Kissing the Maid of Honor

by Robin Bielman

  She heard Vanessa get up and imagined her moving to the kitchen to get some aspirin. “You are the best drunk ever. I had no idea you were that intoxicated. You didn’t even act tipsy.”

  “What can I say? I’m good.”

  The couch dipped, and Vanessa took her hand to put two tiny pills in it, then put a glass in her other. Sela downed the pills.

  “You need to open your eyes, See. I could have just poisoned you.”

  She kept her eyes closed. “Poison sounds pretty good right now. Put me out of my misery.”

  Vanessa took the glass and Sela heard it land on the coffee table. “Yeah, well, that’s sort of why I’m here this morning.”

  Sela’s eyes flew open.

  “You should get your computer.”

  “Why?”

  “You need to see the Cascade blog post for today.” The concern wrinkling Vanessa’s forehead prompted her into action.

  She stood and fought the urge to crawl rather than walk back to her bedroom. Every step sent a sharp pain through her skull. She tightened her robe and faltered when she got to her bedroom doorway.

  Vanessa stood in her tiny kitchen when she returned. “This was your last little coffee thingie.” She held up the tiny one-cup disposable coffee thingie before tossing it and stepping toward Sela.

  “Thanks.” Sela grabbed the offered cup of java and sat at the kitchen table. “I take it I’m not going to like this blog post?” She opened her laptop and tapped her fingers across the keyboard.

  “I didn’t.” If Sela were hearing Vanessa’s tone right, she’d been upset about this post all morning.

  Words got stuck in her throat the second she saw the blog and its stupid picture and headline. She glanced up at Vanessa. “This is ridiculous.”

  “Is it? You guys did look pretty into each other on the dance floor.” Vanessa crossed her arms over her chest, tilted her head, and dropped her chin.

  “I got caught up in the music, that’s all.”

  “Sela,” Vanessa said in her teacher voice. “In that picture you’re looking at him like you want to rip his clothes off. And…” She got up with Becks following on her heels and pulled the newspaper out of her bag. “This is the best column you’ve ever written.”

  “That’s what Stella told me, too.” The discomfort in her head lessened as the corners of her mouth lifted. Huh. Maybe smiling was the cure for headaches. She lifted the paper off the table and turned to her article. And there he was. God, she could not get away from him anywhere.

  “You can read the article on Luke later. What I’m getting at is that column is so flipping good because of my brother. If you read between the lines, it’s obvious our dance lesson had some major influence.”

  “Okay. You’re right. But no one besides you knows I’m Jane, so nobody will be reading between any lines.”

  “Are you crushing on him again?” She watched Sela carefully. “Truth.”

  Her body was. Without a doubt. But she fought the attraction in her mind. If she thought she was enough to make Luke stay in Cascade, she might try. But wasn’t he just doing his family duty until he could leave again? His flirting didn’t mean anything more than fun.

  Fun with him could cost her almost everything important to her in Cascade. Namely his family.

  “Maybe. A little.” She sighed. “He’s either forgotten or put aside what he said to humiliate me, and I can’t stop feeling things, Ness.” She took her friend’s hand across the table. “But the last thing I want is this weighing on you.”

  Vanessa squeezed Sela’s hand. “I know. But, See. You’re my very best friend and he’s my brother. And I can’t deal with the possibility of you getting hurt again and preparing for my wedding at the same time.” She pulled back. “You’re also the maid of honor and he’s the best man. If anything were to cause you guys to be weird with each other, it’s going to be obvious to everyone. The town is already talking.”

  “You’re right.”

  “You’ve been an amazing maid of honor and you accepted even though you knew you’d have to deal with Luke. And I love you for that. But now I’m asking you to remember your wish and keep your distance. I think it’s best for everybody. Luke isn’t staying in town. He’s only here because of me.”

  Sela nodded. Emotion clogged her throat and it took her a minute to speak.

  “No more worries about me, okay?” She waved her hand in the air. “You and your parents and sisters mean the world to me and I can get along with your brother just enough to make this wedding the best ever. We both want your wedding and the days leading up to it to be perfect, so we’ve got the most important thing in common.”

