Ain't She Sweet (Seven Brides for Seven Mothers #2) - Whitney Dineen Page 0,49

circle of surprise. “Really?”

“Obviously, I didn’t know who Tara was at the time, I just thought she was a smart and lovely woman, the kind of girl I want for my son.”

“But now?” Gwen asks.

“Now it’s more complicated, isn’t it? Tara is on the heels of a breakup and the press is stalking her. How in the world could this be a good time for her to get involved with someone else?”

“I’m glad she and Romaine aren’t together anymore,” Gwen confesses.

“Why?”

“My daughter wants to see what it’s like to live a normal life. She’d never have that opportunity with someone who’s always in the spotlight.”

Ruby worries out loud, “What if she tries living a normal life and realizes it’s not for her?”

“Then she moves back to LA, I guess.” Gwen finds a vase for the flowers in a kitchen cabinet and gets busy trimming their stems.

Ruby confides, “I just successfully set my older son up with my best friend from college’s daughter. I wanted to do the same for James.”

“But now you’re questioning your choice,” Gwen says.

“It’s just so much more complicated than I thought it would be.”

“Complicated is an understatement, Ruby. I think in the case of Tara and James, we can only take a supportive role. Trust me when I say the press ruins relationships. It’s like they take sadistic pleasure in it.”

Tara

Holy heck. Kissing James is nothing like I thought it would be. I assumed it would be a pleasant experience but not the toe-curling lip-lock it was. Even though I suggested it as a tool to help us better sell our lies to Rachel Perry, in the back of my mind I really wanted to do it. And it was amazing!

What made it better was there was nothing that suggested it was a means to an end for James, a.k.a. getting me into bed. He was fully present in the moment which made it all the sweeter. We could have been kissing for five minutes or five hours, it’s hard to tell as time lost all relevancy.

As my recent weight gain suggests, I’m no longer one to pass up the sweet things in life. Move over tiramisu, I’m craving James Cavanaugh now.

“A penny for your thoughts,” James says with me still in his arms.

Flames of embarrassment flicker at my cheeks. “I wasn’t thinking anything,” I lie.

“Well, I was thinking with kisses like that, we’re going to have a pretty easy time selling our story of being a couple.”

“It was nice,” I answer shyly, which is totally weird because I’m not a shy person.

“It was.” James lets me go but still hangs on to my hands.

I worry my palms are going to get all sweaty, so I gently pull them back. “Do you want to have dinner again tonight? We can try to come up with more questions.”

“I’ll bring it up at six. Do you want to keep Penny with you for company?”

“That would be nice, thank you. I’m starting to go a little stir crazy not being able to leave my room.”

“I’ll keep the adjoining door open. That way you can go hang out in my room to mix it up a bit.”

I can’t help but laugh. “I could watch one television show in your living room and then come back and watch one in mine. This is going to be quite an exciting day.”

His smile melts me to the core. “Call my mom when Penny needs to go out.”

I’m not sure what to do with myself after James leaves. There are only so many baths I can take and so many episodes of Schitt’s Creek I can watch. What I want to do is bake something.

I decided to re-watch the first season of The Great British Bake Off and let Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood work their magic on me. That show was exquisite torture to watch when I was still modeling because I knew I could never eat confections like the kinds they made. I still watched though.

Bread week was always my favorite. I was hypnotized as the contestants kneaded and slapped their dough into submission, I was delighted when they hammered cold butter into their puff pastry for perfect lamination, and I drooled when enriched dough was turned into savory and sweet delicacies fit for a queen.

Five episodes later, it’s all I can do not to run down to the kitchen and turn on my mixer. Instead, I play with Penny. I wish I could at least take her out for walks, but