Page 26 of Silent Cravings

“It’s one of my favorites,” Marissa told us. Like anybody asked. Obviously, she was interested in him, staring as he sank his fork into the slice. Hell, she reminded me of the way he watched me eat back at the country club.

“How do you get it so light?” he asked, chewing slowly. I took a bite for the sake of playing along. It was nice, even if it kind of tasted like sawdust. That had to be a me problem since he was loving it.

“A trick of the trade. I could tell you, but I would have to kill you,” she teased. They shared a grin, and I cleared my throat before pushing the plate aside.

“One down,” I said, making a note in my app. “That was very nice. Champagne and strawberry, great combination.” Not exactly revolutionary.

We tried the chocolate cake next, which had a nice, rich flavor. “I love the cherry with the chocolate,” I told Evan, who nodded in agreement before taking a second bite.

“The cherries are a little tart, but it goes well with the sugary frosting,” he agreed.

Marissa smiled wide like she’d invented the combination. “A little tartness brings out the sweetness,” she explained, dragging her finger through a bit of frosting left on the plate and popping it into her mouth. Oh, boy. She wasn’t even trying to hide how blatantly she flirted with him. Sure, he had a great dick and did things with his hands and tongue that were downright magical but come on. She was supposed to be a professional.

Then again, so was I. So was Evan. That didn’t stop us from fucking like rabbits whenever we were in the same room for too long.

The lights flickered, making us all look up in unison at the fluorescents overhead. “Looks like that storm is coming in.” Marissa went to the back door and opened it, letting in the roar of increasing winds.

It had gotten darker since I came in. “Maybe we should hurry this up,” I suggested in a soft voice, and Evan grunted his agreement. Maybe Mother Nature was on my side. The less time I spent with this girl drooling over him, the safer it would be. Otherwise, she might end up with a fistful of hair yanked from her scalp. He wasn’t mine. He hadn’t been for along time, but that didn’t stop me from seething like a jealous girlfriend.

“I’ll have to postpone my trip to the florist,” I announced, setting my fork down to send Bianca a text letting her know. She’d be relieved.

“It might be a little late to consider driving home now,” he suggested as Marissa joined us again. “I walked over from the club, and I have the house out here. I’d have asked you for a ride home anyway,” he joked, winking.

Marissa slid the next cake in front of us. “Vanilla bean.” So she didn’t like us talking about going back to his place after this. I bit my lip to hide a smile while cutting a piece away. It was good, but not great. My favorite part about it was the bit of frosting left on Evan’s chin, which I reached out to brush away.

Not because of the frosting, but because of Miss Handsy, who liked to leave handprints on people who didn’t belong to her. Not that he belonged to me.

By the time we tasted the last—and maybe best—cake, the wind gusted hard enough for us to hear it inside the kitchen. “This is phenomenal,” Evan assured Marissa as we both stood, collecting ourselves. “But we’d better get going. I hope the roads are still clear.”

Marissa’s face fell. “Oh, okay. Let me know what you decide.” I caught her scowling at me before she could wipe the look off her face.Sorry, babe, but he’s leaving with me.We said our goodbyes and offered our thanks before ducking out the back door. A few stray raindrops hit the top of my head, but so far, the biggest problem was the roaring wind and thunder rumbling ominously in the distance.

“I’ll drop you off at home or take you back to the club. Whatever you want.” I unlocked the doors and was happy toescape inside the car, where there was nothing blowing in my face.

“I think it’s better if we go home,” he decided in a serious voice once he joined me in the passenger seat.

I snorted. “I have work to do. A lot of it. Including taking the RSVPs and arranging the seating based off of who’s responded so far. We’re talking about a few hundred people.”

“No problem. I’ll help you with it. That will make it easier.”

Damn him. I hated it when he made sense. Who were we kidding, though? We wouldn’t get any work done. I couldn’t stop staring at his mouth and his hands, remembering what they did to me. “I’d be more productive at home, I think. No offense.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s storming like crazy. You could end up in trouble on the road.” He hadn’t finished the sentence before big, fat raindrops started to fall. It wasn’t the sort of thing where the rain started off slowly and gradually increased. We went from no rain to a downpour in roughly three seconds flat. Soon, the sound filled the inside of the car. It was so loud Evan had to raise his voice. “No way you’re driving back to the city in this.”

“It’s not going to be this way forever,” I pointed out.

The smartass had to go and pull out his phone. Opening a weather app, he pulled up the current radar. We were smack dab in the middle of an enormous storm cell, completely covered, and the hourly outlook called for heavy rain and high winds until late evening.

He looked at me.

I looked at him.

“I’m five minutes away from here,” he reminded me. “And I can help you with those seating arrangements if you want.”

“Don’t act like you want me to come over just to work on the wedding,” I warned. It was impossible to keep a straight face when he wore that charming, sexy little grin.

How did he do it? And how the hell did I keep falling for it?

“Fine. Tell me how to get there.” I pulled out of the spot and rolled slowly through the lot. Thankfully, there weren’t a lot of cars on the street, but I knew that would have changed if I tried to leave town. It was smarter and safer to stay local until the storm passed.

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