Page 75 of Faking I Do
“How’s my girl today?” Bodie slid an arm over my shoulders and dangit if my bra didn’t immediately feel just a little too tight.
“Lacey just told me the good news,” Jojo stammered.
“Is that right, bubblewubble?” He nudged his nose into my ear, whispering, “The engagement, right?”
I nodded. As if there were something else newsworthy to share. “Jojo and I were about to start talking about the cake. She offered to make us one after Helmut tried to charge me two grand.”
“For a cake?” Bodie asked. “Better be frosted in solid gold for that amount of money.”
Jojo cleared her throat. “About the frosting.”
“Yes?” Bodie and I turned to her at the same time, speaking in unison.
“I can make you a cake that’ll melt in your mouth but I can’t frost worth a damn.” She screwed her mouth into a frown. “We’ll have to find someone else to pitch in on that part.”
Bodie cocked his head. “So you’ll make the cake?”
“Oh, absolutely.” Jojo nodded, her earrings bobbing up and down along with her head.
“But we need to find someone else to put the frosting on? Isn’t adding frosting part of making a cake a cake?” A line appeared, bisecting his forehead.
“I didn’t say I could frost a cake, only that I could bake one. If y’all want to find someone else?—”
“No.” I reached across the table to latch on to Jojo’s wrist. “I appreciate your willingness to pitch in. I’ll find someone to do the rest.”
“Okay then.” Jojo lowered herself back onto the red vinyl bench. “Now, how many people do we need to serve?”
“I don’t know.” I let go of Jojo and shook my head. “I still don’t have a final list. Bodie, can you get me your guest list ASAP?”
“I’ll do it now. My mom, my dad, and my pops.” He held up three fingers.
“That’s it?” I frowned.
“Hell yeah, that’s it. I don’t want the whole town witnessing the show.”
Jojo’s eyes narrowed. What was Bodie doing? He was about to give up the whole secret.
“Look, I know you’re nervous about things, sweetums, but we’re all friends here.” I scooted closer to him on the booth as I leaned across the table toward Jojo and lowered my voice. “He’s so sensitive. You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but he’s like a big cream puff inside.”
“Mmm.” Jojo clasped her hands together.
She wasn’t buying it. Bodie needed to get with the program or the entire engagement would be blasted as a fake. I snaked a hand up around his neck and pulled his head down. At first he resisted. I leaned up and murmured against his ear, “You’re blowing our cover.”
He turned his torso to face me, a glint of challenge in his eyes. “I’m sorry, cinnamon bun, you’re right, I do get shy about us. But that’s going to change, I promise.” Then he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, angled his head, and pulled me into his chest. His lips sought mine, playing along the seam of my mouth until I opened for him. His tongue dipped inside. He tasted like coffee and something sweet . . . doughnuts, maybe. My hands instinctively tangled in the hair at the base of his neck. I forgot I was sitting in a back booth at the Burger Bonanza. Forgot Jojo sat across from us, taking everything in. Forgot my own damn name as the sensations I’d been dreaming about since the last time he’d kissed me rocketed through my system.
He took the kiss deeper, angling my head back, cradling my skull in his large, capable hand. I pressed my fingers into hisshoulders, drawing him closer as I tried to think of one good reason not to climb onto his lap.
“Ahem.” Something clunked against the table. “Ahem.” Jojo cleared her throat again.
I broke away from Bodie’s lips. Dazed, I glanced around, forgetting for a moment exactly where I was, exactly who I was.
Jojo pulled her shirt away from her body with one hand as she fanned herself with the other. “I take it back. Y’all seem evenly matched.” Then she got up from the table. “Break’s over. I’ll roll the silverware if you bus tables.”
I nodded, waiting for Jojo to move beyond earshot. Then I glanced up at Bodie and wiped a smudge of pink lip gloss from the corner of his mouth. “Thanks, that was very convincing.”
“Yeah.” His finger traced the spot where mine had been. “That’s what we’re after . . . convincing, right?”
I nudged him with my shoulder. “I’ve got to get back to work. Did you stop by for something?” Something beyond laying a deep, earth-shattering kiss on me? One I’d be feeling for days?
