She nodded. “I may have, but no. This is the last second where this relationship will be only ours. After we go into the bakery, we are nothing more than phone tree fodder. I know it’s the right choice, but can we sit here for a second and enjoy it?”
She rested her hands in her lap and I pulled one free and brought her knuckles to my lips, kissing each one softly. “Just don’t do a tell-all interview for the paper.”
Katy laughed. “That entirely depends on how much they offer.”
We shared one last quick kiss in the middle of the car and then both of us lingered after we pulled apart. We had an attack plan to keep the gossip low, and we needed to put it into play, but neither of us were excited about what would happen next.
I unlocked the door and waited for her at the front of the hood, stopping her before she stepped onto the sidewalk. “Also, if I was going to kidnap you, I wouldn’t bury you in the woods after I bought you a brownie. I’d make you a sex slave.”
Her eyebrows raised, and she pulled on the sleeves of her light sweater. “You don’t need to kidnap me for that.”
Katy walked away first, but I stepped in front of her to hold the door open and allowed her into the bakery before me. Tabitha, wearing a bright pink apron with her name embroidered on the front watched the two of us together. When we both made it into the bakery and neither one of us starting yelling at the other, she dropped the dishtowel she’d been using to wipe the counter, letting it fall to the floor.
“Katy!” she cried out at her best friend as if she thought Katy had come back from the dead. “Are you okay? Has Pierce Kensington kidnapped you?”
Really?
Katy turned to me with her eyes as wide as saucers. “See!”
I threw my head back and laughed because what the hell else do you do when you’re dating Katy Kadish? Later I’d get a copy of the security video from Ridge to watch it on repeat. Tabitha was not what you’d call an excellent actress. I didn’t know how the two women pulled it off, but I wouldn’t put it past Katy to have sent her a text message with the plan in place before we even left my house.
Dating Katy wasn’t for the faint of heart. Thankfully, after years of practice I was up to the task. I spent most of my life as her mortal enemy, and now I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of it as her soul mate.
Everything in the universe felt right in that moment. The stars and planets aligned, and when the bright morning sun filtered in through the bakery window, I glimpsed our future together.
I’d spend my life making Katy happy, so she’d never regret becoming mine. She didn’t want vacations, jewelry, or expensive clothing to continue winning her over every day. It would take putting up with her crap and showering her with unconditional love. It wasn’t the Kensington way, but we’d figure it out as we went along.
Now I needed to get her moved into my home as quickly as possible.
23
Katy
*Almost a week later*
* * *
“Here, Pearl, can you watch my popcorn please?” I handed her my half-eaten red and white bag of popcorn before she could say no. Townspeople packed themselves into the Pelican Bay High School gym. Every seat in the bleachers held a body and someone had spilled a soda down the aisleway.
Pearl took my bag but not before giving me side eye. “Don’t think because you’re dating Pierce now I’m going to be your maid.”
“Ha-ha,” I deadpanned, but on the inside I laughed a little. I totally pictured Pearl following me around like a maid. She’d talk way too much while giving her crazy advice and she wouldn’t help around the house. Pearl would be the worst maid ever. “I’ll be right back. I just have to pee.”
Right as I stood, a student player made a basket, and the crowd jumped to their feet and clapped, a few of the parents whistled and people stomped their feet on the bleachers, creating a ruckus. Who needed a megaphone when you had half the town at your disposal?
The annual Friday night charity basketball game always drew a crowd. Or as I liked to call it, the perfect cover. The game pitted the senior class against the Pelican Bay High School staff members. The tradition of the basketball game went back years. I even participated as a senior.
We required attendance at the game for every Women’s Auxiliary member. The only person I’d ever heard be given a pardon for missing the yearly event was Melissa Steinback. She gave birth during the half time celebration and had Pearl put her on Facebook chat and streamed the game from her phone. She named the baby Hooper to commemorate the event’s name—A Night of Hoops. I figured they gave her a lot of superb drugs at the hospital. We didn’t ask questions.
Hooper entered the world a healthy eight pounds and six ounces, and the teachers won ninety-eight to eighty-five. Exciting times all around.
“Nothing is going to change now that I’m dating Pierce,” I promised Pearl as I carefully inched my way across a row of the bleachers and found the set of stairs.
I’d been dating the town billionaire almost a week and the jokes and comments hadn’t stopped. They barely even slowed. Pierce said eventually something new would happen in town, something to make the newspapers, and the drama and small talk would die off, but I wasn’t hopeful. It would probably take a year… if it ever happened. I’d be Pearl’s age and somebody would comment how I married the local billionaire.
Shit, did I just use the word married? Too much popcorn.
I stopped at the edge of the gym before exiting through one of the side doors and turned back to glance at Pearl. She stayed focused on the game, her eyes watching the ball as a teacher dribbled it back and forth on the court. The teachers were known cheaters, but this year’s seniors had them on the run and were currently leading the game by six points.
