In Love by Christmas

by Cari Lynn Webb

  “Can we talk about why you have Adriana’s dessert arrangement on the table?” Theo wiped the sweat off his forehead with a paper napkin. He wasn’t interested in Marshall’s divorce history or hearing the word desperation come from his mother. Although he was desperate to get the conversation back on track. The camera on his mother’s phone captured his focus. “Why are you recording?”

  “Never mind that.” His mother picked up her phone and stashed it in her purse. She then waved at the two empty chairs on the other side of her table. “Marshall and I have suggestions for the wedding-cake table.”

  “The deconstructed wedding cake is quite inventive.” Marshall sat in his chair, picked up his fork and pointed between two plates. “We weren’t convinced almond cake with salted caramel, and the pink champagne cake were complementary flavors on the table.”

  “It’s not your dessert table.” More sweat tracked down the back of Theo’s dress shirt, kicking his annoyance to another level. Business attire was not workout attire. His mother’s preferences—and Marshall’s, for that matter—weren’t Adriana’s.

  Josie nudged aside Theo and pulled out a chair to sit down. “I believe the idea is to offer the most variety of flavors to accommodate all the guests.”

  “Dark chocolate with expresso mousse and cinnamon spice with maple buttercream would speak to more guests’ palates.” His mother nodded at Marshall. “It certainly did to us.”

  Theo tugged out the other chair far enough to sit down. He pinched the dessert menu titled Adriana Taylor. If only that pinched his patience back into place. “Surely you and Marshall had other plans for the evening than to debate wedding-cake flavors.”

  “It’s been quite entertaining.” Marshall’s barrel laugh bounced around the bakery. “Unconventional, but that seems to be your mother’s style.”

  “It’s nice to be appreciated.” His mother dabbed a corner of her napkin against her mouth and offered her date a tender smile.

  “Shall we venture to the Fog City Hotel for a predinner drink?” Marshall asked.

  “And appetizers. They have a divine seafood platter.” His mother stood and slipped on her wool jacket. “We’re dipping back into the conventional. Satisfied now?”

  He’d be satisfied when his mother gave up her quest for a Christmas wedding.

  His mother turned toward Josie and said, “Daphne has openings in her schedule. You only need to tell me a day.”

  Theo resisted the urge to crumple the dessert sketch and launch it at his mother. Why did she insist Josie join her on her matchmaking endeavors, too? Josie could be more than content being single. Theo was more than content to see Josie remain single. His mother needed to stop interfering.

  Josie rearranged the clean silverware setting in front of her. “My weeks are rather full with appointments right now.”

  And Theo would fill up any free time Josie might have, if it kept her from meeting with Daphne Holland.

  “Just remember you don’t need to be so traditional on your dates, either. Changing things up adds a certain amount of fun and spice to what could be a rather intimidating process.” His mother tugged on Marshall’s hand. “Remember that advice. I need to write it down. It’ll be useful for later.”

  “Already logged it.” Marshall tapped his forehead, then held out his arm for Theo’s mother. “You two enjoy your evening. We certainly plan to.”

  Marshall and his mother stepped outside to continue their date.

  Theo scanned Adriana’s menu for her dessert-bar. He picked up the pencil his mother had left on the table and crossed off her cursive handwriting. Then nixed several of Adriana’s original choices, replacing the desserts with his own selections.

  Josie leaned toward him and grabbed the pencil. “Tell me you aren’t changing Adriana’s dessert bar, too?”

  “It’s not a big deal.” Theo reached for the pencil. Josie raised her arm above her head and out of his reach. If he leaned any closer, he’d find himself within Josie’s personal space. And close enough to kiss her.

  His gaze lowered to her mouth. One second. Enough to spark his interest. And spread a deep awareness through him. He wanted to...

  “You just told your mother it was Adriana’s wedding,” Josie accused.

