Page 28 of The Date
Epilogue
"Ash!"I yelled up the stairs. "Almost time togo."
"Twoseconds!"
I looked at my reflection in the mirrored surface of the glass-fronted bakery oven. My gray suit and tie looked impeccable. My black shirt was crisp. My freshly-cut hair looked tidy. The only thing missing wasAsh.
"Ashley!" I yelled again, but I cut off mid-yell as he swung down the stairs at that exactmoment.
"Caelan!" he mock-yelled, leaning down to steal a kiss. "Keep your shirton."
"Funny," I told him, taking a second to brush down the lapels of his black suit, even though there wasn't a single thing wrong with them. (Yeah, even a year later, I still took every opportunity to run my hands over my man's chest, as any sane individual would.) "Keep your shirtonwasn't what you were yelling at me an hourago."
He grinned wickedly. "That's because an hour ago I was tied to our bed and you'd told me to keepquiet."
"Hmmm." I straightened his perfectly-straight collar, and he smiled down at me the way he'd done every single morning since the day three-hundred-sixty-six days ago when he first stepped into my shop and reordered my entirelife.
I was a firm believer in insta-love these days. A total sucker for fate. And a much more pleasant individual, if you believedMaura.
Which I didnot.
Total bullshit. I've always beenpleasant.
"Need a hand with the cupcakes?" Ash asked. He pecked me on the lips and then strode across the workroom to the industrialfridge.
"Nope. I got them loaded in the van already, like the works of art theyare."
Ash snorted and turned back around. "They'recupcakes."
"No. They'reyoursignature tequila-lime cupcakes. Everyone swears yours are better than mine," I told himhappily.
"I think it's like that movie Maura made us watch, with the woman who bakes her emotions into the food," my former-Navy-SEAL, six-foot-five-and-ripped boyfriend said with total sincerity, as if he hadn't already given me enough reason to love him. "I have a lot of fond memories that I bake into thosecupcakes."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe that'sit."
Ash had become a hell of a baker, but his personality was his greatest asset. So if that meant Ms. Dorian had come in more often in the last year than in her entire life prior to Ash’s arrival, and a large percentage of our brides and grooms booked their cakes with us just so they could spend more time ogling the way Ash’s bakery t-shirt stretched across his enormous chest, that was okay withme.
I was the man he'd chosen to share a bed and a life with, after all. And I was the man who got to laugh every time he glanced at my t-shirt and muttered,"Vanilla?" under hisbreath.
"Too bad we don't get as much demand for them in the winter," Ashmused.
He looked out the high window and grimaced at the swirling white stuff that was already falling from the sky. One thing that hadnotchanged over the past year was the way my man felt about the cold. He'd gotten used to it, but he still liked to complain... and to have me wrap my arms around him every time we wentoutside.
"You should write your sister-in-law a thank-you note for giving you an excuse to bake them," I told him with a straightface.
"I should write mybrothera thank you for managing to make it a whole year with Karen, especially while she’s pregnant.” He shook his head. "I still don't get thatrelationship."
I didn’t always understand it either. But then, I didn’t haveto.
"They work," I told him simply. "She makes sure he doesn't go too wild. He keeps her from caring too much about appearances." I paused. “Usually.”
"She's highmaintenance."
I snorted. "And Mackieisn't?"
Ash put his hands on my waist. "You make a good point," heconceded.
"No, seriously, I think the thing about love is that we see something better in the other person than they see in themselves. Maybe something better than the rest of the world sees. Essential truths that no one else can pickout."
