by Abby Knox
She rested her hands on the butcher block counter and tried to breathe. Think, GiGi. Where did you leave them? This was unacceptable. Looking around like this was wasting time. She was not going to get any sleep now. Should she keep looking or come up with a plan B? Gum paste? Awful. Rice Krispie treats molded into little people? Gross and crude looking.
And then, the panic settled in her chest. This was not good. She tried to breathe, but her chest was starting to feel tight. She needed to get outside to get some air and just think. The smell of sugar and butter was overwhelming. GiGi bolted out the back door and into the alleyway and braced herself against the brick wall and started to cry. This was it. She failed. There would be no perfect cake. It would just be an OK cake. The tears came and came and came. And then, the next thing she knew, warm hands were gripping her. A man’s voice. A blanket around her. She was sitting down in her couch in her office, someone was next to her, helping her remember how to breathe in and out to calm herself down.
Most likely it was Vann, but she couldn’t be sure, she was so exhausted. When her breathing returned to normal, She felt him next to her. He was kissing her forehead and telling her to lie down.
“No, it’s not done. The chocolate molds. Somebody stole them. I can’t make little parade people, it’s too much.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“You don’t know how to temper chocolate. It has to be shiny. Not just regular shiny, but wedding shiny. It’s a whole other level of shiny. Do you know what wedding shiny is?”
“I did go to culinary school, my love. I do remember things.”
“Also, I have to attach all those tiny little flowers and leaves and make the butterflies…and oh shit, I was going to do the piping around the base to look like little Mardi Gras beads.”
But all Vann said was, “Shhhh,” and laid her down on the couch. He tucked his jacket under her head for a pillow.
“GiGi, I want you to do exactly as I say. You are a fucking rock star, but even rock stars need to sleep. Close your eyes.”
As soon as she did, she was out.
When she woke up, she had a crick in her neck that told her she had slept way too long. She sat up and checked her phone. It was 9 a.m. It was would be time to deliver the cake in 30 minutes.
Shit! It wasn’t done. It was really fucking far from done. She had failed. She bolted out of her office and went into the kitchen. But it was empty. In fact, it was spotless. Not just that, but the stainless steel was gleaming. Someone had cleaned up in here and moved the cake!
She opened the fridge and sucked in her breath.
There it was. Completely finished. The ivy vines, candied ferns and royal icing pansies from the tiny hanging balcony baskets were all attached. There were gorgeous orange and purple and white sugar butterflies alighting on the delicate little balcony railings. There was beaded piping around the base. And there, filing down the little street, was a row of musicians made of all shades of chocolate, all tempered to the highest shine she had ever seen. And on top of the white chocolate cake float was a tiny white chocolate version of Rosemary and Ash, down to the right colored hair. It was hands down the most beautiful cake she had ever seen.
Vann had saved her ass but good.
But where was he? She checked her phone again. He would probably be overseeing the food delivery to the reception venue by now.
She sent him a text. All it said was, Thank you. I love you so much. I’ll thank you in person during the reception if you can get away.
Just then, a Land Rover from the DuChamps mansion arrived to pick up the cake. The reply came, You’re welcome, angel. I’m only sad I didn’t get to see your face when you opened the fridge and saw the cake. I hope it is up to your standards. I hated seeing you suffer.
How did you manage to do the chocolate?
You left the molds in your office, in a box. On top of your desk. I think you were so tired you had forgotten you never put them away after they were delivered.
Really? OMG. Prepare yourself, Buster. I’m gonna suck you dry.
GiGi and the cake arrived at the wedding venue, a huge riverboat, just in time to help Rosemary pull on her wedding dress, along with help from Chas and Penny.
She had been worried all the way to the dock that Rosemary would be mad she had missed the girls’ breakfast that morning.
“Oh, honey, you’ve been working yourself to death on that cake. Vann told me you worked all night putting on all those little flowers and that I should just let you sleep. So don’t even worry about it.”
So, Vann not only saved her ass, he wasn’t even going to take credit for it. Wow.
When Vann took her arm as the string quartet began to play, she whispered, “Thank you.”
“For what?” he muttered as they made their way up the aisle.
“You know what.”
“No need to thank me. I don’t know what you're talking about.”
“Flowers. Tempered chocolate. How did you do it?”
“Let’s just keep it a mystery until the wedding night.”
“Huh?”
“You need more sleep. You’re not catching my drift. Let’s just say I’ll tell you all of it after I get your clothes off later.”
The thought of having Vann between her legs again made her swoon so hard she almost stumbled up the aisle. Her mind was finally so at ease, she could not have cared less what anybody thought if she had decided to nail this man right here in the middle of the ceremony.
Thinking about what she was going to do to him later seemed to make the ceremony last forever. No offense to her dear, sweet Rosemary and the dashing groom. But GiGi’s only thought through the entire thing was, let’s get on with it, I got celebrity chef dick to suck.
The ceremonial kiss was so sweet to watch, GiGi could not help but get turned on. Ash looked deep in Rosemary’s eyes with the slightest grin on his lips. As if he was looking forward to ravishing her later, and every night for the rest of their lives. She wondered if Vann felt that when he looked at her.
