“And we’re clear,” Jenny called out, sending the show to commercial.
“I can see why you left that other guy in the dust and why you have your own hashtag,” Kayla said. “People respond to true love. Y’all are lucky to have each other. You two are the perfect couple.”
Donovan caught Jada’s eye. The perfect fake couple. That was their agreement. He needed to remember that undeniable fact.
Chapter Sixteen
“Overall, that went well, don’t you think?” Jada asked when they were back in Donovan’s car. “I mean besides those thirty seconds when I thought I was going to have to fight in these heels.” She had to say something to break up the lingering silence. Something to exorcise the memory of her heart jumping when Kayla said they were the perfect couple. They weren’t the perfect couple. They weren’t even a couple. They were … coworkers, or, more accurately, employer and temporary employee. Friends, even. Yet the phrase lingered. The perfect couple.
He glanced her way. “Yeah. Kayla gushed over the cupcakes, and I think she actually meant it and wasn’t saying it out of fear she’d stuck her foot so far down her throat she’d never be able to extract it. Sugar Blitz got some great publicity. Our ruse is working. It’s great.” He didn’t sound great. He sounded distracted.
“Are you worried about what she said about you dating me to get more money from Grams?”
He shook his head. “No. We both know that’s not true. But I do have a confession to make. When your grandmother asked me to hire you, I did think agreeing might put me in a better position with my contract negotiations.”
Jada snapped her fingers. “I knew it. I knew you had nefarious motives.” She laughed at the stricken look on his face. “Donovan, seriously, it’s cool. I know my grandmother. I have no doubt that she ran roughshod over you and gave you no real option other than to hire me, so it makes total sense that you were thinking about what you could get out of the deal. You are like the most upstanding person I’ve ever met, and if I didn’t admire you for it, I’d hate you for it.”
“Yeah, I guess.” He didn’t crack a smile.
Jada studied his profile. What was he thinking? Was he regretting their deal? Regretting her working at the shop? Well, that part didn’t make sense. They were getting along, and she hadn’t set off the fire alarm again.
She chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“Just thinking about how I almost burned down your kitchen.”
“So you admit it!” There was humor in his voice. Finally. She didn’t want to examine too closely how good that made her feel.
Jada put on her haughtiest tone. “I do no such thing. I was simply using your words to describe the situation.”
His eyes twinkled. “Riiiight.” He quieted for a moment, then looked her way. “That was cool how you handled her asking you to read the cue cards.”
The muscles in Jada’s shoulders locked. There it was. She’d been wondering how long it would take him to bring that up. “I was kinda hoping you would forget that.”
Donovan’s eyebrows drew into a deep vee. “Why? A learning disability is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Her shoulders relaxed marginally. “I know that, and yet…” She shrugged.
“And yet what? People have given you shit for being dyslexic?”
Jada looked out the passenger-side window at the passing scenery to give herself a few extra seconds before responding. She hated talking about this. But he’d revealed a part of himself in that supply closet, and no matter how far things had gone left afterward, she’d never forget that. “Mainly my parents.”
“Are you serious? Why would they do that?”
She shook her head, like that simple act could dislodge all the painful memories that had collected there since childhood. “Dyslexia didn’t fit into their narrative of the perfect, intelligent elite family.”
“Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence.” He sounded so forceful, so shocked people would peddle that type of bullshit. Having this man in her corner gave her a strength she hadn’t even known she was missing.
She shrugged. “They expected effortless perfection. A learning disability kind of got in the way of that, and I don’t think they ever forgave me for it.”
“That sucks.”
Jada looked his way. “Yeah, as far as they’re concerned, you’re either a genius who gets straight A’s or you’re not bright. Not much room for a gray area.” Her voice trailed off as she remembered all the times they’d unintentionally made her feel like shit. Like she was unworthy of love because of something she had no control over.