“Amazing,” Ainsley says with a smile before turning a stern glare and a pointed finger to Maddox. “Now, don't breakher heart tonight. Because my sister deserves an amazing engagement cake that she doesn’t know about yet.”
Maddox puts his hands over his heart in a dramatic shock. “Ainsley, how dare you insinuate that I would treat this woman with anything but respect?” He adds to the drama by pulling me in tighter. “Plus, do you think that I would ever jeopardize the possibility of becoming a regular at a bakery where I know the owner? If you think that, then you don't know me at all.”
“Your sweet tooth is going to save the day,” Ainsley says.
“Damn straight it is,” he says before turning back to me. “A day without a sweet treat is a day wasted.”
I’m pretty sure he’s talking about desserts, but the twinkle in his eye says he might be meaning a little more. I choose to ignore it, though, because I’m already very overwhelmed. “That’s a good slogan. I’ll have to remember that the next time I run an ad,” I say as we both relax back into the couch we’re sitting on. I also take notice that he doesn't make a point of releasing his hold on me. “So what's your poison?”
“I mean, what isn’t?” His eyes light up at my question like he’s a toddler about to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. “I mean, any kind of cookie. Chocolate chip is my favorite, but they have to be soft. None of that crunchy shit. Also, people hate on oatmeal raisin, but if it's done right, it’s fire. I don't always go for scones, but I could do one from time to time. Of course, there's pie. Pie is undefeated. Apple, specifically. I’ll always have two or three slices of cake if there’s cake to be had, and no, it doesn’t matter the flavor or the kind of icing. I’ll eat it.”
I can’t help but laugh. “So you really don’t have a favorite?”
“Oh, I didn’t say that,” he says, the smile on his face right now accentuated because of the dimple in his cheek. “Because if you told me right now that I could only have one dessert for the rest of my life, I would have to say a bear claw. That is my favorite and my final answer.”
I picked the wrong moment to take a sip of my champagne. I nearly choke on it because of his answer. “Really? A bear claw?”
“Hell, yeah,” he says with confidence. “They're delicious. But why are you looking at me like that?”
Maddox is probably referring to the tilt of my head I’m doing now along with a raise eyebrow. “Because no man in his twenties—which I’m assuming you are, but also don’t want to do the math of how much younger you are than me—has ever come into my bakery asking for a bear claw. You don't fit the age demographic of the normal bear claw consumer, who are collecting retirement checks.”
“I’m wise beyond my years,” he says.
“I’m sure you are.”
The two of us share a smile and a quiet moment, even though the noise around us is deafening. The part of me that hates uncomfortable silence wants to try and quickly figure out something to say. But oddly enough, I don’t feel like I need to. Which I can safely say hasn’t happened in… well… maybe ever.
Luckily for me, one of his teammates breaks the silence for me.
“Maddox! We’re going up to sing. You coming?”
He shakes his head and waves them off. “Nah. You guys go for it.”
I think every set of eyes in the VIP area just turned to Maddox in a confused look. They’re all speechless, and frankly, so am I?
“Really?” I ask. “The self-proclaimed karaoke connoisseur isn’t going up to sing?”
“Not now,” he says, turning more toward me. “I’d rather be here with you.”
The way those words are delivered make my heart jump out of my chest.
Or my pussy.
Okay. Both.
“Are you always so direct?” I ask, still wondering what kind of man comes out and says things plainly.
“No sense in beating around the bush,” he says. “Life is short. Why waste time with games and innuendos? I think everything in this world would be better if we said what we meant, went after the things we wanted, and lived every moment like it was our last.”
His words hit me square in the heart. That kind of thinking, especially from a man, is so foreign to me. Justin was the king of games, lies, and innuendos. He’d talk out of both sides of his mouth and when he got caught, it would spin into a new lie. I can’t even begin to list all the times he did it, especially when I started having an inkling he was cheating. Looking back, he’d been doing it for years, I just didn’t notice. I was blinded by love and the promise I’d made to stay with him forever.
And then there’s the last part of Maddox’s statement about living every moment like it’s our last. It’s a mantra I’ve always wanted to live by, but never felt that I could. How could I live in the moment when I was married. Had bills. A mortgage. I thought then it was a luxury I didn’t have. Now post divorce, I have my bakery and am rebuilding my life essentially from the ground up. It might sound good to live like you are dying, but reality always comes back to remind you about the world you live in and the responsibilities you have.
But maybe tonight it doesn’t have to…
“Maddox?”
“Yeah?”
