Page 13 of Gorgeous

Cade’s eyebrows shoot up. “Thirty?”

I nod and clasp my hands in front of me to keep from jumping his fine ass.

He turns around after a beat and motions with his index finger for me to follow him up the staircase. “I didn’t know we ordered pies. You’ll need to ask Anniston.”

“I don’t want to bother her,” I start, but he shakes his head and continues up the steps. “Don’t worry about it. I need to ask her about some things myself.”

The last part of his sentence sounds like he’s pissed. Surely, it’s not about me being here. Maybe there have been other issues? I’m going with that theory.

“Fifty bucks says he takes another thirty-minute shower today.”

The two guys left behind in the kitchen drunk-laugh. I don’t understand it, but I gather Cade does when his shoulders tense right before he hollers back at them, “Sober up, Theo. Or I’ll run you until you puke it all out.”

It’s assault if I push him down on these steps and tear open his suit pants like an animal, right? I’m asking for a friend, not that I want to do such a thing. But if I was, I blame it on that damn commanding voice he used. I can’t help that it went straight to my clit and vibrated around a little.

“Through here,” he says, directing me through a bedroom door, only rapping once.

Anniston calls out almost immediately, claiming she is decent. Cade pushes through and I trail behind, feeling very out of place in the moment.

“How do I look?”

Anniston twirls around, and I hear Cade suck in a breath before he clears his throat and rasps out, “Like an angel.”

It’s not jealousy swirling around, making me feel like I want to shove him out the door so he can’t stare at her strapless, gossamer gown. She does look like an angel, but is it awful that I want Cade to think she looks like a troll? I’m a bitch for thinking it but he certainly didn’t look at me like that when I walked in. Granted, this sexy chef’s jacket hides my best assets, but still, my makeup is on point and my hair is pinned into the cutest French twist that took me over an hour to learn how to do from watching YouTube tutorials. And here Cade is, complimenting her perfect curls and tight body. Okay, so he said she looked like an angel, not that he wanted to dry hump her against the doorframe, but—

“Hi, Breck! You look beautiful!” Anniston swishes toward me, bypassing a scowling Cade. She squeezes me in a tight hug before lightly touching my hair. “Your hair is exquisite. Did you do it yourself?”

And now I feel like a turd. I’ve only met Anniston a few times at the market. She mostly deals with Sue or sends Cade. I like when she sends Cade.

“Doesn’t she look gorgeous, Cade?”

Okay, now I fucking love her. With a confident glance at Cade, I hike up a brow and wait for my compliment. He coughs, eyeing my hair and then trailing down the rest of me at a lazy pace before he licks his lips and admits, “She does.”

Score!

I don’t even care that he had to be prompted. But then he continues and the high I was riding is quickly sucked out of the room. “Not that I mind another beautiful lady in the house, but what exactly is she doing here?” He openly glares at Anniston and they stay silent, locked in each other’s stare as they silently communicate.

“Theo wanted pie,” Anniston finally says, breaking the tension-filled silence.

Cade scoffs. “Theo hates pies. He wanted cookies.”

Anniston shrugs and taps me on the shoulder as she goes back to sit at her vanity. “Well, he got pies. Any other questions, Major Jameson?”

Her no-bullshit tone halts any further arguments from Cade. The only indication he’s still pissed is the twitch of his jaw, but he grinds out one last question. “Do you want her to leave them in the kitchen?”

Anniston turns to face Cade, her eyes going wide. “No,” she states, waging a silent war with Cade. “I want her to serve them at the reception like Sue and I agreed upon.”

I almost expect Cade to stomp his foot, but he doesn’t. He squares his shoulders and inhales a ragged breath before tipping his chin once in understanding.

“Thanks so much for doing this, Breck,” Anniston continues like she and Cade weren’t just silently feuding with each other. “The guys are excited to gorge on your famous pies.” While Cade is glaring holes in her face, Anniston continues to praise me for baking all the different pies so each of the guys could get their favorites. I don’t tell her we made twice as many as she ordered. She and Theo are big names in this town, so we thought she may have more guests than expected and wanted to come prepared.

“It’s not a problem. I’m glad we could help.” I move toward the door when she glares back at Cade. Obviously, they are about to have words. “We’ll get set up in the kitchen. Thank you for this opportunity, Ms. McCallister.” I turn the knob to let myself out, and Anniston acknowledges me with a big smile.

“The pleasure is all mine, Breck. I plan on doing much more business with you and Sue in the near future.”

I swear Cade chokes. But I don’t stay and confirm it because Anniston swings back around to face him and they lock eyes in another epic stare-down.

For some reason, I envisioned Cade and Anniston’s relationship functioning very differently. I may enjoy this wedding a lot more than I originally thought.

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