Chapter 5

Five

N ot only was an elegantly dressed woman hugging her, but then an older gentleman joined in.

What the…?

“Um…”

“Mom,” Tristan said lovingly but firmly, as he did his best to get them all to separate a bit.

Oddly, he stepped closer to Daphne and draped his arm around her waist. She was about to comment when his mother excitedly introduced herself.

“Hi! I’m Cynthia Knight and this is my husband, Dan! I’m sorry we interrupted your tender moment with Tristan, but I just got so excited to see you here with him!” Then she smiled at Tristan. “And shame on you for keeping this a secret!”

For a second, Tristan’s grip on her waist tightened, but for the life of her, she had no idea what she was supposed to do or say. So, she went with the obvious choice.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs. Knight. Mr. Knight. I’m Daphne, and I’m…”

“My girlfriend!” Tristan quickly interrupted.

“Oh! Are you the same Daphne who owns the bake shop in Tristan’s building?” Cynthia asked excitedly. “And now the two of you are dating? I can’t wait to hear all the details! I’ll bet it was like something out of those Hallmark Christmas movies I love so much!”

It suddenly felt like the room had gone up by about ten degrees and the walls were closing in on her. “Um…”

“Mom, Dad,” Tristan began politely. “Daphne and I just need a moment. Why don’t you head out to the living room and get something to drink? We’ve got hot cider, eggnog, hot cocoa, and a full bar. Just tell the servers what you’d like, and they’ll gladly get it for you.”

Fortunately, they left, and Tristan walked over and shut the door to give them some privacy. With his back up against it, he raked a hand through his hair and gave her a nervous smile. “So, that was funny, right?”

Daphne was fairly certain her jaw was on the floor. “Funny? You think that was funny ? Five minutes ago, you were bragging about not being a liar, and then you just told an enormous lie to your own parents!” She was seriously beginning to loathe this man. “How am I supposed to walk out of here and leave? They’re waiting for some sort of explanation about our relationship!”

“There’s a simple solution,” he reasoned. “Stay for the party.” He paused. “As my hostess and…pretend girlfriend.”

The laugh came out as an almost maniacal snort. “Have you lost your mind? First, I told you I already had plans. Second, I’m not going to pretend to be your girlfriend. And third…um…well there isn’t a third, just know that I’m not going to be a part of this nonsense. Now please go and distract your parents so I can leave here undetected.”

Shaking his head, Tristan slowly walked toward her. “Daphne, they’re going to see you at the office parties and possibly at the one for our clients.” When he was almost right in front of her, his expression softened. “Look, I know this is a bit…unconventional, but it’s really not that big of a deal.”

“Says the man who claims not to be a liar while lying,” she mumbled.

“Okay, I’m usually not a liar,” he went on. “I panicked and…did you see how happy they both looked? Do you have any idea how devastated they’ll be if I go out there and tell them I lied?”

“You know how to get out of that?” she asked sweetly.

“How?”

“Don’t lie!” she hissed. Tossing her coat and purse back down again, Daphne faced him and did her best to sound intimidating. “Now you listen to me. I didn’t ask to get dragged into this. You already made twice as much work for me today, you’ve basically done your best to intimidate and bully me during the week at the office, and you’ve openly mocked me and tried to sabotage me. And now you want to ask me for a favor like this? Give me one good reason why I should help you?”

“The customer is always right?” he asked with a nervous laugh, but she wasn’t amused. “Fine, that was lame.” Pausing, he went and sat down on the corner of his bed. “I’ll order extra food for all the parties.”

“That just gives me more work to do,” she countered. “And I don’t believe in wasting food.”

“It wouldn’t be wasted. I’d send it home with everyone.”

She shook her head.

“I’ll pay you double for each party. All four of them.”

“Tristan…”

“I’ll pay you double and build the storage extension you need on the…the…you know…gingerbread house. And I’ll pay for the whole thing.”

The sigh was out before she could stop it. “We went over this earlier when you tried to get me to stay tonight. I can’t be bought, Tristan, and it’s a little insulting that you keep trying.”

She would have felt better about standing firm if he didn’t look so miserable.

Suddenly, his words from the night he brought her pizza came back to her.

