by Terra Kelly
“Why?” He reached over and grabbed a spatula from the container sitting on my counter. “We just had sex. The shy part should be over now.”
I moved away from him. “Is that how it works.” My already small kitchen felt tiny at the moment. I grabbed the salt. Right as I was about to sprinkle some on the top of the eggs, Aiden reached for my hand. “You don’t add salt?”
“Cora.” He turned my body to face him. “What is it?”
I stepped back a few inches and rested my hand on the counter. “This is amazing.”
“And that’s bad?” He reached over and turned off the burner.
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s–”
“A lot to take in.”
“Yes, that.” I walked over and grabbed a plate from the cabinet. “You saw my secret.” I handed him the plate. “And now that secret is for you and me only.” He pretended to zip his lips. “I’ve thought about us together like this, but it never played out this way in my mind.”
He scooped the eggs onto the plate and walked over to sit on a barstool. “How did it play out?”
I grabbed some hot sauce and joined him. “Well, for one, we always had clothes on.”
He cut a piece of egg off with the fork. “Your daydream sounds boring.” Then he lifted the fork up to my mouth. “Isn’t this better.”
I took the eggs and then waited until I was done chewing. “It’s way better, but you need to start cooking with salt.”
He gasped and reached over to tickle my side. The light moment turned heated. I pushed away the plate. There was no way I planned to finish the eggs.
My life had quickly changed in just a matter of hours.
The secrets I had.
The desires.
They all had come true.
Every. Single. One.
Eleven
Aiden
Thirty-six hours later…
“You should call in,” Cora said and circled her tongue around my nipple.
“My brother is sick. One of the owners has to show up.” I brushed my fingers through her hair. “Aren’t you tired of me?” I traced my finger around the edges of her lips.
“On the contrary. I want more of you.” She started to kiss her way down my chest and over my abdomen. “A lot more.” She stopped at my belly button and looked up at me.
“Cora,” I groaned and tucked my hands under her arms to pull her up. “You’re evil.” I kissed her nose. “Come to work with me.”
She sat up. “What?”
“Why not?” I inched off the bed and headed into the bathroom. “We need to practice for Saturday.”
“Practice losing.” She stopped in the doorway and leaned against the door frame.
“I don’t lose.” I turned the shower on and reached for her hand. “Ever.”
“What about last year?” She stumbled forward and joined me.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I dropped my head and captured her lips before she could say another word.
My time with Cora had been amazing. Every one of the thirty-six hours had exceeded my expectations. Her secret obsession with gingerbread men was probably my most favorite thing of the night. Well, second most favorite. She had this special way of moving her tongue around my cock. That was easily my favorite.
Right as I turned the water off my phone rang. Instead of answering it, I let it go to voicemail. It was probably my brother bitching at me because I was late and he couldn’t work. He needed to relax. The manager on-duty was skilled and would be fine alone for a few more minutes.
I didn’t want my time with Cora to end. “I have an idea.” Cora was standing in front of the sink combing her hair. I stepped behind her. “What are you doing tonight?”
She turned to face me. “Um, practicing for a holiday baking competition?”
“That’s this afternoon.” I kissed her nose.
“Oh, my mistake.” She giggled and wrapped her arms around my waist. “I give up, you tell me.”
“You’re busy.” I kissed her again and finally stepped away.
“I am? Are you sure about that?”
“Very sure.” I winked and walked into the bedroom to grab my clothes.
“I’ll cancel my plans then.” She grabbed a sweatshirt. “Hopefully my parents will understand.”
“What? No, never mind.” I dropped the sock from hand.
“Aiden, I’m kidding.” She slid into a pair of gingerbread panties. “I just wanted to see your reaction.”
“That’s mean.” I threw on my Henley.
“Won’t you be tired of me by then?”
“Not even a little.”
Fuck. I needed to get my ass to work but she was making it harder and harder. I used every ounce of strength I had and walked out of the bedroom.
“I’ll see you soon, right?” I grabbed my keys and turned to face her.
“Soon.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and smiled. “If you’re sure?”
“Very.” I kissed her sweet lips and forced myself to open the door and leave.
