“Open up,” he said finally. “So you can taste it. This is how wedding cake is meant to be eaten.”
As she opened her mouth and he fed her the cake, his fingers brushed her lips. The gesture was so intimate it took her a moment to remember to chew. But when she did… “This is incredible.”
“I told you. But wait until you try this one.”
She drank two sips of water.
He fed her another piece. “What do you think?”
“Yummy.” She took another drink of water, picked up a sample of her own, and took a bite. She penciled a few marks on her preference sheet. “This lemon melts in your mouth.”
He sipped from his water glass. “Let me try.”
Somehow, her hand remained steady as she brought a piece to his lips and placed it into his mouth.
“This is so delicious.” The look in his eyes made her wonder if he was talking about the cake or being fed. She wasn’t sure of the difference herself.
“Can I have another taste?” he asked.
Kelsey fed him another bite. He fed her. Back and forth. Again and again and again. They continued to feed each other the samples as if it were the most natural thing in the world. At that moment, it felt natural and right and so many other wonderful things.
She couldn’t explain it. She felt so comfortable with Will. Almost too comfortable for knowing him for such a short time. Yet she could talk with him so easily. Open up and tell him things she’d only shared with family. Strange and disconcerting. Not to mention that kiss in the parking lot. Kelsey didn’t even want to start thinking about that again.
Will reached over and brushed the edge of her mouth with his fingertip. “You have icing on your face.”
“Thanks.” The spot where he’d touched her radiated heat. She ignored the urge to touch it, ignored the urge to lick the icing off his finger.
Talk about jumping into the fire. She needed to stand back, way back, or she was going to get burned.
“So, do you have any favorites?” he asked.
Besides you?
She swallowed hard.Focus. Focus on the task at hand.
“I love the chocolate one.”
“Me, too.”
“I also liked the lemon.”
“Faith doesn’t like lemon.”
Kelsey felt as if he’d poured the pitcher of ice water on her face. She knew that about Faith. Why hadn’t Kelsey remembered? It was her job to remember such details. But with Will around it was easy to forget what her job entailed. Much too easy. She had to be more careful. No flirting, not even a hint of it, and definitely no more kisses. “I forgot.”
“The banana is pretty tasty.”
“Yes, it is.” Kelsey studied the baker’s portfolio. The mix of traditional buttercream icing in a variety of styles from flowers made of frosting to real ones. A couple were classic styles but done with ganache that gave the cakes an almost avant-garde feel. A few were the definition of creative with modern styles using fondant that showed her anything was possible. She thought Starr would prefer something less whimsical since the woman seemed to be a traditionalist at heart. Faith had selected different styles for each of her weddings including a bright asymmetrical Dr. Seuss style for her third wedding that didn’t happen. So the choices were endless, but if Molly used the different flavors in a tiered cake, that would give everyone choices. And that style would be perfect for the theme Kelsey had in mind. “We could order a three-tier cake. Two chocolate and one banana.”
“You know, I liked the lemon, but this isn’t my wedding,” Will admitted. “But my parents enjoy lemon cake. They order it a lot, which Molly knows, so this would cover our tracks and make it seem like this is truly for their anniversary party. So, I agree on the three-tier cake, but let’s sneak in the lemon flavor, too. Faith will never know if she’s served a slice of one of the other cakes.”
He was something special. Kelsey smiled. “Sounds good to me.”
Will ate the final bite of the remaining sample. “Tastes even better.”
She stared at his mouth, the corners tipped up in a smile, and remembered the taste of his kiss.
But not as good as you.
