Page 7 of My Dream

“I heard you,” she muttered and rolled onto her side to face me. “But it felt wrong to be happy about it while you were pissed off.”

That drew a reluctant smile out of me. “I think that’s the only reason I’m sticking around—you’re the least horrible part of this mess.”

Adalee grinned. “I thought you were leaving? Packing a bag and everything?”

I rolled my eyes. “I should. But as much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. I’m dead if I do.”

“Glad you’re finally seeing reason,” she teased.

I sat up and brushed my hair out of my face. “Maybe Compass and I could ‘date’ for the cameras, then have a huge blow-up and break up. Wouldn’t that be believable enough?”

Adalee snorted. “Sure, but it’d be awkward as hell if you stuck around after. The whole point of this show is to make the bikers look badass. Pretty sure everyone would think Compass was a loser if you broke up with him and he didn’t make you leave.”

“Ugh, you are so right,” I muttered.

She laughed and reached over to nudge my shoulder. “Come on. You’re crazy if you think pretending to be dating Compass is a chore—you’ll survive this. And hey, we might even have fun opening the bakery. You can’t tell me that doesn’t sound better than running for your life.”

Running wasn’t an option. Not anymore.

“Fine,” I said and slumped forward. “I’m staying, but you’re sticking by my side. You and all the girls better be on my side.”

Adalee laughed lightly. “Oh, you have nothing to worry about, Fallon. Something tells me when this is all over, you’re going to be just fine.”

Yeah, sure. Whatever Adalee said.

Compass

“You look like what’s on the other side of that door is going to bite you.”

Fade’s voice broke through my thoughts. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him strolling up with his usual smirk in place.

“Your woman’s in there, too,” I said and jerked my chin toward the door. “I hear them plotting away about the bakery.”

Fade leaned casually against the wall next to Fallon’s room and crossed his arms like he didn’t have a care in the world. “My woman,” he said, the words slow, like he was trying them on for size. A small smile tugged at his mouth. “That sounds damn good.” He tilted his head toward the door. “And once those cameras start rolling, Fallon’s your woman, too.”

I gritted my teeth as the reminder hit me like a stone in my boot. “I don’t need you to spell it out.”

“It’s worth spelling out,” he shot back with a wide grin.

It had been bad enough being tasked with keeping an eye on her. Now I had to fake some kind of relationship in front of the whole damn camera crew. Every fiber of me wanted to tell Yarder to find someone else for the job, but I already knew how that conversation would end.

“I’m planning to keep the focus on The Cakery,” I said, my tone firm. “Not me and Fallon.”

Fade snickered, shaking his head. “Good luck with that one, brother.”

Yeah, luck. That’s exactly what I was going to need.

Chapter Four

Fallon

“I need to go somewhere.”

Compass looked up at me over the brim of his coffee cup, his eyes half-lidded with sleep. He didn’t look amused. “It’s too early, Fallon. You need to wait until I’ve had at least two cups of coffee and a cigarette.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, toss your coffee in a travel cup, and you can smoke on the way to the store.”

He shook his head and took another slow sip. “You wake up thinking you call the shots?”

---