  “Red velvet is universally loved.” And would look exceptionally delicious on the new Coast to Coast Living dessert plates being showcased for the first time ever at the wedding reception. There, he’d just proven he could focus on something other than kissing Josie.

  “I don’t like it.” Josie curled her fingers around the pencil and stared at him.

  “Have you ever tried it?” Have you ever thought about kissing me?

  “I don’t really like cake.” She bit into her lower lip.

  “How can you not like cake?” How can you not like the idea of sharing one kiss? Nothing more than that. Because that would imply...

  He forced his gaze away from her mouth. “You must have had cake at your wedding? What flavor did you choose?”

  She lowered her arm and gripped the pencil like she wanted to snap it in half. “We were married at the courthouse.”

  “What about the reception?” he asked.

  She shook her head. Her posture remained stiff, her voice composed. “We were married at the courthouse because my ex wanted to spare my feelings. I couldn’t fill my side of the church. He hadn’t wanted me to feel bad, as his side would’ve certainly overflowed with family and friends.”

  “And you would’ve been alone at the reception, too,” Theo mused. He wanted to talk to her ex, sit the man down and explain that he wouldn’t tolerate Josie being hurt. Theo pressed his fingers into his temples. He sounded seriously close to man in a relationship. And he hadn’t even kissed Josie. Yet.

  He motioned to one of the bakery staff and ordered a large slice of red velvet cake. He’d have to sort out his protective streak concerning Josie later. Right now, he’d eat like any regular guy who wasn’t on a date.

  “I like it. A lot.” Josie swiped the last bite of red velvet cake from the plate and pointed her fork at Theo. “Although it still isn’t right to change Adriana’s choices.”

  Theo wiped a napkin over his mouth and considered ordering another slice of cake. His sister would understand once everything was revealed. Just like Josie would understand once he told her about the TV series. He just had to tell her. He pointed at the dessert-bar menu. “Pick one.”

  “What?” She lowered her fork.

  “Pick any one of Adriana’s choices that I crossed out.” He ran his finger over four of the removed flavors. “We’ll taste it together. If we both like it, I put it back on the dessert table.”

  Josie took the menu and studied it. Her grin was playful, her voice spirited. “Confetti.”

  “That’s a kids’ birthday cake.” Theo leaned toward her and scanned the list again. “Are you sure?”

  “I always wanted a Confetti birthday cake growing up,” she admitted.

  “Why didn’t you have one?” The words escaped and he tensed. On the insensitivity chart, he just launched himself to the top. This was the part where Josie told him she’d never had a birthday cake growing up.

  He glanced behind the counter, searching for the staff, wanting to right his wrong. He was prepared to order a slice of every flavor of cake in the bakery. They’d sample each one until she discovered her favorite. Until she picked her favorite birthday cake.

  “I was too afraid to ask.” Josie tore the corner off her paper napkin, then crumpled it. Her voice was bold, as if she crushed the melancholy from her tone. “I had vanilla cupcakes one time. Chocolate-chip cookies and brownies. It was more than enough.”

  But it was her birthday—the one day everyone deserved to be special, according to Grandma Pearl. His grandmother made sure his birthdays were full-size celebrations: party games, balloons, four-layer ca
kes and candles. At boarding school, his own mother had mailed birthday packages that had always included his favorite things. In college, the packages had continued to arrive every year on his birthday. His mother still singled him out on his birthday—still made the day important. He should thank her for that.

  He went to the counter and returned to their table carrying a large slice of confetti cake and two clean forks. “Let the tasting begin.”

  Josie rubbed her hands together and took the fork he handed to her. “We taste at the same time so we can’t be swayed by the other’s reaction.”

  “You’re taking this quite seriously.” Theo adjusted his chair and picked up a fork.

  “Absolutely,” she said. “I’m fighting for Adriana.”

