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“Riley. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. I surely wouldn’t be about to open a bakery in a great location.”
“You could do anything you wanted with or without me, but I’m really glad we’re doing this together.”
She kissed his cheek before stepping back. “Me too.”
Susan wiped tears from the corners of her eyes as she picked up a cooler bag he hadn’t even noticed her bringing in. “As it happens, I have some samples for you right here.” She pulled two containers from the bag. “There are some of those dark-cherry tarts we were looking at the other day, some pecan-bourbon truffles because I think Thorne would love them, and puff pastry for you to use to try out those almond cream puffs you were dreaming up the other day.”
“Oh, wow.” Riley glanced at the time. “If I go now, I can have them ready before Thorne gets home. Are you sure you don’t need me at the party?”
“I’m just dropping the food off. They’re doing all the setup. Go. Feed your man.”
“Thank you.” Riley kissed her, grabbed the boxes, and hurried toward his car.
***
Riley drizzled glaze over the almond cream puffs he’d just pulled from the oven. He knew he’d been pushing Thorne with the wedding planning. Thorne had been snappy and grouchy for days, well, except for the night before when he’d distracted Riley from talking about florists. But the night before that, Thorne hadn’t even come to bed until Riley was sound asleep. Maybe talking pastries instead of invitations or flowers or table decorations would soothe him.
He was anxious for Thorne to taste everything, especially the cream puffs. After playing around with the recipe for a few days, he’d finally gotten the filling the way he wanted it. Maybe he’d serve them as an appetizer to sex, not dinner. They could eat after they’d burned off the cream-puff calories. Thorne loved when they played with their food. Neither of them would ever forget one of their first nights together when Riley had brought Thorne some devil’s food cupcakes. There had been far too little of that kind of fun in their lives for the last few weeks.
Surely they weren’t already growing complacent with each other. They weren’t even married yet. No, they were just stressed out and busy.
Busier than they’d be if he’d just gone with Thorne’s eloping idea.
He sighed. They were in too deep now to back out on the wedding even if he wanted to. They’d survive the next few months, and then things would calm down.
And then you’ll open the bakery and be working nonstop.
***
When Thorne stepped through the door, the last thing he expected to see was Riley in nothing but an apron, arranging pastries on a tray.
“What is this?” he asked.
“Pastries obviously.”
Thorne raised a brow. “That I could guess. You haven’t gotten me quite that addled yet. What are they for?”
“Eating or…other things if you like.”
Thorne’s cock responded to the images that popped into his mind of “other things” he and Riley had done with baked goods. “So what’s the catch?”
Riley studied him. “What do you mean?”
“No flowers, no ice sculptures, no tablecloth colors? Just pastries and you in an apron? Can this be real?”
“Susan wants to bake for the reception. These are samples.”
This was wedding planning Thorne could get into. He sat on the sofa and inspected the items on the tray Riley placed before him. “Yes. I’ll take all of these.”
“You haven’t tasted them.”
No, but he could smell them, and he was already salivating. “I’ve never had a pastry made by you or Susan that I didn’t like.”
Riley frowned as if considering that. “Well, there were those gorgonzola Napoleons.”
Thorne’s face screwed up in horror. “You hated those too.”
Riley laughed. “We did.”
“They were an abomination. I meant sweet pastries, proper pastries.”
“Okay.” Riley picked up the tray. “Then I guess you don’t need a taste test after all.” He started walking toward the kitchen.
“What are you—” Thorne didn’t say anything else for a few seconds. He was too busy staring at Riley’s naked ass.
Riley glanced over his shoulder. “See something you like?”
Thorne swallowed hard. “I still want to taste them.”
“Oh, really? Is there something else you want to taste?”
Thorne closed his eyes and tried to compose himself. He’d come home determined to get an answer out of Riley. “We need to talk about our honeymoon.”
“Not on an empty stomach.”
That hadn’t seemed to matter on other nights.
“If you can be a good little boy, then you can have dessert first.” Fuck, Riley was seductive as hell, and he knew how the apron and nothing else got to Thorne. The planning could wait until after he’d been thoroughly fucked. It would be better then anyway, right?
“I’ve been more than good enough today. Show me what you’ve got.”
He started to reach for a truffle, but Riley pushed his hand away. “Not yet. I have coffee for us, and I want to tell you about each of them.”
