“WE HAVE to make the town suspect something.” I was back at Emmett’s place, standing at the patio door in his living room, looking out into the forest behind his house. A thick canopy of emerald-green towered over the small backyard. Two blue jays zipped in and out of a tree. My eyes narrowed. “We need to get the Queen’s Cove rumor mill going.”
Over on the couch, he cocked an eyebrow at me. “Nothing stays secret in this town. What are you thinking?”
“Phone Ricci’s Pizza and order a medium pizza with dairy-free cheese, pear, and arugula. Make sure you specify no mushrooms.”
He winced. “That’s your order? What’s wrong with you?”
I gave him a knowing look. “That’s what Mateo says every time I order it. He tells me I’m insulting his family’s Italian heritage with that pizza. Also, order it after midnight. I always call when I’m on my way home from the restaurant.”
He noted down my order before reaching into his wallet. He fished out a little paper ticket. “My dry cleaning should be ready tomorrow.”
I choked in disbelief. “You’re kidding.”
“What?”
“I’m not picking up your dry cleaning.”
“That’s what girlfriends do.”
Oh my god, this man. “Maybe in the fifties.”
“I thought you were supposed to be dutiful.” A smug grin pulled at his mouth.
I snorted. “You picked the wrong girl for that.” I tapped my chin with my finger, thinking. “How about I pick up your campaign signage at the post office?”
The print shop for our little town doubled as the post office.
I walked over and leaned against the back of the couch. “There’s always a lineup at lunch when everyone is on their break. I’ll go then and everyone will see me running an errand for you.”
This seemed to satisfy him. “Perfect. We’ll give it a few days, and then Friday, we’ll walk through the town fair together.”
Right. The town fair, where this bizarre ruse would begin. I was dreading it. All those eyes, watching and whispering about us made my stomach churn, but there was no other way to get my restaurant than to dive into this, head-first.
I nodded, taking a deep breath. “Friday.”
“STOP JERKING YOUR HAND AWAY,” Emmett whispered. “We’re supposed to be in love.”
I could feel the eyes watching us, lingering on our backs as we wandered through the vendor booths. This year’s fair theme was mushrooms.
Yeah, mushrooms.
The fair happened twice a year, sometimes three times if the town’s Fair Planning Board felt like it. The theme usually revolved around food (apples, pumpkins, cherries, peaches), and sometimes holidays (Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day).
I regarded the tray of stuffed mushrooms at a booth run by a local caterer and bit back my revolted expression. The Fair Planning Board must have run out of ideas.
I freaking hated mushrooms.
Emmett slipped his hand into mine again, and I fought the urge to yank it away. We had agreed on doing one quick loop of the fair, just to be seen, and then I could go home. I tried to relax my hand.
“There you go.” He grinned at me. “Just like that.”
Deep breaths, I told myself as irritation spiked on the back of my neck.
“Emmett.” A woman appeared in front of us, a big grin on her face. Her eyes glowed with excitement, darting between our hands, myself, and Emmett.
“Hey, Miri.” He turned to me. “Avery, do you know Miri?”
I nodded and smiled at her. “Hi, there.”
Miri Yang was in her early forties and was a teacher at the high school as well as an active volunteer around town. The woman was a social butterfly, constantly meeting friends for lunches and helping with town events. She was always in a cheerful mood, consistently polite, and tipped my staff well.
My hand twitched, but Emmett held firm.
Miri’s gaze returned to where my hand connected with Emmett’s. “Oh, yes, I see Avery all the time at The Arbutus.”
“How’s Scott doing?” Emmett asked.
She dragged her gaze up again to his. “He’s good. You know him, he always wants to keep everyone happy, but it’s impossible.” She shrugged and shook her head. “He just has such a good heart.” Her eyes flicked back to our hands. “So, the rumors are true.”
Emmett squeezed my hand, and I ignored it.
“Rumors?” His voice was innocent. “What rumors?”
Miri’s gaze snapped up, and she smiled brightly. “That you two are together. I didn’t believe it.”
I pressed my lips together, hiding a grin. I liked Miri more by the second.
“Believe it.” Emmett let my hand go and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “I finally convinced this one to go public.”
I just stood there.
“Right, honey?” Emmett dropped his head to catch my gaze.
I nodded at Miri. “We’re so in love.” My tone sounded flat.
She clapped and clasped her hands together. “I knew it.”
Don’t laugh, I told myself. You’ll blow this whole thing.
“We need to get dinner together.” Miri pulled out her phone and flipped through her calendar. “Scott will be so happy to hear you’re settling down, Emmett.”
“Absolutely.” He pulled out his phone as well. “Sunday?”
Miri’s eyes lit up. “Sunday it is!”
“Great. See you then.”
Miri twiddled her fingers at us as she left, and Emmett turned to me. “We’re so in love?” He repeated my words from earlier. “Can you sound more convincing?”
My mouth dropped open. “What about you? Honey?”
There was challenge in his eyes. “Miri ate it right up.”
He had me there.
“Let’s keep walking.” He grabbed my hand again and pulled me toward a booth. “We need to circulate.”
