“No. I'm not saying it with a broody tone. I'm saying it in my normal tone.”
“Could have fooled me.”
Her left shoulder lifts as she shrugs and stands. She moves to walk away from me, but I follow. I'm desperate.
“I need you to fake being my friend.”
This makes her pause. She glances over her shoulder and looks me slowly up and down.
“I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. Could you say that just one more time?”
“Oh, you heard me right the first time.”
She turns slowly, crossing her arms in front of her chest and narrowing her gaze at me.
Sassy Brooke normally turns me on, and I’d usually love the sight of her low-cut top, but not today. Today I'm here on a mission, and I can't let the fact that I think this woman is gorgeous and that my body responds to her a lot more than it needs to, get in the way of my goal. Which is, getting this town to like me so that my father chooses me to be the one he passes the business to.
A devilish grin takes over her luscious pink lips.
“Why?” she asks.
“Does the why really matter?”
“Of course it matters.” She huffs. “You're asking me to do something that is damn near impossible. I think I deserve to know the reason why.”
I roll my eyes. She's not wrong. If the roles were reversed, I would want to know completely. “Henry is ready to step down, and he's either going to pass the business on to Grace or me, andit seems that the fact that most of the town doesn't like me could stop me from being his first choice.”
“But Grace is one of my best friends. What makes you think I would help you just so that you could take something I know she wants?”
“Because I think we're both a great fit. And I think I deserve a fighting chance.”
Her laughter fills the quiet, empty bakery.
“Do you, now? I think there's an entire town right outside that door, which you should probably be walking through just about now, who would disagree with everything you just said.”
“Which is exactly why I'm here. I need your help.”
“As hard as I know that was to admit, I'm not helping you. If I'm going to help anybody, it's going to be Grace.”
“Come on, Brooke. Do you hate me that much?”
“I mean, yeah, why not?”
“Exactly why? I never did anything to you.”
“Oh, you did plenty to me. You were the reason my father missed out on a lot of things that were important to me.”
That was the last thing I was expecting her to say. I figured it was something along the lines of,oh, my favorite flower shop, you broke their windows. Ordo you remember that one time that you did this, this, or that?But no, she's mad at me because I stole time she could have had with her father.
Shit, that's actually a pretty good reason to hate somebody.
And now I still need her to do me a favor. How am I going to swing this?
“Let me ask you this, Brooke. Have you ever wanted something so badly that you would do anything to get it? Say anything to anyone. Do anything for anyone. Even if it means going to the person you know dislikes you more than anyone else in this town. Just because you want it that badly.”
Her hesitance to respond is the only reason I keep going.
“That's me and the lodge. Yes, that place is thriving because Henry has done wonderful things for it, but I can do better things. I know Grace could, too. I just need you to trust me that I'm the better fit for the future of the lodge.”
