Page 100 of Bake You Mine
“It could work, in theory. But Daphne’s about to enter high school, plus the logistics of being a business owner…” she trailed off.
“Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”
She shook her head. “I never told you something, Tom.”
“What did he do? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
She waved the thought away. “No, nothing like that. He’s been nothing but wonderful to me. But…” There was one way to say it, so she might as well get it out. “Before we got together, I… I had a crush on Liam.”
Tom’s mouth dropped open.
“A total teenybopper crush I had for overthree yearson and off. I kept him at a distance because he was a pretty face to distract me while my heart mended after my divorce. Too bad my crush didn’t heal over like my broken heart did. Now I don’t know what to do.” She looked up at him, eyes wide.
Tom arched a brow. “Well, this is certainly a revelation.”
“It was something to protect my heart after Chris left me. A little bit of limerence to keep my anxious mind busy. It was fun enough when we were messing around during this competition. Now, I don’t know.”
Tom only sighed. “Oh, you beautiful idiot. You’ve been so busy living inside that extraordinary mind of yours, you’ve missed the point entirely.”
A stubborn tear slipped down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away. This was why it was better for her to focus on herself and her business.
Tom shook his head. “You’re not seeing what the rest of us are. So many people sidled up to me after the dinner last night to say what a beautiful couple you two made, how it seemed downright natural for you to be together. Don’t let that negative voice convince you otherwise, okay?” He drew her in for a hug. “And if you don’t call your therapist for an appointment, I’m going to, okay?”
Leroy poked his head in, saying the inserts for the advent calendar had arrived—finally, something to take Aubrey’s mind off the inevitable.
“Please stop looking at me like that.”
Lameka ran her hands over her face. “Like what? Like you’re upending my life? I’m in the middle of nest mode, Liam. Do you not see those baby clothes piled up in the hamper, just waiting to be tucked away in drawers?”
Damon appeared with a beer, which Liam gratefully took.
“I committed to the DC meeting without talking to you both. Sorry. I assumed you’d be down based on what Damon said.”
From behind Lameka, Damon drew a frantic hand across his neck. He likely hadn’t talked much with his other half about a possible move to DC.
Lameka stared at Liam, one brow pointedly arched.
Liam coughed. “It’s not too late to back out.”
Please don’t back out, please don’t back out?—
“Of course, I’ll go with you to the meeting. Lameka, you can nest here if you need to. We’ll figure out the logistics after the baby is born.” Damon nestled on the couch next to Lameka.
“And your little sister bitches about the commute on theregular. Because we live in one of the worst metro areas for traffic. Your commute is less than ten minutes now. That’s gonna quadruple,” Lameka said.
“So, we do it for a little while. We’ll figure it out; we always do.”
Lameka pulled a face. Liam knew her well enough to know she was considering her husband’s words.
For most people, it would be awkward as hell to third wheel on a couple’s argument, but Liam had been listening to Damon and Lameka bicker since junior year.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves; there are other options,” Damon said.
“As much as I hate to admit it, not Jason Morse options.” Lameka leaned forward and pulled a copy ofEssencemagazine from a pile. She flicked through it and handed it to Liam. “Jason is a mover and a shaker. Look at this profile of him and his wife. She owns a chain of nail salons in the DMV. These are the kind of people who can make our dreams come true. Opportunity doesn’t like to knock twice.”
While Liam scanned the article, Lameka rubbed her belly. “Wouldn’t it be nice if you could eventually work fewer hours? Aligning with someone like Jason could lead to a life like that.” She turned to Damon. “We’ve been hustling for so long, y’all.”
Liam set the magazine aside. “We could do it in Port Fortune, too. Hell, we’ve already started down that path. It would take longer, though.”
