“I believe I have a date with my fiancée.”
I let my smile grow wider. When I got back home, I had called Bryce Reynolds to cancel our date. That had been awkward, since Landon and I were supposed to be engaged. So I had made up a story about how we’d taken a break, but realized we simply couldn’t be without one another. He bought it.
“By the way, we need to put a ring on it,” I said, holding up my ring finger.
Something moved over Landon’s face, and he squirmed around in his seat as if he’d suddenly gotten shy. “I’ve sorta already picked something up.”
I grinned. “Oh, really? When do I get it?”
He chuckled. “Soon, I swear. By the way, my uncle Chris wanted to know if we’d head to their place this Saturday. They’re bringing in two new race horses.”
Emmit’s brother, Chris, was obsessed with breeding race horses and had a ranch out toward Hamilton, Texas. Chris knew how much I loved horses, so when he had new studs or mares come in he always asked if we wanted to see them.
“I can’t Saturday, I’ve got a wedding. Oh, and by the way, there’s this new bakery in Waco that opened, and I’m dying to check it out. I figured I might get a better idea of how they work with engaged couples if we go and pretend to be interested in their cakes.”
Landon frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, couples always go to cake tasting appointments. I usually refer them to certain bakeries, and I’ve heard good things about the cakes at this one. But they’re so new that they haven’t worked with any of my couples, and I thought it might be nice to go visit them as a bride instead of a wedding planner. I made an appointment on Friday at six to go for a cake tasting. Plus, I can document it for Instagram. I’ll be killing two birds with one stone. Checking out a bakery under the pretense of our fake engagement and getting some social media posts out of it.”
“And I get to eat cake?” Landon asked with a hopeful smile.
“You do!”
“Hell, that sounds like a win-win in my book.”
I reached across the table and took his hand in mine. “Are you sure about this? It won’t be weird for you, pretending?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“Nah, I’m not worried about.”
He kissed my wrist and then winked at me. “I’ve got to get back to the shop. What time should I be at your place tonight?”
We both stood, and Landon walked around the table and took my hand in his. “Is six okay?” I asked.
“That works for me,” he said. We started to walk out of the coffee shop, and when we got outside, Landon paused and looked down at me, his eyes dancing with happiness. My stomach flipped with the anticipation of finally being alone with him tonight.
“You want me to walk you to your car?” Landon asked.
I shook my head. His shop was only two blocks away from the coffee shop, a place we often met up at. He’d usually walk over and I would drive and meet him here. “No, thank you, though. I’ll see you later?”
He leaned down, pressed his mouth to mine, and gave me a sweet kiss laced with just enough sexual tension that it left me a little wobbly. Lord, this man knew how to pour his emotions into a kiss. When he pulled back, he rested his forehead to mine. “See you later.”
I watched as he started to walk down the street, not taking my eyes off of him until he turned the corner.
“That was some kiss,” a voice said from behind me. I spun around to find a man about my age wearing a Baylor baseball cap and dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt standing there.
All I could do was smile as I said, “Well, a couple in love and all that.” Just in case it was a reporter snooping around.
When I got to my car, I turned and looked back to see the man was making his way into the coffee shop. I shook my head and laughed to myself.
“Since when did you become so paranoid, Emmerson?” I slipped into my car and headed to Reed’s Flowers to check on the orders for Saturday’s wedding.
A knock on my front door gave me a much-needed break from work. I had three weddings on my schedule this month, and all three had very demanding brides—and one had an over-the-top mother of the bride. If she sent me one more idea from Pinterest I was going to scream.
When I looked through the peephole, I did scream and then scrambled to unlock my door.
“Aunt Autumn, what are you doing here?”
Screaming back at me, Autumn threw her arms around my waist, nearly knocking me to the ground as she squeezed until I was almost out of air. Then she pushed me back at arm’s length and gave me a once-over. Her smile got even wider.