Chapter 14
Rosa
Noah brought me back to the same cupcake bakery I'd bought the half dozen from yesterday—and dropped every single one in the elevators. It was a little hole in the wall spot, set back from the town center called Beefcakes where I was served cupcakes by shirtless men in aprons.
Not too shabby if you asked me.
We stepped inside and my eyes immediately drew towards the massive tiered cake display front and center against the back wall of the shop which had been decorated with tiny pink twinkle lights woven through sheer white tulle fabric draped above it.
The smell of baked goods filled my nose making my mouth water, instantly hungry for something sweet.
Whereas yesterday, the bakery had been packed with people and I had to wait in a line twenty-five people deep, today there was no one else in the store, despite it being noon on a Sunday.
From behind the counter, one of the shirtless men smiled at Noah. Coming out from behind, they hugged and greeted each other like brothers might.
Noah smacked his hand to the guy's bare chest, barely covered by the white apron. "C'mon, put a shirt on. You're putting my measly two hours a day in the gym to shame."
The guy rolled his eyes. "Oh please. You could run circles around me. Literally. Miles and miles of circles. Maybe that's why I'm so surprised to see you here. Can't believe that trainer of yours would allow you to eat cupcakes."
Noah shrugged. "I heard you had sugar free ones?"
"We do. But they still have superfluous calories."
"Well," Noah said, sliding his hand around my waist. "They're not just for me. Neil, meet Rosa... my wife."
Heat flamed my cheeks. Every time he introduced me to someone as his wife, I hated to admit how it made butterflies launch in my stomach.
"Wife," Neil repeated, taking my hand slowly. "No kidding."
I looked over my shoulder, glancing around for any photographers or anyone who might be lingering with their phone cameras out and pointed at us.
But Noah shook his head, alleviating my concerns. "Neil's an old friend. When I told him we were coming, he offered to shut the place down to the public until we were done."
I blinked, surprised as I turned to look back at Neil. "Well that explains why the place is uncharacteristically empty compared to yesterday."
"You were here yesterday?"
I nodded. "I managed to get the last four blue lagoon cupcakes and the last two yellow sunshine cupcakes."
"Then she mopped the floor with them," Noah added, laughing. "Literally dropped all of them, buttercream side down, on the floor of the elevator at the Maple Grove Inn. It looked like Big Bird murdered Cookie Monster in there."
Grinning, I pinched his bicep. "I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have dropped them if you hadn't chased me into the elevator!"
"Oh sure, blame me!" He dramatically threw his hands in the air, but we were still both grinning like idiots.
"I never thought I'd see the day," Neil murmured, crossing back behind the counter.
"What day?" I asked.
"The day Noah Blue Tripp succumbed to love."
I cleared my throat and tried to step away from Noah, but he held firm, his arm around my waist, pinning me to him. It wasn't fair the way we were tricking everyone. All these friends and family, people who cared about us believed we were in love. We were deceiving them.
Without asking us what we wanted, Neil started putting together a box of a little bit of everything. "Okay," Noah grunted, "my trainer really will have my ass for all of that."
"Relax," Neil said. "The ones on this side are sugar free and made with almond flour. Stick to those and you'll be alright. Can I get you two a coffee, as well?"
I looked around, noticing that a few customers had started to form a line outside. "I don't think we should hold up your business any more than we already have."
But Neil quickly waved away my concerns. "It's fine. It's good for business. The line outside helps build up anticipation. And then all the influencers post videos of them waiting in line… trust me. It helps."
Noah took my hand and pulled me into a booth as Neil deposited two cups of coffee, two cups of water, two cupcakes on a plate, and a box to take home in front of us on the table.
"Need any cream or sugar for your coffee?"
"She does," Noah said at the same time I answered, "He doesn't."
We locked eyes for a long moment. A charged silence filled the room as Noah and I declared two opposing truths in perfect unison.
We held each other's gaze for what felt like an eternity, the air thick with a mix of appreciation and anticipation as we both waited to see who would break the stalemate first.
But it wasn't either of us to break the silence. It was Neil. "If I wasn't such a curmudgeon, I'd say you two were fucking adorable," Neil muttered as he dropped a bowl of creamers and sugar cubes on the table, too.
"Okay, Alvarez," Noah said, as he looped his arm back around my waist and pulled me to sit closer to him on the bench. His touch was electric, his hands radiating warmth into my skin. "Let's see what you got."
With his free hand, he nudged the plate of cupcakes toward me.
"We aren’t having a cupcake eating contest," I chuckled.
"Not with that attitude, we aren’t." He lifted the one that was marked with a sugar free wrapper and peeled it off the base while I lifted the other in my hand.
"Do you know the proper way to eat a cupcake?" he asked.
