Page 46 of The Cupcake Standard

His grin had a conspiratorial edge to it, then Derek winked. “Well, we can’t have that now, can we, Mabel?”

It was like watching a play. Derek performed well, perfect in his role as socialite. He laughed at all the tired jokes, kissed just the right amount of ass, and did it all with his dazzling smile that made the old ladies fan themselves as soon as he took his eyes off them. It made me sick.

But that wasn’t the worst part. Not one person, not one single person in that entire room, acknowledged Derek for his own merit. Whenever he was introduced, the conversation jumped to his father’s shipping company or his mother’s charity work. Sometimes it would go to his twin, either the fact that he had a twin or that his twin was marrying one of the Harrises of the automobile business. Derek served as the bridge. A stepping stone. It didn’t matter that he studied mathematics at SMU. Or was graduating soon. His plans for the future were of no consequence to anyone here, and by the time we’d made our way around the room, I was ready to go off on the next person who ignored my boyfriend.

“Mabel, would you excuse us? I think my girlfriend could use a drink. Isn’t that one of the rules in your delightful book? Never let your significant other get too thirsty?” He gave her another wink.

She laughed. “No, but it should be. I’ll have to make a note.”

He chuckled before leading me over to the refreshments. After we’d each taken a margarita, he somehow managed to find his way outside, onto a quiet terrace, away from all the noise. “You all right?”

I set my overly large, sugary drink down on the ledge before leaning both hands on the cool cement. “Probably a good thing you brought me out here. I was about to lose my shit.”

The air next to me stirred, and he perched on the ledge. “Why?”

How can he ask me that? I stood there, searching him for a good long moment, but found nothing. No resentment, no anger. “How do you stand it? Not one of those people in there values you. Every single person moved the conversation to someone else in your family. You’re doing everything right, playing their game perfectly. It makes me sick.” I turned away from him, looking out at the dimly lit, well-manicured garden. Several statues scattered about, dotting a winding path. “And I’m the reason you have to put up with it.” I crossed my arms over my stomach.

“Avery, hey.” A finger ran over the knuckles clamped onto my biceps. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about any of them. There’s only one person in this whole place that matters to me, and I’m talking to her right now.”

I glanced over at him, at his finger tracing my knuckles.

“And the reason I can play my part so well, not care about anything they say or think is because you see me. You’ve always seen me. Even when no one else did.” He swallowed and looked down at his shoes, his hand dropping to the ledge beside him.

Is that true? I thought about his words—about being the only person he cared about. And suddenly, the one thing I wanted more than anything in the world was to kiss him. Not a fake kiss for the sake of our friends or his sister or my mother. But for me, and for him. My heart raced, and my stomach did a cartwheel. It took a second to gather enough courage to open my mouth to ask when I remembered the stupid Princess he was head over heels for.

The moment passed. I tried a sip of my margarita. The syrupy sweetness nearly made me gag, so I dumped it in the bushes.

“Come on. There’s someone here actually worth meeting.” And I took him the back way to the kitchen. “Patty!” I called her name from the employee entrance. “There’s someone who wants to see you.”

Patty came barreling over, practically knocking me backward in her haste to see Derek. “Oh my word, aren’t you a fine specimen of a man? I think you might have found a keeper.” She winked at me.

Derek’s cheeks were bright red as Patty walked a complete circle around him, inspecting him from head to toe.

Ha, now you know how it feels.

I just shook my head. “Derek, this is Patty. Patty, this is my boyfriend, Derek.”

“A pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” Derek smiled, a real one. “Avery said you were one of the only people here worth meeting.”

“That child always did have decent taste.” Patty crossed her arms over her ample chest. “Are you taking care of my girl? Making sure she’s eating right, getting her exercise, not working too hard?”

I hid my face in my hand and groaned. “Patty!”

Derek chuckled. “Yes, ma’am. I’ve been taking good care of her.”

She grinned, moving her hands to her hips. “That’s what I like to hear.” To me, she said, “I think he’s worth the ravioli.”

As if he’d heard a magic word, Derek asked, “Ravioli?”

I groaned again. “That was supposed to be a surprise.”

“That’s the surprise?” Derek’s grin spread from ear to ear. “Ravioli’s my favorite. When do I get this surprise?”

This time I clapped a hand over Patty’s mouth. “Wouldn’t you like to know. But that’s why I had to borrow Patty here away from my mom. She makes the best ravioli I’ve ever had.”

The cook shoved me off so she could speak for herself. “Damn straight, I do.” Patty grinned. “All right, you two, off with ya. I got work to do.”

Derek slung an arm around my waist, pulling me close. “Ravioli, mmm.”

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