Page 57 of All's Fair in Love and Pizza
Pull it together, Cavaretti.
“If you’re trying to distract me with a booty call, it won’t work.” He pressed his mouth to mine. “Okay, it’ll probably work.”
“So tempting,” I whispered against his lips. “But no. It’s crazy next door, and they need me, but…uh…I have something to say and I don’t want to wait.”
“Sounds ominous.”
“It’s not. I mean…I don’t think it is.” I hopped off the desk to give myself room to pace. I couldn’t say this shit and look him in the eye. No way.
“Hey. What is it?”
“I’ve been thinking about what you said about wanting to protect me from the press. I wanted to assure you that I could handle it, and not to worry. Which is true, but that’s not what I really wanted to say.”
Rob cocked his head curiously. “O-kay…”
“What I wanted to say is…I, um…I care about you. I have, uh…feelings you know…for you, and uh—fuck.” I scraped my hand over my face and tried again. “I’m all in, okay? I haven’t had a boyfriend in years, and the last one sucked. But you don’t suck. You’re kind of amazing. And yeah, I still plan on kicking your butt tomorrow, but that’s pizza. Nothing personal. Thing is…you’re personal to me. You’re important, and I want to be someone you lean on—tomorrow and every day.”
His eyes softened and crinkled at the corners. “Teo…”
“Don’t. Don’t say a word. I can’t handle another emotional discussion.”
“Another one?”
I blew out an exasperated breath and nodded. “My mom wanted to talk about my dad and…she’s right. I don’t want to let another day go by without being a hundred percent honest with the people I care about most. I’m done with regret. And now…I’ll stop. You don’t have to reply. In fact, I’d prefer it if you?—”
Rob grabbed my elbow and crashed our mouths together. It was a scorching kiss with an undercurrent of tenderness that made me feel weak in the knees.
He licked his bottom lip and released me. “So…you and me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? Let’s get through tomorrow and see how you feel after you lose.”
Rob hooted merrily. “You’re a terrible boyfriend.”
“The worst.”
We shared goofy-ass grins. And just as I was about to add something truly mortifying and sappy, Amber stormed into the office.
“Where the fuck are you, Robbie? We have—oh! Hi.” Amber glanced between us. “I can come back later.”
“No, it’s okay. I was leaving.” I brushed my fingers against Rob’s on my way to the door. “See you later.”
20
ROB
“Today I’m here in the seaside town of Haverton for the much-talked about Bake-off War between former Super Bowl winning star linebacker, Rob Vilmer and his former college teammate turned culinary rival, Mateo Cavaretti.” The stunning blond pivoted on her four-inch heels and flashed a megawatt grin. “Rob, thank you for taking a minute to chat with me.”
I inclined my chin politely. “No problem.”
The better response was, “Not like I had a choice.”
Bill had set up the interview and told me to be nice. “This is Marissa Martin, kid. She’s a big deal at the network. This is national…not local shit. With this kind of exposure, you’ll be selling bagel franchises across the country within two years.”
I glanced over at Bill and his wife who were sampling complimentary bagel bites from the Big H tent. And yes, we’d erected tents on the football field for the event.
The sheer volume of attendees had turned our simple bake-off into a mini circus. We didn’t want anyone who’d made the trek to Haverton to walk away disappointed. If that meantrenting tables and giving away hundreds of dollars worth of sample sized goodies, so be it.
Boardwalk had a similar two tent setup on the opposite sideline—one for pizza samples; the other to sell T-shirts, tote bags, ball caps, and miscellaneous merchandise.