When I glanced back my cock stirred. That woman. She caused emotions to surface that I had never felt before. Her head was resting against the door frame and I noticed a little corner of the gingerbread panties peeking out from under her sweatshirt. After five long years, I knew at that moment I wanted to spend every moment with that beautiful woman.
There was no way I would get tired of her. I had a feeling she would be my new addiction.
Baking competitions and Cora.
Two perfect addictions.
“Where have you been?” Noah asked into the phone as I walked toward the back dock area of the restaurant.
“Busy.” I punched in the code and opened the door. “I’m thirty minutes late. The place is still standing.”
“Aiden, we have responsibilities.” My brother let out a heavy sigh and started to cough.
“Noah, relax.” I waved to the employees already prepping for the lunch rush. “I’m here now.”
My brother had always been the uptight one. He was the reason our restaurants stayed out of the red. We worked well as a team because I knew how to keep the menu strong with fresh ideas and he took control of the business side.
“Just don’t forget what’s important.”
“Don’t do that.” I threw my jacket on the desk.
“I’m sorry.”
We stayed silent for a few seconds. “This is all good.”
“Is it?”
I knew we weren’t talking about my tardiness anymore. The conversation had shifted over to Cora.
“Yeah, it is.” I sat down in the chair. “Please don’t tell me you have regrets?” For a split second I thought he was going to tell me he was wrong and he did care about Cora.
“What? No.” He laughed in between coughs. “I just don’t want you to lose sight of everything we’ve worked so hard to build for one woman.”
“I can care about her and work on building our empire all at the same time.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Absolutely.”
We talked for a few more minutes and discussed the menu. I hung up the phone and leaned back in my chair. My brother’s question ran through my mind. It was too soon to tell but after spending a mind-blowing thirty-six hours with Cora, I had a feeling things were just starting to heat up.
Twelve
Cora
The day of the holiday competition…
“Oh my shit, are those cameras?” I stopped in the middle of our kitchen station and glanced around. “Aiden.” I glanced over and noticed he was talking to one of the many people wearing headsets.
Aiden and Noah somehow managed to avoid telling me that this competition was being recorded. I didn’t do cameras.
“You ready?” Aiden clapped his hands together as he walked back into our kitchen station.
“Not even a little bit.” I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to look pissed off. The tr
uth was, I wasn’t angry. I was fucking nervous.
He stepped closer to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“Um, cameras.” I turned in a full circle. “You failed to mention they would be here today.
“We told you about the live taping.”
My eyes had to look like gigantic saucers. “Live. Taping.” I started to undo my apron and walk out of the small kitchen area. “Nope. Not going to happen.”
He ran forward and grabbed my shoulders to stop me. “Cora, wait.”
“Aiden, cameras are not my thing.” I said in almost a whisper.
“You won’t even know they’re here the moment we start baking.” He rubbed his hands up and down the length of my arms. “Just ignore them.” He turned me to face him. “Set your eyes on the prize.”
He said the last sentence in this cute way to entice me. “You suck.” I shook my head and tried not laugh. “Like really, really suck.” I finally let him see a small smile.
“But you’re still here.”
“You owe me.”
“I can do that.”
“I’m not talking sex either.”
“Okay.” He chuckled and stepped back. “Would a trip to New York work?”
I didn’t say anything at first. “It is almost Christmas and there is snow there.”
“So we have a deal?” He grabbed my apron and tied it back on me. Then he walked over to the prep area to measure out ingredients.
“I guess.” I followed behind him and tried to ignore the big cameras moving closer to me. “You still suck…”
He leaned close to my ear. “Just you’re sweet pussy.”
“Aiden.” I slapped his arm and burst out laughing. “You can’t say that here.” I threw my hand over my mouth and looked around.
“They can’t hear me.” He winked and handed me some flour. “Plus, if I can make you laugh, I’ll say that shit all day long.”
This day was going to be very interesting. I had to concentrate and make sure my measurements were precise. Plus, I had to make sure each bake was spot on for the judges. We didn’t need to have under baked cakes. That shit didn’t win contests.
In between all of that Aiden was planning to keep me on my toes with his little sexy comments. I had a feeling once this competition ended that sex was most definitely going to be in our future.
Five hours later…
“Wait,” I grabbed the two prepared bread loaves and looked down at the sketch we made of the bread sculpture. “Where’s the gold wings?”
