailed. I said I’d do it, and I’ll do it. If nothing else, I am a woman of my word.
With a sigh, I step forward through the little hip-height swinging door and around the counter to meet him. I shake his hand, which throws him off his game. That is enjoyable in itself, but it’s mainly for show in case Vivian is spying on us. “Hi. I’m Kaylee. I assume your name isn’t really jellybean.”
“Oh yes,” he says as his lips curl up into a smile. “Chase Covington.”
And there it is. Of course. A Covington.
“You didn’t mention that this morning,” I chide.
“You didn’t ask,” he answers quickly.
He leans in and I notice that he smells like heaven. Being this close to him, my heart rate picks up. Whatever musk he put on after I left this morning makes me want to, well, do what I did to him last night all over again.
Fight it, Kaylee. Remember that this whole arrangement is fake. Don’t get attached. Sure, he’s gorgeous and rich. But that’s exactly why he’s going to fly away when the weekend is over.
“What can I help you with, Chase?” I ask, trying out his real name. It feels weird.
After a quick glance around, he gets down on one knee.
I feel my chest tighten. What the fuck is he doing?
He pulls a small jewelry box out of his pocket. He snaps the jewelry box open and inside lies a gold ring with a diamond the size of a strawberry. “Kaylee Love, will you marry me” he asks.
I hear a smattering of applause and awwww’s now in the hallway from random passersby as Chase is attracting attention. Too much attention. Which is exactly what I don’t want him to do.
“Chase!” I scream and grab him by the arm. My plan is to drag him off into a private corner and kick him repeatedly. This is not how I want it to go down. It feels like his fake engagement is mocking all of my real engagement hopes and dreams.
It’s one thing to make a deal in a hotel suite bathroom, it’s quite another to humiliate me in public and remind me that I have now had more fake engagements than real ones.
But then I look around at all of the concerned strangers. Shit. The only way to get rid of them is to placate them.
“I will,” I say with the best fake romance smile I can muster. I accept the ring box to more applause and bat my eyelashes all around.
I give it another thirty seconds. Then I grab him and pull him behind the corner and into a nook out of public view. It’s a corner that we employees use frequently for gossip and privacy. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“You didn’t have a ring.” He looks confused. “This whole thing will be a lot more convincing if you’re wearing a ring.”
I punch his arm, hard. “You could have given it to me later. What part of
