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Maude Alice cleared her throat loudly from across the room, and when he followed the sound, he found her tilting her head toward Mira in a very clearget on with itgesture. Giving her a small salute, Cole made his way to the cake table with his hands in his pockets, a swagger in his step, and a smile on his face. Once he was close enough to smell her citrus scent, he said, “Haven’t you heard it’s impolite to upstage the bride at her own wedding?”
Goose bumps rose across her neck, prickling down her arms, her fingers stilling in midair, a dark pink rose petal clutched between them. Placing the petal on the cake’s second tier, her lips curling at the corners, she muttered, “Fucking drummers.”
CHAPTEREIGHT
MIRA
Fake date,real feels. Fake date, real feels.
She’d reread Cole’s text so many times last night the words had left an afterimage on her retinas, an echo between her ears. She’d even dug her wish jar out of her closet, writing his words down so she could light them on fire and save the ashes forever.
It was embarrassing, how quickly he’d gotten under her skin. But it wasn’t entirely her fault. She was, she realized after he’d dropped her off last night, a little starstruck. He was gorgeous, famous, and it certainly wasn’t the first time she’d crushed on a drummer. They were a different breed—charming, funny, cool with not being the center of attention, ridiculously dexterous, blessed with godlike stamina…
Shaking off thoughts she definitely shouldn’t be having, certainly not in public, certainly not with him standing less than an arm’s length away, she finally turned around to face him. And all the air evacuated her lungs in awhoosh.
His brown eyes sparkling under the rented chandelier above their heads, he said, “Hi, Mira.”
Her gaze sank to his bow tie, his crisp white shirt, the simple metal clasp of his belt buckle, his sleek black pants, shiny black shoes. Two days, two suits.Death by formal wear.“Hi, Cole.”
“You look phenomenal,” he told her when she met his eyes again. “Ilovethat dress.”
“You look like you just stepped off a GQ cover.”
He made a show of checking his cufflinks. “Mad’s got this whole James Bond theme going tonight.”
She nodded, coming to terms with his bow tie, a thing that had never been sexy to her before but was irrefutably sexy now. It was a fact. The sky was blue. Her shoes were too tight. Bow ties were sexy. “Major 007 vibes.”
“Speaking of espionage.” He glanced around the dining hall. “Are Paul and Chrissy here yet?”
She’d checked for Paul when she’d first arrived, but now, for some reason that probably had a lot to do with the number of times she’d rewatchedCasino Royale, she could barely remember his name.“Not yet.”
“Good. That gives us plenty of time to talk about this cake.” Leaning in for a closer inspection, he studied the frosting lace she’d spent hours getting just right, the arrangement of rose petals and violets she’d tried to make look like a waterfall trickling over the tiers. “Ah, I understand now. I see it.”
“You…what?”
He glanced sidelong at her. “You’re an artist.”
It was a simple statement with profound effects, like her heart forgetting to beat, her throat seizing up. Maybe these were normal responses to someone telling her something she’d wanted to hear her whole life, but she needed some water.
“This isn’t just a cake. This is art. Art that Ashley and Madigan will remember for the rest of their lives.” When he ran a finger softly over a rose petal, through some mysterious quirk of physics, she felt it along the shell of her ear.
“Thank you,” she said, barely more than a whisper.
“Are Linda and Ian coming tonight?” he asked, turning his attention back to her.
“No. Mom wanted to, but sometimes she gets overwhelmed when she’s around too many people at once. I think it’s too much stimulation. She wasn’t feeling up to it tonight.”
“Understandable.”
“And Ian was more than happy to stay home with his Mimi so he could playMinecraftall night instead of pretending to have fun at a wedding.”
Cole laughed. “That’s understandable too.”
“Did you finish writing your speech?”
“I did, late last night. What can I say?” There was a wry tilt to his lips, a twinkle in his eye Mira couldn’t look away from, even if her life depended on it. “I was inspired.”
Breaking the charged silence crackling between them, Chrissy’s wind chime of a voice rang out, “Mira! Cole! Hieeeey!”
