Page 37 of Fa-La-La-La Faking It
“This fake dating thing has me a little rattled. Maple was here earlier, and it just hit me that I’m taking a pretend boyfriend to a once-in-a-lifetime family event. What was I even thinking? What if Gram finds out? What if—” She was talking over herself, a mile a minute.
Jace held up a hand before she hyperventilated. “Stop. You’re spiraling.”
He placed Fuzzy back down and walked around the counter so they could talk without an expanse of freshly baked pie between them. Fuzzy’s tiny feet tap-tap-tapped on the slick floor as he followed closely on Jace’s heels.
“Sweetheart,” he said again, as gently as if he was talking to a spooked horse. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. It’s all going to be okay.”
“It is?” She bit her lip and gazed up at him like all her hopes and dreams rested squarely on his shoulders.
Maybe they did, but that didn’t scare him. Jace had carried far heavier loads.
“I promise,” he said quietly, even though he knew he had no right to guarantee such things. She didn’t need to hear that right now, though. More than anything, she needed reassurance. And maybe someone who could grab a fork and put away a few pies.
Jace was up for both challenges.
But he needed to know one thing first. “Do you want to call it off? If so, just say the word and it’s done.”
It wasn’t until the words left his mouth that he realized how much he disliked the idea of ending things before they really began. Uncle Gus seemed pleased that Jace had found someone, even if he pretended otherwise. He’d been more talkative today—a little more tolerable, a little morealive. They’d had something close to a moment. Jace could almost see a flicker of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
Adaline wasn’t the only one with something at stake here.
After a long, excruciating moment, Adaline blew out a shaky breath. “No, I don’t want to call it off. Unless you—”
“I don’t either,” Jace said before she could even finish the question.
“Good.” She nodded, and at last, Jace spotted a flicker of a smile.
“You’ve got a little chocolate...” He brushed the pad of his thumb over the tip of her nose and she shivered. Every molecule in Jace’s body seemed to go on high alert. “...right there.”
Adaline leaned into his touch and neither of them moved until Jace’s hand slid gently over her soft cheek. Her pupils darkened as he twirled a wayward blond curl around one of his fingers, and all of Jace’s breath bottled up tight in his chest.
Then Fuzzy whined at their feet, and they each took an abrupt backward step.
Saved by the spaniel.
“Sorry,” Jace muttered and shoved his hands in his pockets.
Adaline picked up Fuzzy, and the Cavalier melted into her arms. The little guy didn’t like feeling left out.
Duly noted.Jace scratched the dog under his tiny chin and Fuzzy leaned his whole head into the palm of his hand. No hard feelings, apparently.
“He really likes you,” Adaline said.
“He’s a great dog. You two are really doing something special at the senior center.”
“Thank you. Comfort Paws is really important to us.” Her eyes leapt toward him, and she smiled. It was the most relaxed Jace had seen her since he’d walked through the door. They’d moved on to safer topics, it seemed.
“I was thinking that what we might need are some ground rules,” Adaline said, squaring her chin.
“If that makes you feel better and it stops...” he waved a hand at the surrounding sugar explosion “...all this, then sure. What did you have in mind?”
“For starters, we need a clear time frame.”
Jace nodded. “That sounds reasonable.”
Her eyes shifted so she was looking at an unspecified pastry in the general vicinity rather than directly at him. “I propose midnight on Christmas Eve.”
“That’s very...” he cleared his throat “...specific.”
