by Katy Kaylee
“What if your firm finds out?”
“How would they? I’m not even sure they’d care. This is just one more obstacle they’ve put in my way.”
“If that’s the case, then what if they still don’t give you a partnership. Do I still get my bakery?” If I was going to play wife, I wanted a guarantee.
“Yes.”
I looked at his card. “I’ll let you know.”
He nodded and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I’ll look forward to your decision.”
I snorted.
“What?”
“You’re so fancy and formal for a man proposing marriage.”
“This is a business deal.” He stood. “I’ve got to run.” He started to turn away then stopped. “I feel like I owe you an apology.”
“Fuck, this is all a joke after all?”
“No. I meant about five years ago. About the lake—”
“Don’t you dare apologize or give me your regrets Jake. I’ll turn you down flat right here and now if you do.”
“I don’t have regrets—”
“Let it go, Jake.”
He nodded. “It’s forgotten. I’ll talk to you later.” He walked out of the restaurant. I watched through the window as he hailed a cab. He’s completely lost his mind. But a bakery? How could I turn that down? Of course, if he had lost his mind, would I be taking advantage of him by taking his inheritance?
I finished my drink and then headed home. I could ponder his crazy proposal while I dealt with Internet orders for my baked goods. I should have asked him what type of kitchen he had. Until I had a bakery, I needed to keep running my business from his kitchen. Of course, he might rent me space in a kitchen if needed.
“You can’t possibly be considering this, Sofia,” my conscience said. I was daring and willing to chase the dream. But was I crazy enough to put my hopes and dreams in Jake’s hands when he’d so carelessly hurt me in the past?
6
Jake
I second guessed my crazy plan from the moment I left Sofia at the coffee place the day before. She probably thought I was a fucking idiot. I knew she did. She’d said so. She wasn’t wrong, It was a ridiculous idea. So why was I doing it? Val was right. I’d make partner within the next few years. Why not wait?
Because I shouldn’t have to. I’d proven my worth. I deserved it now. The fuckheads above me wanted to punish me for being better than them. Not that they’d say that. They’d say it was because of nepotism that I had to be better, but I was better. Now they wanted me to be settled. They wanted to play games? Well, I’d play and beat them at it.
And yet, as I sat at my desk in the afternoon, wondering if Sofia would say yes or no or simply ignore the request thinking I was off my rocker, I had to question whether or not this was a game I could play. What if I didn’t win? What if they said I needed a house in the burbs or kids to be more stable? I could get them, but where would it stop? How many hoops would I have to jump through?
I sat back in my chair, turning to look out the window. This was the last hoop, I decided. If this didn’t work, I’d leave the firm. There were plenty of other firms that would be happy to have me. I’d probably put off partnership a little bit and I might lose a few clients, but I could probably find more money and respect at a different firm.
The phone on my desk buzzed. Turning back in my chair, I picked it up.
“Mr. Dunne? A Ms. Bellini is here. She doesn’t have an appointment but insists on seeing you.”
“Yes, send her in.” I checked my tie and ran my fingers through my hair. Why was I nervous about this?
As the door opened, I stood, coming around my desk.
Sofia walked in wearing white cropped pants and a red tank top. The outfit showed off her petite body, lush with curves. The man in me wondered if we’d be able to play house if she said yes to my crazy idea.
“Sofia. Do you want something to drink? Water? I have wine or something stronger.” I motioned for her to sit in one of the two chairs in front of my desk.
She shook her head.
I waited for my secretary to shut my door and then sat in the other chair. I wanted a drink but more than that, I wanted Sofia’s answer.
“You know your idea is crazy right?” she said.
I laughed. “Yes. It’s ludicrous.”
“You want to be a partner that bad?”
“I want what I’ve earned.”
She shook her head. “I always knew you had balls, but I’d never have pegged you as being certifiably nuts.”
I shrugged, wishing she’d get to the point.
“The thing is, I want a bakery.”
“It’s yours. I’ll make it happen.” If I wasn’t mistaken, that was a yes.
“I have a few conditions beyond that.”
“Name them.” I didn’t care what they were. If she helped me get those fat bastards upstairs to finally stop their petty games, I’d give her a freaking franchise of bakeries.
“One.” She held up her index finger. “I get my own room and bathroom.”
“Okay.”
“Two, I don’t do laundry. I won’t be a housewife. If I have to play nice at a party or something, I will but I’m not going to be subservient.”
My lips twitched up in amusement. One of the things I always liked about Sofia was that she always spoke her mind. A guy didn’t have to try and guess at what she was thinking. “Got it.”
“Three. No one at home finds out.”
“I agree.” The last thing I needed was for her brother to hunt me down like a dog and beat the shit out of me.
She held up a fourth finger. “And four. No sex.”
Well, that was a disappointment, but one I could live with.
“I want an annulment at the end of this, not a divorce, so no consummating the marriage.”
I nodded, but my conscience rapped on my brain to explain the law to her. In New York, not consummating a marriage alone wasn’t grounds for an annulment. She and I were both over the age of eighteen, were mentally able to consent to marriage and weren’t operating under duress. I knew I wasn’t impotent as my morning hard-ons and occasional jack-offs proved. So, unless she was unable to have sex, we didn’t have grounds for an annulment. Well, I supposed she could argue fraud, but the fraud was against my firm, not her.
