Chapter 28

Cheyenne

I buttoned up my chef jacket and placed my hat on my head. The mesmerizing aroma of baked goods wafted through the swinging doors of the kitchen. I loved that smell. I’d never tire of it.

I’d been in Vegas for a month. And in that short time, I’d learned so much from Chef Waring. He’d been unbelievably patient with me.

When I first arrived, I’d been a mess. Physically and emotionally.

My face was swollen and bruised. I’d cried myself to sleep every night. Craig stayed with me in my tiny room at Caesars Palace for the first week.

Baking was just the therapy I needed. Chef Waring had set me loose in his state-of-the-art kitchen, allowing me to spend a couple days making whatever I’d felt like.

My first day on the job, he’d encouraged me to talk about what happened, sitting on a stool and listening intently while he watched me make cookies, cakes, and pies for hours.

Then he showed me how to make all the fancy desserts he sold in his shop.

Abe called me every night and texted me multiple times a day. He was still in Canada. That creep was doing whatever he could to drag it out and keep us apart.

I missed Abe so much. Time and distance hadn’t lessened my feelings for him. If anything, they were stronger than ever. I hoped it was the same for him.

But as the weeks dragged on, I started to wonder if I’d ever see him again.

What if he changed his mind with so much time to think? Abe had never wanted a committed relationship. Maybe reality came crashing down as soon as he was away from me.

Did he realize he’d made a big mistake and decide he wanted to go back to his bachelor life when he got home?

“Cheyenne!”

I jerked my head up when Chef Waring entered the kitchen. “I have a very important assignment for you.”

“What is it?” I asked as I continued to roll out dough for a batch of fruit tarts.

“A special request for a chocolate peanut butter cake. The young man is planning to propose to his girlfriend in my patisserie tonight.”

I smiled to myself. Chef Waring wasn’t French, and his fancy desserts were American, but he liked to refer to his bakery that way. I couldn’t blame him.

“Bakery” was hardly an appropriate description for a fancy coffee shop that sold ten-dollar cookies and tarts as well as custom cakes that ran into the hundreds and thousands of dollars.

“That sounds like an important cake. Are you sure you want me to make it?”

“Absolutely. If you can’t bake a simple cake, then I’d say we have a big problem.”

I laughed. “Okay, Chef. I can make a chocolate peanut butter cake. How big?”

“Oh, not too big. More like a mini cake. It’s the young lady’s favorite kind of cake. He wants the ring displayed on top.” He reached into his pocket and produced a white velvet box.

I took the box from his outstretched hand and opened it. My jaw dropped to the floor at the sight of the huge, pear-shaped diamond. The double twisted frame was lined with tiny diamonds.

“Wow!” I gasped. “That is an expensive-looking ring.”

“It is an expensive ring, my dear. A ~Vera Wang~. Take a closer look. There are two princess-cut sapphires inside.”

I held the ring up for closer inspection. “I can’t put this on a cake. It’s too expensive. What if I wreck it? Or lose it?” I slammed the lid shut and handed it back to Chef Waring.

He chuckled. “I’ll keep the ring until you’re ready for it,” he said, dropping the box back into his pocket.

“Let me find someone else to finish the fruit tarts. I want you to get started on this cake. It has to be perfect, Cheyenne.”

“Yes, sir,” I said. “Chocolate peanut butter cake is my favorite too, and I’ve made many. I’ve got this. I’ll make this girl the best-tasting cake she’s ever had.”

“I have complete faith in you, my dear.”

He walked away with a devious smirk on his face. Chef Waring was a character. His sense of humor was contagious in the kitchen. He laughed and joked all the time. Everyone adored him. How could we not?

***

I was putting the finishing touches on the proposal cake when Chef Waring came up behind me. “Looks fabulous, my young protégé.”

“Thank you,” I said, beaming with delight as he studied my cake.

I’d made a square cake in the shape of a ring box. The open lid consisted of a sheet of wafer-covered chocolate.

A generous layer of chocolate peanut butter frosting graced the top with a fancy white cupcake in the center to hold the ring. Tiny edible pearls lined the base of the cake.

“This kind of ingenuity and creativity is exactly what I expect from my interns and employees. You nailed it, Cheyenne.”

“Thank you. I enjoyed doing it.”

He reached into his pocket and produced the ring box. “May I do the honors?”

“Yes, please. I don’t want to touch that thing. It’s too expensive.”

He pressed the bottom of the ring into the cupcake. “There. Done. Let’s get some photographs.”

My chest swelled with pride as everyone in the kitchen oohed and ahhed over my cake. I was doing this. Living my dream of being a pastry chef. Being mentored by a world-famous chef.

If only Abe were with me, my life would be perfect. His texts had decreased over the past few days. And when he’d called the night before, he didn’t have much to say. He was pulling away.

I blinked back tears, not wanting to spoil my moment in the spotlight.

“Are you ready, Cheyenne?”

I looked up at Chef Waring. “Ready for what?”

“To present your cake to the young lady. The gentleman is dying to propose to her.”

