Page 26 of Baking it Merry

Not just someone.His mother.

“Dan!Look!Tristan has a date!I told you it would happen!”And before he knew it, his mother joined them in a group hug.

Five

Not only was an elegantly dressed woman hugging her, but then an older gentleman joined in.

What the…?

“Um…”

“Mom,” Tristan said lovingly but firmly, as he did his best to get them all to separate a bit.

Oddly, he stepped closer to Daphne and draped his arm around her waist.She was about to comment when his mother excitedly introduced herself.

“Hi!I’m Cynthia Knight and this is my husband, Dan!I’m sorry we interrupted your tender moment with Tristan, but I just got so excited to see you here with him!”Then she smiled at Tristan.“And shame on you for keeping this a secret!”

For a second, Tristan’s grip on her waist tightened, but for the life of her, she had no idea what she was supposed to do or say.So, she went with the obvious choice.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs.Knight.Mr.Knight.I’m Daphne, and I’m…”

“My girlfriend!”Tristan quickly interrupted.

“Oh!Are you the same Daphne who owns the bake shop in Tristan’s building?”Cynthia asked excitedly.“And now the two of you are dating?I can’t wait to hear all the details!I’ll bet it was like something out of those Hallmark Christmas movies I love so much!”

It suddenly felt like the room had gone up by about ten degrees and the walls were closing in on her.“Um…”

“Mom, Dad,” Tristan began politely.“Daphne and I just need a moment.Why don’t you head out to the living room and get something to drink?We’ve got hot cider, eggnog, hot cocoa, and a full bar.Just tell the servers what you’d like, and they’ll gladly get it for you.”

Fortunately, they left, and Tristan walked over and shut the door to give them some privacy.With his back up against it, he raked a hand through his hair and gave her a nervous smile.“So, that was funny, right?”

Daphne was fairly certain her jaw was on the floor.“Funny?You think that wasfunny?Five minutes ago, you were bragging about not being a liar, and then you just told an enormous lie to your own parents!”She was seriously beginning to loathe this man.“How am I supposed to walk out of here and leave?They’re waiting for some sort of explanation about our relationship!”

“There’s a simple solution,” he reasoned.“Stay for the party.”He paused.“As my hostess and…pretend girlfriend.”

The laugh came out as an almost maniacal snort.“Have you lost your mind?First, I told you I already had plans.Second, I’m not going topretendto be your girlfriend.And third…um…well there isn’t a third, just know that I’m not going to be a part of this nonsense.Now please go and distract your parents so I can leave here undetected.”

Shaking his head, Tristan slowly walked toward her.“Daphne, they’re going to see you at the office parties and possibly at the one for our clients.”When he was almost right in front of her, his expression softened.“Look, I know this is a bit…unconventional, but it’s really not that big of a deal.”

“Says the man who claims not to be a liar while lying,” she mumbled.

“Okay, I’m usuallynota liar,” he went on.“I panicked and…did you see how happy they both looked?Do you have any idea how devastated they’ll be if I go out there and tell them I lied?”

“You know how to get out of that?”she asked sweetly.

“How?”

“Don’t lie!”she hissed.Tossing her coat and purse back down again, Daphne faced him and did her best to sound intimidating.“Now you listen to me.I didn’t ask to get dragged into this.You already made twice as much work for me today, you’ve basically done your best to intimidate and bully me during the week at the office, and you’ve openly mocked me and tried to sabotage me.Andnowyou want to ask me for a favor like this?Give me one good reason why I should help you?”

“The customer is always right?”he asked with a nervous laugh, but she wasn’t amused.“Fine, that was lame.”Pausing, he went and sat down on the corner of his bed.“I’ll order extra food for all the parties.”

“That just gives me more work to do,” she countered.“And I don’t believe in wasting food.”

“It wouldn’t be wasted.I’d send it home with everyone.”

She shook her head.

“I’ll pay you double for each party.All four of them.”

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