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"Kimberly," Gran exclaimed. "Don't rush the poor girl. Let her tell us what's on her mind in her own time."
I stepped behind the counter between my grandmother and my sister.
“We heard you dropped by Liz’s bakery yesterday.”
My face exploded in a grin. “I knew it. She spilled the beans.”
"Don’t blame Liz. She tried to keep it a secret, but she didn’t stand a chance. I fed her my apple pie," Gran explained. “I could see right through her. She did put in a good effort, though.”
Kimberly crossed her arms over her chest. “Why you didn't you tell me you’re seeing someone?”
"Who is he, and since when are you dating him?" Gran grilled me.
I sighed, leaning against the desk. “I'm not dating him.”
"Then what's the deal?" Kimberly asked.
I took in a deep breath. “Don't panic, but Malcolm is also participating in the charity event.”
My sister turned white.
My grandmother gasped. “When is that man going to leave you alone?”
“He hasn't done anything. He was just there.” I wasn’t going to tell them about the semi-threatening conversation. Knowing Malcolm, he was just trying to make himself feel better by putting me down. “On the evening of the first event, he was there with Francesca.”
Kimberly lightly gripped the edge of the desk. "I'm so sorry. Reese, why didn't you say anything?"
“I didn’t want to worry you. Anyway, long story short, Dom pretended to be my boyfriend that evening.”
Kimberly's eyes bulged, and then she burst out laughing, “You're joking.”
"No."
Gran said nothing.
“Wait, why would he even do that?” Kimberly asked.
“It doesn't matter. One thing led to another, and he offered to keep helping me with the ruse this weekend. That's why we drove together. I thought we could use the road trip to get to know each other a bit and set up a story.”
"Oh my God, you're serious?" Gran asked, sounding shocked.
Kimberly pointed at me. “All right. I'm going to need to know exactly why he offered to be your fake boyfriend and all the details from the weekend.”
"Want to go for coffee later?"
"Girl, we have coffee and cookies right here," Gran cut in.
"Yeah, and we're both extremely curious," Kimberly added, bouncing from one leg to the other.
“Let’s go sit down,” Gran said.
We sat on a small couch at the far end of the room. There were several spread throughout the shop, encouraging readers to sit and thoroughly inspect the books before buying them.
“What’s his full name?” Kimberly asked, grabbing her phone.
“Dominic Waldorf.”
“That name is familiar. Let me google him.” She tapped the screen a few times. “Holy shit. Waldorf Fashion. They just named him the city’s most eligible bachelor.”