  “Thank you.”

  They stood. “You don’t have to thank me.” Sela wrapped her in a hug. “Now I need to take a shower. I smell like the Crown & Anchor and Moroccan food.”

  “Yeah. You do. I’ll call you tonight.”

  “Later, gator.” Sela waved good-bye to Vanessa and once she’d closed and locked the door, sagged against it.

  Becks looked up at her with a tilt to his little head like he was trying to figure her out.

  She knew everything Vanessa said was right. This wedding was a huge deal. Not just to the Watters family but to all of Cascade. And Sela had no right to jeopardize that.

  Chapter Eight

  Liam wasn’t getting better. Days like today reminded Sela how fragile life was, how important family was. Liam’s parents and older sister were distraught, yet so full of love and hope that it was all Liam saw. “Knock, knock,” he’d said to her this morning. “Who’s there?” she’d replied.

  “Mae.”

  “Mae who?”

  “Mae be you could sneak me in a hot fudge sundae?”

  She had, and the grin on his face lit up the hospital room with such pure delight that she’d almost forgotten their sterile surroundings. Now she stood in the Watterses’ kitchen and crumbled bacon into a small bowl. Five minutes earlier, Luke had gotten home from a hike and popped in for a drink of water before grabbing a piece hot off the skillet and then hitting the shower.

  He’d looked a little tired and Sela had almost flung her arms around him. She was so grateful he’d survived his injuries, that he grew stronger every day. That he had all his limbs and no long-lasting repercussions.

  “You’re supposed to crumble, not decimate,” Erin said, stepping beside her.

  “Sorry. You done with your bowl?”

  “Just need to mix in the chocolate chips and bacon, uh, bits.”

  Sela picked up her pork grinds. “Let’s do it.”

  They combined all the ingredients, poured the batter into two square glass pans, and high-fived.

  “If the judges give points for smell, you two have got it in the bag,” Luke said, coming back into the kitchen.

  “Thanks, bro. You around to take pictures once they’ve cooled and we’ve cut them?” Erin asked.

  He pulled on a piece of her hair. “You got it.”

  She swatted her arm at him and growled.

  He turned to Sela and pointed at her scrubs. “You’ve got something right there.” Sela looked down and Luke lifted his arm up, catching her under the nose with the side of his finger. “Gotcha.”

  “You…” Sela pursed her lips together and shook her head.

  “Me what?” He moved around her and took an apple out of the fridge.

  You look too good for words and smell like heaven and I want to run my fingers through your hair and press my body against yours and ask you to do things to me no one has ever done before.

  “You’re annoying.”

  “That’s the best you’ve got?”

  Sela sat at the kitchen island and leaned on her elbows. “How long do the bars bake?” She ignored Luke and looked at Erin.

  “Eighteen to twenty minutes.” Erin loaded the sink with their dirty dishes and filled it with soap and water.

  Luke sat on the other side of the kitchen island. “Did you guys know the wishing wel
l is still up at the top of the Wildwood Trail?”

  “I hope you didn’t drop any quarters in it. It doesn’t work,” Sela said.

  Erin turned from the sink and put her hands on her hips. “Says who?”

  “Says me. I made a wish not too long ago, and I swear the opposite has come true. Is still coming true. It’s like the wishing well god is laughing at me every day.”

  “It worked for Vanessa,” Erin said.

  Luke looked at Sela with tender eyes. He glanced down at her hands. She was toying with her rings.

  “Was the wish about a patient?” His tone matched his eyes and everything inside her softened.

  Why, oh why had she shared the meaning behind her rings with him? Only her family and closest friends knew how special they were.

  “No.”

  The house phone rang, saving her from having to explain further. Erin wiped her hands on a dishtowel and picked it up. “Hello?”

  “You feeling better?” Luke whispered.

  Would he stop being so nice? “Yes. And, uh, thanks for getting me home safe and sound.” Warmth spread up the back of her neck.