  Would she fight for him? This was about cake. Nothing more significant than that. He loaded a bite onto his fork and looked at Josie. She toasted him with her forkful of cake. They tasted the concoction at the same time. Only Theo forgot to taste his sample. He forgot everything except Josie. Delight radiated across her face like the sun streaming through a window. Theo wanted to scoot closer. He set down his fork, held himself in place and pushed the plate closer to her. “Well?”

  “It was so much better than I thought it would be.” She scooped another bite onto her fork. “What about you? Did you like it?”

  I like it because you like it. I like it because I like you. “It was better than I expected.”

  She eyed him, her fork balanced over the cake. “But does it make it back onto the dessert table?”

  How could he disappoint her now? He wasn’t giving in, either. He liked the cake, too. Not nearly as much as he liked Josie. Theo picked up the pencil and erased the line he’d drawn through Confetti on the dessert-bar sketch. His unplanned feelings proved harder to erase.

  Josie cheered. “This is going to be the first cake finished that night. Mark my words.”

  “Care to make a bet?” he asked. “The confetti against the red velvet. First one finished is the winner.”

  “What do I win?” Her grin raced up into her sky-blue eyes.

  “Winner gets to choose what we do on New Year’s Eve.” He blinked, slow and measured. The sprinkles in the cake clearly gave him more than a sugar rush. His suggestion hung suspended between them.

  Josie never balked. Interest drifted into her voice. Uncertainty shifted into her gaze. “We’re doing something together on New Year’s?”

  Theo rubbed his palms on his pants. It was a bad idea. One he should take back. Change out with something simple, like winner gets twenty dollars. Or a cake of their choice from Sugar Beat. Perhaps he was suffering a sugar crash instead. “Seems like the right thing to do. I figure by Christmas we’ll have exhausted the Christmas events around the city, and we’ll need to move to the next holiday.”

  Josie swirled her fork in the cream-cheese frosting and considered him. “Do you usually go out on New Year’s Eve?”

  He shook his head. He hadn’t wanted to, not in a while. Until now. Until Josie. “How about you?”

  “I haven’t for a long time.” She took another bite of cake and held out her hand. “Challenge accepted.”

  The bet sealed, Josie finished the confetti cake. Theo turned over the list for the dessert bar and rewrote the requested cake flavors. On the bottom, he made a note to change the table-linen colors, adding dark purple napkins and champagne accents.

  Josie finished the last bite of cake and leaned toward him. “Adriana mentioned a winter white theme.”

  “She’ll have that with a few accent colors.” Theo wrote “gold flatware” in the margin. He’d viewed and approved the new flatware collection in his first meeting that morning. “Besides, deep purple is regal. How could someone not like it?” And dark purple paired well with the gold-trimmed plates—also approved to be part of the new collection.

  Josie tugged the paper from Theo and read his new notes. “This feels more like something from the Coast to Coast Living magazine.”

  “Isn’t that the point?” He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.

  Josie countered, “I thought the point was to celebrate Adriana and Ryan.”

  “I’m doing that, too.” Theo drummed his fingers against his arm. He needed to add a note to check on the design of the chair coverings—another Coast to Coast original product.

  “You could celebrate Adriana in your grandmother’s wedding dress,” Josie suggested. “Redesigned, of course.”

  “Tell me Adriana didn’t find my grandmother’s dress.” He tipped his head at Josie. It was for the best that neither his sister nor Josie become attached to the idea of Grandma Pearl’s gown. “Tell me Adriana didn’t try on that dress, too.”

  “Would it matter if she did try it on?” Josie toyed with the folds of her scarf.

  Yes. Very much. Beyond the fact that Adriana should be in an exclusive gown to maintain the new, fresh and innovative direction Coast to Coast Living was taking. There was also Josie’s contract for the TV show. Once she signed, Adriana couldn’t wear Josie’s gowns, including an updated version of Grandma Pearl’s dress. There was a plan for Josie mapped out—a new direction for her, too. She just had to follow it and abide by the contract terms. He just had to tell her those terms: no more consignment gowns. No more theater costumes. Original bridal only. “I’m not certain Adriana has spoken to our mother about wearing Grandmother’s gown.”

