I don't remember the last time I slept past nine, so I am stunned to see it's almost eleven after I am jolted awake by the sound of my front door slamming. I drop my phone back onto my nightstand and wipe my hand down my face, noticing my stubble. Lucy and I slept in separate rooms again but she said today was going to be day one. That the past two days were our trial run, but I have to admit, after how rocky our trial period was, I wasn't sure if subscribing indefinitely was the best move. 

I could see how insecure Lucy was last night with me, with her, with us. I tried to reassure her, I tried to tell her I was committed, but only time will tell if she's actually ready for this. Or if Blake and my carousel of women have scarred her forever. 

I hear Stella's distinct throaty laugh and am surprised she's here so early on a Monday. She doesn't have spring break like Lucy and I do, nor does she work a night shift. I hear a gentle rap on my door and then watch as Lucy's face peeks into my room. 

"Hey, wasn't sure if you were awake. I thought for sure you'd have gone for a run already." I pull myself up and am surprised to find myself feeling hungover without having a drop of alcohol. 

"Yeah, me too. Had no idea how late it was. Stella here?" 

"She is. Sorry, we got so sidetracked last night that I forgot to tell you, we're doing some things for my baking website, so I'll be taking over the kitchen for the next couple of hours. Hope that is okay?"

"Of course. I no longer have work today so is there anything I can help with?" I ask and I watch her shoulders drop. She leans against the door frame and then says, "Shit, you're really done with Mag's then?" 

I nod, "I'm not dealing with it, Luce. I'm sorry, I'm done."

"No, I get it. I am supposed to work tonight so that will be new. Just tell me if Maggie reaches out to you."

"I will," I tell her, and her arms stay wrapped around her torso. She's finally dressed head to toe in her own clothing and her dark hair is tousled to one side. I watch her start to say something but Stella's voice from the kitchen cuts her off. 

"Okay love birds, I need Lucy on set! Hair and make-up is waiting!"

"What is it you're doing?" I ask her as I catch her grimace. 

"Stella wants some photos and content for my website. Nice ones where I am all dolled up while I bake." She eye rolls and then adds, "But Stella knows marketing so I am rolling with it."

"Can I help? Do you need a lighting guy? Or taste tester?" I ask and she shrugs. 

"Come out when you're ready to socialize. I'm sure Stella will utilize you." She smiles at me and things seem normal with us. I think we both emotionally vomited last night and we are both eager to move forward. She pushes herself off the door frame and then disappears down the hallway. I slump back against my flattened pillows and glance at my phone again. I gave Lucy my password last night, but I really didn't think about what she would find if she decided to actually go digging through my phone. I quickly unlock it and go to my messages. My thumb stays busy swiping at threads I can delete without reading. Seventy percent of my messages are quick convos with random girls and it's probably best that Lucy doesn't dig into any of it. She told me to delete shit so swipe, swipe, swipe I go. 

After I feel my messages are relationship-appropriate, I open my DM's. I quickly swipe away there too. I have a ton of unopened messages that I also clear away without reading. I'm not going to lie, I can be a bit vain on my posts which have led to a plethora of female followers and many thirsty messages. I can be a dog, I know my messages aren't anything I want Lucy rifling through, so I quickly mass unfollow and delete all the dating apps. Today is day one. 

Once I feel my phone is girlfriend approved, I quickly shower and prepare to be Stella's assistant. When I make it into the kitchen, Stella, Lucy and Stella's mini-me Kinsey are all huddled next to the island, with Kinsey swiping a fluffy brush over Lucy's face. They hear me come into their workspace and they all spin to face the intruder. 

"What do you think of our star?" Stella asks as she gestures to Lucy as if she's Vanna White. I take Lucy's fresh, elegant look in and debate on what words will make her not want to go scrub it all off again. Kinsey did something to make the greens in Lucy's hazel eyes pop and her skin looks airbrushed, covering up all the little freckles on her nose. Her full lips are a soft pink and I can tell just by the shine that she'll be sticky if I kiss her. Kinsey somehow managed to enhance Lucy's natural beauty without making her look overly made up. 

"She's gorgeous. As always," I say, hoping that won't set her off. 

"She said she wanted less Kardashian and more Emma Watson, so that's what I had to work with," Kinsey mutters with an eye roll as she slides her makeup back into the three-tiered box she has propped open. 