“I’m taking it out there?”

“Of course. You’re the chef. Don’t you want to enjoy the fruits of your labor?”

“Yes. I would love to see their reaction to my cake.”

“Let’s go then. They’re seated in front of the fireplace.”

I followed him out to the dining room, marveling at the elegance. I’d only been out of the kitchen a couple of times since arriving.

Tuxedo-clad servers delivered fancy desserts and coffees to well-dressed people seated on gold chairs. The tables were covered in white linen with tall black candles burning in the center.

Chef Waring walked to the far side of the room, where the man sat with his back to us. He stopped before we reached the table, gesturing for me to go ahead of him.

“She’s not at the table,” I whispered. “She must be in the bathroom. We better wait.”

“She’s here,” a familiar voice said.

My jaw dropped when Abe rose from the table and turned around. Chef Waring took the cake from me and set it on the table while I stood there, speechless, with my mouth hanging open.

“Hello, sweetheart,” Abe said. “I’ve missed you.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me you were free?”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

My lower lip trembled as the floodgates opened.

“Hey,” he whispered, pulling me into his arms. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t hear from you much this past week, and I thought you might have changed your mind about us or just given up on ever leaving Canada.”

“Never. I love you, Cheyenne. No amount of time or distance could ever change that.”

“Wait a minute,” I said as the shock of seeing Abe subsided and my brain caught up.

~Holy shit.~

The proposal cake was for ~me~.

~And~ the giant rock on top of it.

“You ordered that cake?”

He plucked the ring from the cupcake topper before dropping to one knee. “Cheyenne Elizabeth Carson, will you marry me?”

My knees trembled, a huge wave of emotion washing over me as tears coursed down my cheeks. “Yes. Yes!”

His hands shook when he slid that amazing ring on my finger.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, staring at my left hand as the diamonds shone brightly in the dimly lit room.

Everyone clapped and cheered. He drew me into his arms, our lips joining in a passionate kiss that sent jolts of electricity from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

“Congratulations,” Chef Waring said. “You can have the rest of the night off, my dear. And the next three days, so you can spend some well-deserved time with your fiancé.”

“Thank you for everything,” Abe said, shaking my boss’s hand.

“You were in on this?” I asked.

“Yes. Your young man called me and told me what he had in mind. I was more than happy to offer my assistance.”

“Wow,” I laughed, shaking my head. “That’s original. Tricking me into making my own proposal cake.”

He chuckled. “Sit down and enjoy that cake. You worked hard on it. It deserves to be eaten.”

After my boss disappeared, we settled in at the table. I cut into my cake, placing a generous slice on the plate. “Do you want to share? Or I can cut you your own.”

He reached across the table, taking my hand and lacing our fingers together. “I want to share.”

We held hands, devouring the slice of cake without taking our eyes off each other.

“Did you like it?” I asked when he let go of my hand to wipe his face with a napkin.

“I loved it. Absolutely perfect, babe.”

“Thanks.” I studied his face. He stared back at me, his gorgeous blue eyes twinkling as a wide smile spread across his face.

“So,” he said, joining our hands together again. “Is a big wedding important to you?”

“Not really. I was never one of those little girls who put a pillowcase on her head and pretended to be a bride.

“Chase and Cam both had big weddings at the farm. It seemed like an awful lot of work and expense for one day.”

“I’m very glad to hear that. And your mom thought that’s probably what you would say.”

“My mom knew you were flying out here to propose to me?”

“Your whole family knew,” he said with a sly grin.

“That’s why you haven’t heard from me much the past few days. I was busy organizing all this, and I was afraid I’d give the surprise away if I talked to you too long.”

“When did you get back to the States?”

“A week ago.”

“A ~week~?!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It killed me to keep it from you. All I wanted to do was get on a plane and fly out here, but I wanted this night to be perfect.”

“It is perfect, Abe.” I lifted my hand to admire my ring. “I can’t believe you bought me this.”

He took my hand, caressing my thumb as he gazed into my eyes with so much love, my insides turned to mush. “How would you feel about getting married tonight?”

“~Tonight?!~”

“Why not?”

“We just got engaged ten minutes ago,” I said, laughing nervously.

“So? You’re gonna be busy with your internship for the next year.

“~And~ your boss gave you three days off.

“~And~ I happen to have a wedding dress upstairs in my room. Which happens to be the honeymoon suite.”

“Oh my God!” I cried, covering my mouth with my hand. “You want to get married tonight?”

“Don’t you?” He frowned, a flicker of panic flashing in his eyes. “I love you, Cheyenne. I want you to be my wife. To have my babies. And I don’t want to wait.

“The whole time I was stuck in Canada, all I thought about was you and the life we are gonna have together.”

“I love you so much, Abe,” I sobbed.

“Marry me. Tonight.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

“You sure?”

“Yes. Yes! Let’s get married!”

***

My eyes swept across our hotel room. The honeymoon suite. Bathed in the bright glow of light from the Las Vegas Strip.