“I seriously just need a win. You have no idea what it’s like to be the only person in a family of successful architects and engineers to never…you know…do anything big.”

It shouldn’t have meant anything to her.

It certainly shouldn’t sway her decision to leave.

But it did.

Plus, even though it shamed her to admit this, the extra money would go a long way in helping her achieve her dream of opening her own bakery.

I hope I don’t regret this.

“If I stay,” she began.

Tristan jumped up and immediately pulled her into his embrace. “You won’t regret this. I swear.” When he pulled back and smiled at her, Daphne quickly reminded herself how rarely she saw him look like this.

Gently clearing her throat, she repeated, “If I stay, there needs to be some ground rules.”

“Anything!” he blurted out.

“We don’t come up with any kind of elaborate stories about our relationship. If anyone asks, we simply met at work and have only gone out on a few dates. Nothing serious.”

Nodding, he said, “I agree.”

Relaxing a bit, she added, “I would still like to make it to Sara’s party, so I’ll stay for an hour and then we can tell everyone that I simply have another party to cater, okay?”

“It would really be better if you stayed. I’m sure your friend will understand.”

“Really? Like the way you understood that I was leaving?” And yes, she was heavy on the sarcasm.

“Okay, I hear what you’re saying, but they’re not the same thing,” he reasoned. “How would it look if my girlfriend left the party where she’s meeting my family for the first time? A family who would probably want to use her baking business for more of their catering needs in the future?”

Her gaze narrowed as she leaned in. “That is a cheap shot, dangling the possibility of gaining customers. You play dirty, Tristan.”

Then he leaned in even closer. “I play to win .”

The urge to grab her things and leave was strong, but so was the image in her mind of the bakery she wanted to open. The extra money and the potential for some corporate clients were too great of a lure for her to go.

No matter how much she wanted to smack his smug face and walk out.

“Fine,” she murmured as she moved away. “Let me just text Sara, and I’ll join you out in the living room.”

“I’ll wait,” he replied sweetly.

Yeah, I definitely want to smack him.

“Whatever.” Turning, she pulled her phone from her purse and quickly sent an apology text to Sara. A catering emergency was the perfect excuse—and kind of fit this situation—but she still hated that she was missing the party. She had no doubt that it was going to be a lot livelier and more festive than this one. Putting the phone back, Daphne turned around. “All set.” She knew she was smiling, but her face felt tight.

Slowly, Tristan walked over to her. “I have watched you genuinely smile at pretty much every single person who works in our building, so I know you can smile more naturally than this.”

She hated that he was right, but more than that, she hated that she caved and put herself in this position. Lying was something she always avoided and yet she now had to leave this room and lie to everyone she met.

“Tristan…” The sigh was out before she could stop it. “I’m not good at this sort of thing. Lying makes me completely uncomfortable. No one is going to believe that we’re a couple.”

“Why not?”

“Because…well…look at us! You’re all stiff and uptight and I’m dressed like a young Mrs. Claus! There’s no way we’d ever date each other!” With a huff, she blurted, “This is a bad idea!”

To his credit, Tristan didn’t outwardly react. Instead, he gave her a serene smile. “It’s a couple of hours, and most of the time, you’ll be talking about your baking and not about us. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that because you don’t know it for certain.”

A knock on the door had them both freezing.

“Tristan?” his mother called out. “Is everything alright? Guests are starting to arrive!”

“We’ll be right out!” All traces of the serene smile were gone and now he had a bit of a wild-eyed expression. “Daphne, please . If you want me to beg, I’ll beg.”

While tempting, she wasn’t that petty.

However…

“We need some ground rules,” she said, doing her best to sound stern.

“Such as?”

“For starters, no more snarky comments about my gingerbread house.”

“Seriously? That just seems…”

“If you don’t agree, I can leave,” she said with a sweet smile.

“Sure, now you’re smiling for real,” he murmured after a brief eye roll. “And…fine. No more snarky comments.”

“No more sneering whenever you walk by my booth or any of the booths, for that matter.”

“I don’t sneer…”

“You do, and it’s all the time!”

After a moment, he nodded. “No sneering.”

“Thank you.”

