I don’t think I’ve slept that well since the business started to take off. Of course the mind-blowing sex definitely played its part.
“Everything okay?” Claire asked, noticing my obvious unease.
“It’s fine. I taught Sam how to open everything up and how to use the keys I had made. I don’t need to come in until a quarter to eight.” Still, I fidgeted.
Claire saw right through it. “Do you want to go make sure your bakery hasn’t burned down?”
“I really do.”
She laughed and got up from the table, grabbing the dishes and putting them in the sink. “Then go,” she said over her shoulder, then turned back to the sink. “But give me-“
I was there before she could finish the sentence. Body pressed against her back, arms wrapped around her tightly. I kissed the back of her neck, her shoulder. “I’ll just be a few minutes. I love you.”
She giggled. Actually giggled. The sound stopped my heart it was so unbelievably cute.
Claire looked at me, mortified. I couldn’t remember the last time she’d giggled. It had been hard enough to get her to squeal with delight and it was only when I surprised her now that I could pull it off.
She came to her senses and began hitting me, playfully slapping and shoving at me towards the door. I gave in and let her guide me in her own way. Just for a moment I stopped and stood still letting her try to shove and push me to no avail.
Besides being utterly cute watching her try to push against me and get me to move, it was a good reminder that I was letting her push me around. Not that I ever thought she’d do that.
I slipped on my shoes and was gone. When I got to the bakery I found the back door locked just like I’d told Sam to do. I used my key to let myself in and found Sam walking a circuit around the kitchen.
She looked up and her blue eyes lit up. “Thomas! Wait.” A glance at the phone in her hands. “You’re not supposed to be here. What did you hire me for if you’re just going to come to work early anyways ya dingus!”
“Dingus, really?”
Sam blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face. “I’m trying not to swear so much, seeing as I’m the new beautiful face of the hottest bakery in upstate New York now.”
I snorted. “I was just checking up on you, making sure there’s nothing you need and of course, nothing I forgot to mention. You know, I’ve never had an employee before.”
“I can tell. You’re not being an asshole or yelling at me to do things. You’re practically being friendly. Don’t you know anything?”
“You’ll have to teach me how to be more boss-like, then.”
“Are you going to pay me extra?”
“No.”
She slapped my arm. “See, you’re learning already! So, what did you wanna check up on? I’ve made sure all the lights are on. The cold display case is stocked with refrigerated goods that need to be there, the warm case is stocked just like you showed me.”
I nodded, listening to her rattle off the list of things she’d already done. It was only fifteen minutes past six and she was already done with things that usually took me half an hour to do.
Granted, I usually baked and prepared food in the meantime. I hadn’t intended for her to do anything like that unless she wanted to.
For now, just having her open the shop and handle the customers was amazing.
I only came in so early because I couldn’t be in two places at once. Now, with Sam up front dealing with customers - I mean guests, Claire was pretty insistent on calling and thinking of them as guests instead - and orders, I could spend most of my time baking and fulfilling the online orders.
Without needing a massive lead time in the morning I could probably come in around ten or so in the morning. I hadn’t woken up that late since before I opened up the bakery.
Everything was in perfect order. I had my reservations at first, but seeing firsthand how well Sam performed was another thing. Even when I was training her on the impossibly finicky mechanical register, she didn’t have any problems.
The girl was a quick study and had a mind much sharper than she probably wanted people to know. I’d only ever seen it in glimpses here and there before, and she was always quick to hide it from me again.
I’m not sure why anybody would choose to hide something so bright and beautiful about themselves. It was the best part of Claire for sure, and it was the one thing that didn’t fade. Beauty wasn’t eternal, but your mind, who you are inside, that stayed with you.
With effort, it got even better.
So why she’d want to seem like she anything less was beyond me. But it also wasn’t my place to say anything.
“Do I pass the inspection, boss?”
I nodded, leaned over to a countertop and ran my finger across it then inspected my finger. “Hmm. Yes, quite acceptable, young lady. Keep this up I’ll have to give you a raise.”
She mock-gasped, but the flash of pride in her eyes was unmistakable.
“All right, I’ll let you get to it. Tomorrow you don’t need to come in quite so early. With you manning the shop, I don’t need to come in early like I used to either. I only did that to prep some things before the shop opened since I wouldn’t have time to do it during the middle of the day.”
“What time should I come in then?”
“You can come in as early as seven.” I looked around the place. There was literally nothing for her to do for another hour and a half. “Unless you want to come early and sit around bored out of your mind.”
“Just the once was good enough, thanks.”
“Then so long as the shop is open around eight. It doesn’t need to be exact. How long did it take you to do all this?” I spread my arm wide to take in everything.
“About ten minutes give or take, the hardest thing was refilling the display cases and making sure not to screw up the little cards with the names of the pastries.”
I chuckled, she followed me as I wandered back through the kitchen and to the back door. Before I left I said, “Don’t worry if you do. I’ve done that enough myself, and I make the damn things.”
