“The setting is so ornate and classic,” I said softly. “But Landon, you paid so much for it. Why?”
When I looked up from the stunning, nearly two-carat diamond, our eyes locked.
“Why? Because when you talked about this ring, I could hear the happiness in your voice. You fell in love with it the moment you saw it, or at least that was what you said. I knew I had to get it for you, even though I knew it was an engagement ring. I guess I figured I could give it to you someday. I just wasn’t sure how you would feel about your best friend giving you an engagement ring.” He laughed, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
Suddenly, I wanted him to be giving me this ring for a completely different reason. I wanted him to drop down on one knee and ask me to marry him and not because of a fake engagement.
My voice cracked when I tried to speak, so I cleared it and said, “I don’t know what to say. Landon, this is the most generous gift anyone has ever given me.”
“Say you’ll wear it and be my fake fiancée.”
Tears threatened to build in my eyes, and my jaw ached from trying to keep them at bay. How was it my life had changed so much in just a few weeks? Was it because I’d been in love with this man for far longer than I had ever wanted to admit? Thinking about Landon not being in my life—as either my best friend or as my lover—was not a thought I even wanted to entertain.
“Y-yes. Of course I will be.”
I slipped on the ring, knowing that deep inside I prayed this so-called fake engagement would lead to a happily ever after. Our happily ever after.
Landon pulled up and parked in front of Sweet Confections Wedding Cakes and Bakery right at six o’clock on the dot. I bounced on the balls of my feet as I waited for him to get out and walk up to me. He leaned down and kissed me, letting the kiss last longer than it probably should have considering we were standing on the sidewalk. He kissed me like he hadn’t seen me in days, and it had only been since this morning.
When he pulled back, he rested his forehead on mine. “Shit, I’ve missed you, Emme.”
Butterflies flew in my stomach as I reached up and wiped the lipstick from his lips and giggled. “I missed you too. How did we do this before? Go hours without seeing each other?”
He laughed. “It was easier because we weren’t having sex then.”
I smacked him on the chest and laughed. “Come on, we need to get inside.”
The door chimed at the top of the frame as we walked in. An older woman in her fifties walked out and greeted us with a wide grin.
“You must be Landon and Emmerson. December twenty-first wedding.”
“That’s us!” I said, my voice way too cheerful.
Landon leaned in and whispered against my ear, “Tone it down there, sweetheart.”
Yep, there went my stomach again. I placed my hand over it to settle it and let my wide smile fall a bit. All this man had to do was whisper in my ear, and my stomach was either flipping or my heart was threatening to beat out of my chest. Or I was daydreaming about sex in the back of trucks, in showers, against a door…
My body started to heat up, so I pushed all thoughts of sex and Landon to the back of my mind.
“My name is Lynda, and I’m the owner and head baker here at Sweet Confections. Why don’t you two have a seat right here, and I’ll bring out the flavors.”
Landon clapped his hands together and rubbed them as he made his way over to a table that was set up in the corner of the bakery. Two glasses and a pitcher of water sat in the middle.
As Landon sat, he gave me a boyish smile. “I’m so glad I didn’t eat lunch today.”
Laughing, I shook my head and sat down.
Lynda walked out with a woman about my age, who set two long plates and three small bowls in front of us.
Lynda took a seat and pulled up the paperwork.
“You did say it was okay for me to document our cake tasting, correct?” I asked as I pulled out my phone stand and proceeded to get things set up to record the session.
Lynda smiled. “Of course. Have at it.”
After I got everything set up, I looked over at Landon, who was glaring at me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He gestured to the cupcakes in front of him. “I’ve got like a dozen cupcakes sitting here, and you’re taking entirely too long to set your phone up.”
I smiled and then focused back on Lynda. “We’re ready.”
She chuckled. “Going from left to right, we have our classic vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and cream, pink champagne, lemon, red velvet, and marble. In the bowls, you have our top three bestselling buttercreams. Left to right again is white chocolate mousse, Italian meringue, and then the cream cheese.”
“Damn, they all sound good.” Landon picked up his fork and was about to dig into the vanilla when Lynda continued speaking.
“Now, when we spoke the other day, you mentioned you didn’t have a theme or your colors yet.”
“Correct,” I said, also picking up my fork.
“Do you know approximately how many guests?” Lynda asked.
I gave a little shrug. “Well, if it were up to me, it would be a small event. Family and close friends.”
Landon looked at me. “Really? You want a small wedding?”
I nodded and smiled. “I think so. You?”
He grinned. “Yeah, something small and intimate.”
Lynda cleared her throat. “You haven’t spoken about this yet?”
I quickly turned my head from Landon to Lynda. “Well, we’ve spoken about venues, picked the date, and that’s about all.”
Lynda’s eyes moved down, and she gasped. “Your ring!”
I held out my hand so she could inspect it.
“It’s stunning.”
“Thank you so much. Landon bought it from an antique store in Italy. He’s been holding on to it for two years.”
Lynda gasped. “How romantic!”
I nodded. “I know.” I had already taken a picture of the ring and posted it on Instagram. Let’s just say, Landon earned a lot of brownie points. My followers were already in love with him.
Clearing his throat, Landon asked, “When are we actually tasting the cake at this cake…or cupcake tasting?”
Lynda chuckled. “Go ahead, dig in.”
With a wave of my fork, I said, “Let’s do the vanilla with the chocolate mousse.”
Landon winked. “Sounds good, Emme. Can’t go wrong with vanilla.”
I gave him a nod and we moved on until we had tasted every cupcake with each of the frosting options. My stomach pleaded for me to stop.
“Do we have a favorite?” Lynda asked as I finally sat back and put my fork down.
“Are you not going to finish your cupcakes?” Landon pulled my plate over to him and started to eat the leftovers.
I snarled my lip. “How can you even put any more of that in your mouth?”
He shrugged, shoveling more in. “Told you, I didn’t eat lunch in preparation for the goods.”
I laughed and focused back on Lynda. “I think I like the pink champagne with the white chocolate mousse. Landon, what do you think?”
He was shoving a piece of lemon cake with cream cheese buttercream into his mouth. He pointed at it and rolled his eyes up to the heavens.