my name as a reminder. “I’m here a lot.”
“Yes, Dean. Nice to see you again,” she grinds out, clearly not pleased to see me in the slightest as she turns her attention back to Norah. Man, I connected with Norah’s dad in seconds, but Ice Queen here is going to take some serious thawing.
“My mom just invited me out for dinner with her and the Hawthornes,” Norah says through a pasted-on smile.
“Oh, how nice…which night? I’ll clear my schedule.” I smile warmly to Elaine, who’s not melting a single drop.
“Oh Norah, this is just a couple old families getting together. No need to bore Dean with all our reminiscing.” Elaine smiles crisply at me and turns away from me like I’m dismissed.
Norah sucks in a breath. “But Mom, Dean is my boyfriend. We spend most nights together, and he gets very sad when we’re apart.”
My chest shakes with silent laughter over Norah’s dramatic flourish. “What can I say? I’m a needy guy, Elaine.”
Elaine’s perfectly plucked brows furrow as she snorts through flared nostrils. “I suppose I could call and see if they can make room for one more.”
“I’m sure they’ll be able to manage,” Norah replies.
Elaine takes a step back from the counter and nods stiffly. “Fine then. Dinner is at seven on Saturday night at Jill’s Restaurant in the St. Julien hotel. It will be me and your father, Jim and Carol, and of course Nathaniel. He’s really looking forward to seeing you again, pumpkin. You two rushed off from our anniversary party so quickly he hardly got a word in with you.”
“I’m afraid that was my fault, Mrs. Donahue,” I interject, detesting Elaine’s scornful eyes on Norah. “It’s really hard for me to share your daughter these days.” I wink at Norah, who looks like she’s fighting back a laugh, before turning my attention back to Elaine.
“Well…please do try to control yourself on Saturday.” Her lips twitch with annoyance. “I must be going.”
She turns and hustles out of the bakery, and I find Norah smiling at me. “As far as fake boyfriends go…you don’t suck.”
Saturday night, Dean buzzes my apartment door at six thirty sharp. I straighten out my gray shift dress before hustling down the steps to meet him outside. The cool September night air hits my bare legs as I tighten my black suede jacket around my shoulders.
“Hello, beautiful,” Dean says while propped against his SUV like he’s posing for a catalog ad for Range Rover. He’s dressed in dark slacks and a white button-down with charcoal piping along the seams. It’s a little less flare than his usual style, but with his dark-framed glasses and freshly trimmed beard, he’s hot as ever.
I self-consciously finger-comb my short blond curls, suddenly feeling like a slob next to Dean. “I didn’t have Rachael’s help tonight.”
“You don’t need it.” Dean opens the passenger door for me. “You look stunning. Stop fidgeting.”
I slide into the car and hit him with dubious eyes. “This is my normal demeanor when preparing for an evening with my mother. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”
Dean laughs, eyeing my legs with a dirty look before closing the door and walking around the car to the driver’s seat. His car smells like him: expensive, manly, and new. I could get used to it.
He heads down the road toward the restaurant and begins rambling to me about a big meeting he had with one of his clients earlier today. Talking about our jobs has sort of become a new normal for us the past several days. Either via text or one of the several times we’ve seen each other. It’s been kind of nice. Normally, Rachael is my sounding board for all things business, but Dean actually has really good business insights and has been extremely helpful with all the Denver bakery preparations. I’m useless when it comes to his hedge fund issues, but he seems to just appreciate that I’m willing to listen. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this is how a real relationship feels. Especially considering we haven’t gone a single evening without seeing each other since our food fight night. We’re still sticking with the no-sleeping-over rule, but we’re definitely not giving each other a lot of space.
Last night he invited me over to rectify the fact that I had never seen the movie Good Will Hunting. However, we were only a few minutes into the movie before I was naked on Dean’s beanbag chair with his face between my thighs and