Page 31 of Merry Fake Bride

Devon’s face hardens from such beautiful softness to a glare of ice tinged with hatred, confirming my suspicions.

She really had no idea who I really am.

As soon as she appeared on the other side of the counter and smiled at me like I was a friend, I suspected it.

I hadn’t intentionally hidden my identity, but never did I imagine that my one-night stand and the woman I got run over would be connected to this place.

A detail I overlooked given she was knocked over in this street while carrying boxes, but I didn’t see it.

Now I wish I had.

She glares at me like I’ve betrayed her, and my stomach tightens.

Telling her the truth immediately would have been the best course of action, but we were having such a nice time and after her accident, it got harder and harder to bring up the real reason I was even here.

The cat’s out of the bag now.

“What?” A cavern opens up between the two of us as Devon steps away from me and the kitchen grows cold. “You work for Silver Canopy?”

My lips part but her mother angrily gets there first.

“He’s the CEO! Devon, how could you not know?”

“How could I?” She glances at her mom. “The CEO is a Mr. Sycamore and he’s…” Cutting herself off, she looks back at me.

Eyes once filled with a welcoming warmth are now steely and cold. “Is that why you never told me your last name?”

“You never asked,” I say, painfully aware of how weak that excuse sounds. “And I never asked yours.”

“You.” She points at me, drawing her cast arm against her body as if it can protect her, and that pains me more than her glare. “Is that why you’re here? Trying to trick me and butter me up for information so you can steal this place out from under us, huh? What kind of psychopath tries to destroy our livelihood and then comes here to help me bake? What kind of mind games are you even playing?”

“Get out,” her mother snaps, moving between me and Devon. “Get out or I’m calling the police!”

I raise both hands in surrender. “I’m leaving. I’m sorry, it wasn’t meant to be?—”

“Was the car accident a trick too? Were you trying to get rid of me, smother us in hospital bills? What kind of twisted game are you playing?”

“The car accident?” Her mom’s eyes widen. “Is he who…?”

“Yes!” Devon exclaims. “He’s who helped me at the hospital and he’s?—”

She hesitates suddenly and then charges toward me, ushering me out of the bakery almost faster than I can walk.

Her mother distantly exclaims about the smoke in the air as we pass a very stunned Faith.

“Faith, fill my mom in on what happened with the strudels,” Devon snaps as she strides past Faith and barrels toward me.

For a woman so against my touch, she looks ready to tackle me.

“Is that your game?” she snarls the moment we’re alone and I’m backing up past a small table of cupcakes.

“You get me hurt, trap me with medical bills youknowI can’t afford, and then pretend to pay them so the debt hangs over my head and you can force me to sell? You’re fucked up, you know that? I can’t believe I thought?—”

She cuts herself off so I take my chance. “Devon, I didn’t know. I’m sorry, none of this is what it looks like.”

“I don’t care! Get out! I don’t want to hear another word from you and I don’t want to see you ever again, you hear me? If you need to talk, then talk to my fucking lawyer!”

The fire in her eyes isn’t as alarming as her declaration to never see me again.