Page 26 of Power Plays & Proposals

I had a moment to fuss with my hair, which now wanted to frizz, before Nate took my hand and we strode into the room of story vultures.

The press room was packed wall to wall, Nate squeezed my hand in reassurance as we walked to the table for him to sit. Hannah guided me off to the side of the room as soon as Nate let go. I could hear the click of camera shutters, and I tried not to fidget as more than one was pointed in my direction. Nate wasn't the only one on the team being asked questions, but it was clear that the reporters just wanted to talk to him.

A particularly vocal reporter, a man in a light gray suit, stood in the front row with his microphone out. "Nate, is it true? Are you engaged?"

Nate looked at me, giving me a chance to change my mind. I gave him a little nod and a shy smile. He didn’t look away from me as he told the room. "I am."

The press went crazy, shouting questions over one another. I should probably call my mother to let her know.

Chapter 12

Monday morning I was sitting inside La Petite bakery filling Maria in on the last few days. There was flour dusting her pale pink t-shirt that said Rolling with my Doughmies and had a picture of a cinnamon roll on it. I always knew what specialty goodie she'd be making based on the shirt she was wearing. Today was no exception and I was chopping the pecans for the filling and glaze for her ooey gooey cinnamon rolls.

"Are you sure you don't want to fire me?" I asked.

Her hands were still halfway through the process of rolling out her cinnamon rolls, and she looked at me like I'd grown a second head.

"Are you kidding? I need all the help I can get right now."

When I'd texted her to see if she wanted an extra pair of hands this morning before my date, she'd happily taken me up on the offer. One of the hockey players had posted a selfie online with one of the muffins from Hannah's order. Orders had started pouring in as a result.

"But what if you get nasty comments once people find out I work here?"

She left the dough and walked over to wrap me up in a big hug. "You're stuck with me until the day I can't bake anymore."

I didn't even mind that she'd covered my shirt in flour too. Instead of a cinnamon roll shirt, I had on a purple bakery shirt that said Keep Calm and eat a cupcake.

"And you’re okay with me moving in?" I’d spent yesterday packing my things, and seeing if there was anywhere I could afford to stay. It was a good thing I didn’t have much. A couple suitcases and boxes were all I needed to pack up.

"I wouldn’t have offered if I had a problem with it." She let go of me.

"But what if I'm the reason you close?" She'd fought so hard for La Petite and I'd never forgive myself if I was the reason she had to close.

"Then we can move to the middle of nowhere, adopt a bunch of cats, and start over."

I laughed. "Why cats though? What do you have against dogs?"

"My neighbor's dog barks all the time. I'll pass." She returned to the dough. "Hey, maybe you could be a dog walker. I'll give my neighbor your info, and you can take the dog out so I can get some sleep."

The life of a baker definitely wasn't easy. Getting to the bakery by 3 AM meant trying to go to sleep early in the evenings. More than once I'd heard her complain about her nextdoor neighbor stomping and making loud noises that made it hard for her to sleep. I suspected that underneath all the complaining, she was trying to hide another feeling.

"When did he get a dog?" I asked.

"About a week ago. The thing is constantly making noise and I'm living on caffeine to stay awake."

That explained the batch of cookies she'd forgotten to add sugar to the other day. "I'm sorry, I was so busy complaining about my life."

"That's what best friends are for Lia. We rant and we listen. I listened and so have you."

"And here the internet says best friends are for providing an alibi."

She smiled mischievously, "Well if a dog goes missing. I was at your place."

"Noted."

We laughed and finished making the ooey gooey rolls.

Maria popped a tray into the preheated oven. "What time is Nate meeting you here?"

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