Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
N oelle had been doing her live post when texts started popping up on the screen saying her sister was in labor. She could have quickly told her followers about Casey and her not working out before she signed off, but something held her back—probably the growing number of followers at the top of her profile page. So she excitedly told them about becoming an auntie before she waved goodbye and cut the feed.
When she arrived at the county hospital, she found most of her family in the waiting room . . . including Casey Remington. Since she knew he would ask about her media post and she didn’t want to get in an argument with him in a hospital waiting room, she decided to steer clear of him.
She played dominoes with Daddy and her brothers-in-law and took turns with her family checking on Cloe.
Cloe seemed to be handling childbirth like she did everything else—with calm strength. She breathed through each contraction and then once it was over, she talked to Noelle as if they were at Sunday dinner. Rome was a little more stressed. Each time a contraction hit, he looked more pained than Cloe. Of course, Noelle understood how he felt. It was hard watching her sister be in pain. It was a relief when Mama showed up to take over.
Mimi had been right. The fall from the swing had broken Mama’s arm, but she hadn’t let a cast slow her down. She came into the room like a whirlwind, issuing orders.
“Noelle, when you go back to the waiting room, make sure Sweetie doesn’t overdo. We don’t need another baby coming just yet. And keep your daddy from stress eating any more candy from the vending machine. And don’t let Mimi fall asleep in an awkward position and get a crick in her neck.”
“Sweetie and Daddy I can handle. Mimi’s another story.” Noelle blew a kiss to Cloe before she stepped out the door to do her mama’s bidding. She froze when she saw Casey leaning against the wall.
“How is Cloe doing?” he asked.
“She’s doing fine. Rome is taking it harder than she is.”
Casey nodded. “You should have seen him as we were leaving. He was in such a rush to get to the hospital, he jumped into his truck and took off before any of us had gotten in.” He glanced down. “Looks like you were in a rush too.”
She followed his gaze and realized she still wore her Santa apron. “Oh!” She laughed as she reached behind her to untie the strings.
He placed a hand on her arm and stopped her.
Heat spread from his fingertips through her body like a fast spreading wildfire. Her gaze went immediately to his lips. Lips she remembered all too well. Their softness. Their hunger. Their ability to wipe out every thought in her head but one.
Don’t stop.
He was studying her lips too. His dark lashes hid his eyes, but she could feel their heat. They remained like that for what felt like forever before he removed his hand from her arm and cleared his throat.
“I was just going to say don’t take your apron off. I like your aprons. They’re . . . cheerful.”
Before she could get over his compliment, a nurse came striding down the hall. She looked like she had a destination. Until her gaze landed on Casey. Then she stopped in her tracks. Noelle couldn’t blame her. He looked like sex in a Stetson with the collar of his blue-jean jacket flipped up against his strong jaw, making his eyes look like two tropical wading pools.
But it turned out it wasn’t his looks that had made the nurse stop and her eyes widen.
“You’re the Holiday Kitchen cowboy!” Her gaze snapped over to Noelle. “Noelle!” She beamed. “Oh, my gosh, I just love your posts. Whenever I get homesick, I watch them. They make me feel like I’m back in my mama’s kitchen with my best friend who is telling me all about her latest boyfriend.” She shot a glance at Casey. “It makes me hopeful that I’ll find my own cowboy hero someday.”
Noelle waited for Casey to correct her. Instead, he did something that had her jaw dropping. He tucked an arm around her waist and drew her into his hard chest. He smelled good. Real good. Like fresh night air and virile man. His voice rumbled beneath her ear as he spoke.
“It’s possible. Just look at Ellie and me.” He kissed the top of her head. “A match made in baking heaven.”
The nurse’s eyes glazed over. “That’s just so sweet. Wait until I tell the other nurses who’s here.” She turned and took off down the hall.
Noelle pulled back and looked up at Casey. “Just what in the world was that all—?”
Before she could finish, he took her hand and pulled her down the hall toward the elevator. Once inside, she started to repeat the question, but two guys in scrubs slipped in before the doors closed. Not wanting to talk in front of complete strangers, she waited until she and Casey stepped out into the lobby.
“Would you mind telling me what’s going on?”
“In a second.” He glanced at the waiting room that was still packed with Holidays. “I’d just as soon your family didn’t overhear.” Continuing to hold her hand, he led her out through the sliding front doors and into the chilly Texas night. Once they were outside, he turned to her.
“Did you already post about us?”
She thought about lying, but then realized he could easily confirm it. “Not yet.” The cold wind had her shivering and rubbing her arms. “I was getting ready to when I got the text about Cloe. If you’re so worried about me posting, why did you make that nurse think we’re together?”
He took off his blue-jean jacket and hooked it over her shoulders, surrounding her in cozy heat and manly scent. “Because I’ve decided to go along with your scheme.”
She blinked. “What?”
He stepped back and grinned. “I’ve decided to be your rescuing, rose-delivering cowboy hero.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Have you been drinking?”
He laughed. “Not a drop.”
“So you want to explain why you’ve suddenly had a change of heart?”
“Maybe I’m just a nice guy who doesn’t want to embarrass you about lying on social media.”
“And maybe I’m Martha Stewart. Sell that to someone else, Casey Remington. You have never done a nice thing for me in your life.”
“Now that’s not true. I’ve done nice things for you.”
“Really? What? Name one nice thing you’ve done for me.” She tugged his jacket tighter around her. “Besides giving me your coat.”
“I saved you from cracking your head open.”
“That was just a split-second reaction. I’m sure if you’d had time to think about it, you would have let me fall.”
His eyes squinted. “You really believe that? I know I’ve teased you over the years, but I would never want to see you hurt.”
“You don’t think all your bullying hurt?”