"I don't want to look like I am trying to be a sexy baker. I wanted subtle beauty."

"Yes, and you are a beauty which is why I told you that we should use your face," Stella states, but Lucy just gives us both a dramatic eye roll. I see Lucy was up much earlier than I was. The island is prepped with cooling racks covered in perfectly golden sugar cookies, cut out to look like rainbows and squares. I am surprised the smell of freshly baked sugar cookies didn't wake me up. 

"What's the plan here?" I ask, waving a hand over the island. 

"I'm going to get some photos and videos of Lucy decorating, and mixing the icing colors. Then maybe some cute ones of her eating the cookies or boxing them up or something," Stella says and then casts her eyes to the floor where a cardboard box of baking supplies sits. "I brought everything I owned, but Jack, you did a great job setting Lucy up with the basics. He's technically your first investor, Luce." Lucy darts her eyes away from me, but I clearly saw her blush. 

"Okay, now that I am camera-ready, can I actually start doing what I am good at?" Lucy asks as she saunters around the counter to get to Ruby. She slides the mixer out and I see she already has the basic frosting made hidden under a damp paper towel. 

"Wait! I need the camera!" Stella says frantically as she bolts toward the living room. Kinsey holds up a small bag and then says, "Oh! We got you a prezzie, Luce." Lucy eyes Stella's sister and slowly moves toward her outstretched hand, holding the purple gift bag out from her fingers. Lucy swipes it and then plucks the silver tissue paper out. We watch as she reaches inside and Stella is back in the kitchen when Lucy reveals a black apron with a neon yellow and pink Lucy Bakes logo embroidered across the chest. Lucy runs her fingers over the thread and then looks back to the Jackson sisters. 

"I feel official now," Lucy mutters softly and we watch tears well up in her soft eyes. 

"Do not ruin your makeup!" Kinsey says right before Stella says, "Do not start crying!" Lucy laughs off her emotions and then drapes the apron over her head. I walk over to help her tie it around her waist and hear the click of Stella's camera. I glance up at her and she grins and says, "Couldn't help it. It was a Hallmark moment." 

"Okay then take one more," I demand and grab Lucy's face with both of my hands before Lucy can object. I plant my lips on hers and Kinsey hoots from behind us as I hear Stella's camera click away. I pull away from her and her cheeks are crimson. She swats me away but I can tell she's suppressing a grin. Stella winks at me and I go plant myself on the barstool so the cookie master can get to work. 

Kinsey and I watch as Stella snaps pictures of Lucy coloring the icing, making batches of neon colors to fill the rainbow cookies. She's focused as she uses a red rubber spatula to fill the plastic piping bags full of an array of colors and then we watch as she hunches over the island to bring her golden cookies to life. Watching Lucy move her steady hands to draw lines of color on the cookies makes me realize how much she loves this. I've glanced as she's decorated before, but I've never just sat and watched her work. Stella records Lucy as she uses a toothpick to smooth the icing out and we both watch as Lucy agonizes over perfection. I understand now why she made at least twenty-four cookies because she finds faults with twenty-three of them. Kinsey and I thought they looked like perfect neon rainbows and were impressed with how her neat designs came out. Stella tells her several times to relax her face but she still pinches her eyebrows together every time she squeezes out a new line of color. After she finishes her last rainbow cookie, she snaps her head up and says, "Alright. These cookies look amazing but do they taste amazing? People don't want to spend money on cute cookies that taste like nothing." She hands us each a cookie and then pulls one up to her lips. I grab my phone out because she looks so damn cute. I take pictures of her biting into her cookie and she lets out a  laugh when she spots me.

 "Are you buying time here? Are you worried these are going to taste like flour?" I shake my head and quickly grab the thick cookie she slid over to me. Kinsey and Stella have already bit into theirs and they nod to each other in approval. I've had Lucy's sugar cookies a dozen times and they've been delicious every time. 

"I can taste the hint of almond," Stella says as I bite into mine and I quickly agree. 

"Is this the cream cheese recipe?" I ask, my favorite of all of her concoctions. Lucy nods.

"Yes, but I doubled the almond extract in the frosting instead of vanilla. I thought I'd try something new instead of my same old recipe." 

"I love this," I tell her honestly. "I love the almond."

