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“I would never go back to you Avery, not after everything you did to me.” She turned around trying to stop the pain that wrapped around her heart seeing his face. “I’m not that stupid.”
“I swear I will not hurt you again if you give me a second chance Colleen,” he said gently pulling her into his arms. “Please baby, at least meet me somewhere after this wedding to talk about the chance of it?”
“No, I can’t do that Avery.” She was holding herself together by a thread as her hands reached for the bowtie and automatically arranged it. There was something so intimate about the action that she had to shut her eyes to stop her need to kiss him again.
“You know I don’t give up when I want something baby,” Avery whispered lowering his head down next to hers.
She turned her face away from him hating that she wanted another kiss from him so badly. “Seems you gave up on the woman you left me for.”
“No one in the world compares to you, I only realized that too late to get you back back then. Now…I can’t stay away. I will let you have room today but I can’t stay away for good. You’re not married. There’s a reason for that and nothing your partner says will change the fact that I know you desire a man in your bed.” Avery felt a slight tremble run through her and knew he had the tiniest chance at getting her back into his life, getting her heart back the way he needed it to belong to him again.
“Your body remembers me. It wants me. I can start with that until I earn your heart back,” he added kissing her again.
This time when his hand slid up to cup her breast she didn’t flash to anything, she simply felt the way it sent shivers through her and a soft moan slipped from her lips. Her head told her to stop it but her heart began to warm, thawing the ice she’d encased it in when he sent her away.
“Avery, we’d like to start sometime in the next decade,” Daniel said stopping short as he came into the room. “Whoa…holy hell…Colleen?” he added when they broke apart. “No way,you’rethe cake designer?”
“She is,” Avery stated jerking his head to the door. “I’ll be right out.”
“Good, I want to get married today,” Daniel said waiting outside the door for him, to grill him as they headed back over for the ceremony.
“Don’t run off after the wedding, please baby.” Avery moved up behind her, pulling her back against his chest as he slid his arms around her waist. “I don’t want you running away.”
“Just let me do my job Avery, don’t play with me,” she warned forcing herself out of his arms to go unload the van that contained the other desserts.
Avery watched her walk out to the van and headed to the ceremony finding Daniel outside the door. “What?”
“What? My wedding cake designer happens to be your ex-wife and I find you kissing her quite passionately…don’t you think I’d be curious as to how that happened and not a yelling and screaming match for the first time you’ve seen her since she left?”
“It’s not the first time I’ve seen her—that was Wednesday when her catering business ended up being the one doing the breakfast board meeting.”
“You see her Wednesday and are kissing her on Saturday? What gives?” Daniel asked seeing his bowtie was perfect.
“I kicked her out not because she was cheating on me but because I was an idiot. I’m the one who destroyed the marriage and now I know how utterly stupid that was. She’s not married which means I’ve got a very slim shot at getting her to forgive me.”
“Well if that kiss is anything to go by it was very reminiscent of Avery and Colleen the originals.”
“It was better than the originals,” Avery stated making Daniel stop in surprise.
“You’re still in love with her, aren’t you? You never didn’t love her; so why did you destroy your marriage?” Daniel questioned knowing he was delaying his own wedding but he wasn’t sure where his friend was on the speech he had to give at the reception.
“Right now it doesn’t really matter, does it? We’ve got to get you married,” Avery said patting him on the back, “and can I just say I suddenly am very glad to be your best man.”
Daniel chuckled before heading to their spots, pushing aside the mystery of Avery and Colleen as he pledged his love to Lila. They snuck into the area where the cake and dessert tables were to take a few pictures and he realized just how much his friend still loved his ex when he spied Colleen bringing in a few other items to sit on the table.
“It’s almost criminal to cut into this cake, isn’t it?” Lila asked beaming as she gazed over it then back at Colleen. “She did such a great job. I’m so glad I got the city’s cake genius to do our wedding.”
“The city’s cake genius?” Daniel asked as Avery listened into the conversation.
“You don’t know?” Lila questioned shaking her head at him lightly. “I told you I searched for four months to find her after she left Vincenzo after winning the city’s cake contest. She opened her own bakery thanks to winning it.”
“Well good for her,” Daniel stated before they went to start the reception.
Avery let that knowledge slide over him recalling a mention of a contest she’d won but hadn’t realized it was as important as it was, not until now. He was anxious for them to finish the dinner and start the dancing so they could get to the cake and desserts. The moment they opened the curtains to reveal the space he realized just how much work Colleen had put into the entire area. Tables were stuffed with cupcakes, cookies, tarts, pies, and so much more that he could feel the sugar shock already. They’d set up lighting on the cake which simply highlighted the delicate beauty of the design on it and he felt proud that his wife—ex-wife had created it.
Before the cake was cut, the parents began the toasts and he stood as it rolled over to him to continue them. “Good evening, we all know why we’re here, because these two people found themselves in love unable to live without the other. It is the greatest feeling in the world when you finally meet the person who completes you, nothing can compare to it, and seeing Lila and Daniel together made that abundantly evident. It reminded me of just how important it is; how fragile it is. Once lost or given up, you find yourself in a more desperate spot than before you ever knew it. Many of you don’t know that Daniel broke up with Lila six months into the relationship because he didn’t think he was ready to settle down. Thankfully for them, it worked out and we’re here today to celebrate with them and to thank Lila for forgiving him and not making him into a sad desperate sack.”
The group chuckled at the notion and he found Colleen behind a table in the dessert area warily watching him. “Seven years ago Daniel gave a toast at my wedding, claiming he knew nothing of love but hoped one day to be as happy as I was that day. Well I can tell you that you’ve surpassed that already and as the marriage grows, that happiness simply grows too. Here’s to you not letting the best thing in your life go, and if you ever need a reminder of how much better it is to be married than not, just come see me. I promise I’ll straighten him out and send him right home Lila,” he said making her laugh. “To love, friends, and second chances—you never know when you might get one so don’t take it lightly, cheers.”
