Page 75 of Merry Fake Bride

“I have a helicopter.”

“What?” She gapes at me. “You’re not serious!”

“Course I am. I need to get back to the city anyway, and this way, I can ensure your cakes get delivered in such style that when they leave their review, ‘above and beyond’ won’t be good enough.”

“That’s utterly ridiculous!” She’s torn between laughter and shock while glancing between me and her father who mutters something about money while chuckling.

“Ridiculous, yes. But doable.”

“Kairo…” She shakes her head and pink flushes across her apple cheeks. “Thank you.”

“Putting my riches to good use, don’t you think?” I wink at her, and my pilot answers on the forth ring and with Devon’s help, I direct them to the school field for pick up. Then we have twenty minutes to prepare the cake and all pastries for transport and deliver them to the field before the helicopter arrives.

Devon watches on in utter awe as we stand in the parking lot watching the sleek, grey Sycamore family helicopter whip up its own blizzard as it lands in the soccer field.

“I can’t believe this is actually happening.” Devon laughs, carrying one small box in her good arm as we trudge through the disturbed snow to the helicopter.

“Remember this the next time you want to talk bad about my clothes or something,” I tease as we reach the vehicle.

Hank spends ten minutes securing the massive cake, which becomes Martin’s baby with how protective he is over ensuring it remains safe for the flight.

Devon and I load up all the other pastries, then she passes me a slip of paper with the venue on it.

“Thank you for doing this. You’ve no idea how much you’re saving us. One bad review can tank a business.”

“Damn. Silver Canopy really took the wrong approach to shutting you down.”

“Hey!” She elbows me playfully and her cheeks flush once more, adding pink hues to the red from the cold. “Will you let me know how it goes?”

“Of course. Thank you for last night.”

Devon suddenly can’t meet my eyes and she shrugs softly. “Anytime,” she says quietly, then she hurries away with her father.

I keep my eyes on her as the helicopter takes off and I stare until she grows as small as an ant, getting swallowed up by the clouds.

Martin catches my eyes and smirks as we fly toward the city, and his voice crackles through my headset. “You really like this girl, don’t you?”

I don’t reply, but the answer sits heavily in my chest.

I really do.

Three days later, I’m back in the bakery. The power is on and Devon stands next to me poring over the document I brought with me. It has every detail of our ‘engagement’ agreement laid out for her, and she’s taking her time reading through it all while her mom darts around behind us baking and a warm hum of noise rises from the front of the shop. My heart races as anticipation builds. If there’s anything she doesn’t like the sound of, or anything she wants to add, then I’ll change it in a heartbeat, but I think I covered everything.

Our marriage will be free from restrictions and she will have immediate access to my accounts through which she can use whatever means available to her to fight for the land rights to the bakery. A formal bid will most likely go in her favor, given how long they’ve been here, and when she’s successful, she’ll have all she needs to secure this building and her family’s future. In return, she’ll pose as my wife and attend one or two formalengagements to keep up the ruse until we part amicably with minimal disruption to either of our reputations.

Her mom, Lindsey, eventually leaves us alone as she vanishes to the front of the shop and Devon flicks to the last page. Her brow has been knit since she started reading and she occasionally chews on her lower lip. Warmth prickles at the back of my neck, so I adjust my shirt collar and undo one button, then loosen my tie. It’s either the heat in here or my nerves, but something is making my body temperature climb.

It might be my proximity to Devon.

“Formal engagements,” she says softly. “What are those?”

“My mother is about appearances, and as much as I would like to keep this quiet, people will find out. So you will need to show face at a charity gala or something just so everyone can meet you.”

She grimaces slightly, then nods. “Worth it, under the circumstances.”

“I’ve also sent a copy to your email.”

Devon flashes me a quick smile. “Thanks. Well… I’m not a lawyer, but it all looks good to me. My lawyer called last night and said everything looks good to him, so it’s really up to me now.” She straightens up from the table and looks at me. “Would you be mad if I said no?”