Forking Around (Hot Cakes Book 2)

by Erin Nicholas

  It was the trust and affection that made him feel like he was a king.

  She was looking at him as if she liked him. Just liked him. Wanted to be here. Was completely enjoying herself and knew the next several hours were going to be fun no matter what they did.

  This was what he lived for. What he thought he lived for anyway. What he chased. Giving other people a good time. Making them happy. Being a temporary reprieve from the shit show that the real world could be.

  But Jane was looking at him as if he were a hell of a good time before he’d done a thing to earn it. Sure, the day had been fun. He knew he’d made her happy today. But in his experience, the fun was usually about the moment. The Ping-Pong game, lip-syncing into a toilet brush, the session at Comic-Con, a dessert tasting, the time in bed. But then it was over, and he’d have to work to make the next time fun again.

  Jane seemed to be anticipating all the fun they could have this weekend before it even started.

  “Okay, then.” He gave her what he knew was a wicked grin. “Then I do know where to start.”

  Without looking, he reached toward the pie on the table to his left. He took a handful of whatever he first came into contact with—cream topping and strawberry filling—and lifted it.

  Her eyes widened, but she did nothing to stop him as he moved toward her breast.

  She sucked in a sharp breath as he smeared it over her right breast and nipple, then down, over her ribs and stomach to her mound.

  He went to his knees, his sticky hand gripping her ass, and pulled her toward his mouth. Then he proceeded to lick the sweet mess from her, starting at the bottom and moving up.

  She was gripping the hair at the back of his head by the time he’d licked it all from her clit and the sweet folds on either side. He ran his finger over the area to be sure he got it all and found plenty more sticky sweetness, that wasn’t strawberry pie, to tease his tongue. Then he ran his tongue and fingers over her stomach, up her torso, and to her breast. He licked and sucked making sure he left no trace of pie behind. She was panting and had whimpered his name a few times by the time he let her nipple go and sealed his mouth over hers, letting her taste the strawberry goodness from his tongue.

  He slid two fingers deep into her as he kissed her, taking her to the edge of her first orgasm, then he pulled back so he could watch her come.

  “Open your eyes, Jane,” he said gruffly, rubbing over her clit.

  She let her head fall back against the wall and her gorgeous blue eyes found his.

  “Come for me,” he urged. “I need you slick and hot and ready.”

  “Oh God,” she gasped, gripping the forearm that was bunching as he worked her toward her orgasm.

  “I need you ready to take me, Jane,” he told her roughly. “I want you so fucking bad, and I need this sweet pussy soft and wet.”

  “I’m so ready,” she promised.

  “I need you to come.”

  “I want you now.” She tried to pull him closer, tugging on his arm.

  But he wanted her one orgasm ahead. He shook his head and pulled his fingers from her body.

  “No!” she protested, gripping his arm harder.

  He grinned at her clear frustration. “Guess we’ll have to pull out the big guns.”

  “Yes. The big guns,” she said, reaching for his cock.

  He dodged her hand with a grin though. “Oh no. The rules say we don’t move on to level three until you complete level two.”

  “This is a game?”

  “Are you having fun?”

  “I was.” She pouted.

  He leaned and plucked the big red strawberry off the middle of the pie. He held it up. “Well then, we need to use all the tools we’ve got to get you past level two.”

  “I already made it past level one?” she asked.

  “You’re naked,” he said, nodding. “That’s level one.”

  She huffed out a little laugh in spite of herself. “And level two is an orgasm.”

  He shook his head. “The orgasm is how you complete the level. Level two is my hands and mouth on you. No cock involved.”

  She nodded thoughtfully. “Okay. So then I don’t think cock in pussy is really level three.”

  “No?”

  He wasn’t going to last long if she actually got into this and played along, he realized. He had fun making sure other people had fun. But rarely did they actually concentrate on his fun in return.

  “I really think level three would be a non-pussy orgasm for you. So my hands and mouth on you.”

