Page 16 of The Wedding Cake
That was the moment, the crossing of the line. He should have come to his senses and walked out of the courtyard without looking back. The job had been done, there was nothing to hang around for. But he couldn’t bring himself to move. And from thereon everything spiralled quickly and worryingly out of control. Tim fast forwarded some of what happened next, unable to replay the intimate details with his girlfriend sitting next to him on a plane.
Suffice to say that one thing had led to another and before he knew it, Tim had found himself on the subject of paragliding, as he’d poured his heart out to Freya and told her how his romantic surprise for Piper had completely tanked on him.
“Are you sure you’re taken? You sound like my dream man!” Freya giggled. “Oh, my God. There I go again. I have no filter! Just what is wrong with me today? Let’s rewind yet another thread of conversation and pretend I never said any of that.Shit, what a terrible first impression I must be giving you of my business. And now I’m adding swearing into the mix.”
“Hey, stop! Not at all,” Tim had found himself flirting back unashamedly, his hand touching Freya’s arm in a move that was wholly unnecessary, sending sparks flying from his fingers to his arms, down his chest, and way beyond. He’d quickly retracted it. “In fact, if you’re free, why not come along? I’m only going to lose the money if I can’t find somebody to take Piper’s place. As you’ve probably gathered, she’s not up for it at all. Since it sounds like you’re an adrenaline junkie who hasn’t had the opportunity to get out much lately, it makes perfect sense for you to join me.”
“Oh, I couldn’t. That would be… I mean, morally and ethically, it’s just not the done thing.”
“It can be our little secret.” Tim had winked. “Oops, I didn’t mean to say it like that.”
Tim couldn’t holdback any longer. All thoughts of Hannah and the impending coffee – not to mention the return of the rest of Freya’s crew – flew out of his head. He had Freya alone now in this beautiful courtyard garden and he intended to get very creative and savour every moment. He stood and lifted his chair, putting it as firmly as he could against the cakery door so they wouldn’t be interrupted, then he returned to the table and a dreamily smiling Freya. Oh, she wanted this just as much as he did...
Freya stood too, deftly unbuttoning the crisp white shirt Tim had so wanted to put his hands beneath. He could already smell the stimulating rose, honey and pepper of her perfume as she walked closer and closer to him, revealing little dollops of butter icing strategically lined up just above the cups of her bra.How had she done that?Tim couldn’t wait to get his mouth on them!On all of her skin.And his hands tingled in anticipation of releasing those generously curvy breasts from their confinement so he could cup them in his hands and lose his mind. Just as Tim’s gaze flickered in appreciation at the semi see-through white lace of her bra and he thought his erection might burst, she pushed him up against the rough brick wall of the courtyard with both hands onhischest now, laughing seductively. Inches apart, their eyes locked and their breathing quickened. They both meant business. And not of the wedding cake kind.
Freya began to tear at Tim’s T-shirt, bunching the material up with her fist and pushing it over his head, and Tim couldn’t loop his hand around Freya’s back to unhook her underwear fast enough. This was a race against time, there wasn’t a moment to waste, although Freya had cherrypicked the prime position for them to get down and dirty. Nobody could see them from any of the cakery’s windows, at this angle. But frankly Tim didn’t care if they could. Overcome with the desire to ravage all of her at once, Tim pressed his mouth to Freya’s soft lips urgently as the upper halves of their naked bodies collided. Their tongues flicked intimately at first and then Freya let out a moan that almost tipped him over the edge as the kiss deepened into a routine that felt as if they had polished it for ever. He had to be inside her. Now. They could do this again slowly later. But if he didn’t slip himself inside the sweetness of her immediately, well, he’d basically die.
Freya was a mind reader. She undid his flies, pulled down his boxers and ran her tongue over the length of his penis. And now it was Tim who was groaning in ecstasy. He laced his fingers through her hair as her sensuous lips connected with his body. But it was too much. He knew how he wanted to climax: pleasuring Freya like she’d never been pleasured before. Once again, Freya intuited Tim’s thoughts and stopped. She slowly lifted her skirt up, centimetre by agonising centimetre, taking Tim’s hand to run it along the inside of her thigh, until his fingers reached the damp lace of her panties... before pushing Tim teasingly away, twisting to press herself against the wall so he could ogle the delicious curve of her buttocks, shown off to perfection in that white thong. Tim bent to kiss Freya’s neck, parting the scant covering of lace so he could plunge into her...
