Uncontrollable (23 page)

I let out a long breath, and she turns and walks
out of the living room.

I start to follow after to tell her once again I
will pay for the one she wants when Micah stops me as he speaks from his spot
on the couch. “Her mother told her this morning that she has ordered
everything,” he says with frustration in his voice. “She said Holly was taking
too long to make up her mind and that she had to make the decision for her.” He
looks up at me. “Even the stuff she had already decided on.” He shakes his head
quickly. “She went ahead and ordered what
she
liked. Weeks ago. I know
you’re afraid it won’t be as good as she deserves, but it’s what she
wants
.
I know I’ve complained about this wedding but she has no say in anything. Her
mother is being an over controlling…” He stops talking and takes a deep breath.
“She has faith in you, Sam. We all have faith in you.”

I feel my shoulders slump. I’ve known how much her
mother has been riding on her about this wedding. And I can’t help the feeling
of pride that I have knowing she wants me to do something so special for her.

 I walk out of the living room and into the kitchen
with a smile on my face, to find her putting dishes in the sink. “I’ll do it.”
That’s the second time in the last hour I have told her I will do it, and I
don’t plan on letting her down.

She walks up to me and gives me a big hug. “Thanks
so much. You’re the best friend a girl could have,” she says with so much
emotion I sigh.

 “Come on.” I pat her back. “Show me the pics
again. I need to print some stuff off.”

 I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face
as she leads me to Micah’s office and turns on his computer. I’m going to make
one of my best friends her wedding cake. I can’t help but feel excited and
scared to death at the same time. I don’t care if I have to make the cake six
times, I will get it perfect for her.

 “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asks as she pulls it up
and presses print.

I go to speak but Slade interrupts me as he walks
into Micah’s office. “My dad just called, and we need to run up to the office
for a couple of hours.”

I grab the printout the Holly hands me. What
happened to spending all day in bed together?

 “I’m sorry,” he says giving me a soft kiss on the
forehead.

I wave him off. “You’re fine.” I hold up the
picture of the cake now in my hand. “I have stuff to do anyways.” I’m gonna
need all the time I can get.

I place my elbows on the conference
table and put my head in my hands. I’m tired and aggravated. What was only
supposed to be a couple of hours has turned into a full day of work. I even
called in Braxton a little over an hour ago. We have a client who just dropped
his current attorney and has now hired us. He has court in two days. So,
needless to say, we have our work cut out for us.

 I’m standing over the table arguing with the guys
when I hear the door open to the conference room open.

 “Hey sweetie,” Angel says walking into my office
with a couple boxes of pizza in her hand.

 I smile at her, glad for her to be here. I know
she hates me having to work on the weekends just as much as I do. She had
called me a while ago and offered to bring us lunch.

I take the pizza from her hands and place it on the
table before turning my attention back to her. That’s when I notice Missy
standing in the doorway with a smile on her face. A smile that is directed to
Braxton. I frown, and Angel turns to see what I’m staring at.

“How are you doing, Missy?” he asks ignoring the
pizza on the table and walking over to her.
Thought he was starving
? He
had been complaining about how hungry he was.

“Good,” she replies walking over to the table. He
pulls out a chair for her to sit down.

I clear my throat wondering what the fuck is going
on when Angel starts to push me over to my seat as well.

 “How is work going?” she asks before she opens up
the boxes and grabs some napkins.

“It sucks,” Micah answers not caring about what’s
going on. All he wants to do is dig into the pizza.

I look over at Angel. “How’s the cake coming?” If I
know her, she has already started on it.

She shrugs. “It’s going okay. I called Missy after
I left Holly’s to see what she was up to. After I picked her up, we spent over
an hour online just trying to find instructions on how to make a four tier
wedding cake.”

 “How long do you have to get it right?” Braxton
asks.

 “A little over two weeks.” She looks over to me
and smiles.

Braxton gets our attention as he speaks to Missy.
“Are you helping make the cake as well?”

She smiles at him sweetly as she shakes her head.
“Not really. I’m here for moral support than anything else.”

 “That’s not true. You’ve already had several good
ideas.”

“Doesn’t mean they are going to work.”

 Braxton smiles at her. “I’m sure they will be
great,” he offers.

 I watch as he stares at her a little longer than
he should. “Thought you were starving?” I ask.

He looks up to me, brown eyes narrowed. “I am, but
I wasn’t going to just dig in.” He looks over with a scowl on his face to Micah
as he crams a bite into his mouth. Then he turns to Missy. “Ladies first,” he
says smoothly, offering Missy a small smile. I refrain from rolling my eyes.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I start up the truck and
pull out of the garage at the firm before I speak to Missy. “What was that
about?”

She turns her face to look out her window. “What
are you talking about?”

