Page 59 of A Very Merry Mistake

“Easy?” I reach across my body and tickle her.

She lets out a loud yelp and squirms, and we draw even more attention. “Shit, you really are ticklish.”

“I told you! I didn’t say it in jest.”

“So proper, CeCe. Also, I loved that you introduced yourself using your nickname.”

“It seemed like the right thing to do,” she says. “Plus, it’s somewhat cute.”

“Somewhat?” I hold my hand over my heart, as if I’m offended.

Before she can respond, our food arrives.

“Mm, this looks great,” Claire offers as Chelsea refills our coffee.

“Y’all need anything, just holler,” she says, and we both nod, immediately digging in.

“Oh my God,” Claire moans out. “This bisque is fabulous.”

“Everything on the menu is. Taste my potato soup.”

Claire nods, and I dip my spoon in the bowl and hold it to her mouth. She meets my eyes before I feed it to her. She covers her lips, chewing and then swallowing, her eyes widening with surprise. “I’m getting that next time.”

I chuckle. “You can have as much of mine as you want, but I wanna taste yours.”

I try to dip my spoon in her bowl, and she shakes her head. “You feed me. I feed you.”

“I love a woman who reciprocates,” I mutter.

As she moves the spoon to my mouth, I stare into her eyes. She slides it in with a brow popped, and I swallow, nodding. “Okay, yeah, that’s as good as I remember it. But you gotta dip your sandwich in it.”

She makes a face.

“Don’t knock it until you try it. Go on,” I tell her, scooping up a few more of the tender potatoes as I watch her.

She chews, then swallows. “I’ll never doubt you again.”

“Thank ya.” I shoot her a wink.

When I glance up, I notice Lacy’s eyes pinned on me. I give her a small smile, and she looks down at her plate. I’m glad she finally understands how I’ve felt seeing her blaze through men like she’s running out of time. Luckily, I’ve had years to get over it. She seems destroyed seeing me with someone else. The last thing I want to do is hurt her, but did she expect me never to move on after her?

I have to remind myself that Claire and I are not together and that she will only be here temporarily. All the stares will eventually fade, and new rumors will spread.

“Everything okay?” Claire asks.

I force a smile and nod. “Yeah. It will be. It always is. What do you want to do after this?”

“Can we go to the antique store on Main?”

“You got it, babe.”

CHAPTER 15

CLAIRE

After we finish eating, Jake pays again. When we leave, he places his firm hand on the small of my back and leads me out to the truck, where he politely opens the door. It doesn’t matter that his ex is watching our every move. Jake would act like a gentleman without an audience; I know that to be a fact. However, making her squirm after what he shared about her satisfies me.

By how his expression changed when he mentioned her, I could tell how badly she hurt him. Seeing her in the flesh, hearing her high-pitched voice, and seeing the way she looked at him like she owned him infuriated me. She’s a pretty girl, but honestly, he can do better.

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