I wonder what Harley is up to…

  She’s been quiet all day, busy training her new replacement, a woman from the Los Angeles office. I flip through the QTK user logs, checking the video conference software to see if Harley is still busy. Harley has no idea I keep tabs on her. One day I will tell her the truth. First, I have to win her heart. I’m not losing our bet. Harley will be in love with me twenty-five days from now, ready to take my last name and fulfill her end of the deal.

  Dear Future Ex-wife,

  Mrs. Harley King has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Twenty-five days and counting…

  P.S. I want to smash cake in your face. Tonight. 7PM.

  I hit send and laugh, wishing I were a painting on her wall when she reads my message. Harley will get the hidden message. She asked me last night when Danika was scheduling our cake testing. Five minutes later, a new message from Harley pops into my inbox.

  Dear Future Ex-hubs,

  Mr. Nathan McQueen rolls off the tip of your tongue, don’t you think? Twenty-five days until GAME OVER…

  P.S. Bring your Black Card because tonight I say, “Let them eat cake!”

  I cringe at her reference to Marie-Antoinette, a French queen who spent money like it grew on trees. My bank account has already taken a small hit. Harley’s engagement ring wasn’t as expensive as the Princess of Wales’ sapphire, but the replica came close enough.

  * * *

  Harley moans as she chews a bite of the German chocolate cake. The sounds she makes are so overtly sexual, though I doubt she realizes how much she’s turning me on. I never thought eating could be such an experience. But when it comes to Harley, everything is a new experience, and she makes me want to savor all of them.

  “I take it you like this one,” I say.

  She glances up at me, fork in hand. “Yeah, I’d say so. That was the best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted. Actually,” she says to Maggie, the caterer, “do you think I could get a glass of milk? This chocolate is so rich I need to cleanse my palate before I taste the next cake.”

  The short brunette with rosy cheeks nods. “Of course.”

  She walks away, leaving me alone with Harley for the first time all day.

  Harley turns to me, dropping her fork on the plate. “Which one do you like?”

  I shrug against the chair. “All of them. Doesn’t matter to me.”

  “You must’ve liked one more than the others,” she challenges.

  “The chocolate one was pretty good.”

  She narrows her eyes at me. “Pretty good? It was amazing… hell, it was better than sex.”

  I laugh at her comment. “You say that now, but wait until after you’ve had sex with me.”

  Harley grunts. “That’s not going to happen.”

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I smirk. “Callie told me about the bet.”

  Her mouth falls open in shock. “I can’t believe she told you about that. I had nothing to do with it. That was all Callie.”

  I wiggle my eyebrows to taunt her. “Well, you know how much I love a good bet. And Callie hates losing as much as I do, so—”

  “She told you to make sure she wins. Lovely. Some maid-of-honor I’ve got,” she says, shaking her head. “Let me guess, you made a bet of your own.”

  I hold up my hands and shrug.

  She frowns. “Of course, you did. You have the most to gain from this relationship. Why not add fuel to the fire? And by the way, you’re going to lose, King. I meant what I said the other day about the lube.”

  “It won’t be my hand wrapped around my cock that night,” I challenge.

  She snickers. “It sure as hell won’t be mine.”

  I lean forward, our faces inches apart. “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging me to come.”

  “Okay,” Maggie says as she sets two glasses of milk on the table. “Now, where were we?” She looks at each of the remaining cake plates and slides two more in front of us. “You’ll love this one. Red velvet is our most popular cake. Some brides order a single layer for the tier and others have requested an entire cake for their guests. It all depends on your budget, number of guests—”

  I throw my hand up. “We don’t have a budget.”

  “Doesn’t matter to me,” Harley says, unaffected. “Let them eat cake!”

  She gives me a wicked smirk I want to kiss from her lips as I steal her last breath. It’s not the money that’s getting under my skin because I have plenty of it. I want Harley to care about our wedding. It might not be real, but I still want it to mean something to both of us. If we’re going to go through with this, we might as well do it right.

  Maggie looks at me with a hopeful look on her face. “Any preference?”

  “Our guests will appreciate having options. I like the idea of different flavors on every layer.”

  “Nate can never settle on one flavor. He has to sample all of them,” Harley says with laughter in her voice.

  She’s talking about women. Harley won’t admit it, but I know she’s pissed about Veronica showing up at the apartment. I guess I deserve her anger. Her entire life changed overnight because of me, and I haven’t exactly made this easy on her.

  Harley moans again when she tastes the red velvet cake. Damn, my cock is getting hard listening to her. I’m convinced she’s doing this on purpose.

  I press my lips against her ear. “I could listen to you eat cake all day.”

  Her body trembles, but she plays it off like my closeness is making her cringe. Giving me a nasty look, she rolls her eyes. “Do you have to make everything about sex?” Her voice is so low only I can hear her.

  “You started it, Queen.”

  “Don’t mess with me, King,” she says in a playful tone.

  We stare each other down for a long moment, and then she does something I wasn’t expecting. Harley squeezes a piece of cake between her fingers and smashes it against my mouth. She laughs, holding up her fingers that are covered in red cake and white icing.