I shook my head of the law. I’d worry about that later.
Technically, I was agreeing to no sex. “I promise I won’t touch you. I may need to put an arm around you or hold your hand. It should look real. At least at first.”
She nodded. “I can do that.”
We sat staring at each other. What the fuck had we just agreed to?
“So, what do we do next?” she asked.
For a minute I wasn’t sure. Finally, my brain kicked in. “I give you this.” I stood up and went to my desk and pulled out a small black velvet box I’d brought with me that day just in case she said yes. “It was my grandmother’s. She gave it to me for when I got married.”
I handed her the box. I felt like I should make a bigger deal out of giving it to her, except this was a business deal.
“I can’t wear your grandmother’s ring in a fake marriage.” She looked up at me. “That will give it bad juju.”
“It’s not like it will end up with anyone else.”
Her brows furrowed. “You’re not getting married? I mean for real someday?”
I shook my head. “I started in family law. Marriage fucks people up. Turns them into monsters. I don’t want any part of that. But if you’d like a different ring, maybe something flashier—”
She made a face at me. “I’m not fishing for a bigger ring, Jake. This is an heirloom and should be treated with respect.”
“It’s going to help me achieve my dreams. Isn’t that enough?” Even as I said it, I felt a little like I was dishonoring my grandmother. But I wasn’t lying about having no plans to marry. Marriage only caused pain and financial ruin.
She took the box and ope
ned it. Her face went soft and she blew out a breath. “Jake, the ring is beautiful. This was probably an heirloom when your grandmother got it. I’m not sure I’d feel right—”
I took the box and pulled out the silver ring with a center diamond solitaire and delicate filigree along the band. “It was my great-grandmother’s, who gave it to my grandfather to give to my grandmother.” I was impressed that she could tell the age of the ring. Then again, my experience with girls back home was that they planned their weddings starting in first grade. As close as we were to a big modern city, our home town was lost to a bygone era and traditions.
I held the ring out. “It will make this marriage appear all the more real if you wear it.”
She made a face at me. “Don’t blame me if your future marriage doesn’t work out.”
I knelt down to get a better angle to slip the ring on. “I told you. There’s no future marriage. You’re the only one who’ll marry me.”
My door squeaked. “Oh, Jake… Sorry…” Val stood in the doorway. Her eyes widened as she looked at me. “I should leave…but, oh… Congratulations.”
It was then I realized I was on one knee talking about Sofia marrying me. I looked up at Sofia, willing her to be ready to pull this off.
“Val. You remember Sofia.” I stood and reached out for Sofia’s hand. She made a snarky face as she took it. She’d pulled it together by the time she stood, leaning against me, with her left hand on my chest showing off the ring.
“Yes. Oh, my goodness…I didn’t know.” She waggled a finger at me. “You said you didn’t have time for a life outside of work.”
I shrugged.
“Let me see the ring.”
Sofia held out her hand. “It was Jake’s grandmother’s.”
Val looked at Sofia and then me. Perhaps looking to see if what she was witnessing was real. “I really had no idea.”
“It’s sudden.” I admitted.
“Oh, come on Jake. You can tell her the truth.”
I glared at Sofia. What was she doing?
“Jake was my first, years ago.”
I nearly choked.
“He wanted to do right by me, but my parents…well…Jake is only half Italian and my parents really wanted me to marry Joey Tratelli. I tried to run away—”
“You were the young woman at Jake’s apartment when I was helping him study for the bar,” Val said.
Sofia’s eyes narrowed as if she hadn’t expected that. “Yes.”
“And you sent her away.” Val gave me a scathing stare.
“Well, he knew my parents would come after me. I was only twenty-one then. Not an adult yet in my father’s eyes.”
“And now you’re here.” Val was a cut-throat lawyer, but if I wasn’t mistaken, she was captivated by the Romeo and Juliet tale Sofia was telling. “Your family finally gave in?”
She shook her head. “No. They know I’m in New York, but they don’t know about Jake and me. That’s why we’re going to elope, isn’t that right, baby?”
I nearly snorted at her calling me baby. “Civil ceremony at the courthouse the day after we get our license.”
“Oh no. You can’t do that.” Val looked incensed. “This is a big deal. You have to have a real ceremony.”
“We can’t have family,” I said. “Unless you want to witness her brother murder me.”
Sofia nodded. “My brother and Jake are best friends.” She looked up at me. “If he knew the things you’d done to me…” Jesus, she was naughty. I wasn’t sure if it worried me or excited me.
“We’ll have it at my place in the Hamptons,” It was more like an order than a statement.
“We don’t want to impose on you, Val.” This was just supposed to be a little detail in the plan.
“Are you kidding me? I want to do this. You’re like a little brother to me. Plus, the partners need to come. They absolutely need to see this.”
For a moment, I wondered if she knew my marriage to Sofia was a sham to get me a partnership.
