Page 42 of Resisting You
My heart sank as fear paralyzed my mind and without uttering a word, I sprang from Noah's arms, standing and cleaning my hands with some napkins and the glass of water in front of me.
"Rosa, wait," Noah said, but I merely shook my head to interrupt him.
"I know why we're doing this," I whispered, risking a quick glance at Neil. "But I just... I need it to be fake." I paused, looking up at Noah through a sheen of moisture coating my eyes. "I need all of it to be fake. And if you can't do that?—"
"It's a little late to go back on all this now, Rosa. We're in it. We're in it whether you regret it or not. So we might as well make the best of it."
A tear fell from the corner of my eye and I wiped it away, wincing as another flash went off outside the window. "I just need to get out of here."
"Give me a second, I'll come with you?—"
But I didn't wait for Noah. I couldn't. Noah's presence was the problem. With him by my side, they would keep following. Keep photographing.
And it would never stop.
Which was why no matter how much I liked Noah, this marriage could never be a reality.
Chapter 15
Noah
I launched to my feet to follow her, clumsily grabbing my wallet from my back pocket and muttering a curse as I spilled a few quarters I’d haphazardly tucked into my billfold.
She was already out the door, pushing her way through the crowd with their phones out, recording every second.
“Dude, go!” Neil called out to me from behind the counter. “I know you’re good for it.”
“Thanks, man,” I said.
Grumbling, I stuffed my money back into my pockets and grabbed the to-go box of cupcakes. If anything will get me back into her good graces, it would most likely be Neil’s magical cupcakes.
I rush out the door, gently pushing through the excited murmurs of the crowd filming me. “Which way did she go?” I asked the women loitering outside of Beefcakes.
An older woman who was probably around my mom’s age pointed East of the park, toward my mother’s house. “She went that way, darling.”
I look to my left and sure enough, I can see a blur of dark curly hair running in the entirely opposite direction of the MapleGrove Inn. Rosa, for all her amazing qualities, severely lacked any sense of direction.
“Thank you,” I told the woman.
“Get her flowers!” she called after me as I took off toward Rosa. “Women like flowers!”
“Noted!” I yell back over my shoulder and sprint off down the street, avoiding other pedestrians.
The crowd thinned out as I escaped the bachelorette crowd waiting in line at Beefcakes. Maple Grove was a tourist destination, but even in our busiest season, we were hardly ever packed with people. “Rosa!” I called out as I got close enough for her to hear me.
She glanced over her shoulder at me, but kept walking with a huff. “Leave me alone, Noah! I need some space.”
Fuck that. “Not out here you don’t.”
“Why? Is it dangerous here in Maple Grove? Are you afraid one of the twelve bakery owners in this town might come out of their shop and assault me with a baguette?”
Despite her anger, a smirk tugged at my lips. “A baguette?”
With a sigh, she whipped around to face me. “Seriously, how many bakeries and coffee shops does one tiny town need?” she said, gesturing wildly. “You’ve got your brother-in-law’s cafe, Latte Da. That Beefcakes one. The Pie Diner at the Inn?—”
“Elsa’s,” I corrected her. “Locals refer to her as a Piner because she has the best pie in town.”
She snorted. “Exactly. Why do you need a place that specializes in pie when you have a gazillion other bakeries! I mean look! There’s even a freaking food truck selling donuts?—”
