Chapter 1

1

To make his old flame laugh, my boyfriend, Jake, shoved my face into a peanut butter cake.

I'm allergic, so my face swelled up like a balloon, and they all roared with laughter.

"Jake, go on, smooth things over with your girl," one of his buddies called out.

He just shrugged, "Nah, she ain't going anywhere. She'll come crawling back to me soon enough."

Six months later, he got my wedding invitation and showed up at my door, eyes red with anger. "How could you?" he demanded.

...

Jake and I were practically raised together. I had a major crush on him from way back, but was too chicken to say anything. I was terrified of ruining our friendship if he didn't feel the same way. And let’s face it, he had a revolving door of girlfriends, so I never really stood a chance.

Then my family went belly up financially, and I figured that was the end of my chances. But out of the blue, Jake stepped up, helped us out, and confessed he had feelings for me. We finally got together.

On my birthday, he said he had a surprise for me. We ended up at a bar, packed with his usual crew of hanger-ons. After my family's money troubles, they'd been avoiding me like the plague, scared I’d hit them up for cash. But Jake, he had the magic touch and managed to get them all together for my birthday bash.

Jake strolled over, pushing a cake my way. "See what's inside," he said, all soft and sweet.

I figured it was an engagement ring. I'd seen him window-shopping at the jewelry store recently.

When he'd first confessed his feelings for me, he said I'd make a great wife.

"Okay," I replied, smiling like a fool, and started digging into the cake.