“Even though I don’t…”

“Oh. My. God! Are you really going to argue right now?” She laughed softly before continuing. “And lastly, no more making fun of me. No calling me names or mocking my upbeat personality.”

“Daphne…my family is waiting. Can’t we just go out there?”

“Not until you agree to no more name calling.” Crossing her arms, she stood firm.

“Fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “Now, can we please join the party?”

Suddenly, she felt a bit self-conscious about…well…everything. What if his entire family was just as snooty as Tristan was? What if they all looked at her and her festive party dress and thought she was weird?

Ugh…what have I done?

The feel of Tristan’s hand on hers broke her out of her reverie, and she looked at him with a bit of shock. “What are you doing?”

This time he was the one to laugh softly. “If we’re going to pretend to be dating, I’m going to have to touch you without you looking freaked out and appalled.” Gently clasping her hand in his, he asked, “Ready?”

“No, but…I guess.” She let out a long breath and then braced herself for whatever awaited them on the other side of the door.

Be confident. Be cool. Be believable.

That played in a continuous loop in Tristan’s head as he and Daphne walked out of his bedroom and faced the smiling and curious faces of his family. Doing his best to smile and look relaxed, he said, “Sorry to keep you all waiting! Daphne was nervous about meeting everyone, so I was doing my best to assure her we’re all harmless!” Luckily, everyone laughed and it made the introductions go smoothly. By the time he had introduced her to all his guests, it seemed like they were more interested in her than the party.

“You’re a baker? How exciting!”

“You made all the desserts here tonight? They look delicious!”

“I already tried the red velvet cupcakes! Can I order two dozen of them for next week?”

“Can you ship cookies?”

“What’s your favorite treat to make?”

And the last one he heard…

“Why on earth are you dating Tristan?” The amusement in his sister-in-law’s tone should have been enough to tell him she was teasing, but he still took offense to it.

“Because I’m charming,” he replied before Daphne could. “I appreciated her business sense and she was impressed with mine.” Shrugging, he added, “Working together planning the parties proved that we were compatible.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

“Dude, that’s the most boring reason I’ve ever heard anyone say about dating a person,” his brother Alan said. “No offense, Daphne, but seriously, what do you see in my brother? He’s a bit of an uptight, control freak!” He laughed. “Surely you’ve noticed that.”

Tristan almost cringed at the way everyone seemed to be laughing at him—definitely not with him, because he wasn’t laughing at all. “I’m not a control freak,” he countered and was about to say more when…

“Oh, he wore me down,” Daphne sweetly interrupted with a hint of a giggle. She was standing beside him and looped her arm through his. “Every day—from the moment he spotted my little gingerbread shop in the lobby—he just couldn’t stop complimenting me and my creativity!” Turning her head, she smiled adoringly at him. “There was just something about him that made it impossible to ignore him. The things he’d say, the look on his face, it was just…magic. Right, Schmoopie?”

Schmoopie? Seriously?

For a moment he was too stunned to speak, but he knew all eyes were on them so, he looked at his guests and grinned. “She was impossible to ignore. I mean…just look at her. She’s beautiful and talented, and after one bite of a blueberry muffin, I was hooked.”

“I love this so much!” his mother gushed. “This is the best news we’ve had in weeks!” She came over and hugged them both. “Thank you for making me smile.” When she pulled back, Tristan saw tears in her eyes. “Daphne, I realize you don’t know me, but I’m sure my son has shared with you what’s going on in our family. These last few weeks have been emotionally exhausting, so being here tonight and seeing the two of you is just wonderful.”

Tristan had no idea how to respond, but luckily Daphne did.

“It’s nice to see you smiling,” she said. “Tell me, do you prefer chocolate with peppermint or caramel and apples?”

“Ooh…this time of year I tend to enjoy anything with peppermint!”

“Then let’s go over to the table and try the peppermint brownies,” Daphne said as she led his mother away. “The crushed candy canes really give them a little something extra!”

After that, he walked around and mingled with his siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Everyone raved about the food while taking turns adding ornaments to his tree.

It wasn’t nearly as painful as he thought it would be.

At some point, he and Daphne ended up beside each other answering more questions about their relationship from a few of his aunts.

