One Funeral (No Weddings #2)(61)

His gaze roved down my body and back up. “Burlap bag, baby. Your beauty shines through anything you put over it. And I like the lighter makeup and loose waves in your hair. Makes you look like you’ve come in from the beach.” His eyes glittered.

I turned him around by the shoulders and pushing him out the door. “Your words make me sound wholesome, but your lustful gaze says something entirely different.”

He shrugged, glancing back as I finished locking the door. “I can’t help it if the thought of you on the beach makes me think of you in a string bikini. Then me tugging on those flimsy little ties…”

I smirked, pushing him again toward his bike. “Did you just think of three naughty little dots?”

He snorted. “Fuck yeah, I did.”

Shaking my head, I laughed softly and put on the helmet he handed me. He fastened my chin strap, then stood there staring at me for the longest time. “What?”

He gave an imperceptible headshake. “Nothing. Just looking forward to a great time tonight.”

He turned and climbed onto his bike without giving me a chance to respond. I stood there for a minute, thinking I’d missed something. His demeanor seemed off, but I couldn’t figure out why. Tonight was an event we’d worked together on, just like every other Invitation Only event.

We arrived at Summer Palace at 5:15 p.m. after the doors had opened, which was late for us. “You sure we weren’t supposed to show up early?” I hooked my helmet to his bike and shook out my hair. “Don’t you normally orchestrate every detail hours prior?”

“Not this time.” He held his hand out to me, and I took it, hopping onto the sidewalk beside him. “Kristen offered to play point on this one.”

A long line of people stretched along the entire front of the restaurant but flowed slowly in past the golden, carved wood double doors. We sidled past the entering guests, making our way through the front entry and into the main dining room. Red lanterns dangled from hooks in the ceiling and illuminated the space. Twice as many plants filled the interior since this morning, transforming the place into manicured gardens with dining tables nestled throughout.

The intimate seating spilled out onto a back patio and edged a koi pond, brimming with the orange and ivory fish. Rhythmic oriental drum music streamed out from speakers affixed to the eaves. Beyond the patio was a quaint garden lit with more lanterns, this time in colors of pink and light blue.

Through the dining room from the patio, along the back wall in the cordoned-off area, was my dragon cake. Just before that section along the right wall, a shallow stage with a curtain had been erected.

Cade led me to a secluded table for two in a corner of the patio. We had an unimpeded view of the stage yet the intimate privacy of being off in a nook toward the back, cool breezes dancing around us.

“Hey, you two!” I turned to see Kiki and Kendall weaving their way through the tables toward us. “Saw the cake, Hannah. Gorgeous.”

“You’ve outdone yourself.” Kendall clapped. “Bravo.”

“Thanks.” I beamed, but then I caught a wink from Kendall to Cade. When I glanced over at him, he turned toward me, smiling, acting as if nothing was amiss.

I glanced back at the girls. “Do you need help with anything? Does Kristen need us?”

Kiki and Kendall both shook their heads. Kendall threw her arm around Kiki’s shoulders. “Nah, we got this. Ling has her staff handling the food, liquor, and music. Kristen’s making sure everything else goes off without a hitch. And you’ve already spent dozens of hours on that amazing creation. Take the night off. Kick back. Enjoy.”

They disappeared before I could argue. Then Cade distracted me, sliding his hand along my thigh. He continued until he reached my hand in my lap, then slipped his inside, lacing his fingers with mine.

I gave him a sidelong glance. “What are you up to, mister?”

He scoffed, lowering his brows, doing his dramatic best to look highly offended. “I don’t know what you mean, Maestro. Can’t a guy take advantage of the moment to relax and enjoy it with his girl?”

I smiled. When he put it that way, it sounded chivalrous. And romantic. And amazing. “Yeah, a guy can do that.”

He grinned. “Good. Then sit back and enjoy the night.”

A trolley cart arrived moments later, loaded with shelves of round tins with lids. Cade leaned forward, scanning our slim menu quickly. “I’ll have two chicken dumplings, two pork pot stickers, and vegetable fried rice. She’ll have—”

“The same. Plus a spring roll.”

“Two.” He held up two fingers, making certain the waiter understood.

While we dug into our food, the dining room came alive with chatter from every filled table. “The cake does look amazing, by the way. I can’t wait to see it up close.”

I beamed at him. “Thanks.”

“How did it feel to create something you’ve wanted to for so long?”

Swallowing down the bite I’d chewed, I thought about it. “It was a blast. The entire process was incredible from beginning to end. I experimented with base layers to create the body, eventually running support wires up through where I thought the structure needed it. But by the end, I think the curve of the arches hold themselves up.”

“Huh. Like the roman arches in architecture.”