Page 22 of Decked Out with Ivy

“Are you going to clue me in or what?” Louise asked.

“We’re fake dating,” Ivy announced before slapping a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, that was so much louder than I expected.”

“You hated him not even a night ago,” Louise pointed out.

“I did, but he propositioned me, and the deal was too good.”

Louise’s eyebrow arched. “He gets to pretend he’s dating a small-town girl—which will probably help his image. What exactly do you get out of this?”

“She’s trying to make me fall in love with Christmas,” Cody said.

A laugh burst from Louise’s mouth. “That is ridiculous and makes so much sense.” Her attention turned to Cody. “Do you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into?”

“Considering I was just lying in the snow, cutting down a tree with a handsaw, I can imagine.”

“Didn’t waste any time putting him to work,” Louise said. “Nice.”

“He had to get the whole experience.”

“Hot chocolate? Reindeers?” Louise asked.

“You can’t cut down a tree without those,” Ivy said.

Lousie smiled. “Now let me guess. You’re here for the gingerbread cupcake with the cinnamon cream cheese frosting?”

“You know it.”

“One or two?” Lousie asked.

“One,” Cody said, and Ivy swung toward him eyebrow arched. He was in the middle of filming… of watching what he ate.

Louise lifted a tray filled with bit-size pieces of cupcakes and pushed it across the counter. A huge smile blossomed on Ivy’s face as she plucked a piece from the tray and held it to his mouth. “Taste this.” He stared at her, finger resting slightly on his lip, the scent of gingerbread filling his senses.

“I’m not eating that.”

“Why not? It’s amazing.”

“It’s poison.”

A loud laugh burst from Ivy’s very kissable lips. “I assure you Shay can be a bit scary for a five-foot nothing mom of two, but she puts nothing but love into her cupcakes.”

“And sugar. Do you know how bad sugar is for the body?”

“No, but considering you don’t have an ounce of joy in your body, I imagine it’s worse to deny yourself the little joys in life.”

He couldn’t even argue. “Besides, these are actually made by Louise.” Ivy nodded to Louise which made it slightly uncomfortable as the woman stared him down with a death glare. “You don’t want to insult her to her face, do you?”

“I definitely wouldn’t want to do that.”

“Trust me.” Her light brown eyes held his and, as if his mouth lost contact with his brain, it opened. Ivy popped the piece of cupcake in his mouth, and the flavors exploded on his tongue. It had been so long since he indulged in a sweet that it tasted like heaven.

“Is it still one?” Louise asked as if she already knew the answer.

“Two.” His eyes had been lingering on those glass cases since they walked in, and now that he got to taste the delicious creation, all his restraint was tossed to the wind. He already had an extra ten minutes to his workout tomorrow for the hot chocolate, now he’d have to add another extra ten minutes. Drink some more water to flush his system. He didn’t care. All he knew was that he wasn’t leaving this bakery without a cupcake. The challenge would now be not ordering any more.

“You heard the man,” Ivy said, a smug smirk curving her lips, and Louise headed to the case with the Sweet Dreams Bakery pink box. “This flavor is a Louise creation. It took years of working here before Shay let her experiment with her own flavors. And I have to say, she’s amazing at it.”

“You have to say that,” Louise said. “You’re my best friend.”

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