"There's a proper way to eat a cupcake?"
"As a senator's daughter and ex-debutante, I expected more from you," he teased.
"I am so not an ex-debutante," I snorted. Far from it.
I opened my mouth as wide as I could, but my unhinged jaw was no match for the heaping swirl of buttercream on top. I laughed as I felt it hit the tip of my nose.
"No, no, no," Noah scolded me playfully. "Let me show you a little trick of the trade."
Giggling with a mouthful of cupcake, I nodded and set down my half bitten cupcake back on the plate, trying to wipe my face of buttercream.
Noah tore off the bottom half of his cupcake, then smushed it on top of the buttercream to make a cupcake sandwich of sorts.
"That's cheating!" I cried. "It's not even a cupcake anymore!"
"What are you talking about? Of course it's still a cupcake!"
"Nope! I call a foul. That's now a cake sandwich!"
"But look!" He gestured at his face and hands which were severely lacking the buttercream explosion I suffered a mere seconds earlier. "No mess! It's the perfect way to eat a cupcake."
"Yeah, if you're a cheater." I moved to tickle him, but he scooted back on the bench, grinning.
"Don't you dare. Your fingers are still covered in frosting."
I bit my lip and lifted my fingers up, wiggling them in his face. "They're sticky, too."
He laughed, but shook his head in warning. "Rosa, don't wage a war you can't win."
"Who says I can't win? I'm the one with all the weapons." Again, I wiggle my frosting covered fingers at him, then waste no time, diving them into his ribs tickling.
He swiftly drops his cupcake and attacks back, pulling our bodies flush together and tickling me, clutching me.
Panting, we were nose to nose, him locking our bodies together. "Surrender?" he asked.
"Never."
His eyes wandered my face, pausing on my lips and the muscled column of his throat worked a swallow. "You have frosting on your mouth."
I tried to wipe at the corner of my lips, but it didn't do much good since my fingers were still covered in the sticky residue of frosting.
Noah's voice was smooth and soothing as he said, "Let me." His breath puffed against my lips, sending tingles down the back of my neck like a shiver.
My breath hitched as he lifted his thumb, slowly brushing the buttercream off of the corner of my mouth. He paused, waiting to gauge my reaction. But I couldn't think straight. The world around us faded away and everything was fuzzy as time stood still in that moment.
"Noah," I whispered, his name a moan.
“Nuh-uh,” he said, his minty hot breath bathing my lips. “I meant what I said. You have to kiss me.”
“Even if I beg for it?”
I could feel his smirk. “Is this you begging?”
“Maybe.”
With a smile, he shook his head. “Not even then. But if you really want a kiss, you know what to do.”
Without thinking, I parted my lips, touching them to his with a soft sigh.
It was the green light he needed. He didn't waste any time taking advantage of my parted lips and I swallowed hard as his tongue swept into my mouth, seeking out the tip of mine.
He took his time with me, caressing my tongue with his own.
Maple and buttercream lingered on his lips and the scratch of his five o'clock shadow rasped against my skin, making me groan. The heat of Noah’s mouth on mine, the electric jolt of excitement made me tremble.
His hands explored the curve of my spine, skimming over my hip and dipping in between the waistband of my skirt to brush the bare, sensitive skin there.
Our kiss was interrupted by a sharp sound along with a bright burst of light that exploded through the glass pane of the window next to us.
Startled, I pulled away only to realize that we were being photographed by one of the customers in line, waiting outside of the bakery.
Gone was our perfect, private moment.
Gone was our quiet first kiss.
Because this wasn't real. We weren't real. And Noah could never be the man who I shared a lovely quiet Sunday eating cupcakes and coffee with. It wasn't in his cards. He was a superstar. And with that came a lack of privacy that I'd promised myself I would never compromise again.
My heart sank as fear paralyzed my mind and without uttering a word, I sprang from Noah's arms, standing and cleaning my hands with some napkins and the glass of water in front of me.
"Rosa, wait," Noah said, but I merely shook my head to interrupt him.
"I know why we're doing this," I whispered, risking a quick glance at Neil. "But I just... I need it to be fake." I paused, looking up at Noah through a sheen of moisture coating my eyes. "I need all of it to be fake. And if you can't do that?—"
"It's a little late to go back on all this now, Rosa. We're in it. We're in it whether you regret it or not. So we might as well make the best of it."
A tear fell from the corner of my eye and I wiped it away, wincing as another flash went off outside the window. "I just need to get out of here."
"Give me a second, I'll come with you?—"
But I didn't wait for Noah. I couldn't. Noah's presence was the problem. With him by my side, they would keep following. Keep photographing.
And it would never stop.
Which was why no matter how much I liked Noah, this marriage could never be a reality.