Page 50 of Promise Yule Be Mine
He nodded. "Why would you? I'm just…confused."
I put my elbows on the table and leaned closer. "I'm sorry we've been so shit at doing our part."
He studied me for a second before answering. "It's fine. Shit happens. Every wedding has a hiccup. To be honest, I should have been a little more hands-on, but I thought Jenna asked me to do it just to be nice."
"No, of course not! She asked you because you're her friend."
He laughed. "That sounds like the same thing."
I scrunched up my nose and pondered over that. It did, didn't it?
"The truth is…" I said and focused on my coffee for a bit before looking up. "We didn't want to make a big deal out of it but it sort of became a big thing because she could have an excuse to spend more time with you."
"Well, that's working very well." He looked around him at the stark absence of Jenna. "She said that?"
"She didn't have to. I know her quite well," I answered.
Way too many times I'd seen Jenna pick up a hobby or a crazy idea and go to extreme lengths to justify committing to it. It had been written all over her face when she’d introduced me to Nova that she was just excited to have her best friend back.
"Yeah. Of course. Well…since you know her so well, does she really want this big ball of a wedding or did she blow your budget just to hang out with me?"
He caught me mid-drink and I kept the mug to my mouth, hoping it wouldn't give away the truth.
What could I say that wouldn't give me away? And…did I want to do that or did I want to hint at what was really going on? What was one more person knowing about our arrangement, right?
Only if he knew, then I'd have no excuses not to flirt with him and if it was bad now, I couldn't imagine how much worse it could get.
"Well, she does. Kind of. I guess…what I'm trying to say is…I thought we would go for something more low-key and I thoughtwe were on the same page but then she got more and more excited that we went a little overboard."
Nova nodded as I spoke and didn't miss a beat when he asked, "So your ideal wedding would be a much smaller affair?"
I sighed. "Yes and no. Not necessarily smaller, just more intimate. I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm bi and I've had to dream of both scenarios in my head that I've become a little desensitized to the musts and shoulds of weddings, whereas I'd like to make it a little more personal. A little more unique."
"Go on," he said when I stopped and waited for his reaction.
He placed his fingers to his lips and with narrowed eyes focused on me. Just me. As if I was the only person on the planet and under his gaze, I felt as if I could be.
"For example, my perfect wedding venue would be The White Elephant. Tucked away in the snug where my brother and I grew up, running around bossing people like maniacs. It would feel more…me. I'd light the whole place up with candles, or fairy lights, or both. People could come dressed as they pleased, not as they should. We'd stand in a circle so no one feels left out."
Nova smiled.
"So you'd want a pagan wedding. Of sorts."
"Yeah. I guess. But without all the devil worship and stuff.” I chuckled.
Nova rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. The last handfasting I did was such a sordid affair. Took me ages to get the blood stains off my shirt."
I laughed and our waitress came to our table with our order. A stack of blueberry pancakes with maple syrup for me and a chicken waffle with maple syrup and poached eggs for Nova.
As I chewed on my first mouthful, he poked at his food and tasted a piece of chicken drenched in syrup and egg yolk. He closed his eyes and let out a low but resounding moan that made me unable to look away—at the way he lit up, or the little side-to-side happy dance he did as he chewed, or the way his tongue brushed his sticky lips to wipe them clean.
He was a sight for sore eyes. A walking temptation. A perfect picture of a man.
I'd never had egg with my chicken waffles but the way he was reacting to it, the way it made me feel watching him react to it, I wanted to have it and eat just that for the rest of my life.
I'm such a lost cause, aren't I?
He eventually opened his eyes and caught me staring, which made him blush and dip his head to look at his food before he said: "continue" and I had to swallow the frog in my throat, ease the storm in my chest and put the butterflies in my stomach to sleep and speak as if I hadn't been affected by him.