Then Vann caught her eye over Ash’s shoulder. And she knew. With his eyes he silently communicated to her what was going to happen later. His eyes drifted down to her neck, her chest, all the way down her body. The stare was so intense she could almost feel a slight pressure. When his eyes drifted back up to meet her gaze, she licked her lips. That was dirty of her. She knew because she saw the slightest narrowing of his eyes.
At the reception, everyone stopped her to say how they could not wait to taste the beautiful cake. But GiGI was less interested in hearing about how it was the most original cake anyone had ever seen or tasted, and more interested in seeing and having a taste of her fiancé Vann. She liked the sound of that word. Wait, no she didn’t. She liked the word “husband” better.
When she finally found him, once again talking to Candi with an “i,” GiGi apologized to the poor fangirl and proceeded to drag her blond Viking god down below deck.
“Hey!” shouted Candi.
“Sorry, not sorry!” GiGi shouted as she and her man sprinted away.
Chapter 17
Vann
He had no idea how long they had been locked in this tiny closet below deck on this wedding riverboat. It had to have been at least a couple of hours. He did the math in his head: there had been at least four incredibly lewd sex acts (one briefly interrupted by his buddy Gavin, who’d evidently been looking for a private nook to make out with another one of the bridesmaids), and then a nap, and then some truly tawdry behavior, followed by more napping. And his amazing angel female did not have a single moment of seasickness. Now he was thirsty as shit.
It wasn’t the most comfortable rendezvous in the world, but he would strongly recommend this closet for any couple really needing to go nuts on each other in public.
Someone opened the door who Vann did not recognize. The person standing outside the closet stumbled backward and then dashed off.
GiGi and Vann laughed and helped each other get
fully dressed before exiting the closet. Pretty soon they were breathing in the fresh air and looking around for something to drink. Vann eventually procured two large glasses of water from a different bartender than he had seen at the beginning of the reception. They both drank their waters down gratefully, but then GiGi stopped and looked around.
“Vann?”
“Yeah babe?”
“Everyone is staring at us.”
“Oh, they’re just jealous.”
“No, I think that’s not it.”
Vann looked around and discovered she was right. Then he realized there was not a single person on this deck who he recognized from the wedding.
“Excuse me,” he stammered. “Have any of you seen Ash Boudreaux or the new Mrs. Rosemary Boudreaux?”
Everyone stared at them blankly.
“Babe,” GiGi said. “I’m not always the brightest bulb, but I gotta say, I don’t think we’re at the same wedding anymore. I think we slept through the end of the Boudreaux wedding and now we’re crashing the next one that was scheduled on this here fancy bucket of bolts.”
Vann scanned all the faces. “I think you might be right.”
GiGi grasped his hand. He looked over at his girl. She was starting to get that panicked look on her face again. “What’s going to happen now, Vann? Oh shit, I think I’m getting seasick again.”
He took a deep breath, told her to do the same. She did, and he breathed with her, in and out.
Then Vann smiled, and explained, calmly, exactly what would happen next.
“We’re going to let it go, angel.”
The End
Epilogue
Ten Years Later
Vann
They were in the same place, but they felt a million miles apart.
GiGi and Vann West had everything either of them ever wanted: thriving businesses, the money to travel anywhere in the world and meet the most interesting people in the field of culinary arts.
But something was just…wrong.
They hadn’t had sex in weeks.
GiGi had said that birth control was making her gain weight, so she had gone off of it. Not that he could tell any difference in his gorgeous wife’s body. But if she wanted to go off the pill, it was totally fine with Vann. He was beyond ready to start a family. Traveling the globe with GiGi and a gang of little monsters sounded perfect, and the thought of it made him smile. She seemed to have agreed with him at the time, but in recent weeks, she’d stopped touching him completely.
Vann, not knowing anything about female hormones, and especially not about panther shifter female hormones, decided to leave it alone and give her time to adjust.
Today, they were in Mexico silently sharing street tacos, but Vann was the only one of the two of them who could eat. He could always eat.
“You gonna finish that?” he asked as she stared off down the street.
She shrugged. He finished off the entire plate and then, finally, worked up the courage to ask her what was wrong. “I’m afraid I’ve done something. Have I?”
She glumly shook her head and gave a weak smile.
“Talk to me,” he said. But she only bit her lip.
Vann sighed. “If one cannot eat the tacos while in the best city for tacos in the entire world, something is very wrong, my love.”
She said, seemingly apropos of nothing, “We’re headed back to Thailand tomorrow?”
He nodded. “Phuket.”
“OK.”
“You want to take the private jet instead of flying first class? We can do that, you know.”
She shook her head and looked down at her hands.
Vann knew he had to keep trying, but he wasn’t the best with words or the most adept at reading his wife or saying the right thing.
He needed a big, sweeping gesture to bring her out of her shell, to break down her armor.
Maybe the whirlwind romance and quick wedding in the Bahamas was a mistake. Maybe they should have taken more time.
