Decked Out with Ivy (Red Maple Falls #13)

Chapter 16

Muscles Ivy didn’t even know she had ached. Her lips felt swollen from their workout last night… the middle of the night and this morning. She was exhausted in the best way.

Ivy came to a stop outside her shop and glanced at the window, loving her display even if she didn’t come in first place. The news came in this morning, and for another year, Shay and Sweet Dreams Bakery snagged the gold. However, she received second, and she was thrilled.

Cody showed her how proud he was of her twice before he left for set. She thought about what he had said the night before. How he felt at home in Red Maple Falls. She didn’t know what that meant for their future, but for the first time since she started developing feelings for him, she was hopeful.

She didn’t want to get ahead of herself, but things were looking up. If Chase and Bex could make it work, there was no reason why they couldn’t. And it’s not like he’d be filming all the time. He’d have bouts of time where he was free to stay in Red Maple Falls until the next project.

A smile tugged at her lips as she walked into her shop and flipped the sign to open. She put her bag in the rear of the store and pulled out her knitting needles and yarn she was using to make Cody a sweater. It had been hard to work on it without him knowing, since they’d been spending so much time together, but if she was lucky, she’d have it wrapped and ready for him under the tree come Christmas morning.

Her phone blew up with notification after notification. She imagined news had made it through the town gossip mill, and her family was texting to congratulate her on second place. She slipped her phone out of her back pocket, tapped into the family chat, and scanned the messages.

Aunt Claire: I just read the article about what Cody did. How sweet is he?

Mom: Total keeper. This is the love you deserve.

Ivy: What article?

Cynthia sent the link to the article, and Ivy tapped into it.

According to a source close to the actor, he wanted to show Ivy Parker, a proclaimed Christmas Queen, one of his own Christmas traditions. He brought her to the small-town theater, after calling in a favor to Hollywood and acquiring a 35mm film copy of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He bought the theater out, so the two of them could enjoy a very private and romantic date night.

“Watching the Christmas classic is one of the few memories Cody has from his childhood,” according to our source. “He wanted to share it with the small-town shop owner.”

She thought that was private.

Ivy’s lip trembled as she continued to read, a hollow ache spreading through her chest with each word. Her hands shook, breaths came in short gasps as panic, confusion and hurt swelled inside her. Another text came through.

Trey: I don’t think the guy deserves a medal or anything, but that’s cool.

Dad: Speaking of medal. Congrats on second place for the window display!

More texts of congratulations pinged.

She sent a quick thanks.

Was it all a stunt for the cameras? She hadn’t known him that well or for that long. Maybe this was something he did whenever the parts weren’t rolling in… find the most innocent, na?ve girl and sweep her off her feet, conveniently during peak PR season.

The pain in her heart twisted and hardened, forming a red-hot shield. The too-happy, the too-sweet, the dumb blonde owner of the local Christmas shop was the easiest target. And he even got sex out of it. The man did have one heck of a one-eighty in his personality. And she was only Ivy, not some miracle worker.

She banged her phone against her head, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the prickle of tears. She had been stupid all over again, her trusting nature allowing even the most obvious of players in. His reputation was the reddest flag, and she went color-blind just to spread Christmas cheer.

The shield around her heart begged for an accompanying sword. All of Cody’s words had felt so honest and real, but he was an actor. He literally got paid to put on a show. And he put on one hell of a show. Rudolph was nothing more than another publicity stunt. A way to get his name back in the tabloids. To make him look like a leading man off the screen.

She grabbed her keys, flipping the sign to closed as she swept through the door.

Now it was her turn to put on a show.

She had no idea what she was going to say to him when she saw him, but she would figure that out when she got there. Maybe they’d be lucky, and that asshole paparazzo would be there. Then the end of their fake relationship could unravel just as it had begun—on film.