I let Emmett lead me through the fair while his hand grasped mine. It could have been worse. His hand could have been sweaty. It wasn’t, though. His hand was big and warm, and I fit into it perfectly. It was almost comfortable. I was almost having an okay time.
Someone gasped.
Almost.
“I knew it.” Mateo, the pizza shop owner, shook his head at us. “I friggin’ knew it. The second you called in that order, Emmett, I told my guys, those two are sneaking around.” He shook his head at us. “I friggin’ knew it.”
His wife, Farrah, beamed at us. “I hoped it was true.” She squeezed a plush toy to her chest. “How sweet. I’m so happy for you two.”
“Thanks, Farrah.” Emmett returned her smile. “Nice toy.”
She beamed again and nudged Mateo. “My husband won it for me.”
And that was how we ended up at the darts booth.
“We agreed on one loop of the fair.” I gave him a flat look.
“This is what people in a relationship would do.” Emmett pulled a twenty out of his pocket before he exchanged it for a handful of darts. “I’m going to win you a dumb little toy, and you’re going to carry that thing around all night.”
I scoffed. “Wow, macho much? The caveman’s stick hit you extra hard.”
He glanced around to make sure no one would overhear us. He wore a little grin on his face when he leaned in, and I got a clear view of his light gray eyes, filled with humor. The little scar on his lip quirked. “Dutiful,” he reminded me.
That was it. I yanked my wallet out of my bag.
“What are you doing?”
“You want to win something for me?” I pulled a bill out of my wallet and handed it to the teenager behind the booth. “I’m going to win something for you. And you also have to carry it around all night.”
I had never played darts in my life, but something about Emmett got to me. Maybe it was that smug expression. Or maybe it was that little scar on his lip that kept capturing my attention.
The teenager handed me some darts, and I gestured at Emmett. “Are we on or what?”
A big grin spread over his face. “Absolutely. Whatever I win for you, you have to cart around all night.”
I nodded. “And if I win that enormous mushroom—” I pointed at the massive stuffed toy hanging from the roof with the rest of the toys. It must have been bigger than me. “—you have to carry it around all night.”
“Great.” His eyes shone with competition and challenge.
“Wonderful.” I gave him my most confident smile.
“Ladies first.”
I positioned my feet in a way that felt right and closed one eye as I threw my first dart at the board.
It bounced off.
Shit.
“Don’t worry about it, Adams.” Emmett aimed for his own board. “The first one’s just to loosen you up.” He threw the dart and hit the bull’s eye. My mouth fell open, but I closed it as Emmett shot a satisfied grin over his shoulder at me. “Your turn.”
I swallowed.
“So,” he asked the teenager, “if I hit three bull’s eyes, I can pick whatever toy I want?”
The teenager shrugged. “Yep. Anything.”
Emmett pointed at a mushroom toy with a big hole in it. “Even that hat?”
Oh my god. A strangled noise came out of my throat. It was a mushroom hat. Oh my god. No. I could feel myself grimacing. Wearing that would be complete humiliation.
The teenager nodded. “Sure, but no one ever wants that one.”
“I wonder why.” My gaze bored into Emmett, but he threw me a winning grin.
“Go ahead, Adams. You’re up.”
Behind us, a group of people gathered to watch. I took a steadying breath and threw the dart. It hit the board near the edge.
Better, but not good enough.
Emmett whistled. “Close.”
“Shut up.”
He aimed his dart and tossed it like it was nothing. It hit the bull’s eye, and the crowd applauded behind us. I could feel my mood souring but wouldn’t give Emmett the satisfaction of it. I rolled my shoulders.
Emmett threw darts with ease. I just had to throw it like he did. I shook out my arm before I let the dart fly.
It whizzed past the teenager’s shoulder, but he jumped out of the way. “Hey!”
“Sorry.” I winced. There were murmurs in the crowd behind us, and more people stopped by to see what the fuss was about.
Emmett shook his head. “Adams, you punch above your weight, and I like that.” He threw the dart and again, it connected with the bull’s eye.
The crowd behind us erupted, and I rolled my eyes.
He looked like a kid on Christmas. “One mushroom hat, please.” Delight dripped off his words.
The teenager pulled the stupid thing down and handed it to Emmett. He shook it out to fluff it up and took a step toward me. It was red and brown and white, all poofy. It was horrifying. This was the stuff of nightmares.
I took a step away from him. “No.”
His grin widened. “Adams, I thought you were a woman of your word.”
“I am.” I glanced between him and the hat.
“Put the hat on so I can take a picture, and then I’ll go get us some mushroom ice cream.”
I made a face.
“We can leave as soon as you put the hat on.”
I sighed and grabbed it out of his hand. The second I yanked it onto my head, I regretted it.
“Avery, don’t you look adorable!” Miri trilled, her phone in front of her as she snapped pictures. “This is going to go straight on the Queen’s Cove blog.”
“I will make you pay for this,” I murmured to Emmett as he wrapped an arm around me, posing for Miri’s picture. I glared at her camera.
“I look forward to it, Adams.”