I sigh. “Okay, let me ask a different question. Are
you hitting on Braxton because you like him, or because you want Tate to hear
about it and make him jealous?”

Instead of answering my question, she asks her own.
“What?” she asks sounding offended. “He seems like a nice guy.”

“Yes, but…”

“I love Tate,” she deadpans. “But he doesn’t feel
the same. I can’t make him love me, Sam. What am I supposed to do? He has not
spoken one word to me.”

 “No,” I say slowly. She’s right. “But why
Braxton?”

 “Why Braxton what? I just spoke with him. Did I
get his number? No. Did I give him mine? No. I just spoke with him, just as I
did with Micah and Slade.”

“It just seemed like he was flirting,” I say
honestly.

 “He was,” she agrees. “Did you see me flirting
back?” she asks looking over at me.

 “No,” I respond.

 She gives me a small smile that quickly drops off
of her face. “I don’t think I’ll ever be good enough for Tate,” she says
looking down at her hands in her lap.

“Missy, I don’t think that’s why he wouldn’t…”

 “He said I deserved better.” She waves a
dismissive hand in the air. “But what if I think he is the best thing for me?”

 “Is that what you think?” I ask pulling onto the
highway. “You think he is what
you
need?”

She’s quiet for a few seconds as I race the truck
down the interstate. When she finally speaks it’s as if she’s just thinking
aloud. “I think that I need
him
in my life, which I had. I had him as a
good friend. Now, since Vegas, I no longer have any part of him. He was right,
what we did was a mistake.” She looks over at me. “I told you in Vegas I
wouldn’t take it back. But I would now. He didn’t love me, what I took from
that night was much more than what he did. And in doing that I lost one of my
best friends.”

And those words alone have me wanting to strangle
Tate all over again.

“But it did teach me one thing,” she says bringing
me out of my thoughts.

 “What’s that?”

“That I don’t want to be alone. I want someone to
lay around with on Sundays. Someone who will go to dinner with me on a Monday
just because they don’t want to be at home. I want more than just sex. I want
someone to love me back the way that I love them.”

I look over to her quickly and give her a smile.
“You deserve that, Missy.”

She tilts her head to the side as she looks out the
windshield. “I do.”

“Are you sure that’s
right?” Missy asks with a frown as she looks at the mess I have in front of me.

 We’ve been working on it for three hours, and
honestly I have no clue what I’m fucking doing. “It looks too runny,” I say looking
down at the fondant icing.

Missy holds up the printout and reads over the
directions. “It’s says that it can be runny for the first eight to ten minutes.
To just work it in a figure eight until it starts to harden.”

 “For ten minutes?” I ask wide-eyed. I don’t think
it will work in a figure eight for two seconds. It will just run all over the
countertop.

 “Just try it.”

I look up when I hear the door open from the garage
and see Slade walking into the house. He looks tired, and I feel sorry for him.
He has been just as busy as I have been if not more. The poor guy needed a day
off today.

He turns his attention to Missy. “I have something
to give you.”

 “What?” she inquires cautiously looking between
the two of us.

“Yeah. What?” I ask placing a hand on my hip.

 He reaches for his back pocket and pulls out a
business card. “This is from Braxton.” He holds it out to her. “He wanted to
ask you out to dinner tomorrow but he didn’t have your number. And he thought
it would be rude to call Angel and ask for it. So, he asked me to give you his
card. If you are interested, give him a call tomorrow.” He shrugs like he could
care either way if she does or not.

She slowly reaches up and takes it from him.

Slade bends down and kisses me on the forehead.
“I’m going to get ready for bed,” he announces before he turns to walk off. “Oh
and Missy? Don’t worry about Braxton. I’ve already threatened him with his life
if he hurts you.” He gives a smile before he walks off down the hall.

 I turn to watch him walk off. I wanna say ‘Tate
hurt her but all you did was take up for him’ but I don’t, I keep my mouth
shut.

 “Well,” she takes a deep breath, “I should help
you clean up.” She starts to wipe up the water that still sits in puddles on
the kitchen island.

“No. You’re fine. I’ll clean it up,” I say waving
her off.

“Are you sure?” She frowns. “You could get it done
a lot faster if I helped.”

I shake my head at her. “Really. Go home. Thanks
for all of your help today. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She really did help me a
lot.

 I walk her out and then return to the kitchen. I’m
halfway through cleaning up the mess when Slade enters, freshly showered with a
towel sitting low on his hips.

“Do that tomorrow, Angel,” he says staring at the
mess.

 “I can’t just leave this overnight,” I say as I
throw some spatulas into the sink.

He grabs a hold of my wrist and starts to pull me
out of the kitchen. “Slade...” I protest but it’s useless.

