Page 63 of Last First Kiss

Amy giggles, then goes on. “I like simple, unassuming places where we can talk.” She takes another bite. “One time, I took him to a boba café. He’d never tried it. I got him a matcha with brûléed cheese foam. He wouldn’t stop talking about it for a month!”

Jamie snaps his fingers. “I remember that!”

“Wait.” Jordan pauses, fork halfway to his mouth. “If he loves it so much, why can’t this be your wedding cake?”

Amy sulks. “His parents.”

Jordan crooks an eyebrow.

“We took them to the same café once,” she explains. “His dad hated it. He just wanted black coffee. Sam’s mom said the matcha tasted like grass. We never went back with them.”

Jordan steadies his expression.

A pattern he’s seen with other clients is forming. Sam’s parents have as much influence on the wedding decisions as Amy and Sam do. Jordan feels for Amy, but it’s not his place to comment.

He pushes out another smile. “Tell me about the proposal.”

Just like that, Amy’s face turns soft. Happy. She slices into the next sample—champagne. A content sigh leaves her lips after the first bite.

Chair legs drag across the floor. Warmth settles into Jordan’s side. It’s Jamie, giddily rubbing his hands together.

“I love this story!”

Blush blooms over Amy’s cheeks. “Short or long version?”

“Whichever one you feel like telling,” Jordan says.

He probably should’ve asked for the short version. The faster she tells it, the quicker Jamie will scoot back to his own side of the table. Far from Jordan.

But Amy doesn’t read the desperation on his face.

“Well, I’ve always been a bookish girl,” she starts.

“Book nerd,” Jamie amends.

Amy flips him off. “Sam knew this about me. So, one afternoon, he takes me to a used bookstore. No one was inside. Only us and the staff. Which was strange, but I didn’t notice right away. There were so. Many. Books.”

“Nerd,” Jamie coughs out.

Jordan bumps his shoulder to silence him. Jamie takes it as an invitation to lean more into Jordan. A thin wall of heat from elbows to knees.

“Sam dragged me to the rare editions section”—Amy lowers her eyes, smiling—“to show me a copy ofPride and Prejudice.”

The corners of Jordan’s mouth quirk.

“I loved the Kiera Knightley version,” Jamie whispers.

Amy takes another bite. “Who doesn’t?”

Jordan doesn’t tell either of them he hasn’t seen it.

“Anyway, the copy Sam was holding wasn’t an actual book. It was a book-shaped box! With a ring inside.” She stares at the diamond on her finger as sunlight winks off it. “He got down on one knee. He admitted to renting the entire bookstore out. Just to propose to me.”

A genuine smile overtakes Jordan’s face.

Jamie rocks into his side. “That’s not even the best part.”

“It’s not?”