Faked with Love: Cloverton Romance, #2

By Marci Wilson and Haven Saunders

A frenemies to lovers romance novella.

Olivia Hooper, the successful owner of Cloverton Sweets Bakery, faces a holiday dilemma when her brother plans to visit their parents in Florida. Unwilling to close her bustling shop during the peak season, Olivia insists he go without her even if that means she will celebrate alone.

Mannie Nikos, who has viewed Olivia as a thorn in his side since childhood, is an advocate for a healthy lifestyle and does what he can to keep his clients from Cloverton Sweets. When Olivia's brother asks him to invite her for Christmas, Mannie hesitates until he sees an opportunity to escape an impossible predicament.

With his grandparents expecting to meet his long-time girlfriend—whom he doesn't have—Mannie proposes a fake relationship with Olivia. She agrees…if he will help her at the bakery in her brother's absence.

Despite their history of clashes, Olivia and Mannie succeed in pulling off the charade…perhaps a little too well. As the lines of make believe get blurred, the risk of hurting each other becomes all too real.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MaHanna Media LLC
• Release date: Jun 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227173294

Book preview

Chapter One

Olivia Hooper pulled a pan of lemon bars out of the commercial-size oven nestled in the back of the Cloverton Sweets kitchen. She set the pan on a cooling rack and inhaled the scent of the fresh-baked pastry. The smells usually brought her a sense of peace, but she was far too irritated to be soothed.

Crossing her arms as she turned, she glared at her older brother via the pass-through window. I can’t believe you’re abandoning me on Christmas.

Wesley leaned against the front counter, looking at her from under his shaggy strawberry blond hair. As a high school teacher, he could get away with his relaxed appearance, but he was bordering on unkempt. Olivia’s frown deepened, but she decided now was not the time to tell him he was overdue for a haircut.

"I’m not abandoning you," he insisted.

She eyed him as her irritation grew. This is our first Christmas without Mom and Dad here.

You’re the one who wants to stay open on Christmas Eve, he pointed out. They would be more than happy to have us both in Florida for the holidays.

Olivia backed through the swinging door into the storefront as she wiped her hands down the front of her pink and white polka-dotted apron. Christmas is the most profitable time of year for the bakery. I can’t close during my busiest time. It would impact my bottom line for months.

Wes raised an eyebrow. You’re still upset that they moved.

That was true. Their parents had relocated to Boca Raton in June. They were getting older and had grown tired of Illinois winters. Olivia had been shocked when they’d announced they were planning to leave their hometown, and even more so when they added they were going to sunny Florida. Their mother had never liked being away for more than a few days. She was the embodiment of the phrase ‘home is where the heart is’, but she seemed to have settled in well. Even so, Olivia still hadn’t wrapped her head around her parents moving from the Midwest to the East coast.

Look, the bakery—

I know, Liv, Wes said with his annoyingly empathetic teacher voice. But I don’t want my little sister to be alone on Christmas.

Though only three years older, he’d always been protective of her. When she was a kid, Liv had been an outcast without many friends. While other younger siblings tried to stand out on their own, Liv did her best to hide in his shadow until he’d gone to college. Despite being independent for the first time, he had still checked in and made sure she was doing okay.

Liv had been relieved when he’d come back to Cloverton, unlike so many who left for college and never came back. She had learned to be on her own, but still wanted him close. Most of the time anyway.

She opened the glass pastry case, slid out the nearly empty tray of lemon bars, and then held one out to him. On the house for my favorite brother.

He gave his head a slight shake. I can’t today.

She gasped dramatically as she put a hand to her chest. Are you refusing my world-famous lemon bars? They were her signature recipe. World-famous might have been a stretch, but they had won the non-cake division of the dessert competition at the county fair the summer before and had instantly become a Cloverton favorite. People requested them for meetings, weddings, funerals, and more.

I have an appointment with Mannie at the gym, Wes explained. He can smell refined sugars a mile away.

She couldn’t keep her face from returning to the frown she’d worn when Wes had told her his holiday plans.

Olivia, he stated firmly.

She took a huge bite of the treat she’d been offering him. I don’t understand how anyone can live without sugar. It’s not normal.

I don’t live without sugar. I just don’t eat it before a workout with Mannie.