  He cleared his throat as heat slammed through him.

  “And then”—she put her hand on his chest, rubbing back and forth—“missionary position would be level four. Then like cowgirl or reverse cowgirl would be level five. All fours would be level six. Shower sex would be level seven. And you tying me to the bed with your neckties would be level ei—”

  Dax took her mouth hungrily. God, he was so fucking in love with her. As she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, he trailed the strawberry up and down her side. He felt the way her skin erupted in goose bumps in reaction. He pulled back just enough that he could rub it over her nipple. She shivered.

  He pulled away from her mouth to dip his head and suck on that hardened tip as he trailed the strawberry down her body.

  He let her nipple go with a little pop and looked up at her as he sank to his knees. “So clearly we’re on the same team. If the mission is to complete all the levels and the way to do that is with orgasms.”

  She nodded, her eyes dark, her fingers sinking into his hair. “Yep. Same team for sure.”

  “So what’s our opposition?”

  “Time, I guess,” she said with a smile. “We need to get through as many levels as possible before I have to go to work on Monday morning.”

  “Okay, then.” He grasped one of her thighs and lifted it, draping her knee over his shoulder, loving her little gasp of surprise. “Then we need focus and determination and teamwork.” He sucked on the end of the strawberry, then drew it over her clit. He looked up at her as she let her breath out with a little hiss. “And strawberries.”

  “Sure. Whatever tools and accessories and magical amulets we can get,” she agreed.

  Well, in Warrior of Easton, the warriors collected diamonds on their quests.

  Dax was very aware that he was getting closer all the time to getting Jane a diamond as a matter of fact.

  But for the time being, he was more than willing to make do with the strawberry and his tongue and fingers and several dirty words and phrases.

  She came hard only a few short minutes later, and he carried her to the bed, triumphantly.

  “Level two, down,” he said, tossing her onto the mattress.

  She immediately turned on her stomach and crawled to the edge. “I’m ready to do my part for level three.”

  And she did.

  Oh, she did.

  By Monday morning they had conquered levels one through eleven and had a plan to knock out levels twelve through fifteen over the course of the next week.

  “Hey!”

  Jane turned at the sound of Max calling to her. She grinned as he jogged to catch up with her halfway across the parking lots.

  “I’m so pissed off at you both,” Max said as he came up beside her. He put his hand on his chest and took a deep breath. “And now I’ve had to run too?”

  Jane rolled her eyes. Max led a spin class at the gym four days a week. Because there was no one else in Appleby who would have ever thought of getting up in front of a room full of other people on bikes and calling it a “class.” And truly it was a total of four stationary bikes with Max at the front blasting music from his phone and calling out encouraging things like, “You’ve got this! Work it, ladies!” and “Oh yeah, feel that burn!”

  But he really didn’t like running.

  “You’re pissed at me?” she asked as he fell into step with her.

  “I am. You spend your lunch breaks ma
king googly eyes at Dax and then beat it out of here at the end of the day to get naked by five thirty and then spend your whole night fucking his brains out,” Max said.

  Jane gave a surprised snort-laugh. “I am not naked by five thirty.”

  Max lifted a brow in a very skeptical look.

  “I have to eat first,” she said. “Need to fuel up for the night of fucking his brains out.” She grinned widely. She couldn’t help it. She was happy. So, so happy.

  Now Max snorted. “That’s my girl.”

  “But I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much this week.” Dax was in the Hot Cakes break room most of each morning—not before ten or so, of course, but from about ten to one—chatting and hanging out and then eating lunch with her before he took off to work on some project he had going on now that he wasn’t a Hot Cakes owner. “Everything okay?”

  “Oh, I’m fine, except that I’ve had no information about how great the man is in bed or how huge he is or what kinds of gifts the hot millionaire buys his fuck buddy,” Max said, propping his hip against the side of her car as she unlocked it. He grinned. “This is the kind of best friend information I require and have been denied and I’m not happy about it. At all.”

