LITMIR.BIZ

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I shake my head as if it’s added confirmation of what I’m saying.

      “Then why do you have them?”

      My shoulders lift up past my ears, as if they want to sprout wings and flap me out of this kitchen and this horribly embarrassing moment.

      I let out a deep breath. “I buy them at yard sales and eBay… It’s just a collection.” I shrug my shoulders. There, I said it. No big deal. I’m sure we can move on from this moment.

      “You buy snow globes of places you haven’t been yet and store them in your oven?” Jack runs his hand through his hair.

      Damn. Now I seem like a crazy cat lady or something.

      “I didn’t want them collecting dust all over my place. And since I don’t use the oven that much it seemed like a good spot. When I’m feeling down I peek at them in the oven and see all the possibilities.” I swallow. No one knows about my snow globes. No one. Not even Brianna. This is my secret that Jack now knows. I’m a ball of emotions and my insecurities are about to roll onto the floor and say, “Yes, I’m weird… Am I too weird for you?”

      Jack smiles, pulls me into his arms and kisses my head. “I love you.”

      My head tingles and a little rush of warmth flows down my neck and over my shoulders, making its way to my heart. He doesn’t care about my wacky collection. Can this be true? God, I love this man. He is so much more than I could have ever dreamed up in my mind. And my mind is a vast place full of all sorts of wild ideas and images. But Jack isn’t an image. He’s real. He’s going to be my husband. Wow. I take a step back and grip the counter. I don’t want to faint in the kitchen with the mere concept of how great Jack is. Especially given he is standing in front of me.

      Jack flashes me a full-teeth grin. “Now that we’ve gotten your secret collection out of the way, which one do you want to try first? Let me guess—the fresh strawberries and sponge cake?”

      I flutter my eyelashes. I’m not sure. “How about the white cake with raspberry crème and a drizzle from the red dish…mmm…oh and maybe a few drops of the chocolate fudge?”

      Jack nods. “Good, start off simple.”

      I roll my eyes while he cuts a slice of the white cake and covers it with the raspberry frosting, red glaze, and then drizzles the chocolate over the top in a zigzag motion. He takes a piece with a fork and offers it to me. The cake is fluffy and sweet and incredibly delicious. I want to say yes, this is the cake, but like the dress there are several more options to choose from on the counter and I can’t immediately fall in love with this one…or can I?

      And I don’t want to end this sampling moment. Just like the dresses, which were fun to try on. So many possibilities. So many choices. I don’t want to peak too soon on the cake. It’s got to rise slowly and have the exact amount of bounce to it when it comes out of the oven. The cake is like the dress, each one has to be made with the right ingredients or fabric, sewn together with precision or mixed with care and then finalized in the oven or over me. Yes. I want to take my time with each one. I’ve got to find the perfect dress and cake. This is important. Just like Jack—he is so important. I owe it to both of us to be patient.

      “Well?”

      “It’s really good.” I take another bite. “Like it’s so good I almost don’t even want to try the others.” I let out a small laugh. “Is that bad?”

      “No, it’s not bad. It shows you know what you want and you aren’t indecisive. I love it. And everything else about you. But since we have all this cake I think we need to eat it…yes?” Jack cocks his head to the right.

      “Yes, I think it’s important for us to keep going and taste all of them. But there is no way I can eat all of that cake. Let me just sample each of them or I won’t be able to fit into any wedding dress, period.” I eye the cake and already feel the pounds attaching to my hips. “That’s enough to feed, like, ten pregnant women.”

      “More reason to eat up. Once you’re pregnant you might lose your appetite for cake. Enjoy it now.” Jack wiggles his eyebrows at me while he takes another bite.

      “Well that will not be happening anytime soon, so I’ve got plenty of time to enjoy cake.” I pop another piece in my mouth and melt at how good it is. I’m in heaven until I see Jack’s frown. “What?”

      “When you say ‘not anytime soon’, what does that mean?” He sounds a little hurt almost.

      “Well, just not anytime soon. We’re not even married yet.”

      “Yes, but I figured as soon as we were, we could start trying.”

      My eyes bulge. The wedding is only three months away. If we had a honeymoon baby I’d be delivering this time next year. I’m so not ready for that! “Jack, I’m not ready to be pregnant. I’ve been a manager for a less than a year; I’ve still got ground to cover in my career.” I place my fork on the plate.

      Jack’s eyebrows wrinkle. “But what about our babies that are ready to be born?”

      I roll my eyes. “They need to listen to their mama and wait.”

      Jack laughs. “Fine, but I reserve the right to open this discussion again at another time.” He looks at me expectantly.

      I nod. Of course we can talk about children. We both want them; I’m just not ready to have them yet.

      He nods back and smiles at me. “Okay, so back to this cake…”

      “Jack, seriously, I have to fit into a wedding dress!”

      “I’m sure we can figure out a way to burn some extra calories.” Jack offers me a bite from his fork. I open my mouth and the fluffy sweet cake mixed in with the vanilla frosting is amazing. Almost too good, just like Jack. He is almost too good. Almost.

      My cheeks warm. “What do you have in mind?”

      Jack pulls me in close and kisses me hard. His lips press against mine as if he is answering my question but with more intensity than I could have imagined. He lifts me off my feet and carries me out of the kitchen and into my bedroom. Our bedroom. My chest tightens. I’ve never shared a bedroom with anyone. Even in college, my room was in a suite. Brianna and I shared a bathroom but had separate small rooms. Jack lays me down on the bed.

      “What’s wrong?” He traces my face with his thumb.

      “Nothing.” I reach for the back of his head to pull him closer to me.

      “Lauren, what are you thinking about?” He runs his fingers through my hair. “Tell me.”

      I glance at the sheets. The sheets that I picked out on my own. Everything in this room is representative of me. “I think we should buy new sheets together.” I want there to be more of Jack in my house so it seems more like our house. I want him to be comfortable here and know it’s our place.

      Jack squints. “Is there something wrong with these sheets?”

      I laugh. “No, they’re fine. I like them. But I just feel like maybe…well not maybe, but I think we should buy some together so my place…will seem more like our place.”

      “This is your place and it’s only temporary that we’ll be living here together.” Jack kisses my neck.

      “Wait, what are you saying?”

      “I’m saying that we won’t be living here that long.” He trails his lips along my neckline and up to my face.

      “Why wouldn’t we live here? It’s a great location and I love it.” I shake my head.

      “I love it too. But we need a bigger place. This is nice for a single woman, but you aren’t going to be single for much longer.” Jack’s lips meet mine and I fall into a place of love as our tongues move together. He runs his hands all over my body as he peels off each item of my clothing. My heart is racing.

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