“Tristan, I hope you realize what a treasure you have in Daphne,” his aunt Joan was saying. “For years, I never made desserts because baking cakes intimidated me. But after looking around at all the wonderful things here tonight, I realized these small treats are the perfect solution!”

“Oh, um…”

“And Daphne was sweet enough to give me some of the recipes so I can try it myself! You’re a lucky man!”

Wrapping his arm around Daphne’s waist, he nodded. “Thanks, I think so too.”

“Aww…you two are so cute!” his aunt Anna chimed in. “We were all wondering when you were going to meet a nice girl and settle down, Tristan. It’s good to know that you can take yourself out of the office and focus on having a personal life and not working all the time. Oy, your mother worries about you. We all do.”

Good grief.

“I’m not really sure what to say to that,” he admitted, but once again, Daphne stepped in.

“Don’t you worry, Anna. I’m making sure he doesn’t work too hard. Someday, I might even convince him to come and bake with me!”

That was never going to happen, but it seemed to please everyone to think it, so he kept his mouth shut.

“How fun!” Aunt Joan cried. “What do you think you’ll bake?”

Before Tristan could say anything, his brother Jacob came up beside him. “Is there anymore cocoa? I think Dad just took the last of it.”

“Let me check,” he said, walking away. It wasn’t until they were in the butler’s pantry that his brother threw him a curveball.

“Nice going with the fake girlfriend bit.”

Everything in him tensed up. “Excuse me?”

“Come on, admit it. You and Daphne aren’t dating. She’s not your type. Plus, the timing is rather convenient. Did Mom get in your head after that comment at dinner? Is that why you did this?”

Were they really that unbelievable as a couple?

“Seriously, bro, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Daphne and I just sort of…you know…clicked after spending some time together. I don’t know why you wouldn’t believe that.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Jacob smirked before looking back at Tristan. “You tend to date women who are…shall we say…vanilla.”

“Vanilla? What does that even mean?”

“They’re typically very boring!” his brother said with a laugh. “Quiet, conservative, and more than a little…cold. But Daphne? That’s a woman who is confident in who she is. She’s got a big personality, seems to love to laugh, makes everyone feel at home, and that dress? Dude, come on! That had to make you freak out when she walked in wearing something so bold and festive!”

He wanted to argue, but sadly, his brother was completely on point. Daphne wasn’t the kind of woman he usually dated, but it irked the hell out of him that everyone knew it but him.

Although, to be fair, he had been desperate and really hadn’t thought this whole thing through. He definitely didn’t think anyone was going to call him out on it.

But instead of arguing, Tristan went for a more casual approach. With a careless shrug, he smiled. “That’s why I was so drawn to Daphne. She’s completely refreshing. I look at her and I don’t see the…the ridiculous dress or the…the…larger-than-life personality, I see a beautiful and vivacious woman who…challenges me.”

His brother eyed him warily. “Seriously?”

Nodding, Tristan replied, “Seriously. We have spirited conversations and admire and respect each other’s differences. Believe me, the whole thing caught me by surprise, but we just can’t seem to stay away from each other.”

And just like that, his brother seemed to relax. “Then I’m happy for you.” Clapping Tristan on the shoulder, he added, “But a bit of advice—you just started dating this girl and you’ve left her alone to navigate our family almost all night. And when you’re near her, you sort of…I don’t know…it’s like you’re too uptight to show any affection. So…relax a bit. It’s okay to show some emotion and maybe kiss her or something. It’s not like she’s a stranger.”

Kiss Daphne? Um…no. That wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t necessary.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said as he looked around. “Weren’t we supposed to be finding out if there’s more cocoa? Let me ask Daphne. She’ll know.” And then he made his way across the room, intent on proving that he could look affectionate, even without kissing her.

“Baking is really an exact science,” she was saying when he joined her. “When you’re cooking, you can get creative and add things to a recipe, but you have to stick to the instructions when you’re baking because changing even the smallest of details can easily ruin the dessert.”

“Excuse me, love,” he said as he sidled up beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist. “Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if we had any more of the hot cocoa. We appear to be out.”

She looked at him oddly for a moment before smiling. “Um…there was a second batch, and I brought the ingredients to make more. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll check and see if I need to whip up another batch.”