"I was talking about Mannie. I know you don’t live without sugar." She set the rest of the lemon bar aside thinking of all the treats Wes had sampled before they were added to the case. Her brother was her most reliable taste tester, but once again, it seemed like Mannie Nikos was trying to edge Liv out.

You and Mannie used to be friends, Wes pointed out. You used to like him.

That was a stretch. Wes was the one who had become inseparable with Mannie when the Nikos family moved to Cloverton. Wes and Mannie were thirteen and Olivia had been ten. Old enough that she shouldn’t have been hanging out with her older brother all the time. At least according to Mannie.

She’d never felt like an annoying younger sibling until he’d entered the picture. He was the baby in his family, the only boy, and had been catered to by everyone in his family. Because of that, he didn’t understand why Wes tolerated having his sister around. He’d begrudgingly accepted Olivia so he could hang out with Wes. There were many bike rides around town and backyard games of kickball during which Mannie not so subtly suggested she not tag along, but Wes always advocated for her.

The men had sixteen years of friendship that she still didn’t understand. Wes was book smart while Mannie was focused on sports. Wes was affable and Mannie was standoffish. Wes was a science teacher and Mannie was an amateur bodybuilder who had opened the town’s only gym after Cloverton Logging shut down.

He’s bad for business. Health nuts are bad for a bakery, she said.

Wesley had nothing to say to that. After all, it was the truth. She had gone toe-to-toe with Mannie when some of her regulars weren’t so regular anymore once he took them on as personal training clients.

Hey, what if you had Christmas with the Nikos family?

As Liv laughed a few of her curls fell out of her messy bun and dropped into her eyes. Get out of here or you’ll be late to your date with Mannie.

They love you, Olivia.

"They love you."

And you are an extension of me.

His observation, true as it may have been, made her prickle. She no longer needed to be treated like the little girl who was scared of the world. A tag along. Sometimes, being reminded of how codependent she used to be on her big brother embarrassed her. Perhaps that was the real reason being around Mannie irked her so much.

She’d resented Mannie’s attempts to ditch her more than she’d ever let on.

You’re like an additional daughter to Medora and Gus, Wes continued.

I don’t know them that well.

You know them well enough, he pointed out. You were at the Nikos house almost as much as I was growing up.

Again, Olivia’s frown returned. Wes clearly didn’t recall how often Mannie had tried to push Liv off on his sisters so that the boys could hang out without her. As much as she’d liked the attention Amalia and Eleni had given her, she’d never wanted to have curled hair and painted nails. She had wanted to be with Wes while he was climbing trees and exploring. As for Mannie, he had been like an annoying older brother. But she had to admit that he had looked out for her.

Once, during her freshman year, a couple of guys cornered her to ask about her bra size. Mannie had stepped in and protected her.

Mousy Liv had been terrified and humiliated until Macho Mannie had saved her. He’d made it known that Olivia Hooper was like a sister to him and messing with her was the same as messing with him. Those boys hadn’t so much as looked at her again for the rest of her high school years.

So yes, she and Mannie were friendly, but she would never call them friends.

Liv shook the protective Mannie memories from her mind and pointed toward the door. "Go. I have pecan pies to make. Come back for your bar after you’ve worked out."

Sure, sis. Wesley chuckled.

As she went through the swinging doors into the kitchen, she sang, A lemon bar a day keeps the sadness at bay.

The play on words had become her slogan. So much so she’d had the guy who did the lettering at The Coffee Nut do an amazing, gilded stencil on the window under the logo—a cartoon-rendered image of her holding a bright yellow treat.

Cloverton Sweets had been open three years and, while most businesses took years to make money, her business had turned a steady profit in less than eighteen months. Main Street hadn’t had a bakery since the mid-1990s. Even though her shop was still new when the pandemic started, she made a name for herself by delivering baked goods to homes across the county. She quickly turned a profit after that.

Mannie’s Gym had been open for a year when she rolled onto Main Street. On opening day, Mannie had come in with Wesley to check out the spread and when she’d offered them samples, he refused.

No refined sugar, he’d said with a scowl on his full lips. And that’s when their childhood rivalry blossomed into an ongoing battle of wills.

No refined sugar? Please!

Hi, Livvie!

She looked through the pass-through as Marybeth walked in with a smile on her face.