  Stunned by her boldness, I hold her gaze for a few more seconds. “You have no idea what you just started, woman.” Before she can turn away, I’m ready with my slice of cake, and it crashes into her cheek.

  “Oh, my.” Maggie jumps up from her chair. “Umm… I’ll get you some wet towels and…” She has no idea what to make of the situation, rushing toward the kitchen in a hurry.

  We both burst into laughter, doubled over at the silliness of our antics.

  “You’re such a jerk,” Harley says.

  I wipe her cheek with a cloth napkin. “Isn’t this what married couples do at weddings?”

  “We’re not married yet.”

  She leans into my touch, her eyes fixed on me, and doesn’t protest as I clean her up. In fact, to my surprise, Harley uses her napkin to sweep away the icing stuck to my face.

  “We will be soon enough.”

  “You seem way too happy about this,” she says. “I would’ve thought you, of all people, would hate the thought of giving up your playboy ways to marry a woman who won’t even have sex with you.”

  “I’m winning that bet,” I challenge.

  She drops the napkin on my lap. “Is that all you care about? Some silly bet.”

  I roll the pad of my thumb along her bottom lip. “No, that’s not all I care about.”

  Her eyes widen. “You care about me?”

  “You know I do,” I say without hesitation. “Don’t look so surprised.”

  Harley sticks out her tongue, which slides along my thumb.

  Did she do that on purpose?

  Who knows with Harley.

  I lean forward, testing the waters, and she doesn’t push me away. My lips brush against hers. She sucks in a deep breath.

  “I got you some towels,” Maggie says, breaking up what could have been our first kiss.

  “Thank you.” Harley takes the warm towel from her hand and wipes her face and hands.

  Harley sinks into her chair, unable to look at me.

  Does the thought of kissing me bother her that much?

  * * *

  On our way home, Harley glances out the window, watching each car that passes by. She looks so beautiful when she’s lost in thought that I could stare at her all night. When Harley doesn’t know anyone is watching her, she lowers her guard. She allows herself to be vulnerable.

  I can’t stop thinking about our almost kiss earlier. For years, I’ve wanted to do that. And for years, like a coward, I’ve never made the move. If Harley were any other woman, I would have had her in my bed already. But she’s more than sex. She’s the only woman I see in my future. Maybe I’m going about this the wrong way. My old tricks work on other women, but Harley won’t fall for them.

  “I chose my bridesmaids,” Harley says to break the long, awkward silence. She leans back against the plush leather bench, looking at me for the first time since we left the catering hall. “Who are your groomsmen?”

  “Stefan is my best man.”

  She gives me a mischievous grin. “Callie will be happy about that.”

  “I already told Callie to back off.”

  Harley folds her arms over her chest, pushing up her breasts in the process. My eyes fall to her rack, which earns me a sigh in response.

  “Callie’s determined to hook up with as many groomsmen as possible,” she says, laughing. “She has dibs on the best man.”

  “Not gonna happen,” I challenge. “Stefan’s told her no for years.”

  “Yeah, but that won’t stop Callie. One day, Stefan will give in.”

  “He thinks of her like a sister.”

  “Who else did you ask?”

  “Parker, and he’s bringing Jess.”

  Apart from Harley, Parker Price is one of my oldest friends. We attended MIT together, lived in the same Hacker Hostel as our friend Dylan Banks, and after graduation, I recruited him to work for us. He’s the Vice President of System Architecture at Queen Takes King and the best engineer I know.

  “I haven’t seen Jess in years,” Harley says with a smile.

  “Since you guys took art classes together, right?”

  She nods with a grim expression on her face. “Did Jess end up sticking with it?”

  “Yeah. But after the accident, she hasn’t been the same. I tell Parker all the time that Jess can have a job anytime she wants one. She’s almost as talented as you. But she likes working at City Comics. I hate when people waste their potential.”

  She sighs. “Tell me about it. I know what that’s like.” A beat passes before she says, “So, I guess that means Dylan is in our wedding party, too?”

  I nod in answer.

  I have known Dylan Banks for years. We were close in college, and now he lives in Malibu with his best friend and co-founder of Date Crashers. We considered partnering on a video game, but my dad wasn’t too thrilled about an online dating version of The Sims.

  “And Reid said yes.”

  Harley’s eyebrows rise. “You asked Reid Grayson to be in our wedding?”

  I roll my shoulders. “What’s wrong with Reid?”

  “Nothing, it’s just… doesn’t his family own Market House?”

  “So.”

  “All of my friends work for Market House,” she points out. “Didn’t you think that would be a little bit weird for the girls to hang out with their boss while they’re on vacation?”

  “No. This is Reid we’re talking about. He’ll be too busy getting drunk and hitting on women to care about Callie and the girls.”

  “Okay.” She sighs. “I hope so.”

  “I know so.”

  “Who are you pairing with Willow?”

  “Alec. She’ll like him.”

  “When Willow sees his ink, she’ll beg him for another tattoo.”

  I narrow my eyes at her. “Willow doesn’t have any tattoos.”

  She chuckles. “None that you can see.”