9
Claire
I cannot believe I giggled. What was I, twelve? So what if Thomas looked at me like I made his heart explode with cuteness. I wasn’t going to do it again if I could help it. It was bad enough when I squealed or snorted like a pig.
Why was it guys always delighted in making a girl make the most undignified sounds? The memory of Thomas grunting, moaning, and groaning like a savage beast on top of me nearly buckled my knees.
Okay, maybe I do understand. A little.
I wobbled myself over to the couch to sit down before another stray thought about Thomas buckled my legs for good. Just thinking about last night made my stomach clench with desire.
Every time I thought I understood what lovemaking with Thomas would be like, it changed. It became something deeper, more meaningful. It’s like our connection kept getting stronger since I stopped fighting against it.
I was damn near running towards it with my arms wide open.
Dad used to tell me that when I finally made up my mind that I wanted something, there was nothing in the world that would stop me until I got it.
And what I wanted was Thomas. All of him. Every last drop and I knew he wanted the same from me. There was nothing that would stop me from having him.
Except yourself.
Had we really only been dating a couple of weeks so far?
It felt like a lifetime.
When I sat down on the couch I winced a little. I was pretty sure I’d have slight bruising on my ass in the shape of Thomas’ strong hands. A thrill of pleasure rode shotgun with the bright burst of pain.
Oh great, what’s that man awakening in me now?
I’d have to be sure now to let him see until they were healed. I knew without a doubt that he’d feel guilty and beat himself up for it.
Even though I would have, if I was being entirely honest with myself, prefe
rred he was even more savage than he was last night.
There was something so attractive and intoxicating about seeing his muscles bulge and strain with the effort. The veins popping out over the sensual curves of them. His breath coming hot and labored into my ear. The soft curses as he got closer and closer to coming.
I suddenly found myself taking a manila folder off the coffee table and fanning my face. I felt ridiculously like one of those southern belles who swooned at the mere thought of a dashing man coming to whisk them off their feet.
An action Thomas performed on a daily basis and I secretly loved more than anything. Not that I’d ever have the courage to tell him.
What you need is a nice cold shower to get you ready for the day.
I went into his bedroom and up to the dresser he moved in the day before Dad’s funeral. He didn’t just give me a drawer like some guys would. He gave me my own dresser to use, half of his closet and anything else I thought I’d need.
He spoke of the apartment as “our home” and not “my place” or “my apartment.” It gave me a little tingle that coasted over my skin leaving it pebbled whenever he said something like that so casually. As if it didn’t have weighty implications.
That was my favorite thing - one of them at least - about Thomas. He was so casual with his love for me like it was already determined that we’d be together forever and he had already made his peace with that.
It had a way of making me feel at ease about things that normally would freak me out.
He wasn’t clingy or overly attached. He gave me my space when I needed it and never pushed me to do something I didn’t want to do. Sometimes I wondered if on the drive back to Sunrise Valley I had an accident and I was in some super awesome coma dream, high on morphine or something.
Honestly, it was at least as believable as finding the man of my dreams in my long-estranged best friend from childhood. Discovering that he had turned into a hunk of a man that the cover of GQ would die to have. That he still hadn’t gotten over his crush on me, and that everything I had thought bad about him was wrong.
That was a fairy tale if I ever heard it. And I was living it every day.
I turned the shower on and stepped in. Despite how much a cold shower would probably help me, I wasn’t that desperate just yet. That was one of the things I did miss about my apartment back in New York. The shower was amazing.
It had an oversized waterfall shower head that fell straight on top of me, small square jets embedded in the walls on the front and back that enveloped me in heated luxury for as long as I needed. And of course the handheld showerhead with its multitude of pulsing jets.
A stressed, overworked businesswoman’s best friend.
Of course Thomas didn’t have that. And he was so attentive that even with the desire waking up in my belly I wasn’t tempted. It was interesting what having a dedicated, loving man could do to a woman.
If I needed him all I had to do was crook a finger at him. Give him a suggestive look or some days bend over the right way. I still wasn’t quite sure what triggered that particularly fiery episode but I was eager to repeat it.
Thomas was there for me. I found myself wanting validation from my job less and less. The problem was, I wasn’t sure if I was being obsessive with Thomas or if this was what true love was like. Deep and so complete that I was beginning to have trouble telling where he ended and I began.
Rather, I preferred it that way. To be so completely tied up with him that I was something more than just Claire. I was a better person around him.
With Thomas in my life, I had more confidence to do things I would normally hedge against. I took more risks and while I still had an unhealthy fondness for spreadsheets and data, they were not the only thing I used to base my decisions on anymore.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell whether or not that was a good or bad thing. It didn’t feel like a bad thing but then again why would it?
I was happy. Probably for the first time in well over ten years and boy wasn’t that a sad revelation to have alone in the shower of your man’s bathroom.
