Here for the Cake

by Jennifer Millikin

Might I have a thing for chivalry?

“Five minutes early is on time.” “Says who?” I coax back the grin bending my lips. “The time police.” He rocks back on his heels, eyebrows lifting. “And guess what?” I bite down on a square of flesh inside my lower lip. “You’re the sheriff?” Klein makes an aggrieved face. “You stole my punchline.”

“Uncle Klein, you’re the best.” Over Oliver’s head I point back at myself and mouth to Eden, “I’m the best.”

She looks like a poem, a painting, maybe even the subject of an aspiring author’s fantasy.

I’m turned away from her in the small kitchen, squeezing my eyes shut and willing my erection to play nice.

“And yes, I caught you checking out my ass.” “Would have been a crime not to.”

“Taste,” I offer the wooden spoon, one hand cupped beneath to catch anything that falls. Paisley leans in, lips parted and pressing against the tip of the spoon. Lucky spoon.

I’m nodding calmly, but on the inside I’m throwing up in my mouth.

I would make up for that failed drunken kiss so long ago. I’d make up for it tenfold.

She is stunning, and you know what happens when you’re stunned? You cannot speak.

Holding her in my arms would be a full body exhale, something I’ve waited a very long time for.

I steer her in the direction of a coffee shop. “Let’s get you caffeinated so you can start being nice to me.”

Paisley digs her heels in, stubborn as always. “I told you you can’t see, and now all you want is to see it.” I fight a smile. “Yes, Royce, withholding makes me want it more.” Her eyes flare.

My head knows better. But my heart? He’s a mouthy bastard.

“I’m not going for any reason but to support you.” My goal is reached. She smiles. “And eat cake,” she adds. “I’m definitely going so I can eat cake.” I smile at the joke. “Right. Cake. I’m also here for the cake.”

To be fair, I was warned.

Klein already knows, but I say it aloud anyway. “There’s only one bed.”

“Ugh,” I groan. “I hate pictures of me laughing.” The skin between Klein’s eyebrows pleats. “Have you seen yourself laugh?”

Something warm and heavy settles in my chest. Emotions, to be sure,

Do I throw a little extra side-to-side motion into my hips as I go up the stairs? Possibly.

There isn’t a single part of me that does not want to lean back, just a little, just enough, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Paisley in a state of undress. I’m not picky. Any state of undress will do.

Paisley is picking through her toiletries bag when something clatters to the tiled bathroom floor. Bending, I pick it up. It has a handle like a wand, and a rounded head covered in tiny nodules. “Paisley,” I smirk. “Am I holding your special friend in my hand?” She swipes the rubber tool from my grasp. “Wipe that amused grin from your lips. It’s a facial cleansing device.” Held an inch above the surface of her skin, she demonstrates by running it in concentric circles.

Lie. That was my vibrator.

Her beauty might actually be painful. I might be begging for mercy before the week is over.

Being close to Paisley is exquisite torture.

Klein’s lips brush over mine—finally!—and he hovers there. “What am I going to do with you, Ace?” Everything. His hands, his mouth, I want him all over me. “Kiss me, Klein,” I manage to say, in a voice too breathy, too wanton to be me. And yet, that’s me. Wanting Klein. Practically mewling, rubbing myself against him. There’s a groaning sound low in his throat, almost feral, and then he lowers his mouth to mine.

“Don’t make me kiss you again just to stop your mouth from running a mile a minute, Madigan.” Won’t you, please?

“Shane.” I tighten my hold on his shoulder, pressing my thumb into his flesh until he grimaces. “If you ever talk about Paisley like that again, I’m going to make you a eunuch. I doubt Sienna will have much interest in you after that.” I could soften my threat with a sunny smile, but I don’t want to.

Yes, we’re fake dating. No, Paisley isn’t mine. But she damn sure isn’t anybody else’s.

He remains silent. Internally, I rejoice at having stolen all the words from a wordsmith.

