Something was off about her reaction to all this. I’d expected her to be giddy. She was definitely eyeing the samples like a hungry wolf in a henhouse, but she wasn’t jumping for joy. Kinda bummed me out, if I was being real.
Adelaide picked up her fork, scooped up a little buttercream, chocolate ganache, strawberries, and marble cake, and slid it into her mouth. Her lashes fluttered as she scooted down in her chair.
“That’s really, really good,” she said around the cake in her mouth.
“I’m supposed to write down the flavors you like.”
She smiled at me as she chewed. “Spoiler alert: I’m going to like everything. Thank god I don’t have a job lined up in the next couple weeks. I’m going to have a cake baby after this.”
“Yeah? If all the cum I’ve stuffed inside you doesn’t take, I guess I’ll have to live with a cake baby.”
She pressed a piece of lemon cake into my mouth. “Shush. I’m going to have my period any day now. No tall, smart-mouthed babies for you.”
“Mmm. That was good. Put me down for lemon.”
On the sheet of paper Nanette had given us, Adelaide drew a small box, put a check mark inside it, and wrote jackass next to it. Then she pointed at me with the pen to drive the point home.
I yanked it away from her, tossed it on the ground, and gripped her knees to swivel her around in her chair. Capturing her chin with my fingers, I surveyed her stunningly beautiful face. There was a tinge of sadness there.
“Is this crankiness due to PMS or is something else going on?”
She tried to jerk away from my hold, but I wasn’t letting go.
“Adam…let’s just taste cake.”
“If you’re not liking this, let’s go. When I planned this, I was picturing your face the way you get when I make you pancakes or twirl you when we dance. I’m not getting that, so I’m thinking I made a misstep. The last thing I want to do is make you sad, so let’s just go. Nanette will get over it.”
Her blinks turned rapid as I spoke, then she sucked in a deep breath. “I love you so much.”
“I love you so fucking much too.”
Her fingers curled around my wrists. “This was so thoughtful. It’s wonderful. It’s just…well, I always thought I’d do wedding stuff with my mom. That won’t ever happen, and it’s hitting me. But that’s not really it.” Her shoulders rose and fell as she inhaled. “It’s that this isn’t real. I could go through the motions and plan a pretend wedding with someone else, someone who isn’t the love of my life. Not with you, though. This doesn’t feel good.”
Yeah, I’d misstepped in a hugely horrible way.Fuck.But now that she said it, she was right. Pretending with her didn’t feel good. I wasn’t playing when it came to Adelaide. This girl wasthegirl.
I held my hand out. “Give me your ring.”
She sucked in a breath and clutched her hand to her chest. “Why?”
I liked that she was possessive over it. That she wasn’t just handing it over. “Give it to me. You won’t be without it for long.”
It took her a moment of staring at me warily to slip the thin band off her finger and place it in my palm. As soon as she did, I slid out of my chair to my knees and took her hand in mine.
“The first time I put this ring on your finger, I didn’t know I meant it. You know how slow I can be on the uptake. There’s not a doubt in my mind I did mean it and I do still. I’m not faking this. You’re my forever girl. I’d marry you tomorrow if I didn’t know you want to plan a pretty pink wedding with lots of sparkles and a poofy dress. To tell you the truth, I kind of want that too.”
Adelaide’s face had morphed from a perplexed frown into that giddy smile I’d been jonesing for.
“Adelaide Zala Goodman, will you marry me,for real, for real?”
“Really?” she screeched softly. “You’re really asking for real?”
“Yes, baby. For real. It’s been real for me since I slipped the ring on the first time. I want it to be real for you too. So, you wanna say yes or what?”
She wiggled the fingers on her left hand. “Yes. I do want to marry you. And wear a ridiculously poofy dress. But mostly, I want to marry you.”
I slid the ring back onto her finger and pressed a long kiss to her knuckles. “Thank you for giving me the chance to fix my screwup.”
She leaned forward, her face hovering close to mine. “You didn’t screw up. This is wonderful and perfect. I get my pretty ring, my hot man, and cake. How much more perfect could it possibly get?”