Page 26 of Emma and the Grumpy Baker

Our wine was brought out and the server took our orders. I let Liam order for me, because I had no idea what to get. Then we were left alone again.

“Have you checked on your social media recently?” He asked, leaning forward on the table. His hands were clasped together in front of him, and they were just a few inches away from one of mine.

I laughed. “I have barely had time to eat in the last few days, so I haven’t kept up. Why?”

“Well, I have been watching. I think it might be an obsession at this point. Grady posted a video of the two of us. It was a compilation of sorts.”

My eyes bulged. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just a bunch of clips of us together, mixed with some from when he interviewed me. And now all of your followers are convinced that we are having an enemies-to-lovers romance.”

“No way,” I said quietly, my mind whirling.

“Yes. And I’ll have you know, they’ve created this whole story around us. They think that I’m trying to win you back, and that’s why I’m helping you so much.”

I stayed silent, unable to look away from Liam’s face even though I felt the need to.

“And are you?” I asked, nauseous as I waited for his response. The question hung in the air for a few seconds and a small smirk crept up on Liam’s face.

“The answer to that should remain a mystery. You know, for the internet’s sake. Let them continue coming up with theories. It’s good for business.” He leaned back in his chair and brought his wine glass to his mouth. I watched intently and even considered knocking the glass out of his hand and demanding that he tell me. His answer was frustrating and he knew it.

And I shouldn’t have cared so much for the answer, but apparently, I was no longer sane.

How was it that I’d gone from hating his guts to wishing that maybe he wanted me back in two days?

Obviously, my heart was misbehaving. But his actions spoke so loud, and his help the last two days was instrumental in me finishing the orders.

“Ah, yes. We’ll keep them on their toes for sure.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed my own glass as I thought of an idea. If he wanted me to milk this for the business, I would.

I pulled out my phone and opened Instagram, where I’d grown to sixty thousand followers. I rarely checked it or used it, but I pulled open my story and snapped a picture of Liam.

He didn’t realize what I was doing, but he looked incredible. Way too good for a random candid. He was holding his wine in one hand, leaning back in his chair, and looking at me with a question in his eyes. To the camera, it was just incredibly sexy-looking and relaxed.

I typed in the story, “Look who took me out for a victory dinner”. Then I posted it without time to second-guess myself.

If the internet was as invested in our story as he said they were, I would play into it especially, if he wasn’t going to give me a straight answer. This was good for my publicity, and if that was all I would be getting out of Liam, so be it.

Though the cocky side of myself said that he was absolutely trying to woo me, because why else would he bring me here.

Our conversation continued casually and so comfortably. I’d forgotten how easy he was to talk to, and how naturally we conversed. The eight years we’d spent apart suddenly felt as though they never happened, because we were just as open with each other as we had been all that time ago.

Our food came, and it was absolutely delicious. Liam had ordered these incredible steaks and my mouth watered just at the smell.

After we ate, the waitress brought a large plate and set it in front of me. Again, I was wowed.

There were three pink macarons on the plate, along with chocolate truffles and caramels. On the plate, written in chocolate, was a large “Congratulations!”

I blushed as the waitress told me congratulations, too. Then I looked at Liam.

“You really went above and beyond. Thank you so much.” This was more than anyone had ever done for me before, and I could have cried. It was incredibly sweet and perfectly planned out. Exactly as Liam had always been.

When we’d first met in High School, I thought he was the grumpiest man I’d ever encountered. And in a sense, I was right. Just like his father, he struggled to get close to people, and that gave him a distant demeanor and a lack of shown emotion. But once I got to know him, I realized he was the biggest softie I’d ever known. He would constantly do the sweetest things for me, and everything he did showed just how much thought he’d put into it.

That was really all the answer that I needed. He may have dodged my question, along with the internet’s, but Iknew. And I refused to let myself believe that he didn’t still care about me.

I forced Liam to share the dessert with me, and we did so in comfortable silence. It was hard for me to keep myself from just flinging myself across the table to hug him, but I managed.

Then, he walked me back to my apartment and like the gentleman that he was, he walked up with me.

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