A sharp dig in the ribs brought Tim back to his current situation once and for all. He made an alarming gasp for air, astonished at how far and how dangerously he’d let his mind drift. Like right into wet dream mode. Instinctively, he crossed his legs and thanked the aviation gods for the invention of seatback trays. His was down, and he couldn’t be more relieved, as it was shielding his infidelity. Piper, eye mask and ear buds now removed ready for landing, was staring at him incredulously.
“Tim?Timothy?” she cried. “Snap out of it. What the hell’s the matter with you? You’re in a world of your own!”
“Hey? What? Sorry… I-I must have dozed off.”
“And the rest! I thought you were dead, you were in such a trance.I have been trying to talk to you for the past five minutes, you know?” Piper swiped for the empty tube of crisps on Tim’s tray and shook it dramatically. “Pringles, Timothy? Really!”
FREYA
Freya Ashcroft never crossed the line in the workplace. Thank eff Merv hadn’t been able to make it to the Moss-Nutkins cake tasting. Indeed, it was probably a first for the septuagenarian. Presumably the lack of a bride-to-be for his slobbery rounds of cheek kissing had been the deciding factor in Merv giving the session a miss. It was pointless anyway. He really didn’t need to be there. Brides and grooms could rely on their own taste buds. Freya had grown tired of many things in her career over the past decade, and Merv’s fusspot chaperoning to appointments was definitely high on that list. She was done with making concessions for his Regency period drama ways. It had been so refreshing, not needing Hannah to be hot on his coattails in case he’d knocked something over in the shop as Freya had made her way through to the courtyard… with the lone groom.
Tall, blond Tim had shifted from foot to foot, his floppy fringe covering his left eye; his dark brown right eye meeting her own gaze so hard that she literally felt her chest melt. This could get dangerous. He reminded Freya of a boy she’d had a massive crush on in the first couple of years of secondary school in England before her family had moved to Spain; a boy whose similar features still cropped up in her dreams, just when she thought her subconscious had forgotten him. Finally Tim had taken a seat, looking somewhat bewildered at all the decoration above and below him. Freya had festooned the table in wedding trimmings so you truly did feel it was the big day. She couldn’t put her finger on the vibe he was giving off, but something told her he was perplexed about more than his current situation.
She couldn’t stop the blush crawling up her cheeks either. Was that out of a sense of shared embarrassment for his early arrival and his other half abandoning him for a yacht trip? Or was it simply because the man was smoking hot. Not that Freya was looking. Shedefinitelywasn’tlooking. Even during her recent sailing course when she’d been surrounded by an extremely fit and muscly (and mostly male) crew, nobody had piqued her curiosity enough that she’d wondered what it might be like to go on a date with them – and the rest. But Tim? She could easily picture herself out and about with him. Far too easily. Piper was one lucky lady. If Freya had a Tim in her life, she wouldn’t let him out of her sight!
The last thing she’d wanted or needed was Tim’s help in the kitchen, but how many times could she decline his offer? Thankfully, Freya had managed to play it cool, focused on getting him out of her line of vision and her cakery as quickly as possible. She wasn’t supposed to fancy her clients and she wasn’t about to start. Yes, she had definitely sent a sign to the universe that she was now open to non-stereotypical dating scenarios – but this was not what she’d had in mind. Not that Tim was trying to seduce her, let alone date her. The notion was ludicrous. He was getting married to a successful influencer. A beautiful, successful influencer.
Once they’d navigated the cake-cutting hurdle, Freya had felt quite self-conscious and amateur, reading out the details of Tim and Piper’s order from the shabby green book. Why in the hell hadn’t she updated this when she’d treated FOM to a proper coffee machine? Well, she soon would, and she didn’t care what Merv thought about them moving onto laptops and spreadsheets. One of these days the old-fashioned note-keeping they’d relied heavily on for too long would bite them in the backside.
