“Well, it turns out she’s going to be here alittlelonger than an extra day.”
“How much longer?”
I shrugged and offered a cringy smile.
“Willow?” Tension filled his voice. “What did you cook up with your granny?”
“Will you please stop calling her that?” I picked up a couple of glasses and took them to the sink. Not because I was such a great guest, but because I couldn’t look Cash in the eyes and say what needed to be said. “She’s decided to stay the whole summer.”
I turned the faucet on full blast, hoping to drown out some of whatever his reply might be.
He came up behind me and turned the water off. “Say that one more time.” I sucked in a breath as his voice tickled my ear. “Iknowyou didn’t just say that we have to be a fake couple for the whole summer.”
I turned to face him and gulped when I found myself toe to toe with him. Something tingled deep in my stomach. “Yes, actually, I did.”
He threw his hands in the air and shook his head, taking several steps backward. “No, I can’t do it. It’s too—” He clamped his mouth shut and looked away.
“It’s too what?” I watched him for what felt like an eternity. His ears were red and the little muscles along his jaw twitched as he ran the fingers of both hands through his hair. “What is it?”
“It’s nothing. I’ve got too much going on, that’s all. I’m trying to get a business plan together so the bank will give me a small business loan. I’ve got to adjust my recipes for the cook-off. I’ve got—”
“What cook-off?” That was the second time in five minutes he’d mentioned a cook-off. He was going full-blown Negative Nelly on me. I had to interrupt him and change the trajectory of this conversation if I had any chance of salvaging it.
He took a breath. “It’s a cooking contest. The winner gets a fully tricked out food truck.”
“You’ll win. No doubt about it.”
He smiled at me. A real smile that made me want to allow the frosty hedge around my heart to melt. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but it’s a long shot. It would be like winning the lottery. I’m going to enter, but mostly to get my name out there. I’ve got to keep saving for a down payment and get my business plan to my lenders. Realistically, that’s how I’m going to get my hands on a truck.”
“Well, I won’t take up a ton of your time this summer. Honestly, I’d love to keep you and Grandmother as far apart as possible. Fewer chances for slip-ups, you know?”
“It’s not going to work, Willow.”
“No, really. You won’t even know you’re dating me. I’ll be the lowest maintenance fake girlfriend you’ve ever had.”
“Willow—”
“I promise. I won’t get in the way of your new business.”
“The business is only part of it.” He sighed and drew his hands over his face. “I thought I was stepping into a role for a day to help a nice old lady keep her cool and not have a heart attack. But what you’re asking me to do is lie for months on end. I don’t think I can do that. Could you?”
His eyes probed mine for the truth. I couldn’t help but feel like he hoped I would say I couldn’t. My conscience certainly was screaming loud enough about the whole thing. But I shut it down again and shifted into scheming mode one more time. I wasn’t ready to tell him about my fear of losing my chance at a real relationship with my grandmother—a relationship I hadn’t even known was possible when I’d rolled out of bed this morning.
“You’re thinking about this all wrong,” I said. “I’m not asking you to greet her every day and say, ‘Good morning, Mrs. Lennox. Don’t forget, I’m your granddaughter’s boyfriend.’ Just come to the occasional dinner and avoid casual conversations about relationships, dating, weddings, anniversaries, and stuff like that.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head. I wondered if he knew what that pose did for his biceps. Wowzers! Then again, this was Cash. Of course he knew.
“Is that all?” he asked.
“Yep. Easy-peasy,” I said, looking everywhere but at his thick arms.
“No. Not easy. Hard. Very hard.”
“Hard not to talk about relationships and marriage? Why? Because it’s your favorite topic of conversation when talking to elderly women?”
“It’s not that.”
“What is it then?”
