NICE GIRL TO LOVE (THE COMPLETE THREE-BOOK COLLECTION)(121)

Grinning, he hooked his forearms under her knees.

“What are you doing? We need to head back to the reception already.”

“No can do. You got your chance to be wild. So now it’s my turn.” He bent down and slid his tongue over her hot flesh. “And honey, you better believe that after what you put me through this past month, ‘fast’ is nowhere on the menu for you.”





EPILOGUE


“HEY, YOU’RE Skylar, right?”

Skylar looked up at the pretty dark haired woman in the chef’s outfit. “Hi, yeah. Are you a friend of Abby’s?”

“A friend of Connor’s actually.”

Skylar did a double take.

The woman chuckled. “I must say, that’s been a common reaction today. I take it your uncle doesn’t have a lot of female friends?”

“Not so much. At least not before he met Abby.”

“Ah, makes sense.” She grinned. “I’m Tessa, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you. I like your hair.”

Tessa tugged on the streaked hot pink tips. “Thanks. It’s a sister thing. It’ll wash out tomorrow and I won’t look quite so crazy.” She started pushing forward a huge rolling tray of fruits and tarts and miniature cakes. “Hey, if you’re not too busy, I’d love some help with these desserts.”

“Really? Okay!” Skylar hopped up and followed her to the buffet line. “So did you make all this stuff by yourself?”

“All the desserts, yes. As for everything else, my catering partner and I split the cooking duties.” Tessa motioned for Skylar to line up the tarts on the serving table. “Do you like cooking?”

“I love it. Abby and I cook all the time. Nothing this fancy though. But we make lots of cookies and brownies and other stuff.”

“Perfect,” said Tessa with a smile. “Then I’m going to ask you to be my sous chef for today. You up for it?”

“Sure, what do I have to do?”

“I’m actually all done with the buffet line but I wanted to do a little something extra for Connor and Abby. Want to help me turn these plain old fruits into some real works of art?” Tessa led them over to a wide open table off to the side of the buffet line and pulled out a bunch of different knives, from little itty-bitty ones to ones that looked like they belonged on a slasher movie.

Skylar eyed the knives warily. “Um…”

“You can just watch if you want but it’s actually pretty fun to see all these animals and flowers come to life in the fruit. Plus, I figure with two of us working, we’d be able to make something really pretty.”

Taking a deep breath, Skylar nodded. “Abby would really love that. Okay, let’s do it. But go slow…I’m not that great with knives.”

“Neither was I. Just takes practice.” Tessa pulled out a bright green u-shaped contraption that sort of looked like a football mouth guard. “Here, just in case. These will keep your fingers safe.”

Skylar sighed with relief. “Okay, now I’m really ready. What are we going to do first?”

“A melon swan, a couple of pretty birds out of apples, some assorted fruit flowers flowing out of a pineapple basket, and two gigantic roses out of watermelon halves if we have time.” She showed Skylar a few photos of what they’d look like when they were through.”

“Oh wow, cool!”




“WHAT THE—”

Brian bolted up from his seat and stalked across the tented reception area over to the tables next to the buffet line where his daughter was currently wielding a knife as long as her forearm to core a pineapple.

“Skylar, what do you think you’re doing?”

Giggling happily, Skylar waved at him. With the knife. “Hey dad! Look what we’re making!”

Brian couldn’t see anything past her sawing the huge blade back and forth mere millimeters from her fingers. “Skylar, why don’t you put that thing down. Who gave it to you anyway?”

“Tessa did.”

“Who’s Tessa?”

“That’s me,” called out a cheerful voice from behind him. “Your daughter’s awesome by the way. She helped with all the wings on the apple doves and did a pretty amazing job helping me shape the melon swan. We were thinking of tackling a watermelon rose next. Want to help? I’ll even let you use the big cleaver.”

Was the woman high? “Skylar, I think Becky and her folks are back from taking pictures. Why don’t you go find her and bring her over here to show her…all of this.”

That’s when he finally did notice all the intricate fruit decorations spread across the silver tray on the table before him. They were pretty incredible.

“Oh! Good idea!” Skylar looked over at the strange woman. “Tessa, if Becky wants to, can she help with the watermelon rose too?”

“Of course. The more the merrier. You can use the sink in the kitchen to wash up.”

Brian snagged the woman by the elbow and walked her over to a quieter part of the tent. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“Tessa.”

“What?” Definitely high.

“‘What the hell were you thinking, Tessa.’ If you’re going to yell at me, we may as well be on a first name basis.” She shrugged. “To answer your question, I was thinking it’d be fun for your daughter to help make some of these fruit decorations. And it was.”