I’m a friend of any light that allows me to appreciate the fantastic ass two stairs in front of me.

“Well, Ace,” he offers a half-bow. “I am at your service.” “That”—I lean closer, our noses separated by only a few inches—“is a place I think I like having you in.”

“Is this your doing?” He spears a bite of steak and points his fork at me. “This attitude of hers?” “No, sir. I believe this is your doing.”

I’m so proud of her I could applaud. Maybe stand up from the table, slow-clap, make a show of it.

“Whose side are you on?” “Always yours.

“I guess that means you’ve either decided you’re done being a considerate gentleman, or that it wouldn’t be taking advantage of me after all.” “I determined it is not taking advantage of you. And I will only be a considerate gentleman when you want me to.”

“It’s just a jellyfish sting. Could be worse.” “True. You could be made a eunuch.” The corners of my mouth curve as I try not to laugh. “He’s lucky I stopped there.”

“I’ve thought about you, too. That way.” I breathe a short laugh. “Every way.”

“I like your body, Klein. The way your hips have this ‘v’ shape,” she shifts left, running her tongue along the diagonal, until she’s stopped by the rolled top of the towel. “It was very distracting on the beach earlier.” “My apologies.”

“Poor Klein,” she pouts, batting her eyelashes. “Poor me,” I say, trying not to smile. “So sad.” Paisley sits back enough to grab both ends of the towel. Slowly, she pulls them apart, like opening the blinds on a window. As if driven by a spring, I surge forward. Paisley licks her lips, saying impishly, “Would you look at that? It doesn’t light up.”

“I hope this takes your mind off things.” My mind is already taken off things. What pain? Where?

What have I done right in this life to deserve Paisley on her knees, mouth filled with me, gazing up at me with an intoxicating mix of sweetness and desire?

She crosses her arms and looks away, playfully haughty. “You’re saying that because I just blew you.”

“That’s the sound of your heart, Klein. It’s still beating fast. I made it race.” “No past tense.” Paisley lifts her head, staring deep into my eyes. “What do you mean?” “Present tense. You are making my heart race.” She shakes her head as much as she can in this position. “It’s the effects of⁠—” “You, Paisley. It’s the effects of you.”

He twirls me around once, a slow revolution. “You’re beautiful.” “It’s nothing.” “It’s something,” he whispers. “You’re something.”

“When you’re thinking hard about something, your lips pucker the tiniest amount”—he draws a finger across my lips—“and your eyebrows draw together in the center.” His touch ghosts the bridge of my nose, smoothing the skin between my eyebrows.

“When we get back here tonight, I am going to fuck you so well, so good, I’ll have to clamp my hand over your mouth to keep everybody from hearing your screams.”

“Um. Hey.” My sister’s face pops into my field of vision. “Not to burst your bubble, but there are other people in this room right now, and it’s super awkward that you guys are standing here whispering.” “Sorry,” I say, but I don’t mean it. Not even a little. “I’m not sorry,” Klein says, eyes on me even though his words are meant for Sienna. “When your sister is in the room with me, she might as well be the only one. That’s something I’ll never be sorry for.”

“I’ve been preoccupied.” “By the jellyfish sting?” “Hah. No.” He runs a hand over my bare arm. “By a beautiful woman. And her sassy little mouth. And her playful nature. And the way she loves the ocean, and the grains of sand that gets stuck in her hair.” He waves a hand back and forth above my head, like he could keep going. “And on and on and on.”

“So eager.” “For you,” I say, as quietly as I can. “Is that right?” There’s arrogance in his tone, and I love it. “Let’s find out if that’s true.” His touch is at the hem of my dress, his fingers traveling beneath it. He feathers over the inside of my thigh, inching higher. Higher. Higher. Stopping at the apex. He runs a hand over the fabric. “Oh, Paisley,” he says, his tone playfully chiding. “What have we here?”