  Jane tossed her bag onto the car seat and then gave her friend a grin. “He’s amazing in bed. I seriously think he’s the best lover in the world. The orgasms are plentiful, and I still feel them the next day. He’s huge. Like, porn star huge. And he buys me all the cake, pie, and cookies I can handle. And does very naughty things with them before I get to eat them. But I definitely get to eat them. I’ve probably gained five pounds this week.” She paused. “Then again, we’re definitely burning a lot of calories, so it’s probably all good.”

  Max gave a happy sigh. “Even if you’re lying to me, thank you. You are a really good friend.”

  She laughed. “You’re so welcome.”

  “But truly,” he said, sobering slightly and studying her. “You seem really happy.”

  “I am,” she told him sincerely. “He’s amazing. And everything is so good. My dad has never been happier. He’s been letting Dax visit him and even let his sister and one of his buddies stop by. I thought my aunt was going to cry. Kelsey got a B on her last chemistry test. Cassie hasn’t called me even once this week. Kelsey and Aspen have only fought twice this week and one of them was just a little tiff over what time they were leaving to go to some pizza party.”

  “Wait.” Max held up a hand. He shook his head. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  Jane smiled. Max knew everything about her family so he knew this was huge.

  “I knew Kels was working on her chemistry,” Max said.

  “You did?”

  “Yeah, she was in the break room after school the other day.”

  “She was?” Jane asked, surprised. “With Dax?”

  “No, with Ben.”

  Ben was one of the food scientists on staff. “Oh. She was studying?”

  “He was tutoring her. He’s a chemist, you know,” Max said with a little smirk. “And he’s got three kids. He was really good about explaining things to her. And the cappuccino probably helped.”

  “I never even thought of that.” She didn’t mean the cappuccino.

  “Dax did.” Max didn’t mean the cappuccino either.

  She nodded. Of course he had.

  “And Kelsey and Aspen are going to parties together?” Max reiterated.

  “It’s the fucking twilight zone,” Jane said with a nod, her thoughts suddenly spinning.

  “And we attribute this all to Dax?”

  “We do,” she said. Then she thought about that. She really did attribute that all to Dax. Things had gotten better because of him. Like magically. Which was amazing. Wasn’t it? She frowned. “I mean, he got all the balls rolling anyway.”

  “When are you proposing to him?” Max asked with a chuckle.

  Jane forced a smile. But her chest tightened at the same time. It wasn’t that she was thinking about proposing, of course. They weren’t going to get married. Married was forever. And there was no way this was forever.

  Which, obviously, brought up the question how long is this going to last? And worse, what happens when it’s over?

  Her heart started thumping harder, and she pulled in a deep breath.

  She was in love with him. She thought maybe Dax was feeling some pretty strong things for her too. But small-town Iowa and a woman who worked in a factory and hanging out with a teenager and a guy in a nursing home… how long would all that interest Dax?

  He was a creator. He was larger than life. He traveled the world. He made things happen. He lived to make things happen. Big things. Bold things. Things a lot bigger than Appleby, Iowa could sustain. Sure, he’d been happy to make some changes at Hot Cakes and to help Aiden and Ollie and his other partners get things off the ground. But he’d given it up easily enough too. Hot Cakes had been a little project for him that he’d been able to move on from without any trouble.

  He was already working on something new. He’d been busy every afternoon this week.

  He’d made a huge difference in her life, for sure. But in the overall scheme of things, these issues weren’t all that big. Or bold. He’d gotten her sister and stepsister to stop fighting so much. He’d found a way to better Kelsey’s chemistry grade, and helped with her dad’s depression. He and Jane had definitely been having a lot of fun with cake frosting and, well, every room and horizontal surface in her house. But what happened when they got through all the “levels”?

  What happened next?

  There would be something new for him to move on to no doubt.

