Page 108 of Love Without Demands

“Just the kid food,” she whispered back.

“Let’s see what we’ve got,” Kassie said, feigning shock at the first item. “Oh, big surprise. Pigs in a blanket.”

The kids all giggled. “That was Sully‘s choice,” Jane said, pointing a finger at her cousin. “I picked the sliders.”

“But with fancy cheese,” Jaxon added with a wise nod of his little head.

“Fancy cheese, huh?” Kassie asked with a smile.

“Yeah, Buddha cheese,” he informed us, and Gianna and I had to cover our mouths to hide our snickers.

Janie sighed and rolled her eyes like a teenager. “It’s calledgoudacheese, Jaxon. Not Buddha cheese.”

“Well, that’s weird,” Jaxon said before poking at the paper. “I wrote mine at the bottom.”

“Oh, um.” Kassie tilted her head and squinted at the scrawled words. “Does this say pickle… dar?”

“Picklebar,” Jaxon corrected. “Mom and Dad took us to a pickle store and they had like one million different kinds of pickles or something like that. I thought it would be really cool if we had a pickle bar at yours and Uncle Monty’s wedding. That way people could choose which kind they want on their sliders, or they could just eat ’em because pickles are awesome.”

“Soooo, you didn’t like the mini pizza idea?” she cajoled.

Jaxon’s adorable nose crinkled. “Aunt Kassie, mini pizzas would be okay, but they’re a little basic. A pickle bar would be freaking epic.”

Gianna let out a snort, and I elbowed her.

Kassie's lips twitched at the corners, but she gave each kid a hug and a kiss on the head. “I think these are all great ideas. Thank you all for helping. I’ll talk to Uncle Monty about the pickle bar since that wasn’t on the caterer’s list.”

Jaxon wiggled on the spot. “He’ll definitely say yes.”

“I’m sure he will,” I whispered to Gia. “Monty would have a petting zoo at the wedding if his son or his niece and nephew requested it.”

She widened her eyes at me and hissed, “Don’t give them any more ideas.”

“Why don’t you guys go play for a while,” Kassie told the little ones. Both boys took Jane’s hands and walked slowly since she was still adjusting after her surgery. They were so freaking sweet I wanted to cry.

“Well,” Kass said, settling back on the eggplant-colored couch. “This is shaping up to be quite the classy affair.”

Gianna and I were unable to hold in our laughter for another second, falling over and holding our stomachs. “Oh my god, I almost busted a gut when Jaxon said he wanted a pickle bar,” Gia gasped.

Kassie caught the giggles too. “You know, maybe we can make it work. Put the pickles in pretty little bowls, and maybe add in some olives too. Then we can put meats, cheeses, and fruits nearby, and everyone will think it’s a charcuterie table.”

“That’s not a bad idea, but don’t think you have to do it, Kass. I’ll get Auburn to explain to Jax that maybe a pickle bar isn’t appropriate for a wedding reception.”

“And end up with somethingbasiclike mini pizzas?” Kassie scoffed with a big grin on her face.

As I continued filling the small white bags, my mind drifted to the metaphorical ropes analogy from earlier, the ropes binding me to Cruz, and I finally understood. He had woven those ropes for me, first with his friendship and then with his…love. Realization hit me, not like a ton of bricks but like a gentle rainfall.

Cruz Estrada loves me.

As I took the elevator down to my floor a few hours later, I decided I was ready to hear him say it, and a plan developed.

When Cruz got home from work with the SWAT team tonight, I was going to ride that man until he admitted it.

Chapter 34

I checked my pocketsto make sure I had everything before leaving my apartment on Saturday afternoon, when I saw a man exiting Lehra’s apartment.

“Can I help you?” I asked and then almost keeled over when I saw who it was.Dwight fucking Jones. “What are you doing here?”

---