"These are so thick and soft," Kinsey says as she examines her rainbow. "I know sugar cookies are classic, but I really think this is a damn good cookie." 

"What would you pay for this cookie?" Stella asks Kinsey and me and we both look at the cookie in our hands. 

"I dunno, I once spent like ten bucks on a big ass sugar cookie when I was at Kendra Scott in Austin. They didn't taste this good, but they were massive and gorgeous," Kinsey says. 

"I never buy desserts. They always just appear when I go to events," I tell them honestly. "So my guess is, a cookie like this would cost around seven or eight bucks?" 

"But no one wants to buy only one cookie online," Lucy tells Stella. "So we need to think of how much a dozen cookies should cost."

"And if you're going to allow custom orders," Kinsey says and Lucy instantly nods, "Oh I feel like that's a must." 

"Lucy, you said it costs around like thirty cents per cookie you make right? Before factoring in all the overhead. So after all my research into custom cookies, and what you should be paid hourly, I feel we should be charging around forty-five for a dozen cookies." 

"That's like forty bucks profit on just that dozen," Lucy says and I am impressed. I had no idea the upcharge on cookies was that massive. 

"You have to factor in shipping and packaging though," Kinsey says. "Everyone wants their treats to arrive in adorable boxes with precious packaging." 

"Have you already gotten Lucy's business license and all that jazz? Permits and what have you?" I ask, realizing I have no idea how all in Lucy is about to go on this. Stella squints her determined blue eyes at me before saying, "That and secured her domain name, registered her LLC and hired my favorite graphic designer to create her logo and website templates." I then shift my eyes over to Lucy and ask, "So, you're about ready to take off then? Jump into this full-time?"

"I'd like to. That and continue to make money off Youtube. It would be great if I could explode on TikTok or something too. Just make money off baking full time."  

"Lucy tells me you're going to let her create unique cookie cutters that she can sell too?" Stella asks me while sliding her camera over to her. 

"Yeah, we can go to my dad's office this week. Whenever Lucy is free," I tell them and I catch Lucy's glow. Her eyes are shining as she glances around the room. Stella starts reviewing the photos she took as Kinsey takes another bite of her cookie. Lucy finally locks eyes with me. 

"Thank you for the support. It means a lot," Lucy says while looking at me but addressing the room. 

"Oh we love you, Luce," Stella mutters as her eyes stay glued to the camera. "And the camera does too." She flips the camera's screen around and Stella managed to capture Lucy in her zone. Stella smirks at me before saying, "Your girlfriend is one sexy baker."

"I know. That's why I want to show her off, but she won't let me."

"What? Lucy still? Why?" Stella asks her as she whips her head and blonde ponytail over to look at her best friend. "Your parents and Jack are not friends on social media. Let the man announce he has a girlfriend." Lucy scowls at Stella and then says, "I announced I was back in Phoenix yesterday, and now you want me to tell everyone I moved on from Blake in less than a month? When I didn't even post about us breaking it off? People will be dying to know what happened there and it will only make me look bad."

"You owe no one an explanation," Stella argues. 

"My New York friends will be thinking what the fuck. And every girl that I went to school with or know from dance will wonder how I went to New York engaged and am now back in Phoenix with a new boyfriend. You know how intently we follow those shitshow girls Stel. I'll be one of them."

"Wait, so I have to hide our relationship because you're worried about what a bunch of nosy old acquaintances will think? Oh fuck that," I say with a light laugh. My dear girlfriend is an overthinker, I've accepted that, but I am not going to play into it either. I pull my phone out and open up Instagram. I find the photo I just took of Lucy next to the stove, with the cloud part of the cookie going into her mouth while she laughs. Her head is tilted back and she looks stunning. She's genuinely happy in this photo and it shows. I quickly type the caption, She's like a rainbow onto the photo and add a red heart emoji right as Lucy says, "Oh lord, what are you doing, Dalton?" 

"Giving those girls something to talk about," I reply. I tag her in the photo and then hit post to stories. I know she won't understand the Rolling Stones reference, but it was even more subtle than I had wanted it to be. I spin my screen to show her what I was up to and her eyes freeze on the photo, "Can you handle that?" She then grins and says, "That's a good photo, but what does the caption mean?"

"People will get what he means even if they don't know who The Rolling Stones are," Stella says and then gives me a wink. "Jack Dalton loves Lucy Halloway."