“You get your license and I’ll take care of everything else. Is next weekend soon enough? Weddings usually take more time, but I know a fabulous caterer out there and I think I can pull off a small intimate wedding in a week. Plus, you can rent a place along the beach, Jake, for your honeymoon.”
I looked at Sofia, feeling a little like I was being bulldozed. Her wide eyes suggested she did too. But finally, she blinked. “That sounds perfect, Val. Thank you so much.”
“Wonderful. Listen, I was here to remind you of the meeting we have today. Why don’t you come introduce your fiancée to everyone, Jake? All the partners will be there.”
Again, I got that feeling like she knew what was up. “I don’t know—”
“Yes, yes. Come on.”
I shrugged, then led Sofia to the large conference room where all the partners and associates were meeting.
“Everyone,” Val said as she entered the room. “Wonderful news. Jake Dunne is getting married to his hometown sweetheart.”
I felt like an idiot standing in front of professional lawyers, having my business announced to them. And yet, this showed stability, right?
“This is Sofia. Isn’t she lovely?”
I swore I could feel Sofia rolling her eyes. Wanting to spare her too much more embarrassment, I turned and put my arms on hers.
“Sweetheart, I need to work. We’ll celebrate tonight, okay?”
“Oh, Jake, you can walk her out.” Val urged us back out the doorway, shutting the door behind us, presumably for privacy. The conference room was surrounded by windows but was soundproof.
I stood outside the closed door, working to get my bearings back. “You’re a pro at this.”
She shrugged. “Before I settled on owning a bakery, I thought I might become an actress.”
I glanced to the conference room, and saw a few people staring at us. “I’ve got to get to my meeting.”
She nodded.
I was about to turn to go into the room.
“Seriously, Jake? Do you want your partnership or not?” Her hand hooked on the back of my neck and she pulled me to her, planting a firm kiss on my lips.
7
Sofia
I didn’t want to kiss Jake. But, like him, when I set my mind to something, I went for it full throttle. I wanted my own bakery. Pretending to love Jake was the vehicle to getting it. So I kissed him. I knew from my past crush on him that I wouldn’t have settled for anything less, so who cared if people were watching. In fact, all the better because Jake was supposed to convince his bosses he was settled.
The only problem with kissing Jake was that it was nice. Jake smelled great. His lips were soft yet firm. It was a good thing he agreed to my no-touch rule because he might have been hard to resist if he showed an interest in me.
I had to work Saturday, but was off on Sunday and Monday. Jake agreed to meet me at my place after work on Saturday to help me move into his place.
When he showed up, he seemed to fill up my entire apartment with his presence. I hoped his place was big enough that I’d have space to escape from him. While my mind knew that love and fairytales weren’t real, my girlie parts didn’t care. They still liked Jake. A lot. He was tall, lean and clearly still worked out if the way his t-shirt strained against his muscles were any indication. He always had a great body, but it had been his piercing blue eyes set in his olive skin that had always made my heart skip. I wouldn’t have said my heart was skipping now, but it stuttered occasionally when he looked at me.
“You’ve packed a lot,” he said as he looked at the stack of boxes.
“Most of those were already packed. Now I just need to pack my everyday stuff, my baking ware, things like that.”
He sniffed the air. “Did you bake already today?”
I shook my head. “That’s from last night. But I’ll need to bake tonight. I hope you have the kitchen for it.”
He looked over at my tiny kitchen. “I’ve got more than that.”
&
nbsp; I liked that idea. In fact, I liked everything about this deal. A larger space. A bigger kitchen. A bakery. It was just too bad I had to marry Jake Dunne to get it.
“There’s a box for my baking things,” I pointed toward a box I’d already assembled and marked.
“Do they need any special care?” He asked, opening the cabinet that had my baking sheets and other items.
“No.” I decided I’d pack up my other kitchen items. I grabbed my step stool and placed it so I could reach my upper cupboards. I stepped up, opening the door and pulling out my plates and glasses. As I set them on the countertop, I noticed Jake looking up at me. Actually, he was looking at my legs. I quirked a brow. “That’s not my baking stuff.”
He grinned and turned away. “I was going to make a comment about cooking but it’s probably inappropriate.”
I smirked, but my ego liked that he seemed to enjoy the view. Not that it was much. I wasn’t very tall so I didn’t have long legs. But I was well-proportioned and I had curves where it counted. Because we were working and it was summer, I wore shorts and a tank top. I wouldn’t have called it sexy, but if Jake liked it, that was okay by me. He could look, just not touch.
“So, you never did marry Joey Tratelli,” Jake said, pulling out a cupcake pan.
“That was never going to happen. He married Theresa Luccini.”
“So I heard.”
I put more plates on the counter. “So, how often do you keep in touch with people from home?”
“Just Tony.” He looked up at me again. “He’s never tried to kick my ass, so I’m guessing you never told him what happened at the lake.”
“Something happened at the lake?” I kept working.
Jake snorted. “Still mad, I see.” He pulled out a few more pans and put them in the box.
“I’m not mad, Jake.”
“You sure fooled me.”
I took my coffee mugs down and thought about how to respond, but couldn’t decide if I wanted to go with snarky, indifferent or the truth.