Page 88 of Breathless With Her

I wasn’t going to say anything now. If I did, he’d bring Erin up, and I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with that.

And now I really wanted a fucking beer. I hadn’t had a pain pill all day, so I could have one. But my family wouldn’t get me one. I’d just have to get one myself.

“I’m going to go find a seat. Probably inside.”

“Okay.” Caleb gruffed out the word, then shook his head, forcibly moving his gaze from the dance floor.

Very, very interesting.

I hobbled off to the kitchen, grateful that I was alone for a bit. I pulled a beer out of the bucket, nodded at the caterer, and kept going.

It wasn’t easy to hobble on crutches with a beer in your hand, but I made it work.

Somewhat.

I walked into the kitchen and took a seat in one of the chairs, letting out an audible groan. That’s when I noticed the cake.

There had been the main wedding cake out in the dance area, one that I knew they would be cutting soon, but this had to be the groom’s cake. And it was gorgeous.

All chocolate with homemade-looking peanut butter cups and little race cars all over it. Perfect for one of the grooms.

The other cake was also a groom’s cake, but that one had been a little more traditional—for the family, I figured.

That one had been all lace with black and deep red so it looked like crimson waterfalls running around and all over the levels. It was big enough to feed the five hundred people at the wedding, as well as whatever this groom’s cake would be used for. Then I noticed that there was a bowl hanging on top of it, and I had to wonder what it was.

“Is that a bowl of chocolate?”

“Yes. It’s a deconstructed swan. As soon as I put some liquor over it and catch it on fire, it’ll melt on top of the rest of the cake, and then everyone can dig in.

I froze. I knew that voice. There were two people that I knew of who could make cakes as delicate and delicious as these. One was down in Colorado Springs and was related to me by marriage. The other?

She was the one I didn’t want to see. Yet the woman that I wanted to be face-to-face with again no matter what happened.

I looked up, and Erin was there, her hands clasped in front of her, her face pale.

“I didn’t know you were working here.”

“Yeah. They asked me to be here to cut the cake for the wedding. It’s actually starting in about thirty minutes. I was just setting up the final showcase for the groom’s cake since they wanted to have two showpieces.”

I stood up and leaned on my crutch, and she reached out for me before forcing herself to pull back.

That was fine. I wasn’t sure what I would do if she touched me anyway.

“It looks fantastic.”

She smiled then, but only part of it reached her eyes. Had I done that? Or had we done that to each other?

“I worked really hard on it. I’m glad it looks good.”

“It looks better than good, Erin. You’re so fucking talented.”

“Thanks.”

There was an awkward silence, one that I wanted to fill, but I didn’t know what to say. I hated this. She had been so easy to talk to. Ever since she first walked into the bar in that sequined dress. There had never been a moment when I felt like I had to hold myself back or try too hard. Not until everything changed.

I hated it.

“It’s good to see you moving around. But shouldn’t you be sitting somewhere else right now?” Her words brought me out of my thoughts, and I shook my head.

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