me and pulling me into the house. The door shuts and his hands are running all over my body.
“I hope you found a dress because I don’t want to have another long Saturday without you.” Jack breathes into my ear and my scalp is tingling all over. I meet each of his kisses with my own. My tongue finds his and we engage in a long sensual samba of sensations.
“Is this what you meant about taste buds?” I tug on his lip.
Jack pulls back. “No, but I like your way of thinking.” He guides me to the kitchen where several cakes are sitting on the counters.
I jerk my head back. “I see you’ve been baking?”
“Yes, although I had to do quite a bit of shopping first. The only pan you own is for pies.” Jack chortles. “Was the apple pie the only thing you’ve ever baked here?”
I blink my eyelashes, realization hitting me. Shiat. He has found my stash!
I don’t bake—despite my grandmother asking me to make our family’s pecan pie over Thanksgiving in Texas and then over the summer insisting I enter an apple pie contest. But that sums up my baking experience. Well, I did make Jack a special red velvet cake over Christmas too, but that was in his house and I borrowed my mom’s baking dishes.
I swallow hard and stride to the oven. It’s empty. Of course it is. It would have to be if Jack had been baking. I turn around and meet his cool blues.
“Are you looking for these?” Jack holds up one of my snow globes. My eyes practically fall from my head. I want to dive into the globe and let the gelatinous water and snowflakes cover me, completely buried, hidden from this moment.
I twist my lips from side to side, trying to find something to say. Anything. Obviously he knows the forty something snow globes are mine. But how to explain them and why they are in my oven? I let out a deep breath.
Jack shakes the little globe and inspects the label. “Rome.” He nods. “Interesting, but I’m not sure when Rome has seen any snow?” He laughs.
I let out a small laugh, not because I think what he’s said is funny—maybe in another moment but not this one. The tiny giggle is my attempt at breathing. I’m more embarrassed than I could ever be in front of him.
Jack leans back and grabs another one. “Ah, now see the snow makes sense in this one: Innsbruck!” He places it back down and gestures to the globes. “Have you been to all of these places?”
I swallow. “Some of them.”
Jack’s eyebrows furrow. “Were the others gifts to you from other people’s trips?”
My lips flatline. Beep beep beeeeeeeeep. The flame against my cheeks is so hot, it’s like I’m at an erupting volcano and no one warned me. Instead I’m stuck, sinking like I’m in quicksand, not knowing how to explain this.
“No.”
Jack raises an eyebrow at me. “No?”
“No.” I shake my head as if it’s added confirmation of what I’m saying.
“Then why do you have them?”
My shoulders lift up past my ears, as if they want to sprout wings and flap me out of this kitchen and this horribly embarrassing moment.
I let out a deep breath. “I buy them at yard sales and eBay… It’s just a collection.” I shrug my shoulders. There, I said it. No big deal. I’m sure we can move on from this moment.
“You buy snow globes of places you haven’t been yet and store them in your oven?” Jack runs his hand through his hair.
Damn. Now I seem like a crazy cat lady or something.
“I didn’t want them collecting dust all over my place. And since I don’t use the oven that much it seemed like a good spot. When I’m feeling down I peek at them in the oven and see all the possibilities.” I swallow. No one knows about my snow globes. No one. Not even Brianna. This is my secret that Jack now knows. I’m a ball of emotions and my insecurities are about to roll onto the floor and say, “Yes, I’m weird… Am I too weird for you?”
Jack smiles, pulls me into his arms and kisses my head. “I love you.”
My head tingles and a little rush of warmth flows down my neck and over my shoulders, making its way to my heart. He doesn’t care about my wacky collection. Can this be true? God, I love this man. He is so much more than I could have ever dreamed up in my mind. And my mind is a vast place full of all sorts of wild ideas and images. But Jack isn’t an image. He’s real. He’s going to be my husband. Wow. I take a step back and grip the counter. I don’t want to faint in the kitchen with the mere concept of how great Jack is. Especially given he is standing in front of me.
Jack flashes me a full-teeth grin. “Now that we’ve gotten your secret collection out of the way, which one do you want to try first? Let me guess—the fresh strawberries and sponge cake?”
I flutter my eyelashes. I’m not sure. “How about the white cake with raspberry crème and a drizzle from the red dish…mmm…oh and maybe a few drops of the chocolate fudge?”
Jack nods. “Good, start off simple.”
I roll my eyes while he cuts a slice of the white cake and covers it with the raspberry frosting, red glaze, and then drizzles the chocolate over the top in a zigzag motion. He takes a piece with a fork and offers it to me. The cake is fluffy and sweet and incredibly delicious. I want to say yes, this is the cake, but like the dress there are several more options to choose from on the counter and I can’t immediately fall in love with this one…or can I?
And I don’t want to end this sampling moment. Just like the dresses, which were fun to try on. So many possibilities. So many choices. I don’t want to peak too soon on the cake. It’s got to rise slowly and have the exact amount of bounce to it when it comes out of the oven. The cake is like the dress, each one has to be made with the right ingredients or fabric, sewn together with precision or mixed with care and then finalized in the oven or over me. Yes. I want to take my time with each one. I’ve got to find the perfect dress and cake. This is important. Just like Jack—he is so important. I owe it to both of us to be patient.
“Well?”
“It’s really good.” I take another bite. “Like it’s so good I almost don’t even want to try the others.” I let out a small laugh. “Is that bad?”
“No, it’s not bad. It shows you know what you want and you aren’t indecisive. I love it. And everything else about you. But since we have all this cake I think we need to eat it…yes?” Jack cocks his head to the right.
“Yes, I think it’s important for us to keep going and taste all of them. But there is no way I can eat all of that cake. Let me just sample each of them or I won’t be able to fit into any wedding dress, period.” I eye the cake and already feel the pounds attaching to my hips. “That’s enough to feed, like, ten pregnant women.”
“More reason to eat up. Once you’re pregnant you might lose your appetite for cake. Enjoy it now.” Jack wiggles his eyebrows at me while he takes another bite.
“Well that will not be happening anytime
