by Lana Dash
“What are you doing this afternoon?” Mackenzie asks by way of greeting when she calls me.
“I’m looking online for some photography jobs in town.”
“You were serious about being ready to put down some roots?” she asks. I can hear it in her voice that she's trying to be casual, but I know she is anything but casual. She's been trying to get me to find a job at home since the first time I left home for my career.
“Yeah, I’m ready if I can find a good enough reason to stay,” I can’t stop myself from thinking of Veronica’s smiling face when I say this.
Mackenzie is quiet on the other line.
“Kenz? You there?” I check my phone screen to see if our call was dropped.
“I’m still here,” she says.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I was calling because I need a favor from you.”
I close my laptop, grateful for the distraction. “Name it.”
“I need you to go to the cake tasting I have set up at a cute new little bakery downtown.”
“You want me to go with you?” I ask.
“No, I need you to go for me.”
“You’re putting me in charge of picking out the cake for your wedding? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I already have what I want in terms of design. I just need you to pick out the flavor.”
“Why can’t you come with me?”
“If I want to fit into my dress, I can’t afford the calories this tasting will include.” She sighs. “Besides, Veronica will be there. I figured you wouldn’t mind that I wasn’t a third wheel blocking your chance to reacquaint yourself with your old lab partner.”
“Send me the time and the place,” I answer, needing no more convincing.
She chuckles. “I thought that might convince you.”
Thirty minutes later, I’m pulling to a stop in front of a small storefront window with a caricature of Marie Antoinette painted on it with the words Let Them Eat Cake.
Veronica is standing on the sidewalk near the door, talking on her cell phone. She throws back her head with laughter, and I can't help but wonder if she is talking to a boyfriend I’m not aware she has. A sharp pain of disappointment mixed with jealousy strikes me. I don’t think Mackenzie would push me towards Veronica if she thought there wasn’t a chance. I've dreamt of this second chance, and I can't mess this up.
I get out of the car and step up onto the sidewalk. Veronica sees me and tells whoever she’s talking to that she has to go.
"Hey," I say and give her a half-wave.
"Hi, Miles."
“You don’t look surprised to see me.”
“Mackenzie called to let me know that you were coming in her place.”
“I hope you aren’t disappointed.”
Veronica smiles. “Seeing you is never disappointing.”
Marry me.
* * *
VERONICA
The smile that spreads on Miles's face when I admit that I'm not disappointed to see him reminds me of when we were lab partners. I'd catch him from time to time, watching me as we’d work. He was always unapologetic about getting caught. He’d just give me the same crooked smile he’s giving to me right now. There is nothing like the feeling of seeing yourself in someone else's eyes. So often, we are our own harshest critic and seeing how BLANK.
Miles opens the door to the bakery and gestures for me to head in first. I’ve never been here before. I have professional working relationships with many business owners in my line of work. It is a necessity when you work in a job where you have many spinning plates to manage.
“Welcome to Let Them Eat Cake!” A young woman behind the counter greets us as we walk in.
I’m momentarily distracted by the soft touch of Miles’s hand on my lower back as we walk up to the counter. I wait for a moment, expecting this quietly intimate gesture to feel awkward, but it doesn’t. It surprises me when not only do I feel at ease with the closeness of Miles to me but that I want more.
“You two must be the bride and groom I’m meeting today for the cake testing.”
I’m about to open my mouth to correct her, but Miles responds first.
“Yes, that’s us.” His hand on my lower back circles my waist and pulls me into his side. “We are so excited to try out what you have in store for us. Right, babe?”
I give him a side-eyed glance, and he flashes me that same crooked smile. The butterflies in my stomach take flight, and I find that I don’t want to stop this charade. The feeling of him holding me close is unlike anything I’ve felt with a guy before. When I’m close to him like this, I feel like I’m where I’m meant to be.
The woman gets us set up at one of the tables near the front window. She’s already got the tray of six mini cakes ready for us behind the counter.
"Okay, let me give you a rundown of the flavors you've requested," she says, pointing to each cake. "Right here, we have white chocolate raspberry, then strawberry shortcake, coconut with mango curd, red velvet with cream cheese frosting, pistachio with honey buttercream, and mocha chocolate crunch.”
"This all looks amazing," Miles smiles at the woman.
I try to ignore the pang of jealously that shoots through me. I have to remind myself that he’s not really mine, that we aren’t really a couple, and that I’m technically on the clock.
“Please let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise, I'm going to leave you both to it. I hope you enjoy it."
Miles hands me one of the forks on the tray and digs into the white chocolate raspberry in front of him. I don’t make a move. I just watch the faces he makes with each bite of new cake he takes.
“Aren’t you going to try any of these?” he asks around a mouthful of pistachio and honey buttercream.
I shake my head. “I’m just here to help you make the decision for Mackenzie.”