Then came the online conversation with Piper. Talk about excruciating. First off, the woman had been barely wearing clothes. Fine if they were FaceTiming on a hot summer’s day, but this was, erm,February, and massively inappropriate for a meeting. Secondly, Piper liked the sound of her own voice.A lot.Poor Tim could barely get a word in. That’s why Freya hopped onto the screen prematurely so she could take some of the pressure off him, offer her expert opinion, and get things wrapped up. And even that was undermined! Inserting the Yacon syrup wedges would be labour-intensive enough. There was no way Freya was taking a chance with buttercream in August! Thirdly, no matter how much she annoyed Freya, the woman was absolutely gorgeous. It was impossible not to feel insecure in her presence, and that was just on a fuzzy screen. In real life, Freya would always look like the poor relation standing next to a woman as glam as Piper.
And now here she went again, pitting herself in an imaginary popularity contest against Tim’s girlfriend. The man was getting married and had eyes for Piper only. Which was just as it should be. Freya’s thoughts today were seriously screwed up. At this rate she’d have to hand her entire business over to Ricky.
But then, quite unexpectedly, Tim had cut Piper’s call off. Despite her better judgement, Freya couldn’t ignore the butterflies in her stomach at the thought of getting to spend a little more time with him in private while he devoured the rest of her cake samples. His dreamy brown eyes had peeped out from his long side curtain of hair and he’d looked at her and the cake so intently,so intensely, that she’d thought she was going to die. She was almost grateful for his mishap with the Victoria sandwich. She’d been scribbling some pretend notes into the order book, also pretending that she couldn’t see Tim’s enraptured face in her periphery. But she could. And she could also see the cream… which was dotted most hilariously on the end of his nose. Surely he could see it out of the corner of his eye? But oh, apparently not.
Freya had tried to show Tim via hand movements and body language that he’d ended up with a splatter on his nose, but he was swiping at his cheek, then his hair. She could have told him the specific body part that needed his attention. She could have handed him a napkin while she was at it, but no, all common sense abandoned her, and she found herself at Tim’s side of the table, tenderly wiping the cream from his nose with her finger! A long mutual look brimming with possibility and every unspoken word imaginable passed between them, the air charged with latent energy. Freya felt as if she was in a snow globe. Cocooned, not trapped. There were no other words to describe the strange sensation. It was as if she had known Tim for lifetimes.
“Hiya, it’s only me!” Freya and Tim had jumped in unison at the sudden and very unexpected intrusion. Freya lost her balance and fell straight into Tim’s lap, sending cake and plate flying as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close (for a few too many seconds) before releasing her. Thankfully, she had managed to hold in the shriek that had been on the tip of her tongue. She jumped to her feet, wiping the cream off her finger with a nearby napkin. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt anything!” said Hannah, eyes flitting between the two of them.
“It’s not what it looks like!” Freya had dashed back to her seat, berating herself for her corny statement as she created some distance between herself and the groom, mightily relieved for being saved by the bell of Hannah’s voice.
“Well, of course!” Hannah giggled awkwardly, darting over to the mess on the floor to clear it up.
“Leave it! I’ll see to that later!” Freya had been unable to contain her shriek any longer. Hannah slowly tiptoed away from the destruction, looking mightily puzzled.
“Oh,” Tim had said, suddenly catching on. “No, no, no. It’s totally not what it looks like,” he’d added awkwardly, holding up his hand as a barrier. Freya didn’t know if that made things seem better or worse. It was petty but his reaction felt like flat-out rejection. And that meant she was out of control. Unfit to run any company, let alone a wedding company. She’d turned into a man eater. Quite literally. What had she been intending to do with that cream? Lick it seductively from her finger and invite him back to her apartment?
While she had fretted over her behaviour and willed Tim to leave (strangely, he’d made himself comfortable again and was about to swoop on the salted caramel sponge), Freya couldn’t help but spot Hannah eyeing up the screensaver of Piper on Tim’s phone. The very screensaver Freya was trying like mad to ignore. Hannah had masked her curiosity quite well, fussing about and tidying up the cake stand and mugs on the table. Nevertheless, Freya was a little astounded at her ogling.
