Have your cake and eat it too

Bouncing into his room, Friday morning, I jumped onto his bed. Rolling over he buried his face in the pillows.
"Rene, why?" His voice was deep in husky. My heart somersaulted in my chest.
"Don't you remember what day it is?" I pulled the covers over me too. With his eyes still closed, his warm arms pulled me in closer. Our noses were nearly touching. He was wearing basketball shorts and I was wearing my tank top and shorts, I hadn't changed yet. Our body heat and an electrical current played between us like an amusement park.
"What's today?" I could feel the heat from his lips. I could kiss him right now. Moving forward a little, I nearly did.
"Uh, cake testing." One of his Jade eyes popped open.
"We're trying cakes all day?" Fearing my voice would fail me, I nodded. He nuzzled in closer. My heart was nearly beating out of my chest, begging to be where it belonged. "What time is it?" Peaking over him, I read the neon red numbers.
"6:04."
"Why do you wake me up so early." He pulled me back down. "Go back to bed."
"But-"
"Bed." He grumbled. Sighing, knowing I wouldn't win the fight I closed my eyes and gave up.

A bland beeping noise caused me to open my eyes. My head was still tucked next to his, I had fallen back asleep. Rolling over he smacked the clock and laid there a moment. Part of his chest was exposed, but his scar was covered by his blanket. Not trying to be weird, I looked up at Bryson. He rubbed his face with his hands.
"We need to get going. We have to leave in-"
"A half an hour. Relax Rene." He chuckled. "They literally redress us at work. I don't know what you get ready for."
"Normally," Sas laced my words. "I drink more coffee before we leave."
"I have a feeling you'll live." His soft green eyes met mine. To avoid their spell I rolled onto my back as well.
"Do we really want to test it?" He chuckles again. Closing my eyes, I absorb the sound of his laughter.

Due to the wedding planning, Bryson and I have not only gotten closer, which I didn't think was possible, but we have also spent a lot of time together. I have gotten more time to hear his laughter and the way his 't' in most words he doesn't pronounce. Does he notice the way I talk too?
"Are you coming?" He stood by the door, keys in hand.
"Yeah." Slapping the lid on my coffee, I grabbed my wallet and followed Bryson out.

Zoning out, I focused on the warmth of the sun through the window. Since leaving Bryson's bed I've had a chill.
"I thought you were excited for cake all day?" He said, bring me back to the car.
"I am, just not enough coffee yet. Someone told me to go back to bed." I looked at him over my travel mug as he grinned.
"Says the one who was snoring." My cheeks lit with embarrassment.
"I don't snore," I grumbled under my breath. Bryson's laughter filled the car. He seemed to be laughing more, I enjoyed it.

Bryson walked down the stairs ahead of me; my feet slapped each step.
"You're loud." Henry smiled up the staircase at me.
"You miss me." He laughed.
"You know, I actually do. You're pretty funny." I bow.
"Thank you, thank you. I'm cake testing today." I beamed. He shook his head.
"And here I was thinking you actually missed being in the store with me." Jumping to the floor, I smiled up at him.
"I do, but I'm planning a fake wedding, sorry." I stuck my bottom lip out in a pout.
"They grow up so fast." He bumped me playfully and then headed up the stairs.
"Bye Henry." I called after him.
"Bye Lawrence."

Bryson was already changed by the time I walked into the storage room.
"Where were you?" Joe handed me my dress.
"I was being social."
"She's excited about cake," Bryson added before leaving the room. I locked the door and turned to Joe.
"I am excited about the cake." We laughed. I moved closer to him, away from the door. "I have something to tell you." My voice was low.
"Continue."
"So this morning, I went into Bryson's room to wake him up because it's cake day and I'm excited." Joe smiled. "He didn't want to wake up so I climbed into bed and he cuddled me and we slept for another half an hour." Joe smiled from ear to ear. "I know, I know it can't happen but that doesn't change how I feel. I never wanted to leave. I nearly kissed him." Excitement laced my words, begging for my voice to scream. Joe shook his head with a smile as he fixed my dress.
"You're in a such a sticky position." I groaned.
"I know!" He pushed me into the chair to do my hair. Pulling half of it up, he started to tie it up. "What if I can't find anyone else?"
"What do you mean?" He clipped the bow under the bun he just did.
"What if Bryce is it. Like he's the one?" Our eyes met in the mirror.
"Do you believe that?"
"I don't know. I haven't been closer to any boyfriend in the past. He's my best friend. We already know how to live together and work well with each other. We met over a year ago and look at us now." Joe ran his hands over my shoulders in comfort. His dark skin had such a contrast to my pale arms.
"I don't have an answer for you baby, but I wish I did." Leaning my face on his hand, I sighed. "Makeup time, then you get some cakes to eat." He whispered with a smile.

