Page 30 of Baking it Merry

“Aww…you two are so cute!”his aunt Anna chimed in.“We were all wondering when you were going to meet a nice girl and settle down, Tristan.It’s good to know that you can take yourself out of the office and focus on having a personal life and not working all the time.Oy, your mother worries about you.We all do.”

Good grief.

“I’m not really sure what to say to that,” he admitted, but once again, Daphne stepped in.

“Don’t you worry, Anna.I’m making sure he doesn’t work too hard.Someday, I might even convince him to come and bake with me!”

That was never going to happen, but it seemed to please everyone to think it, so he kept his mouth shut.

“How fun!”Aunt Joan cried.“What do you think you’ll bake?”

Before Tristan could say anything, his brother Jacob came up beside him.“Is there anymore cocoa?I think Dad just took the last of it.”

“Let me check,” he said, walking away.It wasn’t until they were in the butler’s pantry that his brother threw him a curveball.

“Nice going with the fake girlfriend bit.”

Everything in him tensed up.“Excuse me?”

“Come on, admit it.You and Daphne aren’t dating.She’s not your type.Plus, the timing is rather convenient.Did Mom get in your head after that comment at dinner?Is that why you did this?”

Were they really that unbelievable as a couple?

“Seriously, bro, I don’t know what you’re talking about.Daphne and I just sort of…you know…clicked after spending some time together.I don’t know why you wouldn’t believe that.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Jacob smirked before looking back at Tristan.“You tend to date women who are…shall we say…vanilla.”

“Vanilla?What does that even mean?”

“They’re typically very boring!”his brother said with a laugh.“Quiet, conservative, and more than a little…cold.But Daphne?That’s a woman who is confident in who she is.She’s got a big personality, seems to love to laugh, makes everyone feel at home, and that dress?Dude, come on!That had to make you freak out when she walked in wearing something so bold and festive!”

He wanted to argue, but sadly, his brother was completely on point.Daphne wasn’t the kind of woman he usually dated, but it irked the hell out of him that everyone knew it but him.

Although, to be fair, he had been desperate and really hadn’t thought this whole thing through.He definitely didn’t think anyone was going to call him out on it.

But instead of arguing, Tristan went for a more casual approach.With a careless shrug, he smiled.“That’s why I was so drawn to Daphne.She’s completely refreshing.I look at her and I don’t see the…the ridiculous dress or the…the…larger-than-life personality, I see a beautiful and vivacious woman who…challenges me.”

His brother eyed him warily.“Seriously?”

Nodding, Tristan replied, “Seriously.We have spirited conversations and admire and respect each other’s differences.Believe me, the whole thing caught me by surprise, but we just can’t seem to stay away from each other.”

And just like that, his brother seemed to relax.“Then I’m happy for you.”Clapping Tristan on the shoulder, he added, “But a bit of advice—you just started dating this girl and you’ve left her alone to navigate our family almost all night.And when you’re near her, you sort of…I don’t know…it’s like you’re too uptight to show any affection.So…relax a bit.It’s okay to show some emotion and maybe kiss her or something.It’s not like she’s a stranger.”

Kiss Daphne?Um…no.That wasn’t going to happen.It wasn’t necessary.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said as he looked around.“Weren’t we supposed to be finding out if there’s more cocoa?Let me ask Daphne.She’ll know.”And then he made his way across the room, intent on proving that he could look affectionate, even without kissing her.

“Baking is really an exact science,” she was saying when he joined her.“When you’re cooking, you can get creative and add things to a recipe, but you have to stick to the instructions when you’re baking because changing even the smallest of details can easily ruin the dessert.”

“Excuse me, love,” he said as he sidled up beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist.“Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if we had any more of the hot cocoa.We appear to be out.”

She looked at him oddly for a moment before smiling.“Um…there was a second batch, and I brought the ingredients to make more.If you’ll excuse me, I’ll check and see if I need to whip up another batch.”

When she walked away, he quickly followed.“Can’t Marcus or Jackie do it?That’s what they’re here for, right?I just thought maybe you could ask them.”

“You could have easily asked them too.Besides, it’s not a big deal and it won’t take long.”She moved into the butler’s pantry with him hot on her heels.

“I don’t want it to look like my date is working the party, Daphne.”

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