Page 91 of No Rings Attached
“I’ve got it!” Ellie said.
“No, I’ve got—” Our hands hit the tray at just the right moment and it launched into the air like a catapult.
We both stumbled and our combined momentum knocked us off balance. My foot caught on the table leg. Ellie’s heel snagged a nearby chair.
And then we were falling.
I twisted mid-fall, managing to get beneath Ellie so she wouldn’t hit the floor. We landed in a tangle of limbs—me on my back, her sprawled across my chest, both of us covered in a spectacular explosion of cake.
Chunks of cake rained down like sugary confetti. A small piece landed squarely on Ellie’s head, another slid down my shirt collar. I felt the frosting smeared on my face and groaned.
“Oh my God,” Ellie gasped, propping herself up on my chest. Buttercream streaked across her cheek, and a glob of it was slipping down her temple.
“Are you okay? I asked, even though I was trying desperately not to laugh.
“I think so. Are you—” She stopped, taking in the state of us and the shop.
Cake everywhere.
Celia’s shrieking hit operatic levels as Coco dove under a nearby table with another whirl of chaos. “My dress! There’s frosting on my designer dress”
But I couldn’t focus on any of that because Ellie started laughing. Not polite laughter or nervous giggles, but full-body, gasping, tears-streaming-down-her-face laughter that shook her entire frame.
And God help me, I started laughing too.
“This is—” she tried to get out between gasps, “this is?—”
“A disaster?” I supplied.
“I was going to say perfect.” She wiped at her eyes, smearing frosting across her face. “My hero. You tried to save me from rogue cakes.”
“Anytime, buttercup.”
I loved her answering smile.
She swiped frosting from my neck and popped her finger in her mouth. “Mmm. Salted caramel. Delicious.”
Her eyes sparkled with humor. A fleck of frosting clung to her lower lip.
“You missed some.” I said, pointing to the spot. “Let me help with it.”
“I like the sound of that … ” Her voice cut off when I brushed my lips across hers. I licked at the frosting, the sweet taste bursting across my tongue.
Ellie’s soft gasp had me cupping her jaw, deepening the kiss while forgetting everyone else around us. All I could think about was stripping her bare and feasting on every delectable inch of her body.
“Eleanor!” Her mom gasped.
Reluctantly, I pulled back, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do.
A sexy flush adorned Ellie’s cheeks, her eyes hazy with lust. I groaned when she bit her puffy lower lip between her teeth. I wanted to toss her over my shoulder and storm out of there, but we had an audience. One who seemed very interested in what we were doing.
Ellie blinked, her gaze focusing on her mother’s disapproving glare.
“Stupid dog!” Celia wailed from her chair perch. “Look what you did! Do you know how expensive this dress was? Kyle, help me!”
Kyle grabbed napkins from the dispenser on the next table over and dabbed at her dress—only to smear it deeper into the fabric.
“Careful, darling,” Glamma quipped. “You’re just blending the colors now.”