He drew back as if she’d slapped him. “Bullying? I never bullied you, Ellie. Teased, maybe. But never bullied.”
“Well, sometimes teasing can feel an awful lot like bullying.”
He stared at her in disbelief for a long moment before he spoke. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I didn’t realize how my teasing made you feel.”
She was so surprised by his sincere apology—an apology she never thought she’d hear from his lips—it took her a moment to reply. Even then it was a stupid reply.
“Well . . . okay.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Well, okay? Does that mean you accept my apology and forgive me? Or does that mean you accept my apology, but still plan on making me pay?”
“I never made you pay.”
“I don’t know what you’d call it, Ellie. You scarred me for life with a pencil. You bad-mouthed me to every girl in town who would listen. You were constantly tattling on me to the librarian for talking too loudly and to teachers for cheating if my gaze even glanced in your direction. You told Mr. Crawley to keep a close eye on me because you thought you saw me putting a pack of gum in my pocket without paying. You even tattled to the sheriff about me and my friends setting off firecrackers in the dumpster behind the town hall and my daddy gave me a butt blistering I’ll never forget. You made me pay for my teasing. Don’t ever doubt it.”
She wanted to deny everything, but she couldn’t. She’d had a vendetta against Casey for a long time. Most of it was justified. But some of it was just her being hateful.
“You’re right. I guess we both got a little carried away. Maybe we thought since our daddies were feuding, we needed to feud as well.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe we got to where we kind of enjoy it.”
“I do not enjoy it!”
He grinned. “Oh, come on, Ellie. You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy our feuding just a little bit. There’s a sparkle in your eyes whenever you’re yelling at me that doesn’t match your angry words.”
“It’s called a sparkle of annoyance. And now that we’ve established you and I have been feuding, why do you suddenly want to be my social media boyfriend?”
The smile left his face. “My daddy has decided it’s time for me to get married. If I’m already in a relationship, I won’t have to suffer through his matchmaking.”
“So you want to lie to your daddy?”
He frowned. “I already did. I didn’t mean to. It just sorta happened.”
She sighed. “Believe me, I get it. I didn’t plan on lying to my followers either, but the penalty for being honest outweighed the benefits of perpetuating a lie.”
He pointed a finger at her. “Exactly. And not having to deal with my daddy’s matchmaking choices outweighs being stuck in a fake relationship with you.”
“Gee thanks.”
He laughed. “You’re welcome.”
“What about the rest of our family? Are we going to lie to them too?”
“It’s not like we’re getting married like Rome and Cloe did. We’re just acting like we’re dating. People date all the time and nothing comes of it.”
She stared at him. “Other people date all the time. You’ve never dated in your life.”
“Now that’s not true. I’ve dated.”
“You’ve taken a woman out to dinner or a movie or a concert? Some place other than the Hellhole for drinks and dancing?”
“Yes. In college, I took girls to parties.”
“Took or met?”
“Met, but I still texted them to see if they wanted to go.”
She rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t constitute a date, Casey. And when you talk about dating me, are you talking about us actually dating or just pretend dating?”
“Just pretend dating. I’m sure you can make up some amazing dates for us to go on for your followers.” He grinned. “The roses were a nice touch, by the way. I think this week you should buy yourself some expensive chocolates. Or maybe sexy lingerie.”
The twinkle in his eyes made her realize he was teasing. The hilarity of the situation finally struck her and she laughed. An out-and-out laugh that seemed to take Casey by surprise.
But only for a second, then he joined her.
It was weird. It had always been Casey laughing at her and her getting angry. It felt nice to laugh together. He must have thought so too because when they finally sobered, he was still smiling. Not the teasing smirky smile he usually wore when she was around. This smile was as sincere as his apology had been.
“So are we doing this?” he asked.
The image of her followers count popped into her head and she knew the smiling cowboy in front of her was responsible for the huge growing number. “Yes, but we need to have some rules.”
“I agree. There needs to be an end date. I’m thinking two weeks is plenty for me to be in a relationship.”
“Two weeks?” She shook her head. “No. That’s right before Christmas. That would be too upsetting for my followers to think I got dumped right before the holidays.”
“You get dumped? Why do I get to be the bad guy? Why don’t you dump me?”
“Because I’m the sweet little baker. I can’t dump you and still keep my followers. But we could do a mutual breakup after the holidays.”
He sent her a pointed look. “We just weren’t right for each other? Sort of like what happened with your last boyfriend?”
She was more than a little surprised. “How do you know what happened between me and Kenny?”
“I watched some of your posts. From the comments I read, no one thinks it was mutual. They think you got dumped. Only people who get dumped say it was mutual.”
She wanted to argue, but she couldn’t. He was right. Kenny had dumped her and her followers all knew it. She was the only one keeping up the pretense.
“So what happened?” Casey asked. “Did he not like your baked goods?”
“Something like that.”
He studied her. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out.”
“All things happen for a reason.” She sent him a teasing smile. “Maybe I was just waiting for my cowboy hero.”
His lips tipped in a sexy smile. “Maybe you were.”
Once her gaze had lowered to his mouth—a mouth she had tasted—she couldn’t seem to look away. Or keep herself from reaching up and gently running her finger over the scar. His lips parted in a puff of air and heated her finger . . . and her entire body. A need filled her. A need to kiss that scar and make it all better.
“Ellie?”
Her gaze remained on his mouth, desire swelling up inside her like a perfectly whipped soufflé. “Yes?”
“Maybe we should have another rule.” His voice was deep and sexy and made her tummy tingle even more. But the heat of desire switched to the heat of embarrassment when he continued. “No more kissing.”
Thankfully, before she could feel too embarrassed, the front doors swished open and Jesse stepped out.
“There you two are. I’ve been looking all over for you.” He grinned brightly. “She’s here! Autumn Grace Remington is here!