Page 32 of Say It’s Forever

“It wasn’t the worst.”

“I really do need to work, sooo,” she says and then flicks her hand toward the door. That’s my signal to leave.

“I need to work, too. Can I set up in here?”

“No.”

“All right, I’ll head to the lobby where anyone can approach me and ask me questions about us, and if I answer, I might⁠—”

“You can take Dutton’s empty office.”

I smile, knowing I won this tiff. But she immediately goes back to work as if I’m not still standing here, and my smile fades.

She really doesn’t care for me, does she? I mean, that dismissal was so effortless.

Shit. What if … what if we really can’t pull this off? What if she really can’t find it in her to fake-like me?

I nod, back out of her office, and then set up in her brother’s old one.

The moment I open my email, the what-ifs start again. The board has been notified of my nuptials, and they are demanding a meeting in two days. There is also a Zoom link invite since they know I’m out of the office.

Fuck.

I start to reply to other emails, but my mind keeps creeping back to Grace and whether we can pull this off.

I need her to want to be around me. I need her to like me enough to do that.

There is only one person who can help me with this. So as soon as my work is finished, I get in my rental and drive to B’s Bakery.

I’m barely through the door when Brooke says, “Ah, some nerve you have showing up here. Please tell me that Grace is with you. She hasn’t texted me back yet.”

I nod.

“You know how she is. She loves that place. She’s been working hard all day.”

And that’s the truth. Every time I went to find Grace, she was deep into work. So much that I’m not sure she even ate today.

I figure if I make her dinner, that might win me some points. It’s easier to talk to someone when they have a full stomach from their favorite meal, right?