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He frowned. “Not an awful idea. We have to use your real passport, but no one at the retreat should have to see that. How about we use Kelsey Adams? It’s common enough to blend in and easy to remember.”
“All right. I can work with that. So how did we meet?”
“Through mutual friends.” He watched her there, looking so at home by the stove, her movements efficient, second nature, and came up with an off-the-cuff backstory. “You were looking for an investor for a restaurant you want to open.”
She peeked over her shoulder. “Why would I have come to you for that?”
“I do some venture capitalist stuff on the side, invest in local startups on occasion. Or help businesses expand like I did with Jace’s store. I’m a silent partner in that now.”
“Wow, that must be fun to do.”
“What do you mean?”
“Giving someone money to help their dream business get up and running. It’s got to feel like being a fairy godmother or something.”
He smirked, amused by the notion. “You make it sound quite romantic, but it’s not an emotional decision. It’s simply business. If I believe something will make money, it’s a good use of my funds.”
“I want a bakery.”
“Hmm?” he said, dragging the cutting board to his side of the island and taking it upon himself to slice the French baguette she’d bought.
“Let’s make the story that I wanted to open a bakery. If I get to create a faux life, I may as well use my real pie-in-the-sky goals to fill it.”
“You want a bakery?”
She tossed some minced garlic into the sizzling oil. “I love to cook anything and everything, but my first love is pastry.”
“Then a bakery you shall have,” he said resolutely. “We can say that you’ve put those plans on hold for now since you want to refine your natural skills by going to culinary school.”
She gave a quick nod of agreement. “How long have we been seeing each other?”
He sliced another piece of bread, failing in his effort to make each slice the same size. “Let’s say two months. I was seen out at events with someone else before that, so that would make the most sense.”
“Someone else?” Kelsey asked, adding the rest of the vegetables, all except the mushrooms. “A girlfriend?”
“A colleague.”
She stirred the contents of the pan. “Who you were sleeping with.”
“Yes,” he said, not liking where this conversation was going.
“And why isn’t she around anymore?”
He sent her a warning glance when she peeked his way again. “Is that so important to know?”
“I’m exceptionally nosy. You should know that about me.” She flashed him an unapologetic smile. “My sister always joked that I should’ve become a therapist like her since I’m so fascinated by other people’s personal lives.”
He shook his head. Usually he was as private and tight-lipped about his life as anyone could be, even his brother had to drag things out of him. But Wyatt was having trouble mustering up the will to dodge Kelsey’s questioning. “She knew what she was getting into when we started seeing each other. Her feelings changed over time, and she wanted more. I didn’t.”
She added the mushrooms, then poured cream into the mix and added a few pats of butter. “Sounds complicated.”
“It wasn’t. At least not on my end.”
She seemed to consider that for a moment, her back to him. Then she dipped a spoon into the simmering sauce and turned around, blowing gently across the steaming sauce she’d captured. “Are all the things in your life always that cut and dried? That neat?”
He looked down at the uneven slices of bread, the imperfection annoying him more than it should. “I try to keep it that way. Yes.”
“Mmm,” she said, some indiscernible judgment underlying the innocuous sound. She held out the spoon for him to taste. “And then you invite a waitress, who has a gang after her, on a business trip. Are you sure you’re not the practical Wyatt Austin’s reckless twin brother? This is anything but neat.”