  I met Alec Hartwell at one of Harley’s art competitions in high school. She placed second with her original design that later inspired some of the graphics in Ashborn. Alec placed first, and Harley still hasn’t forgotten the loss. She took it badly at first, but years later, we all became friends. Harley figured if she couldn’t beat him, then maybe she could learn from him.

  Harley gives me a satisfied smile. “Tell Stefan to schedule a tux fitting for your groomsmen. My girls already took it upon themselves to assign each other jobs.”

  “What kind of jobs?”

  “Lola knows a local designer who agreed to make the gown from my sketches. She’s also working on the bridesmaid dresses. Callie delegated most of the responsibilities, but at least she’ll help us maintain our image in the press. Amelia’s planning our honeymoon. She insisted we go somewhere off the island for a few days, and Jules is…” She looks away as her voice trails off.

  “What about Jules?”

  Harley digs her teeth into her bottom lip. “Umm… she’s supposed to find lingerie for me to wear.”

  I grin like an idiot. “I can’t wait to see it.”

  She rolls her eyes. “You wish.”

  “We’ll see about that,” I challenge.

  Harley snorts. “If by some miracle you manage to get me out of my dress, you’re getting nothing but granny panties.”

  I shake my head, laughing. “I don’t care what panties you wear as long as I get to take them off.”

  “Nate… you’re so…”

  “Dirty,” I finish for her.

  Harley glares at me. “Yes,” she whispers, our mouths so close I can feel her breath on my lips.

  “We should get this sexual tension out of our systems. Don’t you think?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she counters, though she doesn’t bother to move away from me.

  “Yes, you do,” I taunt. “You wanted to kiss me earlier. I could see it in your eyes and read it in your body language.”

  “Did you want to kiss me?”

  “More than anything,” I whisper, resting my forehead against hers.

  “Tell me one thing.” She waits for me to nod before she continues, “If you thought about kissing me years ago, then why didn’t you act on it?”

  “Because I was an idiot.”

  “I feel like this is all a game to you, like you’re playing with me.”

  “Not this time,” I admit. “It’s not a game.”

  She gasps at my confession.

  As she considers my answer, an uncomfortable silence passes between us. Her blue irises burn a hole through mine. She sucks in a few deep breaths, her chest rising and falling. Harley grazes her teeth along her quivering lip.

  “Don’t you want to know?” I ask her. “After all these years…”

  Her eyes lower, as if she can’t bear to look at me while she thinks over my question. I’m greeted with more silence. My heart slams into my rib cage, the anticipation of the kiss making my head spin.

  “Do you think this is a good idea? When this is all over…”

  “How about we live in the moment instead of focusing on what could happen?”

  Before she can respond, the driver hits a bump, forcing Harley to fall forward. Her hand lands on my thigh, and she moans when she feels what she’s doing to me through my pants.

  Our eyes meet, and I push the fallen strands of hair behind her ear, cupping the side of her face. She breathes against my lips, and a trail of heat runs down my arms.

  “Just kiss me,” I whisper. “We’ll have to do it at some point. How about a little practice?”

  “Ahh,” she mutters. “Yeah, sure. Practice.” Harley holds up her index finger. “One kiss. That’s it…”

  Finally.

  “Please don’t make me regret this,” she adds for good measure.

  “Trust me, you won’t. This is one kiss you’ll never forget.”

  Neither will I…

  Harley hesitates, slowly leaning into me, and when our lips collide, I slip my tongue into her mouth. She tastes like sugar and wine and everything I’d ever imagined. I take my time, making love to her mouth as I deepen the kiss. Kissing her in ways I have never kissed another woman. For years, I’d dreamed of this moment, replaying the scenario through my head hundreds of times, but no amount of fantasizing comes close to the real thing.

  We’re both greedy and hungry for more, tugging at each other’s clothes but still careful not to push the limits of our… friendship. I’m not even sure what to call us. Even if we were still best friends, we could never walk away after this kiss and forget it ever happened.

  And now, there’s no going back.

  I can’t undo the way she makes me feel.

  I can’t forget how good she tastes.

  Each kiss shatters the possibility. Every touch makes me forget about the years of misery without her. Now that I know how good her body feels pressed against mine, I’ll never wipe the memory from my mind. I want to remember this moment forever.

  When the car comes to a stop, Harley sits back and fixes her dress. Her eyes are pointed down at her lap as the driver opens the door for us.

  “Welcome home, Mr. King,” Tim says.

  I glance down at my raging hard-on and then look over at Harley. “You go ahead. I’ll meet you upstairs in a few minutes.”

  She nods as if she understands that I don’t want to walk through the lobby of my building with a boner. Harley climbs over me, giving me a nice view of her firm ass. The animal in me has to touch every surface of her body. So, I give her ass a good squeeze as she gets out of the limo.

  Harley swats my hand away and thanks Tim for taking us home. She ignores me, pretending as if we didn’t just make out like teenagers in the back seat of the limo after prom. The way it should have been in high school.

  This was how I had envisioned our prom night. I had everything planned out until she said yes to another guy, who we later learned asked her as part of a cruel joke orchestrated by her nemesis.

  As I watch Harley walk past the doorman, my erection only gets worse.