  “I don’t think she needs to.” Josie stacked the empty plates and brushed the crumbs onto the top plate. “Your mother didn’t speak to Adriana before trying on the Linden Topher gown. Then she’d decided to keep it for her own wedding without talking to Adriana.”

  “Adriana told you about that?” Theo ran his hand over his face.

  “It came out during her first fitting, then later at Bouquets by Baylee.”

  That wasn’t exactly the kind of family incident he’d wanted shared. Perhaps now, Josie would understand why she was better suited for the TV series than his own family. “My mother...” What could he say about Lilian Rose Taylor? How could he explain his own mother?

  “Your mother wants to find her place,” Josie said.

  “She has one already in our family.” Theo picked up his mother and her date’s plates and tossed the stack in the trash can. He provided for his mother, like he’d promised his father he would. She had her own suite in his house, a private entrance and freedom to do as she pleased.

  “I’m not sure she sees that.” Josie followed him.

  He was quite certain his mother saw things just fine—according to how she wanted to see them. There wasn’t enough time left in the evening to debate his mother. And Theo was more interested in Josie. “What about you? Have you found your place with your boutique?”

  “I’ve found a place.” She cleaned off the table, tossed out the napkins and picked up her purse.

  “But you want more.” Of course she did. Everyone always wanted more. And he could give her more. So much more if she signed the contract.

  “I want to make it on my own.” She tugged on her coat and went to stand beside him. “And I want to make an impact.”

  The do-it-yourself sentiment was fine. But Theo opened doors and he’d yet to encounter someone unwilling to exploit the chance. The bigger impact would be made on the TV series. He held the door for her. “Do you have a plan?”

  “I’m figuring it out.” She glanced up at the evening sky as if figuring out how long the rain intended to hold off. “Do you always have a plan?”

  “Always.” He tucked his hands into his pants pockets and walked toward the plaza. “One-year. Five-year. And ten.”

  “That’s impressive.” She matched his pace. “Where will you be in five years?”

  “Running Coast to Coast Living.” By then, it would be a publicly traded company that he’d built. “Working to introduce the brand to an in
ternational customer base.” Always seeking that next level of success. That next step that would ensure he wasn’t someone’s regret.

  “Anything else?”

  “The company is all-consuming.”

  “What about family?” She moved around a couple, dressed for running and using the sturdy trunk of a sidewalk tree for balance while they stretched. “What about marriage?”

  Marriage? Marriage was for the content. He wasn’t complacent. He had more to accomplish first. More to prove.

  “That’s not part of your five-year plan, is it?” She stopped at a corner for a red light and studied him. “What about the ten-year plan?”

  He searched the street, looking for a taxicab and an interruption. He was supposed to be talking about Josie, not dissecting his future.

  “You’ve only built plans for work,” she accused.

  “That’s my life.” He raised his arm, flagging a taxicab less than a block away. “Your ride home is coming.”

  She ignored the street and eyed him. “Don’t you want more than work?”

  Work provided satisfaction. That always fulfilled him. His gaze trailed over Josie’s face, stopping on her pretty eyes. He had everything he wanted with his business. Everything, except... “Do you want more?”

  “I’m still working on my one-year plan.” She lifted her arm for the cab driver. “Can I get back to you?”

  “Sure.” But don’t wait too long. I’m not sure how much longer I can wait. The taxi pulled next to the curb. Theo latched onto the door and opened it, welcoming the distraction.

  “Want to share a ride?” she asked.

  He wanted to share more than a ride. Josie tempted him to reveal parts of himself no one knew. Josie made him consider marriage and family—the kind he’d dreamed about while growing up. Josie made him consider a life of contentment.

  He shook his head. “Going to walk off all that cake.” And his wayward sentiments.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  THEO HAD MANAGED one full workday without seeing Josie. He hadn’t managed one hour without thinking about her. Not that he’d let her affect his work.