“Doesn’t make them tasty.”
Nick shook his head at my antics. “True, but we have some options for Saturday and Sunday depending on how… And your eyes just glazed over.”
I shrugged. “Everything you make is great, Nick. Make what’s easy with all this crazy. It’s all fancy, and not what they can get as easily as we can, so just whatever works.”
“We’ve taken that into consideration, I promise, just give us a few things you like so we can fill in the rest. Please.”
I nodded and tried a bunch of this and that, telling them what I liked best. I wasn’t shocked when they gave me knowing looks. Yeah, I picked everything that I knew was made with filling machines or could be prepared beforehand. I shrugged. It was still all amazing.
“May we interject?” Hanna asked, looking exceedingly amused.
I nodded. “I don’t want anyone killing themselves for this. It’s all luxury and awesome.”
“Agreed, but there are tricks to fill in the gaps and make it all shine brighter,” she explained.
I agreed, sitting down and trying some more stuff. I smiled when we got to the individual cheesecakes. “These are all so awesome, Nick.”
“Thank you, Princess,” he said. “These are for Friday night. We need you to pick a few options.”
I glanced around and frowned. They were all so cool. “What if we did them all the same and let people do toppings options? I saw this thing when we were looking for ideas that was like this really cool dressing and condiment stand. What if everyone got one of those with toppings on their table? You could do two cakes and let them mix and match.”
“That would be fun and different,” Matilda agreed. “Could you manage it?”
“Yes, as making the cheesecakes all one or two options isn’t hard. It’s the finishing and plating.”
“Chocolate cheesecakes tend to be overwhelming and too much,” Olivia said as she joined us, ignoring the shock of many of us. “If you had a regular one and a swirled mocha one, I would think that best of both worlds and certainly would cover most people’s tastes and still work with toppings of any range.”
“That is smart,” Trisha agreed, letting me know she was there as well. “We’re not changing your bachelorette party.”
“I heard,” I chuckled. “We might have more guests, if they’re interested.”
“What sort of fun is planned?” Hanna asked.
“Oh, I’m sure my kind but they won’t tell me officially,” I chuckled darkly, smirking at Trisha. “If you didn’t bring bathing suits, we can get you some.”
“Yes, fine, the party will finish at your vacation house,” Trisha confirmed. “You just said no strippers.”
“Yeah, thanks, we’re not having any either then,” James drawled.
“I very clearly said they could have anyone strip for them that they wanted, but if they touched, they died.”
He gave me a wry look. “Well, one, we can’t just call up strippers in the apocalypse, and two, you get seriously jealous.”
“Yes, but they love when I do,” I purred. “Why do you think I’m always having one of them keep lookout when you guys have your full moon fun? They come back to me and I make it clear who they belong to, so they can look at every naked woman in the world, but they come back to me.” I met Kristof’s gaze across the table. “However, someone still walks on eggshells, so no strippers or naked women for him.”
He shrugged and came closer, squatting down and moving his hand to my thigh as he cupped my cheek. “I’m a very, very blessed man who gets to see the woman I love undress for me, and that is all I wish. All the naked women in the world could not give me what you do, my love.”
“Even if I never give you that again?” I worried.
“Yes,” he said immediately, shocking me. He chuckled when I couldn’t hide it. “Oh, Inez, you give me everything and so much more than that.” He leaned in and brushed his lips against mine. “Let me show you my mating gift after dinner. Let me show you what you mean to me.”
I nodded, nervous to do the mating gifts thing. Kristof had said the moment we planned this that he was getting me something, and knowing him, it would be big.
Sure enough, it was. About a half an hour later, we were under the castle again in a separate area that had the first coven vault… Which was now filled.
“How?” I whispered, taking in the pallets and pallets of gold bars.
“At first, I was melting down what I raided, but I had some help to do it better,” he answered. Right, Vitor could break down stuff into energy beads, but Darius was the one to manipulate metal. Well, not the only one probably, so someone else must have helped him.
“This is amazing,” I murmured. “Thank you.” I turned and hugged him. “Thank you so much.”
“It’s just the start,” he promised. “We’ll get to the point of taking stones out of rings and getting everything basically separated. One day, there will be a whole vault of the most gorgeous and amazing pieces of jewelry that pales in comparison to my breathtaking princess.”
“I love you,” I whispered before kissing him. He kissed me back and then took me up a notch. “Do you want your present?”
“I didn’t realize I got one,” he admitted.
“Silly old fart. Of course you do.” I kissed him again and danced over to Branko who had helped me with it. “We’ve got enough ready, right?”
“Yes.” He gave me a wink before looking out
