CHAPTER FOUR

      AFTER THE BRIDE AND GROOM cut the cake, Missy sliced the bottom layer, set the pieces on plates and the plates on trays. Waiters in white shirts scrambled over, grabbed the trays and served the cake.

      Wyatt glanced around. “What can I do?”

      “How about if I cut the cake and put it on dessert plates, and you put the plates on the trays?”

      It wasn’t rocket science, but it was better than standing around watching her slender fingers work the knife. Better than wrestling with the hunger gnawing at his belly. And not hunger for food. Hunger for a kiss.

      A kiss she owed him. Had she not stood him up, their date would have ended in a kiss.

      Hence, she owed him.

      When the last of the cake was served, she packaged the top layer, the one with the intricate orchids, into a special box. They packaged the remainder of the uncut cake into another, not quite as fancy, one. The bride’s mom took both boxes, complimented Missy on the cake, then strode away to secure the leftovers for the bride.

      As the music and dancing went on, Missy and Wyatt gathered up her equipment and slid it into the back of her SUV.

       Just as they were closing the door, a young woman in a blue dress scrambled over. “You made the cake, right?”

      Missy smiled. “Yes.”

      “It was wonderful! Delicious and beautiful.”

      Her cheeks flushed again. Her eyes sparkled with happiness. “Thanks.”

      “I don’t suppose you have a card?”

      She winced. “No. Sorry. But if you write down your name and number, I can call you.” She headed for the driver’s side door. “I have a pen and paper.”

      The young woman eagerly took the pad and pen and scribbled her name and phone number.

      “Don’t forget to put your wedding date on there.”

      After another quick scribble, the bride-to-be handed the tablet to Missy, but another young woman standing beside her grabbed the pad and pen before she could take them.

      “I’ll give you my name and number and wedding date, too. That was the most delicious cake I’ve ever eaten.”

      “Thanks.”

      When the two brides-to-be were finished heaping praise on Missy, she and Wyatt climbed into the SUV and headed home.

      He’d never been so proud of anyone in his life. He didn’t think he’d even been this proud of himself when he’d bought the comic book company. Of course, the stakes weren’t as high. As Missy had said, she had three kids to support and no job. He’d been publishing comic books for at least six years before he bought the company, and by then, given how much influence he had over what they published, it was almost a foregone conclusion that he’d someday take over.

      But this—watching Missy start her company from nothing—it was energizing. Emotional.

      “You need to get business cards.”

       She glanced over at him, her cheeks rosy, her eyes shining. “What?”

      “Business cards. So that people can call you.”

      She laughed her musical laugh, the one that reminded him he liked her a lot more than he should.

      “It’s better for them to give me their numbers. This way they don’t get lost, and I control the situation.”

      He sucked in a breath. She liked control, huh? Well, she certainly had control of him, and it confused him, didn’t fit his plans. Probably didn’t fit her plans. “That’s good thinking.”

      “I’m just so excited. I’m already starting to get work for next year.” She slapped the steering wheel. “This is so great!” But suddenly she deflated.

      He peered over. “What?”

      “What if all the weddings are on the same day? I can’t even do two cakes a week. Forget about three. I’d have to turn everybody down.”

      “Sounds to me like you’re borrowing trouble.”

      “No. I’m thinking ahead. I might look like an uneducated bumpkin to you, but I’ve really thought through my business. I know what I can do and what I can’t, and I’d have to turn down any cake for a wedding on the same day as another booking.”

      He nodded, curious about why her fear had sent a rush of male longing through him. He wanted to fix everything that was wrong in her life. The depth of what he felt for her didn’t make sense. He could blame it on his teenage crush. Tell himself that he felt all this intensity because he already knew her. That his feelings had more or less picked up where they’d left off—

      Except that didn’t wash. They were two different people. Two new people. Fifteen years had passed. Technically, they didn’t “know” each other. The woman she’d become from the girl she had been was one smart, sexy, beautiful female. And how he felt right now wasn’t anything close to what he’d felt when he was eighteen, because he was older, more experienced.

      So this couldn’t be anything but sexual attraction.

      A very tempting sexual attraction.

      But only sexual attraction.

      She had goals. She had kids. She’d already warned him off. And he didn’t want another relationship…

      Unless she’d agree to something fast and furious, something that would end when he left?

      He snorted to himself. Really? He thought she’d go for an affair?

      Was he an idiot?

      He lectured himself the whole way home. But when they had unloaded the SUV and stood face-to-face, her in her pretty blue dress, with her hair slipping from its pins and looking sexily disheveled, his lips tingled with the need to kiss her.

      She smiled. Her full mouth bowed up slowly, easily. “Thanks for your help.”

      “Thanks for…” He stopped. Damn. Idiot. She hadn’t done anything for him. He’d done a favor for her. He sniffed a laugh to cover his nervousness. “Thanks for letting me go with you?”

      She laughed, too. “Seriously. I appreciated your help.”

      He nodded, unable to take his eyes off her. The way she glowed set off crackling sparks of desire inside him. Even though he knew he wasn’t supposed to kiss her, his head began to lower of its own volition.

      Her blue-gray eyes shimmered up at him. Her lips parted as she realized what he was about to do. He could all but feel the heat from her body radiating to his—

       She stepped back. Smiled weakly. “Thanks again for your help.”

      Then she spun away and raced into the house.

      He stood frozen.

      It took a while before he realized he probably looked like an idiot, standing there