 We enter the bedroom, and he shuts the door behind
us. He nuzzles his face into the side of my neck. “Hmm. You smell like cake,
it’s making me hungry.”

 I bet he didn’t eat dinner. “Have you eaten
dinner?” Maybe he ran through a drive-thru on his way home from work.

He shakes his head. “No and I’m starving.”

I pull away and head for the bedroom door. “What
would you like me to make you?” I ask.

 He shakes his head as he grabs a hold of me once
again. “You are my dinner, Angel.”

Sunday morning I walk out of
the shower and hear my phone ringing. I answer it when I see it’s Tate.

 “Hello?”

 “What are you up to today?” he asks.

 I take the towel and rub it through my hair. “I
don’t know. Angel has already warned me that she’s spending the day in the
kitchen baking. I have a feeling I need to leave the house.” I have a tendency
to be clingy. And today she needs her space. It would just be better if I left
her alone.

“Perfect. I am calling to see if you want to go and
play some golf.”

 “That sounds good.” I haven’t played golf since my
birthday.

 “Okay. I’ll be over in about thirty to pick you
up,” he responds before hanging up.

“Wait…” I was going to tell him I would come and
get him. I don’t know if it’s a good idea for him to come here since Missy is
in the kitchen with Angel. Vegas was awkward enough after their night in the
sack. Now that we are all back home, I would bet my left nut that they have not
spoken or seen one another.

Maybe I should go and warn Angel of his appearance.

I quickly finish drying off and get dressed. As
soon as I open our bedroom door I can hear her cussing up a storm in the
kitchen.

“Son of a bitch,” she snaps.

“I think you can save it.” Missy’s voice comes
next.

“What?” Angel snaps. “It looks nothing like the
picture,” she argues.

“You can cover it with the fondant,” Missy
continues.

I enter the kitchen to see two round cakes sitting
on top of one another with a huge rod sticking through them.

 Angel is standing with her back to me in a pair of
short fabric shorts and a white tank top. I smile as she taps her left foot as
she looks over the cake, her hands on her hips as if she’s contemplating
Missy’s words.

“Fuck it,” she finally says and picks up the cakes
before pulling the rod out. She then walks over to the trash and throws them
both into it. “I’ll start over.”

Missy purses her lips and then walks over to help
her.

 I clear my throat. “Good morning, ladies,” I say
trying to sound cheerful.

“Morning,” they both say in unison, with their
backs to me.

 I place my hands in my pockets and rock back on my
heels. “I’m going to go play golf for the day,” I announce.

“Bye,” Angel says dryly, before she rips open a bag
of flour not even bothering to turn around and look at me.

 “Okay then,” I mumble.

I pull out my phone to tell Tate to call me when
he’s in the driveway, when I hear the front door open. My head snaps over to it
to see him walking in with a huge smile on his face. The girls stop what
they’re doing and both look over at him with straight faces.

 Tate’s smile drops off his face when he sees
Missy. At least he’s wearing his dark sunglasses so you can’t see the total
look of shock on his face.

 I look at the girls, and they just turn their
heads back to their cooking project and get back to working.

I turn and walk toward Tate and out the front door
with him following me. Once we get in his truck he speaks.

 “You didn’t tell me Missy was here.”

 “I just pulled out my phone to text you,” I say.
“And I figured you would have seen her car in our driveway.” How can you miss
the little bright red car?

“I wasn’t paying attention.” He shakes his head.
“What are they doing besides destroying the kitchen?”

“Holly asked Angel to make her wedding cake, and
Missy offered to help her,”

“Wow,” Tate says sounding surprised. “I can’t
believe Sam is doing it.”

“I don’t think she would have turned her down no
matter how much she wanted to.”
 “Yeah, I agree, but it must be hard on her,” he replies.

 I frown. “What do you mean ‘hard on her’?” I have
total faith in Angel. I would never tell her that she couldn’t do something.
That girl is headstrong and very determined.

He’s silent for a few seconds. “Marie spoke about
it all the time.” The fact that he mentioned Angel’s mom has me a little
surprised. He never speaks of her. “She wanted her and Sam to start a business
together. A bakery. That’s where Sam learned all her cooking from. Marie was an
amazing cook.”

“I’ve never heard about that.”
A bakery?

“Yeah,” he sighs. “I only heard Marie’s point of
view on this story, so I don’t know if it was what Sam wanted to do or not. But
I do know it was all Marie talked about. How she wished she would have started
it after she found out she was sick. So she would have had something important
to leave to Sam. She felt all she was going to leave her with were bad memories
and lies.”

I can’t help but look over at him. “Is that how you
feel?”

He looks over at me quickly before returning his
eyes back to the road. “I’m going to tell her,” he says in a dead tone.

 “When?” I prod. “When are you going to let her
know that she’s not alone? That she has a brother who loves her?”