I’d never stayed in a room that fancy in my life. Plush carpet and marble. A huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and a massive walk-in shower. It was a far cry from the tiny room I’d occupied for the past month.

I glanced over at my husband. My ~husband~! Abraham McLean. The guy I’d been fantasizing about since I was fifteen. Sound asleep on his back, his chest rising and falling with easy breaths.

I lifted my hand to look at my huge rock and the shiny white gold wedding band that matched the ring on Abe’s finger. He’d thought of everything, from my simple yet gorgeous white lace dress to the rings, license, and chapel.

All arranged before he’d shown up at the patisserie and proposed. He must have been confident I would say yes.

And the vows that he’d written himself had brought me to tears, the words forever etched in my brain.

~I thought I was happy before. Content with my bachelor life. I didn’t think I needed anything else. And then you came into my life.~

~I fell head over heels in love with you, and suddenly, I wanted things I’d never wanted before. A life with a beautiful woman by my side. Kids, a minivan, the white picket fence. Everything.~

~I can’t imagine my life without you in it.~

~I think it happened the day we went bungee jumping. While we were tethered together. That was when I started falling for you.~

~When they untied the rope binding us together, my heart and body felt cold and lonely. I realized I wanted to be tethered to you forever, baby. And that scared me. A lot.~

~I was terrified of commitment. But the thought of life without you was scarier. The past month has been pure hell. Being apart from you was torture. I knew that as soon as I was free, I wanted to marry you.~

~You know me better than anyone else in this world, and somehow you still love me despite my faults. On our journey across Canada, you were my friend first, then my lover, then my girlfriend.~

~Today, we are embarking on a new journey as we start our lives together.~

~Cheyenne, you’re my best friend, my partner, my lover, and tonight you will become my wife. I love you so much, sweetheart.~

~I promise to love you and cherish you and protect you for the rest of our lives. And I promise, no matter what happens along our journey, I will always remain tethered to you.~

~From this moment on, we do all our big jumps in tandem. Forever. Until we die on the same day, wrapped in each other’s arms for eternity.~

I had a sneaky suspicion that my mom helped him write it. But I would never tell him that. Nor would I ever mention the tears I saw in his eyes while he was reading it to me. He’d be embarrassed.

Abe was an alpha male, through and through. I was a lucky girl to find a man like him, who loved me so much.

“Good morning, Mrs. McLean,” he whispered.

I turned my head to find him watching me. “Good morning,” I whispered, running my palm along his scruffy jaw. “It’s actually the middle of the night.”

“Makes no difference to me as long as I’m with you. For the next three days, time means nothing. It’s just you and me. Eat, sleep, fuck, repeat.”

I swatted his arm playfully. “What if I want to do some gambling?”

“Whatever you want to do, just name it, baby.”

I slipped my hand under the sheet, wrapping my fingers around his cock. It throbbed, enlarging immediately on contact. “Right now, I wanna do you.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked, rolling on top of me. “You didn’t get enough of my cock last night?”

“I could never get enough of you, Abe,” I whispered, caressing his jaw with my thumb as I spread my legs to accommodate him.

“You say that now,” he chuckled, kissing my nose. “Wait until we’ve been married for a few years and there’s a bunch of kids running around screaming. You might feel differently.”

“What exactly is your definition of a bunch?” I asked, tilting my head to give him better access as he pressed open-mouth kisses to my neck.

“Hm. Probably six or seven.”

“~Six or seven!~”

“Yep,” he mumbled against my breast as he took a nipple in his mouth. “We should get to work soon.”

“Last time we had this discussion, you said four or five kids. When did that number go up?”

“I’m just teasing you,” he said as he lifted his head, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Four is a good number.”

“I want to finish my internship and settle somewhere first.”

“I know, babe. For now, we’ll just practice.”

“Okay,” I whispered, arching my back as I tried to line up his cock with my entrance. “Can you fuck me now?”

“Holy. We’ve only been married for a few hours, and you’re already bossing me around.”

“That’s right,” I laughed. “Get used to it.”

He slid inside me, my slick channel welcoming him for the fourth time that night. I was gonna be sore the next day, but I didn’t care. It was my wedding night.

“Is that what you wanted, baby?” he grunted as he lifted my legs onto his shoulders, allowing him to plunge deeper.

“Oh God, yes!” I cried when he rubbed against my G spot.

He fucked me hard for a couple minutes before letting my legs down. “Fuck, baby, you’re so hot,” he panted as he wrapped his arms around my hips and pulled me in close.

My nipples rubbed against his chest as he thrust hard and deep. He held me tight, supporting my limp body after my orgasm descended on me, tearing through my body like a freight train.

He thrust in and out a few more times before coming with a loud grunt followed by a deep sigh.

“Fuck, baby. I love the feeling of being inside you.” He collapsed on my chest, bracing his weight with one of his arms. We stayed like that for a long time, our bodies still connected.

He lifted his head and gazed into my eyes. “I love you, Cheyenne,” he whispered. “I meant every word I said in our marriage vows.”

“I know you did, Abe. I love you too.”