  “Did you know you sleep like the dead?”

  “So I’ve been told. Sorry about the whole getting-sick thing.” Her gaze dipped to the floor. She never thought she’d hear herself apologize to Luke Watters.

  “No apology necessary. Besides, if I hadn’t driven you home I might never have gotten to see your pink—”

  “Vanessa needs to talk to you, Sela,” Erin interrupted, waving the phone back and forth.

  Sela narrowed her wide eyes at Luke. She almost leaped over the kitchen island to wipe the grin off his face. Instead, she got up and crossed the kitchen to pick up the phone.

  “Hey, Vanessa. What’s up?”

  “I’m stuck in a faculty meeting and I can’t leave. Hayden is stuck at work, too, and we were supposed to meet at Crem’s for one last cake tasting. I really hate to ask you this, but do you think you could go over there and give the final go-ahead? I completely trust your taste buds and you only have to decide between the two flavors we were stuck on. And truthfully, I’d be happy with either one. So really, it’s just a formality.”

  “Slow down, Ness. Can’t you just reschedule?” She’d planned to finish the baking and head home to work on her next column. “Ten Things To Do Almost Bare” listed ordinary things to do around the house while wearing nothing but one article of clothing left behind by a guy. Sela needed to figure out a few more activities that would make a man stop whatever he was doing to watch.

  “No. Meredith is going out of town tomorrow and won’t be back until right before the wedding.”

  “You’re sure you want me to do this?” She glanced around the kitchen. Erin and Luke were trying to balance spoons on their noses. She laughed.

  “It’s not funny,” Vanessa said.

  “Sorry. I wasn’t laughing about the cake tasting. Of course I’ll go for you. Coming to your aid is part of the maid of honor code and I’m happy to do it. I mean come on, eating cake? It’s a no-brainer.”

  “Then I hope you don’t mind if I make one more teensy tiny request. Or rather, it’s Hayden’s request. He really wants a man’s opinion so I thought if Luke wasn’t busy…”

  “Hang on. He’s right here. I’ll put him on.” Go with the flow, Sela told herself. They both wanted to make Vanessa happy. She turned. “Luke? Vanessa needs to talk to you.”

  “You can tell her I’m in. Erin just told me.”

  “I would’ve gone, but I’ve got a date,” Erin said.

  “Cute guy from the other night?” she asked, only a little jealous that Erin had a date on a Monday night.

  “Yep. We’re going to see that new Matt Damon movie.”

  Sela put the phone back to her ear. “You still there, Ness? Luke says no problem.”

  “I’ve said it a thousand times and I’ll say it again. You’re the best, See. Thanks so much for doing this.”

  “I’ll call you later with my choice.” She hung up and took a deep breath. She hated to admit it, but chocolate and bacon smelled really good together. She also hated to admit that cake tasting with Luke didn’t sound half bad, either.

  “I think Crem’s closes at seven, so you guys better head over now,” Erin said. “I can finish here.”

  “Let’s go.” Luke tossed his apple core. “I’ll drive.”

  Sela grabbed her purse, hugged Erin good-bye, and followed Luke out.

  They got to Crem’s a few minutes later. Luke parked on the street and hurried around the hood to open the door for her. She had no idea what that was about and told her quivering stomach to chill out.

  The tiny bells on the door of Crem’s chimed as they entered.

  “Hey, you two, have a seat at one of the tables and I’ll be with you in a minute,” Meredith said from behind the counter.

  “Vanessa called you?” Sela asked and Meredith nodded.

  Sitting on the same side of the table, Luke grazed her arm. Every time they touched, even inadvertently, a current of warmth spread through her body. She scooted over her chair. If she had any hope of keeping things on an even keel between them she needed to avoid body contact.

  Meredith arrived at the table carrying a tray of cake samples. Enough cake samples for three weddings.

  “I thought Vanessa had narrowed it down to two,” Sela said.

  “Pssh. She picked the most boring ones, and I could tell Hayden was only going along with her. Let’s see what you two think.”