Our bathroom. I reminded myself.
When I came into the living room, hair wrapped up in a towel turban and robed in a fluffy towel I found Thomas sitting on the couch looking out the window at the darkening skies.
It had just started to lighten when I went to take my shower and now it looked like rainclouds, dark and ominous, were rolling into the valley.
“How was it?”
He looked over at me, his eyes going wide. I could see the breath hitch in his chest. I felt a positively giddy sensation flood me.
I couldn’t fathom why he reacted the way he did when he saw me. Didn’t matter if I had makeup on, felt ugly, bloated, or had a zit that day. He made me feel like the most gorgeous girl in the world.
I never wanted him to stop looking at me the way he was right now.
After a moment, and a swallow or two, he managed to speak. “Sam had everything in hand. I shouldn’t have worried.” He motioned me closer and I sauntered over as best I could.
I wished I had some slippers. It felt like I was walking on ice.
As soon as I got close enough he wrapped an arm around my hips and pulled me onto his lap. I wiggled, bringing out a throaty sigh of pleasure. It made me feel strangely powerful that I could affect him this way.
“I was thinking,” he said huskily. “That tomorrow we could stay in a bit. Unless you had something else to do early?”
I shook my head. “More time with the hottest baker in New York? How could I say no to that?”
He frowned at the moniker going around on social media.
Every so often a new person would come to town, snap a picture of Thomas and upload it. Most of them were sweet or kind and just happy to see the person they heard so much about and taste those exquisite pastries of his.
The thing was, every time somebody did that they usually got a ton of traction. The result? More exposure for Thomas and the bakery. It was a positive feedback loop that drew in more people who took more pictures, which then drew in more people.
It reminded me to look into getting a few people set up on Airbnb. The hotel was overbooked and the old bed and breakfast inn had long since shuttered.
I heard people were going farther out into the valley and staying at some of the chain hotels nearly an hour or more out of town.
There were more people visiting than ever before with nowhere to stay despite the empty storefronts on Main Street that could easily be converted into something less of an eyesore.
Deep breath, Claire. That wasn’t something I was ready to tackle yet.
Head nestled against Thomas I let myself unwind a little. Thinking about the sad state of the once beautiful Main Street always led to thoughts about Beth and that always made my blood boil.
“Even if I did have something planned. I’d reschedule it to spend more time with you,” I said.
Thomas leaned forward and kissed my hair. “Even if that means the only thing we’ll be doing is sleeping in like we’re teenagers with a snow day?”
Immediately I wondered what a sexy snow day would be like with Thomas. Snowed in, unable to go anywhere. Complete power loss so we had to use the fireplace and so there’d be no bakery to get in the way.
Or the many hours of time spent together with nothing but each other for entertainment…
I was getting ahead of myself. “I’d absolutely love it. We could both do with a little downtime. You especially.” I risked a coy glance up at the man that set my heart to racing every time he looked my way. Even now I was sure he could feel my heart fluttering in my chest like a hummingbird.
For now, I had to focus on what I could change and the more people who stayed around in town the better it was for everybody. Not just for us.
Tourism was a fascinating thing.
Most people think theme parks, hotels, and car rentals soak up all the money from tourism. The truth is, small businesses and local shop
s take up the majority of the custom.
When people vacation they still need food, toiletries, and entertainment. Everything they’d normally spend on back home. In fact, studies have shown people are significantly more likely to spend more on simple things like breakfast and lunch than they are back home.
That’s probably due in part to being somewhere else without access to a kitchen and their familiar pantry.
It was like that when I went on business trips, and it was true for most traveling business people. The simple economics of time.
You could either go in search of a place to get groceries, spend at least twice the time getting the usual ingredients because that specific store of that chain has the mustard on aisle four instead of six like you’re used to.
All that on top of going there and driving back.
Or you can go out or order in. It cost more but the time savings were immense. There is a reason you don’t see many veteran businesspeople shopping at the store when they’re away on business.
It’s also the reason a lot of people gain so much weight. Most people in slim business suits usually didn’t make a habit of traveling. Or if they did, they were in a position of enough importance - and wealth - that they could have a chef cook for them.
I doubted even if I had stayed as a consultant if I’d have made that much money.
I mean, the sky’s pretty much the limit in consultancy but you still had to kiss ass, network, and backstab to get made a partner at any reputable firm - and that went double for the less reputable ones - only for the reward of eighty-plus hour workweeks.
I froze, realizing Thomas was staring. I must have let the thoughts show on my face. Thomas shifted and looked closer at me. I could see the concern in his eyes. I shook my head, trying my best to let him know wordlessly it wasn’t anything.
The beautiful man took me at my word and let himself relax. I sank back into his chest, curled up on his lap going over my thoughts. Without meaning to, I was already thinking of myself as an ex-consultant.
Some part of my mind had already decided that I wasn’t going to take that path. And for some reason that made me even more indecisive.
Baking Up Love Page 7