"And how can you help me decide if you don't try the cakes?” He spears his fork into the mocha chocolate crunch cake and holds it out for me to try.
I shake my head again. “I can’t.”
“You can’t, or you won’t?”
“I won’t,” I amend.
Miles scrunches his face in confusion. “You don’t like cake?”
"I love cake," I look down at myself. "Sometimes, I love it a little too much."
The expression on Miles’s face morphs from confusion to what looks like anger. “What are you talking about? You’re fucking gorgeous.”
I’m momentarily stunned by his bluntness. No one has described me as gorgeous to my face with such conviction. I half expect that he's going to try and backpedal his words, but he doesn’t. He just stares at me with an expectant expression, but I don’t know what to say.
“How is everything tasting?” The baker asks, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the interruption.
Miles doesn’t take his eyes off me when he assures her that everything is delicious. I feel his gaze on me for the rest of the tasting. I both love and hate the undivided attention he’s giving me. On the one hand, I can’t help but enjoy the thrill that comes with being on the receiving end of his attention. On the other hand, the look he gives me makes me feel like I've been cracked open, and he can read me like a book.
I need to find a way to get a handle on this situation. This job is too important to mess up. Tabitha and the business are depending on me to get this right. I can’t be distracted, even if that distraction has blue eyes and a crooked smile I can't get out of my head.
4
VERONICA
"So first he pretends that you two are a couple, and then he tells you that he thinks you are gorgeous," Tabitha recaps what I had just told her about the cake tasting yesterday. “And you said nothing?”
“I didn’t know what to say. I thought that it might have been part of the whole pretending we are a couple scenario.”
“You could have asked him to clarify.”
“I didn’t want him to think that I got lost in the ruse
of playing a couple. What if I made everything awkward, and he told Mackenzie, and she fired me?"
Tabitha sits back in her chair across from me. “Maybe you're right. I guess you made the right calling saying nothing without knowing all the facts."
My computer dings with an email notification. I click it open, expecting to find a list of the available times for some of the venues Mackenzie wanted to visit when her fiancé got back in town. But instead, I see it’s an email from Miles.
* * *
Dear Veronica,
I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I would say if I ever got the chance to see you again. I wanted to tell you how I felt the summer after graduation, but I missed my opportunity by just a few days. When I showed up at your house to make my declaration, you were already gone, and I thought, so was my chance for anything more with you. But our paths have crossed once again, and I knew I wouldn’t let this moment slip through my fingers this time around. I tried stupidly yesterday to see if what I felt was only one-sided by pretending that we were the bride and groom at the cake testing, but I walked away feeling more confused than ever. You played along, which gave me hope. But when I told you I thought you were beautiful, you shut down, and that bubble of hope was popped. I'm done playing it safe. I will do what I should have done years ago and put my heart on the line. My feelings for you have never wavered in all the years since we’ve last seen one another. I don’t want to waste another moment if there is even the possibility that I could find love and a future that included you. If you think there might be a chance that you could see a future for us, I will be waiting for you at the address below tonight at eight o’clock. I hope that you will meet me.
Sincerely Yours,
Miles
* * *
“Veronica?” Tabitha’s voice cuts into my thoughts. “Are you even listening?”
“What?” I look at her in confusion. My mind is racing so quickly that I can’t focus on what she is saying.
“Are you okay? You look flushed.”
I put my fingers to my head and feel the heat radiating off my skin. I’ve only ever suspected that Miles felt something back when we were in school. I can’t believe that not only did he feel something for me back then, he still has those feelings. I've never been a risk-taker in my life, so I never let myself fully face what my feelings were back then or now when it came to Miles. If the physical reactions I’m feeling right now—rapid heartbeat, increased body temperature, trouble concentrating on anything that doesn’t involve Miles, it’s safe to say the flood gates of what I’ve been holding back have finally been opened.
“Where are you going?” Tabitha asks when I push away from my desk and stand.
“I have something I need to do tonight,” I tell her.
“But I don’t have anything on the books for you.”
“It’s personal.”
“Does it have anything to do with a certain brother of the bride?”
“Maybe.” I give her a knowing smile. “Since I’m leaving, you can head out too.”
“I have a few more things on my list to get done, but then I will head out.”
“Okay, but don’t stay too late. Do something fun tonight.”
“I will, but only if you do someone fun tonight,” she calls after me.
That’s the plan.
* * *
MILES
I was an idiot to leave her arrival up to chance. What if she doesn't show up, and I’m left standing there like a jackass?
Mackenzie made a few calls to secure a reservation for Veronica and me at The Anchor. It’s the best restaurant in town and nearly impossible to get a table if you don't know someone. Thankfully my sister has connections everywhere in the city, and she was willing to help me out.
