Page 37 of Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice

“Your brother wasn’t even enrolled in that subject, pumpkin. It’s okay. You can admit you’ve been smitten with me from the first day we met.”

Had I been that obvious? From the very first time I laid eyes on him, I’d put him on a ten-foot-high pedestal—this cool, aloof, handsome older boy, who was way out of my league. I’d watched him from afar whenever he came around to our house, hoping he would notice me. He never did, until one day, when I was having one of my low episodes. I was slumping on the sofa, quietly munching on some gummy bears, watching him defeat Eric in one of their racing games. He’d glanced at me, then came over and handed me a fun-size Snickers bar.

“You look like you could use one of these.”

Without another word, he walked away and resumed his game. And just like that, I was gone. One Snickers bar, and I was head over heels, madly and hopelessly in love with him. I wasthatpathetic. None of the guys I’d dated were ever memorable enough, and maybe that was the main reason things didn’t work out with George, too. Because I was always comparing them to Alec.

He had always been, and probably would always be, my unicorn.

“Oh, I adore childhood sweetheart stories,” Jacqui said, snapping me back to the present. “Was it love at first sight for you, too, Alec?”

“It was, but I was too stubborn to admit it.” His hand circled around my shoulder and started stroking my arm, as if showing affection. What it was doing, though, was short-circuiting my nerve endings. “She has this endearing habit of making a list for everything. If it was an important decision, she’d make a prosand cons list. If she had things she needed to tackle, it would be a to-do list. I swear, she couldn’t survive a day without making one. It used to annoy me at first, but that was one of the things that made me fall in love with her.”

I turned to stare at him, speechless.He noticed that?

The only people who knew about my list-making habit were my family and Naomi. It was something I’d started not long after I was diagnosed, because I used to feel like diabetes was dominating my life, telling me what I could or could not do. The lists were my way of establishing some sort of control over my otherwise overwhelming life.

“But even at the age of twelve, I knew I was going to marry her one day.”

Ooh, he wasgood, lying so effortlessly through his teeth. What I didn’t expect though, was how those lies were making my insides a tiny bit gooey. How my inadequately prepared heart was eating up every single word, along with his (fake) adoring look.

“That’s sweet,” Phil said. “How long have you been together?”

“Not long,” I replied, at the same time Alec said, “Two years.”

Three pairs of eyebrows went up—including my fake boyfriend’s.

Yikes.First test, and I’d already failed. This was why professional athletes put in countless hours of practice before competing in a match. Or why surgeons had to study for a million years before they were even allowed to come near a patient with a scalpel. The more often you do—or say—something, the quicker it gets ingrained in your muscle memory.

But I was nothing if not a quick study. And a decent improviser.

“I meant two years isn’t longenough,” I smoothly corrected my blunder. “Let me tell you, two years of a long-distance relationship was hard. Thank God for video calls.”

“Do you fly back and forth to visit? Your frequent flyer miles must be piling up.”

Man.The Spanish Inquisition had nothing on Jacqui Goodwin.

“We take turns,” Alec replied smoothly, quoting our well-rehearsed answer. “Our rule is, never go more than two months without seeing each other. And this year, we finally decided it was the right time for her to move out here.”

I sipped my champagne, hoping for liquid courage to get me through the night, and only wriggled my eyebrows in agreement.

“Being so far from me was taking a toll on her. She couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t work, too lovesick to function. Cried herself to sleep at night. Didn’t you, lovebug?”

I nearly spat out my drink. “Iwhat?”

His teasing grin was infuriating. “That was a joke, baby.” Pulling me closer, he planted a quick kiss on my cheek, sending tingles down my spine.

Phil chuckled, but Jacqui was relentless with her questions. “Alec tells me you’re starting a bakery?”

I nodded wordlessly, my brain still unwilling to move on from that kiss.

“Ellie bakes the most amazing things. All sugar-free, but you wouldn’t know it because they’re so delicious. When we were younger, it was one of the things I’d most look forward to whenever I went to her house.”

Huh.Was that true, or just another lie? I glanced at him, and my heart did a backflip when I saw him watching me with a smile, looking every inch like The Adoring Boyfriend Character he was so brilliantly portraying. He still had his hand wrapped around my shoulder, and I was acutely aware of his warmth on my bare arm.

And was it so wrong that I loved the way my name rolled off his tongue?

Jacqui gave me her first smile for the evening. “Let me know once you’re open. I might have some orders I could send your way.”

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