Page 11 of Fake It Till You Break It
My heels clacked against the tile floor as I quickly ran away before my mom or Mrs. Adler could say anything else. I had seen Dan disappear toward the kitchen about five minutes ago, so I probably only had a minute or two before he came back out. A minute or two to position myself exactly by the doorway but still look casual and nonchalant so he wouldn’t know that I’d been waiting for him.
With a plump strawberry in one hand, I lingered by the dessert table for what felt like ages when Dan finally came out with a tray of cake. This was it!
I pretended to almost walk into him and grasped his forearm to balance myself. Hello, muscles. “Sorry, I didn’t see you.”
He laughed. “It’s okay. Do you want a piece of cake?”
“Hmm, it does look good, but I don’t know if I should. I don’t know if I could handle any more food.”
His eyes slid down my dress and he grinned. “You still look good to me.”
Cheeks flushing a bit, I smoothed out the invisible wrinkles on my green dress. “I guess I could handle a slice and go to the gym tomorrow to make up for it.”
“If you want to work out, I know this really nice jogging path in the park if you’re interested.”
I… was not. I mean, I was fine with working out as long asI had air-conditioning and didn’t sweat too much, but I wasn’t going to tell Dan that. “I’d love to. But I don’t like to run by myself. It gets lonely.”
Moving the cake tray to one arm, Dan reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Why don’t you give me your number, and I’ll call you the next time I go? You know, so you could have some company.”
Victory! With a wide grin, I reached for his phone when Mom suddenly appeared out of nowhere and tugged on my elbow. “Mia! Why don’t you and Jake go dance before we leave? Don’t you owe him one?”
I pulled my arm away. “Uh, no. Why would I owe him one?”
“Because you two always dance together. Ever since you were kids.” Mom wrapped her arm around my shoulders and laughed. “You two make such a cute couple.”
“But we’re not—”
Dan shoved a cake plate into my hand and backed up. “Uh, I should get back to the kitchen. They’re starting to pack the leftover food for the couple to take home.”
“Dan, I didn’t—” Watching him sprint back into the kitchen, I groaned. “Seriously, Mom? Did you really have to do that?”
She waved her hand like she didn’t just embarrass the hell out of me. “It’s fine. They’re about to do the bouquet toss anyway. You need to get a good spot in the front before all those bridesmaids crowd in.”
Oh. My. God. If we were a cartoon, there would literallybe steam coming out of my ears right now. I let out a frustrated groan. “I don’tneedto get a good spot for the bouquet toss just like I don’tneedto dance with Jake. Or talk to him. Or doanythingwith him. You’re the one who’s forcing me to.”
“I just thought—”
“Forget it. You never listen to me anyway.” With a scowl, I stalked back to our table and grabbed the opened bottle of cognac in the middle and poured myself a shot. Tossing it back, I gasped a bit as it burned down my throat and then I shoved nearly half of the cake slice into my mouth as a chaser. It was cool and sweet but didn’t do anything to cheer me up.
JAKE
MOM AND I WEREjust getting ready to leave when Mia tapped on my shoulder. “Could I talk to you for a second?”
Damn it. I was so close to finally getting out of here. “About what?”
Her gaze flickered over my shoulder. “Why don’t we dance?”
“Uh, why?”
“Because it’s a wedding and that’s what people do?” Without waiting for my response, she grabbed my hand and yanked me toward the dance floor. It was still a bit early, so there were only a few people dancing. Mainly kids, their parents, and a couple of drunk adults.
A little girl twirled toward us, and I actually had to tug Mia out of the way so she wouldn’t get run over. Surprised by the sudden movement, she stumbled on her heels. Usually when Mia wears heels, she still isn’t very tall, but she must have wornsuper heels today because the top of her head was eye level with me.
She swept her hair over one bare shoulder, and my eyes followed her movement down to her green dress.
I didn’t dare look down any farther. Not unless I wanted to get my ass kicked. Instead I focused on her face.
Her left brow was arched slightly higher than the other. The fake lashes she wore framed her dark chocolate eyes, making them look wider than usual. Then my gaze moved down to her pink lips, and I forced myself to look away.