I looked girly as usual, he handed me small heels to wear but I grabbed a pair of flats instead. He didn't bother to fight me on it. Bryson sat in the kitchenette finishing what I'm sure was his second plate of food.
"Ready?" I asked, standing behind him.
"I am. Bacon?" He held up two pieces. I grabbed them from him, shoving one in my mouth and helping the other in my hand. I refilled my coffee mug and turned back around. Bryson's eyes were stuck on me, mouth ajar.
"What?"
"What? Nothing." He fumbled, standing up. Joe eyed him. "I just, that's a nice dress." I looked down at a dress they bought at Walmart or Target, then back at Bryson. His cheeks were light pink. Catching Joe's smirk, I twirled. The skirt ruffled out then fell back at my knees.
"Thanks." I smiled at him.
"You okay?" Joe asked Bryson, who looked as if he was going to pass out.
"Yeah, she's just looks beautiful." Now it was my turn to blush. Luckily for me, Joe already put blush on so it added to the color. Bryson cleared his throat awkwardly.
"You two better hurry, we can't be late for cake testing day." He pushed me towards Bryson and the door.
"Right, yes." He grabbed his keys from the table.

The car ride in the first place was fairly silent, the only noise came from outside the car or the radio. Trying not to pick at my nails, knowing Joe would yell at me, I did anyways. The edgy silence was getting to me.

The bakery wasn't very big, it was a local shop. They had a small room to the right with a few tables inside. I assumed that was the testing room. I looked around, being nosy and taking inventory.
"Can't you relax for once?" I turned to Bryson, he looked only at me.
"Do you understand the severity of our position? We have hardly anything but collected data. The more we collect, the more we have. The more we have, the closer to a clue we are."
"Have you ever heard the phrase, looking at the bigger picture?" I nodded. "Sometimes you focus too much on the little details. Take a step  back." Physically, I stepped backward. He smiled. "Funny. Riddle me this, why do people get married?"
"Well, a multitude of reasons. Love, pregnancy, arrangement, alliances, residency, money." He raised his brows when I said money. "You think-"
"Hello." A cheerful woman walked into the room.
"Good morning." Bryson smiled and held out his arm for me to join him at his side. I obliged. The heat from his body immediately started to race through me.
"How did you two meet?"
"We met at work." Bryson smiled his charming smile.
"Ah, fate." The lady nodded. Even fate can be wrong. Bryson squeezed my hips, causing my heart rate to skyrocket before he let go, letting me follow the lady back to the sampling room. "You are to first to arrive, we will begin in about five to ten minutes, okay?" She smiled.
"Great, thank you." I scanned the room as she exited.
"You think this has to do with only money?" I asked once she was out of earshot.
"Sure, I don't see how any other reason could benefit them."

The other two couples arrived shortly after us. With all the commotion, I hardly got to take a look at them.
"I like the lemon cake." Bryson took another bite as I turned to look at him.
"What?"
"The lemon cake, it's my favorite." He gestured to the six pieces of cake around him. I leaned in slightly so only he could hear me.
"You understand we aren't here for the cake, right?"
"You know Rene, you can have your cake and eat it too." He took another bite. What was that supposed to mean?
"Whatever." I stood up and circled the room. The other two couples had the same cakes as Bryson and me. The couples were chatting with each other; one was talking about having a child while the other seemed uninterested in not only the cakes but each other. Taking my mental inventory, I sat down again.
"What did you find, Inspector Gadget?" I glanced at the cakes ahead of me. The yellow with yellow frosting was half gone.
"Did you eat half of my lemon?"
"It looked like you were going to let it go to waste." A smile broke out on my face, I pushed to half-eaten cake to him.
"Be my guest." Before shoveling the last bite in, he smiled at me.

I ate small bites of each cake ahead of me. I could eat a lot, but too many sweets made my stomach hurt. Bryson had gotten up to get more information to send to Joe, I stacked the plates since Bryson finished each of his cakes. Just as he sat down, the baker asked for our favorite.
"The lemon." I smiled. Bryson glanced at me but said nothing.
"Oh, that's my favorite too." She grabbed our plates and left.
"Lemon, huh?"
"You had your cake and ate mine too." He chuckled loudly.
"Fair enough."

On the drive to the next bakery, I uploaded all the information we got at the last location and sent it to Joe. Bryson was happily driving and singing whatever song came on the radio next.

The next bakery was much bigger and was much fancier. They were more commercialized. We walked in, my arm linked in Brysons. A man of vibrance stood behind a small hostess stand.
"Hello! Are you here for the cake testing?"
"We are," Bryson spoke. I was always afraid of being tongue-tied or not convincing enough.
"Well, congratulations, what is the last name?"
"Gold."
"Perfect, we are waiting on one more couple, follow me." He led us down the hall to a larger room with two large archways as doors. "Pick any available table." He smiled at us before exiting the room.