  And where did that leave them? Did Kelsey go back to not caring about her grades? Did Jack get depressed again? Did Jane go back to juggling all the balls by herself… kind of badly? She hadn’t been able to get Kelsey and Aspen to see one single thing they had in common. She hadn’t thought of Ben as a chemistry tutor even though she saw him, literally, five days a week. She hadn’t even considered taking Jack out to a dessert tasting. Or any other event.

  Suddenly her heart was racing.

  Everything was going to suck when Dax got tired of Appleby. Of her crazy life. Of them. And it wasn’t just her who was going to suffer.

  Max was frowning and reaching for her. “Whoa. You okay?”

  She shook her head.

  “Breathe, baby. Breathe,” Max said, grasping both of her upper arms.

  She did. Kind of. It was shaky, but oxygen did go into her lungs.

  “What the hell, Janey?” Max asked. “You were smiling and looking all lovey dovey—not to mention smug as hell about all the chocolate-covered orgasms—and then suddenly you looked like you were about to pass out.”

  She nodded and swallowed. “I’m…”

  “Having a panic attack,” Max said.

  She nodded again. “I think so.” Her eyes went wide. “Why am I having a panic attack? She gripped Max’s forearms. “Why am I panicking? Shit happens all the time. I know that! I’m used to that! Why am I panicking?”

  “Fuck if I know,” Max told her. But he gave her a little shake. “You’re in love with a millionaire who makes you incredibly happy, dishes out orgasms the way we dish up fudge coating, and has made your whole family better. Why aren’t you—”

  He broke off as Jane started breathing rapidly again, and her fingers dug into his arms.

  She felt like her head was spinning.

  “Holy shit, Jane, pull yourself together.”

  She wasn’t sure Max was going to win any empathy awards or should be teaching any seminars on getting friends through panic attacks, but she did manage to suck in a breath.

  “What is going on?” He was staring at her like he’d never seen her before.

  That was fair. She was never like this. She had her shit handled, dammit. She was always ready for the next crisis, the next curveball, the next wrench in the plan. She expected it. She just took it as it came. What the hell was goi
ng on here?

  “It was…” She cleared her throat. “The proposal thing.”

  Max frowned. “I was kidding. Jesus, you don’t have to propose to the guy tonight.”

  She dragged in another breath. “No. I know. It’s not that. It just hit me, I guess. Proposal means long term. Forever.” She bit her bottom lip and blinked hard. “This isn’t forever with Dax.”

  Max’s frown deepened. “It’s not?”

  “Of course it’s not!” she snapped.

  She breathed deep again and let go of Max. He let go of her too but watched her as if he was pretty sure she was going to crumple at his feet at any moment.

  “Okay, why not?” he asked.

  “He’s a millionaire playboy who is pseudo-famous—or maybe even pretty famous—because he really does have tons of fans. People want his autograph. They wear t-shirts he designed and dress up as characters he created and stand in line for hours just to get a selfie with him. It’s nuts. And he jets around the world and drives a crazy car and wears a hat that cost more than my rent. More than three months of my rent actually. He thinks nothing of buying a business for millions of dollars and then selling it a week later so he can have sex with some girl he just met. He buys Ping-Pong tables as a way to fix all problems. The idea of setting up his laptop on my kitchen table to work made him crazy. He has to be in the middle of the action and with people all the time and doing stuff. Big stuff. He will never be able to be happy in Appleby, not long term, and if I try to keep him here and just settle in and think that he’s going to fix all my problems and get used to everything being good, when he leaves it’s going to be… devastating.”

  Jane was aware that she’d been talking nonstop, and very quickly. But Max just let her rant. His eyebrows were nearly in his hairline when she finished, but he listened, taking it all in. He didn’t interrupt or argue or even shake his head.

  When she was done, Max just stood there watching as Jane took deep, shaky breaths, blinked back tears, and thought about everything she’d just said.

  Yeah. That was pretty much the sum of it.

  She’d been floating on a sugar-orgasm-no-angsty-phone-call high for the last several days. But everything she’d just said was true and… it sucked.