My mind can’t process his good looks and the disaster of the situation simultaneously, so it causes me to lash out. “No we can’t fix it.” I park a hand on my hip. “It’s ruined. The whole wedding is ruined.” Thoughts of telling Georgia’s family that I won’t have the one thing they specifically requested for her wedding causes my shoulders to slump.
The man stares at the trellis once more. “I’m sure they have more inside. Let me pay for another.”
“Actually, no. This was a special order handcrafted just for my client and it took them weeks to make.” His apologetic eyes sweep over my face. “It’s fine. Just...leave me alone, ok?” Rude, I know. But I’m done with today.
The man glances over my shoulder and then wraps his arm around my waist. “Sorry about this,” he says, closing his eyes, and slanting his lips down over mine.
He’s kissing me.
Oh. My. God.
And there’s some sort of misfire happening in my brain right now, because for some reason I can’t seem to push him away. I can’t seem to do anything. I’m going to blame my stress for the fact I haven’t slapped him silly.
Yet, the way he clings to me feels so...needy. Like he can’t get enough of me. His hand moves to my hair, strumming each strand, and I become hyper aware of how his tongue traces slowly over mine.
He breaks the kiss after only seconds but what felt like hours. His thumb traces down my jaw, and then over my bottom lip as if he’s memorizing this very moment. And then, reality sets in—I just kissed a stranger.
“Don’t do that again,” I yell at him, pushing him back.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” His eyes are wide. “Sorry, I didn’t want my…” He rubs the back of his neck as his words fall away and he just gazes at me.
That’s it, I’m officially done for the day. Put a fork in me and call it. “Just forget it. You’re a nightmare.”
He chuckles. “I’m not a nightmare, promise. My friends think I’m a pretty nice guy.” He picks up pieces of the trellis and puts it onto the cart.
I bet this guy has loads of friends. All with shining white teeth and beautiful skin just like him. I’m not normally one to notice other guys while being engaged, but this is the type of man it’s just hard not to.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” I gather the smooshed roses that broke loose.
He shrugs and lifts the arch of the trellis, as if it’s weightless. “Yeah, they say I grow on people.”
“Like a fungus? You’re basically telling me you’re fungi?”
The lopsided grin he gives me causes me to pause collecting flowers and stare at the slight dimple marring his cheek. “Yeah,” he says. “I am a fun guy. Get it? Fungi—fun guy.”
I roll my eyes with a smile. “I think that’s the worst joke I’ve ever heard.”
“Admit it. You liked it.” For some reason, I feel he means more than the joke.
Rather than answer and declare myself guilty on all counts, I brush by him and dump the remains of the flowers on the trolley.
We finish clearing the ruined trellis, and he insists on loading what’s left of it into my van.
As I pull away, I realize I never even asked for his name. I guess it’s good I didn’t.
I have a perfect fiancé.
TWO
Kiki
Never trust the funnies...
I wish I had amnesia. All I want to do is forget about the events of today. But, that unexpected kiss is burned into my memory. I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed like that in my whole life. I’d know if I had. And I definitely haven’t.
Those thoughts are banished as I pull into my driveway, and park right next to Henry’s silver BMW.
“What are you doing here?” I ask when I enter the foyer and am overwhelmed with the smell of garlic wafting through the air.
Henry smiles at me from the kitchen. “I thought I would surprise you with dinner.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” I say, dropping my handbag on the entryway table. This is the first time I’ve come home to him being here. When Henry and I exchanged keys to each other’s places I never really expected we’d use them. I thought it was more like how Lola and Poppi have a spare key too. You know, for emergencies.
I had planned to come home, stretch out on the couch, and read a hot romance novel on my Kindle. But now, I feel like I have to entertain Henry.
Well, pretty soon we’ll be married and this will be my life. You can’t just get rid of your husband when you’ve had a stressful day. This is good practice.
I put on a smile and head into the kitchen. “Hey there.” I kiss his cheek.
He wipes it away, grabbing a newspaper off the counter. “Here, I got this for you. Why don’t you take it to the living room and read it for a bit before dinner.”
I stare at the newspaper like he just handed me a really hard math problem. Sure, I like to keep up with the news and current events, but I haven’t read an actual paper...well, ever.
“Great, ok.” I take my paper to the sofa and sit between two large yellow pillows. Maybe a newspaper can be as entertaining as a romance novel.
I look at the front headline. This is horrible.
I turn the page, more bad news.
I’ll look for the comics, at least those won’t be depressing. Before I can get to the section, Henry sits down beside me with a few chips stacked on a plate. He grabs the business section and flips it open. And then crunches. “Dinner’s got a little while before it’s ready.”
My eyes slide to him as he continues crunching at an extraordinarily loud volume.
To distract him from eating any more chips, lest I jump out of my skin, I decide to tell him about the ring. “Henry.” He doesn’t look up from whatever he’s reading on the page, just gives a little ‘mmm’ sound as he licks his finger. “Today, Poppi and I went with Lola on another workout thing for her blog, and well, it was goat yoga.”
He’s so engrossed in his dang paper. And those chips. But, I keep going, “And well, there was this goat and he kind of ate my ring off my finger.”
Nothing. No reaction.
“Henry,” he glances at me, “did you hear me about the ring?”
He examines my hand. “Where’s your ring?”
I stare at my ringless hand. “I just said there was a go...” Before I can finish my thought, a timer beeps in the kitchen and Henry bounds off the couch.
I follow him into the kitchen and pour myself some wine as he lifts the lid on a sauce pot.
“I had an issue with the trellis,” I tell him, trying another topic. “But I think it will all come together.”
He pats the top of my head, like I’m the dog. “That’s good, Kinky.”
And then I let it all out, “A stranger kissed me today, and a goat ate my ring. And also, I think I might be getting a little stressed with the whole wedding thing. My mother is just non-stop.” I stare over at Henry, stirring the sauce in the pot. “Are you listening to me?”
He laughs. “Of course, I am. Manger. Goat. Blessed.” He kisses my cheek. “Why don’t you go take a shower? Because speaking of goats, you smell like one.”