  A loud clatter sounded from the kitchen. Followed by a woman’s voice. “Meredith, can you come back here?”

  “Well, shoot,” Meredith said. “Okay, listen quickly. This is red velvet with chocolate buttercream frosting.” She pointed to a sample. “This one is a marble cake with white chocolate buttercream frosting. Next is white chocolate cake with a cream cheese frosting or a buttercream frosting. This is butter rum cake with cream cheese frosting, and last we have carrot cake with either a cream cheese or buttercream frosting. In the middle here”—her finger moved to the center of the tray—“are the fillings—raspberry, dulce de leche, strawberry, lemon, vanilla, and fudge. Got it? Good. I’ll be back in a few.”

  “She lost me after velvet,” Luke said.

  Sela giggled. “Yeah. She did whip through that pretty fast. Let’s just taste them and see what we like best. It doesn’t really matter the type, right?”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” Luke sat up taller. He picked one of the chocolate cake squares and turned to her. “Open wide.”

  “What are you doing?” She gripped the arms of her chair and leaned back.

  “Feeding you.” His green eyes were clear and bright and the smile that played around his mouth hit her like a two-ton bag of sugar. Sweet and deadly.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t see any forks, do you? And this way is a lot more fun. Unless you’re chicken?” The play on his lips widened.

  “Oh, I’m not chicken.” She put her hand around his wrist and helped guide the cake to her mouth for the first bite. Chocolate exploded in her mouth and slid down her throat.

  He watched her chew, his eyes on her mouth, and holy cow, the desire she saw nearly lifted her off the seat and into his.

  She returned the attention while he chewed his piece. When he was finished, he had a tiny bit of chocolate at the corner of his mouth. Since Meredith clearly also forgot the napkins, Sela took the liberty of wiping it away with the pad of her thumb. “You had a little chocolate there.”

  His eyes locked on hers, dark and tempting. She wanted him to pull her close. Let her taste the sweetness of the chocolate on his lips. She wanted so much with this man that it scared her. Her cheeks surely matched the strawberry filling, so she looked away and picked up the carrot cake. “Open wide.”

  His lips grazed her fingertips as he took a bite. She’d never fed anyone before and it felt forbidden. Erotic. She chewed the inside of her cheek to keep from making a foolish
sound, then with a trembling hand, brought her half of the cake sample to her mouth.

  Luke’s pinched eyebrows and scrunched nose wiped away the inappropriate thoughts in her head. “That was awful,” he said.

  “You can’t tell me you’ve never had carrot cake before.”

  “I’ve had it. I just forgot how much I didn’t like it. Whoever thought putting carrot together with cake was probably some mom who wanted her kids to eat more vegetables.”

  “Here, chase it down with this.” She picked up one of the white cakes and shoved the whole piece in his mouth, smearing frosting above his lip and on the tip of his nose.

  It was hard to tell through his muffled protest, but she thought she understood him to say, “You are going down,” at the same time he picked up the red velvet and smashed it against her mouth.

  She reached for another square, but Luke took her wrist and she let go. She managed to flick some frosting at him, though, then sputtered and giggled at the surprised look on his face. He brought her hand to his mouth and looked like he was about to lick her fingers when Meredith cleared her throat.

  They both composed themselves immediately, dropping their arms and sitting up straight like they’d been caught for misbehaving by the teacher. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Luke wore a smirk. Her insides melted.

  “Looks like you two are doing just fine without me,” Meredith said, one hand on her hip, a few more wrinkles across her forehead.

  “Everything okay in the back?” Sela asked, wiping her hand across her mouth.

  “Fine.” Meredith placed the forks and napkins in her other hand on the table and turned the cake tray so the remaining samples were right in front of Sela and Luke. “I’ll let you finish the rest of these and be back with coffee.”

  “Thanks,” she and Luke said at the same time.

  When Meredith had disappeared around the counter, Sela said, “I think I may have snorted frosting up my nose.”

  “Is that what that sound was? I thought Mrs. Witt’s pig had gotten loose.”

  Sela gasped. “You did not just compare me to a pig.”