The last couple arrived shortly after us. My attention followed the man.
"Sheesh, if you're going to look at other guys, don't do it with me around." Bryson teased, I swatted the air in his general direction. "You really are staring."
"Something about him." I shook my head, not knowing how to explain what I mean. "He gave me a gut feeling the second I saw him."
"Good or bad?"
"Bad for her good for us."
"You don't think she's in on it?"
"No. Too easy." I paused still watching the man. "It has to be only one in the pairing. You can't run if it's who. Too hard. Too many complications." I looked back at Bryson. He was looking at me slightly the same as this morning when he saw me in this dress for the first time. "What?"
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"You pick up on these little details that I swear everyone misses. The money thing, everyone disagreed with you." Smiling softly, I looked down at my hands.
"My mom is military, this was my dad's legacy and I studied psychology and sociology on my own and I listen to a lot of true crime news and stories. The way we look at things changes when you know me."
"Well lucky for us, we have you." Our eyes locked and we shared a smile.

The head baker came out and went over the cake flavors as the samples were passed out by her assistants. I watched the room carefully as Bryson watch the cakes. Half ways through the couples sampling and having a discussion, the man I was watching carefully stood up to take a phone call. I watched him disappear behind the way.
"You better not," Bryson said with a mouthful of cake.
"Shut up." I stood up and walked to the bathroom. The man was standing just on the other side of the wall to the cake testing room. Washing my hands, I scurried back to the room. Standing just outside the doorway I listened.
"Again?" He snapped. My eyes were trained on the floor as I focused on Mehta I was hearing, trying to separate background noise from his voice. "I'm only going to tell you one more time or you're out. Got it?" He paused. "We are sending the girls to the beach. We will meet then." He went quiet as he waited for a response. "Shady Sands Beach." Another silence lapsed. "No, just the girls and yes that means our girls too along with others and their friends." The man was frustrated. Bryson grabbed my wrist, leading me back to our table.
"People are noticing you." He whispered down to me.
"I wasn't done." I hissed.
"Yes, you are."
"No." I tried to pull my wrist from him. He turned to face me, towering over me, nose to nose. My heart slammed in my chest. We both remained silent. The pulse raced up my arm, and our eyes locked on each other. His eyes were fields of eucalyptus I wanted to run through.
"People are starting to question you. Either we leave or sit down."
"Fine." Still holding my wrist we sat down at our table. Glancing around the room, I noticed a few faces turned in our direction.
"Told you."
"Maybe they are looking at how you grabbed my wrist like a child." I held up the arm that he was still holding. His hand released.
"You were listening to a wall." I leaned into him as a loving fiancé would.
"Honey, aren't you supposed to love me in all the ways I come?" I teased. Watching the tension melt from his shoulders as he laughed.
"I suppose so." He snaked his arm around me and surprised us both as he kissed my forehead. I thought my heart was going to sore straight from my chest.

We went to the last cake testing place. They gave us a few different cakes. I hated their chocolate, it was too sweet and rich. Bryson, once agree liked their lemon cake. This time he didn't eat mine. We were the only two during the cake tasting. Bryson struggles to come up with an excuse to be gone for that long. I could, periods can get you out of a lot. I quickly collected the data and came back to the table.

Bryson drove back to Forestons and we hopped down the stairs, slightly on a sugar rush. I can't remember the last time I had so much sugar.
"There they are. Mr. And Mrs." Joe beamed up at us.
"Mr. And Mrs. Sugar rush." I giggled.
"Good, you two are back. Follow." I walked behind him, hot on his heels. In his office, we did our usual, me in the chair, Bryson on the arm.
"I'm assuming you have sent the data to Joe?" Gold sat in his office chair.
"Of course." Bryson leaned in closer than normal. My pulse quickened.
"General information that you didn't pull?"
"Like just from being there?" Asked Bryson, Mr. Gold nodded. "I like the lemon cake." I smacked him.
"Sorry, we have had too much sugar today. Other than that, there wasn't too much. In the first place, we were one of three couples, they seemed fairly normal. For the last one, it was just us. The second one Bryson yelled at me. I overheard a guy on the phone. He said a bunch of girls is going to Shady Sands Beach." I shrugged.
"Oh, you're going," Joe spoke first.
"No." I shook my head.
"I agree with Joe, you are going." Mr. Gold added, and my jaw dropped.
"Why?"
"Rene." Bryson gave me a hard look. My eyes widened and flickered back to Gold.
"Lawrence," He said prominently. "We need to figure out what is going on here. We need intel. This isn't an option." Sighing, I crossed my arms. Why was I the one being put between a rock and a hard spot? "Tomorrow, you go to the beach with them."
"But it's Saturday!" I whined.
"Lawrence, I am aware." Gold looked at me. Mike looked at me like that sometimes when he was crossed at me for something. This was a battle I wasn't going to win. Caving, I asked;
"When do I come in tomorrow?"