Sophia couldn’t stand in the middle of Jordan’s studio for a minute longer. She needed to compose herself—to get away from Noah and that kiss.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, dipping her gaze and rushing over to the door with “bathroom” written on it in flourishing letters. After shutting the door behind her, she flipped the light on and made her way over to the sink, where she rested her hands on the cool granite.

Her heart was still racing and her lips were tingling from the feeling of Noah’s lips pressed against them. She closed her eyes as emotions bubbled up in her chest.

Why did they have to kiss? And why hadn’t she gotten over Noah? Ten years should have been long enough for her to forget about him.

When she glanced up at the mirror and saw her flushed cheeks and worried eyes, she knew she wasn’t even remotely over Noah. Pretending to be his fiancée was going to be torture. And all of this was to lure back her father, who had broken her heart first. How did she let herself get roped into this mess?

Instead of swallowing her fears, she let them pound out from her heart and flow through her body. If she wanted to keep herself safe, she needed to stop this charade, kick Noah from her life, and hole up in her house until she once again got over Noah and her dad.

There was a soft knock on the door, snapping her out of her fit of self-pity. Sophia washed her hands, splashed her cheeks with the cool water, and then dried her skin. She took in a few deep breaths and pulled open the door.

Noah was on the other side, resting his hand on the doorframe while studying the ground. She hated how good he looked standing there. She hated that she reacted to him like this.

He glanced up, and his half-smile made her hate him even more. “Everything okay?” he asked.

She swallowed. “I’m not feeling good,” she said as she stepped past him and walked over to Jordan. “I think I’m going to call it.”

Jordan glanced up. “You sure?”

Sophia forced a smile. “Yeah. Just tired.”

Jordan returned his gaze to his camera and continued flipping through photos. “I think we got a few good ones,” he said.

Sophia nodded and made her way back to the front door. She didn’t even acknowledge Philip, who said something to her as she slipped by. Right now, the only thing she could think about was getting outside, where she could breathe.

The sunlight hit her, causing her to squint. It was bright, but she welcomed its warmth. Needing more distance from Noah, she made her way around the corner of the building and leaned against it.

Why hadn’t she driven separately? She would be on her way home right now. But of course, Noah had insisted that he drive, so she was stuck with either walking or waiting.

She moved her purse to grab her phone from the inside pocket. Maybe she should call Kari.

After three rings, Kari answered. “Hello?”

“Kare?”

“Sophia? What are you doing? Pat said you weren’t going to come in this week and that you were acting all weird about why.”

Sophia swallowed. “It has to do with Noah.”

“Nice,” Kari said. Sophia could practically hear her wide grin.

“No. Not nice. He…” Sophia paused. What was she supposed to say? How could she explain this situation without giving her the details? First her aunt, and now her best friend? The lies were piling up. “We’re getting married.” The words spilled from her lips before she could stop herself.

Kari was silent. “You’re what?”

“Noah and I are getting married. Please don’t ask why.”

There was sputtering on the other end. “I don’t understand. What—how?”

Sophia turned and ran her fingers along the jagged edges of the brick building. “It’s okay. He’s an old friend. I’m…helping him out.” She could say that, right?

“Is it about a green card?”

Grateful that Kari was coming to conclusions on her own, Sophia nodded. “Yeah, something like that. It also includes an inheritance.” If she was going to lie to everyone, the least she could do was keep her lies consistent.

“Wow. That’s—wow. How much?”

Sophia smiled as she rolled her eyes. Of course, that was what Kari would ask. “It’s substantial.”

“Well then, when’s the wedding?”

Relief filled Sophia’s chest. She was grateful that she wouldn’t have to go through this alone. In fact, with Kari on board, Noah didn’t need to be as involved with the planning. It was great. She’d leave him to do whatever spy stuff he needed to do while she and Kari went out.

“Sunday.”

Kari coughed. “We have a lot to do.”

After ten minutes of planning with Kari, Sophia felt ten times better. She’d already gotten the awkward engagement shoot over with. So there was no more touching needed from now until the actual wedding.

Realization hit her. She was going to marry Noah. Her stomach twisted at the thought. They’d been this close once. Now that it was actually going to happen, she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Trying to calm her nerves, she pushed her fingers through her hair. She could do this. After all, feelings weren’t involved this time. At least, she was going to try her hardest to keep it that way.

Noah was probably wondering where she’d gone. She headed back around the building and found him outside, leaning against his car. His head was bent down and he was studying his phone. Sophia took a deep breath as she made her way over to him. The crunching of the gravel under her feet must have given her away because Noah looked up.

His expression was filled with concern as his gaze ran over her.

The memory of his arms around her came flooding back. She wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to still her reaction.

“Hey,” she said, stopping a few feet away. She needed to keep her distance to keep her sanity. Noah had a way of filling her senses and confusing every part of her brain.