Vann watched his wife pick at the Mexican shrimp taco in Mexico City like it was something she didn’t want to eat.
That was the first clue in ten years that something was off with GiGi.
“Babe, you gotta tell me what’s wrong.”
This time she sighed, signaling a bit of exasperation. “Nothing is wrong. I’ll tell you when we get to Phuket.”
Vann glared at her, wanting to shake her. He refused to believe the fiery, driven woman he knew was gone from him. He had to do something fast and daring.
Vann looked at her intently, forcing her to look into his eyes. He picked up his phone, went to his favorite contacts and made contact.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he said to the person on the other end. “Look, we’re postponing Thailand. GiGi and I are taking a break and going to the Bahamas for a few weeks to lay low. I’m exhausted. My wife is exhausted. After that we’ll be back on schedule… No, tell the studio I do not care, I will personally pay the entire crew to whoop it up over there while they wait for us…I’m dead serious… I don’t fucking care what’s in my contract, they can fire me and find someone else to do what I do.
Then GiGi cut him off. “Don’t you dare do that! I want to go to Thailand with you!”
Vann paused and stared blankly at GiGI for a beat then said to the person on the other end of the phone, “OK, scratch that. No…yes. We’ll go to Thailand as planned. False alarm. But be aware, we are gonna need a break soon.
He hung up the phone and gazed at his wife.
“Well, it’s nice to see you’ve woken up. So you really want to go to Phuket with me? I thought maybe a break in the Bahamas would be good for you. We could renew our vows!”
“No,” GiGi said sharply. A little too sharply, and it stung. She said, “I don’t want to go to the Bahamas because…well, I don’t know how to say this. I don’t want to go there because I’m reminded of some things I regret. I don’t regret marrying you. I regret having such a small ceremony and only a few friends. And maybe, the truth just, I regret not talking through some of the things we should have talked through before we were married. The whirlwind romance felt right at the moment. It worked for Ash and Rosemary. But now I’m wondering if I missed out. I just need to shake it off. Thailand will set my mind straight again. You’ll see.”
Vann nodded and furrowed his brow.
That night in their hotel room in Mexico City, Vann let GiGi have some alone time in the tub and went out on the balcony to text Ash. He had to talk to someone with a successful marriage, and as far as he knew, Ash and Rosemary fucked like bunnies every damn day. Ash was sympathetic but not able to relate. He and Rosemary had started making babies the minute the wedding was over and hadn’t stopped since.
Ash told Vann to consider himself lucky they had had a quickie wedding on the beach, because Ash would have preferred that over Rosemary’s huge bash, combined with her little abstinence games that drove him crazy.
Vann smiled and texted: Whatever man, y’all are both crazy and you love it.
Ash texted back: Yeah, but fuck if I understand women any better than you do. Why don’t you have her give Rosie a call? Maybe some girl time will cheer her up.
That gave Vann an idea. In fact, he had a pretty massive idea. He suddenly knew exactly how to get his woman back in his arms. Maybe not right away that night, but sooner rather than later.
He padded back into the hotel room and peeked in the door. He shouldn’t have done that, because the insta-boner showed up.
“Hey, babe. I was just texting with Ash. He was saying how sometimes he gets jealous of our little wedding on the beach and wishes he could go back and do it over. No wrangling of parents, none of the ridiculous, endless parties, brunches and appointments. Can you believe that? So, just goes to show, the grass is not always greener. Anyway, he said for you to call Rosie, she misses you.”
GiGi nodded and smiled. Vann shut the door, feeling very satisfied with himself. This was going to be epic.
GiGi
As soon as Vann left her alone in the tub, GiGi carefully reached for her phone and texted Rosemary: What in the freaking hell is going on with our men?
Vann was just trying to help, but the whole speech to her sounded fake. Like he didn’t really believe it himself and he was trying to placate the crazy lady.
Obviously, she told Rosie exactly what Vann had said that Ash had said about their wedding. How could she not? Although she added:
But all of these men are out of their minds. Your wedding was epic and fun and don’t let anybody shame you because of it.
Rosie cryptically texted back: Oh don’t you worry, sugar. I got him handled.
The next day in Phuket, they had some time to play on the beach before shooting began with a sunset pig roast with some villagers.
Vann was walking on eggshells, which broke GiGi’s heart a little. But she just wasn’t ready to talk about the problem…or her solution to the problem.
Vann demanded that she take some time to lounge on the porch of their remote beach hut while he left to catch up with the crew. “I’ll just be a few hundred yards down the beach where the shoot is tonight. Call me and I’ll come running.”
He planted a kiss on her head before he left.
The truth was, she really wanted a less chaste sort of kiss. She wanted the kind of kiss that would knock her bikini bottom right off into the sand, and then she wanted him to take her right there on the beach, sand in the ass be damned.
Not that her husband would be interested in knocking off her bikini tonight. The pill had made her gain about 35 pounds and she felt huge and…well…disappointing.
She knew she should say this out loud to her husband, but she felt too embarrassed. Maybe if she and Vann had spent more time getting to know each other before getting married, she could have worked up the trust to tell him things about her self-confidence.