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But the ice is gone and so is the fire and…

Maybe it can be?

Maybe I can just be me with this man.

“Ace,” I whisper.

His eyes come to mine…and I take another leap.

“I’m falling in love with you.”

He stills, eyes wide and still unfathomable and⁠—

Suddenly, our glasses are set aside and I’m in his arms and he’s kissing me.

And there’s so much in his kiss that I feel a tear well up and spill over, skating down my cheek.

He feels it too because he pulls back, wipes it away, and he does it with gentle eyes and even gentler words that bury themselves deep into my exposed heart, “I’m falling in love with you too.”

We stay like that for a long moment.

Then he sits us both up and says, “Now who knows when the next disaster will strike, so let’s just enjoy the peace and quiet, and”—he picks up the plate with the slice of cake—“the cake you didn’t get to eat.”

Yup, definitely not falling. Fallen.

“How’d you get your hands on this?” I ask.

I’d been in the bathroom, holding back the hair of one of the bridesmaids—a slender party girl named Naomi who imbibed too much in the open bar—when the cake was being cut, so I missed my chance to snag a piece.

And believe me, I’d tried when I came out.

But I was told it was all gone.

“I have many skills.”

I snort and roll my eyes but when he breaks off a forkful and holds it up to my lips, slipping the tines into my mouth I’m seriously glad that Jenny didn’t get her way about the flavor.

Because the chocolate is rich and fluffy, the frosting is decadent.

“But this is less skill and more just me noticing you didn’t get any so I played nice with the kitchen staff and managed to score the last slice.”

There my heart goes again.

And seriously, who’s the amazing one?

“Thank you,” I whisper.

His eyes go soft. “I think I’d do just about anything for you, princess.”

My lungs inflate in a rush, but he doesn’t make me give voice to the words pinging around in my brain.

He just keeps forking up bites of cake.

And I keep eating them.

Eventually, and much to my disappointment because it’s just that delicious, the plate is empty and Ace is setting it and the fork aside.

Then he’s wrapping an arm around me, dragging the pillows behind us, and we’re reclining back, staring out at the water turned into a painting by the moonlight.