I turned down the back road that led to the shop, thankful I eyed a few open parking spots on the street.
“Look, Daddy, there she is! She’s waiting for us!” Eloise shouted as Molly squealed.
She stood waving on the sidewalk with the biggest grin, and my heart flip flopped. I told myself it was just the heavy lunch Autumn served us. I’d just take a few Tums before getting out of the car.
But as I stopped in front of her shop and she immediately pulled the door open to let the girls out, I knew it was something more than heartburn.
Strutting around the front of the car, I had the biggest fucking smile on my face. So bright it could light up all of Times Square. She was already a step away from the entrance, holding each girl’s hand with one of her own. Alex peered over her shoulder at me, and her eyes sparkled like a firecracker. Her excitement was intoxicating.
The twins scooted under her arm as she held the door open while I made my way over to her.
“Hi,” I said, brushing my hand over her arm on the way to capture the door. I needed to touch her more than I needed to breathe.
Her smile beamed as she responded the same way. I gestured for her to step inside, and then I followed her over the threshold. The girls were already running in circles in the main eating area.
Leaning over her shoulder, I whispered into her ear, “You should know, this is all they’ve talked about all morning. They didn’t even want to watch Wild and Crazy Kids.” The twins had taken up Alex’s love of ’90s shows in her absence.
“Well, I’ll have to make the visit worth it then.”
The girls weren’t paying us any mind as I snuck my arm around Alex’s waist. With a gentle pull, her back rested against my chest. “You’re always worth it, Alex. Always.”
Gracefully, she twisted out of my arm and faced me, then gently stroked my cheek before slipping away toward the girls.
In the corner under a window sat a portable table covered in papers. I followed them over to it and saw there were thirty or so pictures and design ideas Alex laid out. There were groupings based on colors and some based on the aesthetic. I noticed there was a common theme of pastels with gold accents. Anything she chose would be the perfect backdrop for her cakes.
We kneeled next to the girls at the table. Alex pointed out some of her favorites from each set. There was a bit of an eclectic flare in each of the items, the perfect embodiment of Alex.
“Hey, girls, I have a marker for each of you.” She handed Eloise a blue marker and Molly a purple one. They immediately switched. “I’d love to see which items you like best out of the groups. Maybe you can even make a brand-new group. Just put a dot with your marker in the corners so I can find them. I want to talk to your dad about some of the appliances I was looking at. We’ll be right over there in the kitchen, okay?”
The twins nodded, and with their tiny tongues poking out the sides of their mouths, they went to work.
“Come with me.” Alex clasped my hand and tugged me toward the bigger kitchen in the back. It was where most of the baking would occur, separate from the one near the front. I wasn’t sure what Alex planned for that one.
We turned a corner, and I commented on how impressed I was of how much work she accomplished in just a few days. The place was spotless.
She pushed through a set of swinging doors and ushered us into the kitchen.
“We don’t have much time,” she murmured, and she spun around and pushed my back up against a large stainless-steel refrigerator. My arms wrapped around her waist as she tugged my face down to meet hers. Our teeth clashed as we kissed passionately.
We hadn’t seen each other since the evening before. I went back to the bed-and-breakfast after we christened the place, as she wanted to work on unpacking her things. Instead of a few hours, it felt like I hadn’t seen her in years. I couldn’t get enough of her mouth, her lips, her tongue. I wanted to sink myself into her with every passing second.
“God, I missed you,” I whispered against her lips before diving back in.
I felt the cold stainless-steel touch my lower back as her hands pushed the cotton of my shirt up. Alex’s hands roamed my abdomen. Her fingers dipped into each valley and trailed across each hill.
“Last night sucked,” she whimpered as I nipped at her lip. Her fingers skimmed across the inside of my waistband, and my better judgment told me I needed her to stop.
“I know, baby.”
Her lips brushed back and forth alongside my mouth, those miracle fingers scratching softly around my scalp. “Maybe we can sneak somewhere after dinner.”
“Fuck, yes.”
She teased me with her tongue, and I sucked it into my mouth, caressing it with my own.
“Eww!” two little voices cried out.
Alex and I jumped apart. I bumped into the fridge behind me and then rolled toward the counter. Alex knocked her hip on the corner of a stainless-steel counter and squawked.