When she walked away, he quickly followed. “Can’t Marcus or Jackie do it? That’s what they’re here for, right? I just thought maybe you could ask them.”

“You could have easily asked them too. Besides, it’s not a big deal and it won’t take long.” She moved into the butler’s pantry with him hot on her heels.

“I don’t want it to look like my date is working the party, Daphne.”

“But your date is working the party,” she corrected. “I’m the caterer. This is what I do, so…let me do it.”

Sighing loudly, Tristan moved in front of her. “I get that it’s usually your thing, but you have servers here. Can we please just…” Another sigh. “My family is already questioning this relationship so…”

“I know.” Moving around him, she pulled ingredients out of one of her giant cooler bags. “Hmm…this might take too long to make it worth it. Let me see if we went through the second batch.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…what do you mean, you know? Who said something to you?”

“Um…”

“Was it my brother? An aunt? A cousin?” he quietly demanded. Grasping her shoulders, he gave her a slight shake. “Is everyone out there talking about this?”

“Okay, first of all, you’re being weird,” she hissed, pulling out of his grasp. “And don’t ever put your hands on me like that again. Second, no one said anything to me. I just had to wonder why your parents seemed so overly surprised that you had a date.”

“Oh.”

“Clearly they’re aware that your personality is a powerful deterrent,” she mumbled as she walked out to the kitchen.

For a moment, Tristan was too shocked to move. He watched as she talked to Jackie and then began going through his cabinets before pulling out a pot. She poured what he guessed was the second batch of cocoa into it and placed it on the stove before waving Jackie away. Groaning, he knew he needed to go out there because it really didn’t look good for her to be handling this herself.

“Daphne,” he hissed. “Please let Jackie do this.”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “No. She’s walking around, clearing away empty cups and plates. Marcus just took out the trash. You need to let this go because you’re being ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous. All I want is for you to be here as my date, not the help. Tell me what’s so wrong with that?” He knew he was frowning and probably looking the least like a boyfriend, but if she would just cooperate, he would feel a lot better.

“Hey, Daph,” Marcus said a minute later when he walked back into the kitchen. “I’ve got this. You go and mingle with Tristan.” Smiling, he turned and took over stirring the cocoa.

Tristan wanted to correct him and ask him to be called Mr. Knight, but now wasn’t the time for that. Instead, he thanked him before smiling at Daphne. “Now, can we please go back to the party and try to look like a couple who actually likes each other?”

Without a word, she walked over to the sink and washed and dried her hands before even looking at him. When she did, he knew she was annoyed.

“May I speak to you? Privately?”

“Um…”

Taking his hand, she led him back to the butler’s pantry and completely out of sight from his guests.

Poking him in the chest, she began. “Look, buster, I stayed as a favor to you, but I will not be trotted around like some sort of show pony! I have been friendly to everyone here tonight and I also don’t believe in making my staff do things I won’t do myself, so deal with it!”

“Okay, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” he reasoned. “I wanted you to have the night off. After all, you were supposed to be at a party and I felt bad, that’s all.”

“Ugh…lies just really slide off your tongue like it's nothing,” she murmured. “You know, for someone who claims he’s not a liar, you lie a lot.”

“Daphne…”

“No, I’m serious! I told you this wasn’t going to work and it’s not. You’re lying to your family and I’m not okay with it.” Shaking her head, she paused. “This was all a mistake.”

In the kitchen, he heard Jacob. “Excellent! The cocoa’s ready? I think there are more mugs in the pantry. I’ll go grab them.”

Oh, no…

“I should go, Tristan. I’m sorry, I…”

Panic had him by the throat. “Before you go, there’s just one more thing I need.”

“O-kay…what?”

“Kiss me.”

Her blue eyes went wide. “Excuse me?”

Nodding frantically, he repeated, “Kiss me. Please. Preferably before my brother comes in here.”

“What does that…?”

“I saw a stack of them when Tristan and I were in there earlier,” Jacob was saying as he got closer.

“I swear it’s the last thing I’ll ask of you, just…”

“Tristan? You in there?”

“I know I’m going to regret this,” Daphne said as she looked up at him. “But fine. Kiss me.”

Cupping her face in his hands, that’s exactly what he did.