Chapter 106: Chapter Twenty-Four: The Fast and Fierce and Forever-6

“Me, too,” I muttered before grabbing Luke’s hand and dragging him away enough to put some distance between him and Alex. Before we could get any further, a call on Luke’s cellphone interrupted us and he stepped into his office to take it. “Happy birthday, Max!” I turned around and saw Elise standing there, resplendent in a silky, cobalt blue pantsuit, her smile radiant as she held up a small and simple round cake draped with what looked like a satiny pinkish white fondant icing. Delicate pink and red marzipan petals were sprinkled on top of it, surrounding a single, tall and unlit pink candle. “This is just the top of the cake,” she explained, stepping aside slowly to reveal a food cart holding four tiers of cake, all designed the same as the topper she was holding, surrounded by matching pink candles. “We were going to be here much earlier but we had some issues loading the cake into the van to get it here in one piece. We would’ve been better prepared if Luke had given me a little more notice. He called at ten last night, after he remembered he needed a cake.” My mouth hung open slightly. “By the way, this over here is my fiancé, Marcel,” Elise went on, gesturing to the man pushing the cart. He was tall and wiry with a dark goatee, his hair pulled back into a low ponytail. He smiled and gave me a little wave. “He’s a talented pastry chef and without him, we wouldn’t have been able to put this piece together in time and have it look like this.” “Joyeau anniversaire, mademoiselle!” he greeted and Elise winked at me, translating, “He means happy birthday.” Regaining my composure, I beamed at the couple. “Thank you. Both of you. This cake is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.” Elise laughed before leaning in to whisper conspiratorially. “Luke might give the cake a run for its money but I don’t think he counts.” My face warmed but Elise just chuckled even more, even as we stepped aside to let Marcel through toward the kitchen. “Don’t be embarrassed, Max,” she told me, our conversation growing more private as gushes of admiration from guests who surged in to observe the cake filled the space. “Luke is a handsome man but I sometimes feel bad that it’s just his face and his money that most people see. By no means does that make him pitiful because there are more dire misfortunes in the world but it makes him more likely to be misunderstood. He fiercely protects those he loves, sometimes at the expense of his own happiness.” I smiled a little. “I might have an experience or two with him when it comes to that.” “And those may not be the last,” Elise said with a sigh, her smile a little weary but still genuine. “He has so much to learn and unlearn about relationships, Max, but he’s going to do it for you, no question. You’ll just need to be patient with him a little bit.” “Ma belle!” Marcel called from the kitchen island where he was clearing a spot for the cake. “Marcel seems like a very nice guy,” I said. “But does he really only speak French? ‘Coz I don’t know any French except the lines from Lady Marmalade.” Elise grinned. “He speaks English just fine but it’ll take him a few days to adjust to it since he’ll mostly have to speak it now. Let me go help him, okay? Go make your rounds. We’ll light up the candles close to midnight right before we count down to your birthday.” It was truly a birthday I would never forget. The DJ (yes, a DJ) put on some party music, starting with a slow one. Luke searched me out through the pairs that started assembling but instead of escorting me to the dance floor, he led me to my grandfather and said, “The man who deserves the first dance with you is the man who’d raised you and cared for you all these years. He will always have that privilege.” I pressed my lips together to keep them from trembling as I glanced away from my grandfather to the man I loved. “How about you?” He smiled and lifted my hand to kiss the back of it, the warmth of his lips seeping through my skin and shooting straight for my heart that went throbbing with tenderness. “I’ll be your last. I’ll be the man to care for you and cherish you until we’re gray and old. I’ll be the man by your side until the last breath, until the last heartbeat.” “Those sounded like vows, son,” Gramps said with an amused smile on his face so faint it was barely discernible. But the fact that he called Luke son was definitely a good sign. Luke grinned crookedly. “I’m practicing for when the day comes.” If that teasing statement worried my grandfather, I couldn’t tell. He just shook his head, patted Luke on the shoulder and took my hand to lead me to the dance floor. After that slow dance, Gramps led me back to Luke who eagerly waited by the sidelines. The night was a fantastic blur—of sparkling sprays of light as I blew my candles, of indulgent food, fabulous gifts, merry dancing and lively conversations, of friendships and family, and of an indescribable sense of pure happiness I didn’t know could exist. Luke gifted me with a two-week-long romantic getaway to a private island in the Bahamas. We could take it anytime within the year although he’d strongly hinted at us taking it very, very soon. Since both Terrence and practically everyone else had something to drink, Luke dispatched the building’s town car service to drive me and Gramps home. My grandfather was tired, not being used to the late hours and from the timezone change, that after he’d used the bathroom to clean up and change into pajamas, he kissed me on the forehead and bid me goodnight. I had some trouble sleeping. Who wanted to dream when reality was better, right? I had just about closed my eyes when my phone vibrated on my night stand, the screen glowing a whitish blue in the shadows. [Luke: Come downstairs, birthday girl.] It was three in the morning. [Me: Why?]