He never seemed bothered by it, either. His mouth curved up in a beaming smile. “If I don’t go to work, how can I afford that Tiffany ring you want?”
Tiffany ring?
Tiffany ring!
My heart stammered in my chest. For a moment, I thought I’d heard him wrong, but his smile widened. I blinked and tried to keep my face even, but I was failing miserably as a humongous grin swept up my face. So big it made my cheeks hurt.
I pushed my finger into my cheek where a dimple would be if I had one. “Okay,” I said, bringing my shoulders to my ears, playing shy.
“I love you,” he said again. “And I really have to go.”
My heart swelled to double its size. “I love you, too,” I said softly, while the couple next to us observed our display of affection.
As he walked away, I sighed, realizing we had turned into ‘that’ couple. The one that made out in public, was overly touchy, and way, way too affectionate. We’d turned into the couple that disregarded what everyone thought. The corny duo that would eventually wear matching outfits and walk with our hands tucked into the back pockets of each other’s jeans.
Oh well. I didn’t care. I felt utterly complete.
The cute little Asian woman placed a white paper bag in front of me. “This is for you?”
I smiled up at her and gave her my receipt. “Yes, thank you.”
“Two moon cakes,” she confirmed.
The paper bag crinkled within my grasp, and as a sudden clarity hit me, I blinked and kept blinking, my mouth dropping open.
She was about to turn away when I reached for her arm. “What did you say?”
She frowned, slowly extracting her arm. “Moon cakes. That’s what you ordered, right?” At my utter silence, she said, “Is something wrong? Do you want to change your order?”
The ringing in my ears intensified. Holy shit. “What’re these?” I asked again, needing her to say it just one more time.
She still seemed confused, so I pulled them out of the bag and pointed to the pastry, which was still warm between my fingertips. “This?”
“Moon Cakes.” She was now looking at me like I was crazy and she might call the cops if I didn’t leave soon.
I stepped back, in a daze, and gave her a nod. She took that as her permission to skitter away.
Moon cakes . . .
Holy crap, had Brian planned this?
I reached for my purse and rushed out the door. He was probably close to the subway, but I raced back down the route we’d taken to get to the train. The farther I ran, I started to doubt my ability to catch up to him in my heels, and I was a tiny bit afraid that my skirt was going to fly up and people would see my hoo-ha.
I dashed faster down the street, knowing full well that it could be a lost cause, but I just couldn’t stop. The white bag swished against my hip, probably giving the moon cakes whiplash.
And then I saw him.
“Brian!” I yelled. When he didn’t hear me, I yelled his name about ten more times. Well, more like screeched his name. People were glaring at me like I was a crazy person, which I was fully aware of.
My chest heaved from my unplanned workout. I needed to make an effort to work out more. Sure, I could be the Energizer Bunny in bed, but running was not my thing.
When I saw him stop by the light, I slowed to a fast jog. “Brian!” I yelled louder as a woman in a suit flipped toward me and stared me down. I threw her my ‘bitch’ look when Brian finally glanced back at me.
Thank God!
His eyebrows pulled together, and he forged through the crowd to get to me. Without explaining, I charged toward him in a full on sprint, and we crashed together. After a few seconds, he pulled me to the side, away from the oncoming traffic. I doubled over, needing a moment to catch my breath.
When I was better, his gentle hands framed my shoulders, his eyes searching my face. “What’s wrong?”
“One second,” I said, raising a finger, worried I might barf up all my food. Nope, false alarm. But then a blush crept up my cheeks at how overly dramatic I’d just been. I was starting to feel silly, yelling his name down the street like he was in danger or something.
He pulled me closer. “What’s the matter?” he asked again. “Did something happen? Are you okay?”
I went up on my tiptoes and kissed his lips to calm him. “No . . . I just . . .” I stuttered, feeling my blush deepen. And then I lifted the white bag. “I got your cakes,” I said sheepishly.
He blinked at the bag, confused, then his gaze returned to me. “Baby, are you okay?”
“Yes,” I said. I reached into the bag and offered him one. The normally round pastry was flattened from my run.
“Kendy . . .” He still looked worried.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Please don’t be mad. I just wanted to give you a cake.”
His face softened and he shook his head then he reached for the bag, taking the cake from me. “Thanks, Princess. But I really have to get back to work.”
My eyes raked in his handsome face, the sun beating down on him, which only made the blue in his eyes more evident. Such emotion flooded me as I realized where we had started and where we were now.
All that time before, I had been living my life, following the prediction, almost forcing it to come true. And just when I had stopped allowing those predictions to control my life, they came true anyway. It was funny how the world worked.
“I’ll walk you to the train,” I said, feeling a fluttering in my stomach and a lightness in my heart. The prediction had come true after all, and with the right man—my man, my chosen man.
He nodded and placed the cake back in the white paper bag, careful not to get his hands dirty. Smiling, he locked our fingers together and led us down the block.
“Do you know what they call those cake things?” I asked casually, watching his reaction.
He frowned. “Chinese cake with light reddish filling?”
I dropped my gaze and smiled to myself.
He didn’t know. And because he didn’t know, it just increased my love for my man, if that was even remotely possible. But a small part of me wondered if he had bought me the cakes to prove a point.
Should I tell him? Not tell him?
I peered up at him through my lashes and decided it didn’t matter. He didn’t believe in horoscopes or psychics. That was my thing, and it wouldn’t change anything anyway. I wasn’t letting predictions rule my life. I made my own choices now. To hell with the predictions! He was sure of us without ‘all that hocus pocus,’ as he would call it.
At the entrance to the subway, I went up on my tiptoes and placed a light kiss on his mouth. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” I said as I pecked him sweetly, feeling his smile against my lips.
When he reached to give me my moon cake, I took a bite, but then placed it back in the bag for him to take to work. Because in a way, my way I guess, I wanted to give him the moon right back.
At his questioning glance, I smiled slyly. “I’m watching my calories.”
He rolled his eyes then snaked an arm around my waist and bent me backward to really kiss me. “I’ll see you tonight, Princess.”
“See you tonight,” I said seductively.
Then I watched his sexy self take the stairs to the subway, and I sighed. Though I was running my life now, it was still pretty damn cool.
The man had given me the moon.
In the form of food.
And it couldn’t have been more perfect.
The End
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