I’m standing near the entrance to the pier that leads down to the water and restaurant. With each minute past eight o’clock, I try to tell myself that she’s running late and not standing me up. But the tightness in my chest feels like a vise-like clamp is constricting my lungs and making it hard to breathe.
A cab pulls to a stop in front of me, and the clamp tightens further when I can’t see who is sitting in the back seat. I watch with what little air I can hold in my lungs as the door opens. Veronica’s head appears above the door, and her gaze finds mine. A rush of air whooshes out of my lungs in relief when she smiles at me. She's in an emerald green silk dress that clings to her curves, making me hard at just the sight of her. I walk over to the cab to meet her.
"Sorry I'm late," she says, closing the door. "My car wouldn't start, so I had to call a cab to get here."
“I would have waited all night if it meant you were coming to meet me,” I admit.
Veronica does something I don’t expect. She steps towards me and presses her lips to mine. I freeze, not wanting to wake from this dream if it's only in my imagination. I've thought about what it would be like to kiss her a million times, and none of them live up to this moment. The sweet scent of her perfume and the feel of her soft breasts pressing against my chest makes my dick immediately react to her.
She pulls back abruptly, with a look of uncertainty on her face. “I’m sorry, was that not okay?”
I shake my head, not understanding the question. But, unfortunately, she misinterprets my reaction and steps back.
"I shouldn't have—" she starts to say, but I cut her off when I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her body against me.
“You most definitely should have,” I tell her. “I’ve thought about kissing you so many times. I didn’t want to break the spell if it was all in my head.”
“It’s not. I’m here.” She shifts her hips against me, and my cock reacts again. “And so are you. I always hoped, but I never really thought that you felt anything for me back in high school.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“Yeah, your letter said as much.”
“I didn’t know how else to say what I wanted to say to you but in the letter. It's hard to think clearly when I see you, and I wanted to make sure I was clear when I laid it out there."
“I’m glad we aren’t getting wrapped up in the games people play when they first start dating. I love knowing how you feel. And I want you to know that I’m all in if you are.”
I lean in and brush my lips against hers. Even though the urge to take her somewhere private and show her how I feel about her physically, I want to do this right. I want a chance to get to know the girl I fell in love with and find out who she has become.
“When it comes to you, I’m have always been all in.”
5
MILES
We spend all of dinner catching each other up on what we’ve been up to since high school. I tell her about how I stumbled into my passion for photography when I signed up from the wrong elective class sophomore year.
“I couldn’t believe it when I found out you were a big-time photographer,” Veronica says over her plate of shrimp scampi.
“Did Mackenzie tell you?” I reach over and stab a piece of shrimp off her plate.
She takes her fork pokes the top of my hand gently with a laugh. “Your sister didn’t say anything.”
“Does that mean you have been checking up on me on social media?” I sit forward in my seat in interest. Her answering silence confirms my suspicion. “You have, haven’t you?”
“Whatever.” She shrugs. “We all do it. I just wanted to know what you were doing since I last saw you.”
“Well, if it makes you feel better. I could only check up on you when I saw that your status was single. I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing you with another guy.”
“Really?” She leans across the table and smiles teasingly at me. “Why is that?”
“Because in my head, there is no one else for you but me. There will be no turning back when I get to call you mine. I’ve loved no one else but you, and I want to be the one man worthy enough of your love for the rest of our lives.”
I wait for he
r to say something, to say anything.
“Are you for real? Because you can say something like that and not mean it one hundred percent.”
"Veronica, look at me. Do you think for one moment that I don't mean every word I just said?"
She studies me for a long moment. I can see the wheels turning in her mind, and I would give anything to know what she is thinking.
“How is everything going?” The waiter asks, interrupting what could be the most important moment of my life so far.
“The check, please.” Veronica breaks her gaze from me and looks up at our server.
“Any chance you might be interested in some dessert before you finish up?” he asks.
“No, just the check.”
An icy dread passes through me. It was too soon to say what I just did, and now I've scared her away. I had one chance, and I've already blown it.
Neither one of us says anything until after I’ve paid the bill and we’ve walked up the pier to the top of the dock.
“Look about what I said back there—" I start to say, but Veronica cuts me off with a kiss. "What was that for?"
“Because it sounded like you were going to try and take back what you just said to me.”
“I didn’t freak you out?”
She recoils in surprise. “What? No.”
“Well, you didn’t say anything until you asked for the check.”
She smiles and wraps her arms around my neck. My hands instinctively circle her body and pull her close. I can’t not touch her when she is near me.
“I didn’t say anything because the urge to reach across the table and strip off all your clothes was all I could think about. I wanted us to get out of there as soon as possible so that we could go back to my place."
I thrust the valet ticket over to the guy in the vest, standing close enough to hear everything that we've just said. He doesn’t say a word but runs off to get my car. And he can’t get there quick enough for me.