He hesitated as he searched her gaze. She wondered what he was looking for. “You okay?” he finally asked.

She pursed her lips and nodded. “This is just a lot,” she whispered.

His brow furrowed. He let out his breath and glanced up toward the sky. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. If there was any other way, I wouldn’t be here, trust me.”

Sophia tried not to wince at that. Catching her father was the only reason he was here. He couldn’t fathom any other reason to come back. Ouch.

She didn’t want him to know how much that bothered her, so she just chuckled. “I get it.” She lied.

Truth was, she didn’t understand any of this. She didn’t understand her father or his involvement with some big-time criminal. And she sure as heck didn’t understand Noah. If you don’t have feelings for someone, you don’t kiss them the way Noah had kissed her moments ago.

Her skin tingled again at the memory of his lips against her own.

Noah studied her for a moment before he pushed off the car. “Jordan said the prints should be ready in an hour. I was thinking we could do cakes between now and then?”

“Cakes?” Sophia was really hoping that they were done for the day. She needed some space from him. Maybe going into work would be a good idea.

Noah nodded. “Yeah. I hear they serve those at weddings.”

Sophia rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop the genuine smile that played on her lips. As she studied Noah, she realized that he didn’t know. “You remember who owns the bakery, don’t you?”

Noah quirked an eyebrow, and then understanding passed over his face. “Rebecca?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Sophia nodded. Rebecca was Noah’s pseudo stepmother. She’d dated Noah’s dad from when Noah was eight up until the year before his dad had passed away.

He dropped his gaze and toed the ground with his shoe. “She’s still here?”

“Yeah.”

He turned his attention to the sky. “I figured she would have left after Dad died.”

Sophia shook her head. This was a small town. Most people got stuck here. Or couldn’t fathom leaving—which was the boat Sophia was in. “It was hard. She shut down for a while. Started back up a year or two ago.”

He cleared his throat as he turned his attention back to Sophia.

“You had no intention of visiting her, did you?” Rebecca had been a huge part of his life. How could he be back and not think of visiting her?

He looked at her before he shook his head. “Not really.” He sighed. “I guess I didn’t want to cause more pain than I had to.”

What was going on with him? What happened in his past? She knew all about his history with Rockport, but she knew that wasn’t what he was referring to. There was another pain that he couldn’t bring himself to talk about. And that intrigued her.

“Noah…”

But when he glanced over at her and forced a smile, she pinched her lips shut. He wasn’t going to tell her—and she didn’t have any right to pry.

Noah moved to open the driver’s door. “So if cakes are out. Maybe a dress?”

Sophia shook her head. “Sorry. No guys allowed when picking out a dress. Besides, Kari has reserved going with me. I just got off the phone with her.”

Noah met her gaze just before he slipped into his seat. She climbed in after him and shut the door. After he started the engine, he pulled out of the parking lot and started down Main Street.

“Really? No guys?”

She shook her head. “It’s bad luck. Even if the marriage isn’t real.”

He peered over at her, and she felt her cheeks flush. Why was she embarrassed to say that? It wasn’t like he didn’t know that this marriage was a sham.

His soft chuckle filled the air as he relaxed back into his chair. “Got it. Going along is a no-no.” Then he turned to her. “What about flowers? Can we do that together?”

She studied him. Part of her wanted to get as far away from him as possible. But the other part didn’t want to go home and sit alone while she waited for Kari to get done with work. So she leaned back in her chair and stared out the window.

“It’s fine. But on one condition.”

“Okay.”

“We get ice cream first.” She hadn’t realized it before, but she was starving and in some major need of sugar.

“Thompson’s Parlor?” he asked.

She snorted. “Like there is any other place we would go.”

He turned on his blinker and made a left. “Of course.”

The air lightened around them as he drove four blocks and pulled into Thompson’s Parlor. For a moment, Sophia felt calm. For a moment, this felt right. She wasn’t with Noah, the man who had broke her heart, but with Noah, the man she trusted. She wanted to let her guard down, at least for a little while. It was so exhausting to keep it propped up all the time.

So, despite her better judgement, she allowed herself to enjoy this ice cream escapade. When they went back to wedding planning, she’d return to her normal icy disposition.

When Noah put the car into park, Sophia grabbed the door handle and got out. She rounded the hood of his car at the same time he did. Out of instinct, she almost brought her hand up to grab his. Something that came as natural to her as breathing. But she stopped herself.

She had barely let her guard down, and she was already acting like an idiot. Being nice and laughing with Noah was fine. But, judging from their kiss earlier, touching him was a very bad idea.

So she grabbed onto her purse strap and commanded her hand to stay there.

Noah shoved his hand into his front pocket. She wondered if he’d had that same instinct, or if that was the last thing from his mind. She wasn’t sure how she felt about either scenario.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded and they walked side-by-side into the parlor. Just as they had done so many times before.