“We don’t mind,” the woman behind her said. The other people in line quickly added their assent.
With a Herculean effort, Jada forced her lips upward. “Okay.” She inched closer to Donovan. She didn’t look at him because, well, this was awkward enough.
The woman lowered her phone. “Seriously, guys, you can do better than that. You look more like middle schoolers on their first date than America’s hottest new couple.”
Beside her, Donovan stiffened even more. Oh, God. Any second now he was going to give her up. Tell the women she was a liar and that she was only working there because her grandmother had begged him, her employee, to give her flighty granddaughter a job. That they were in no way, shape, or form dating.
“Not a problem.” Donovan shocked the hell out of her by wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her against his side. Good Lord, the man was built. Like a brick wall. A warm, really interesting to the touch, I-wanna-explore-every-ridge-and-nook-and-cranny brick wall. She looked up. His eyes were trained squarely on her.
Just like that, the memory of their kiss from yesterday played like a movie in her head. Crystal clear in 4K. The decadent glide of his lips against hers. Her soft sigh. Despite its brevity, the powerful impact it had on her couldn’t be denied. The desire to reexperience the embrace again nearly overwhelmed her. His eyes darkened, revealing the truth. He remembered, too. Wanted to experience it again, too. She was barely aware of the quick click-clicks of the cameras.
“Can we get a kiss?”
Yes, fantastic idea. Wait. What? Jada forced out a laugh and broke away from his hold, the slide of his hand warming her even through the cotton of her shirt. What would it feel like with no barrier? Wait. No. That wasn’t going to happen. She didn’t want it to happen. Right? Right.
Donovan coughed into his hand like he was floored by the request. Jada returned her attention to the customer. “No, you can’t, sorry. One viral kiss is one more than we bargained for.”
The woman pouted for a second. “Oh, all right. What about a selfie?”
“Sure,” Donovan said and made a move to step around the counter. Who was this man? Where had austere, everything-needs-to-make-sense Donovan gone?
“Jada.” Mr. Principal had returned.
Oh, right. They were waiting for her. She hurried around the counter to stand on the right side of the customer while Donovan stood on the left.
“Say cheese,” the customer said, then snapped. She lowered the phone. “Oh, this is so cool. I’m going to post this on Facebook and Insta right now.” She wandered away. Jada moved to return to her rightful place behind the counter, but the next customer stopped her.
“Oh, I want a picture, too,” she said.
And so began the avalanche of selfies. Eventually, Jada relaxed, her smile becoming more natural. Maybe she could make a living as an influencer after all.
“Does it bother you that your girlfriend is a heartless bitch?” the next customer asked.
And just like that her smile withered away to nothing. This was the response she’d expected. Had experienced before she got smart and stopped checking her social media accounts. The ball of anxiety in her stomach that had started to calm began to twist and turn and bounce around the small space again.
“Excuse me.” Donovan’s voice carried through the room, quiet, forceful in its intensity, snaring the attention of all occupants.
Jada laid a hand on his bare forearm. “It’s okay.”
“No, actually it’s not. No one talks about my girlfriend that way.”
Jada’s jaw unhinged itself from her face and fell straight to the floor. She couldn’t hear anything else over the buzzing in her head. When she stumbled out of her stupor a few seconds later, Donovan was marching the woman to the door and gently but firmly pushing her out the door while the other customers cheered. Well, the ones who weren’t recording the spectacle.
He came back and held up his hand for silence. Such a principal move, but kinda cool. And so fucking hot. “Thanks, everyone, but the applause isn’t necessary. We’re happy to serve anyone who wants cupcakes and a photo, but I won’t tolerate rudeness.”
His message was received loud and clear. For the next thirty minutes, they sold cupcakes to very eager, but polite customers.
Jada kept sneaking glances at him out of the corner of her eye. Who was this person? Had he been body snatched? Was she dreaming? Would she wake up and be reminded that he had no desire whatsoever to be associated with her in a romantic way? He barely tolerated their working relationship. But she didn’t wake up. He didn’t contradict anyone who commented on their “relationship.” In fact, he smiled and went along with it. The other shoe would drop soon enough, but for now, she appreciated knowing no one was going to scream at her and call her a horrible person when she least expected it.