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Her eyes lit up. "Yes. We certainly have the baking capacity."
I narrowed my eyes. "Do you also have personnel capacity? Because the last thing I want is for Declan to accuse me of giving you even more reason to overwork yourself."
"I'll manage," Liz said.
"Okay, then I can give your contact information to some of the organizers I trust.”
She grinned. "Thanks for thinking about me, Reese. So, would you like some hazelnut cake? If people give me good feedback, I might even try to make brownies with the flavor."
"Ohh, sounds delicious."
She put a slice of cake on a plate, then grabbed an espresso cup. I stepped to one side, waiting for the coffee machine to do its thing. The bakery was far too small. I devoured the cake immediately.
“This is truly fantastic.”
“Want another slice?”
“Oh, no. One is enough.”
"Are you driving there?" she asked.
"No, another participant is picking me up," I said while devouring the cake.
"Declan didn’t mention that.”
I flashed her a huge I’m-not-hiding-anything smile. "It was a last-minute thing. Not really something to bother the family with."
Liz frowned. "Bother?"
Why did I think I could pull off my fake dating? This was exactly why I needed to get all the details of our story right; otherwise, everyone was going to see right through this.
"I'll just wait for him outside."
Big mistake. Liz's eyes widened when I said the word him.
"Right," she drew out. "Want me to prepare another coffee for him?"
"Great idea. Thanks," I said. "And please don't mention any of this to the family.”
She glanced around, leaning over the counter as she handed me the first coffee. It was futile because the place was too small to have a secret conversation.
"You're dating someone?"
"No," I said. "It's complicated. Just please don't mention it to the family."
"No one? Not even Kimberly?”
My sister would hand me my ass if she knew what I was up to—especially because I didn't tell her.
"No."
"Are you in trouble?"
"No, Liz." Now she was worrying for me, and I didn’t want her to do that. On the other hand, I was grateful that my cousins were so lucky in the romance department. They’d chosen wonderful women, and that made my heart happy.
"I’ll fill you in once I'm back, okay?" I promised.
"Sure. Can't wait. Here’s your second coffee."