“Here.” Aiden ran over and added the chocolate wings with gold flakes.
We had managed to create five tiers with our design. The bread loaves were different sizes and shapes. The hope was to create a decoration that closely resembled gold angels standing in a bed of snow around Christmas trees. We had made two bread loaves that were for the trees. It took a little extra work but we cut the trees down and smoothed out the edges. Then Aiden used fondant for the angels and snow. It was intricate but it had to be for the level of competition we were competing in.
What Aiden failed to say during the live taping conversation earlier; the competition was being aired on The Bakers Network. I found out because the other competitors were talking about when the show would be available. The man would so owe me for this slip up. I knew he didn’t tell me because he probably knew I would freak out. Having the cameras all up in your business for five hours was not comforting. I had to reach deep down and focus. We had bread to bake and I honestly didn’t want to disappoint the Peterson twins. They had worked too hard to get to this point in their career. I didn’t need to let my self-doubt be the reason they lost.
I glanced over at Aiden and watched how he rolled and kneaded the dough. He was the reason I put my big girl panties on and made sure the sculpture was spot on and showcased every element required to win the competition.
“There’s ten minutes left.” I whispered and handed Aiden the fondant smoother to fix a few edges.
“Oh shit, we forgot something.” He stood back and looked around. “The ornaments on the tree.”
“Do you want fondant or airbrush?” I reached for the fondant and started rolling small balls.
“Um…” He stood there motionless for several seconds.
“Fondant,” I finally said and pulled small pieces of fondant to make the ornaments.
“Yeah, that’ll be fine.” He jumped in and helped finalize the two trees.
“Five minutes,” the host of the event stepped in front of the tables and yelled.
My heart almost dropped. I looked over at Aiden and then back at our bread sculpture. “Wait, I think we’re done,” I said to Aiden in a whisper. “If you add too many ornaments it will look busy. This feels like the right amount.”
He walked around all sides of the structure and nodded. “Yeah, I think this works.” He reached in front of me and grabbed the silver and gold glitter. Then he threw some in his hand and sprinkled them over the tops of each tree. “Now it’s done.” He brushed the glitter off his hands and stepped closer to me. “You happy with it?”
“Only if you’re happy.” I winked and reached over to grab his hand. “Holy shit,” I whispered and squeezed his hand. “That was insane.”
“A good insane though, right?”
“Sure. I think so.”
After five hours the host of the show yelled time.
I wanted to fall down onto the floor and curl into a ball. Instead, I took in a few deep breaths and glanced over at Aiden. He had this huge smile on his face. “What?”
“You did amazing.”
“I just followed your lead.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to his side. “Cora, you’re a natural.”
“At following instructions?” I leaned my head against his shoulder and glanced up at him.
“You thought of the ornaments. That wasn’t me.”
“You thought of everything else.”
He tapped his finger on my nose. “Stop trying to find the negative. We made a great team today.” He kissed the top of my head. “It was fun working with you.”
Suddenly, I had a chance to absorb the day and all that transpired. The bread sculpture was beautiful and I helped create it. Right as I was removing my apron one of the cameras swung past me. After five hours with the large equipment all up in my business, I didn’t flinch. Somehow the cameras, the host, everything about the day felt normal. The thought threw me off.
What if Aiden was right? I was a natural.
I walked over to stand beside Aiden. “Okay, I’ll admit it. This was fun.”
“I sense a but in there somewhere,” he said and smiled.
“But only because I was with you.”
“Did I create a baking competition monster?”
“Maybe,” I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest.
For five years I stayed away. Holding Aiden made me realize I couldn’t stay away any longer. I stepped back slightly and looked up into his delicious hazel eyes. “My gingerbread man.”
“Do you plan on continuing to wear gingerbread on your lady parts?”
“Maybe.”
“I mean, you have the real thing now.”
“Do I?”
“I’m not letting you disappear ever again, Cora.”
I had dreamt about this day for years, but I never believed it would actually come true. Now I had my very own gingerbread man and he was even more delicious than my dreams.
Thirteen
Aiden
One month later…
“Now that you’ve won your second big holiday baking competition…” I handed Cora a gingerbread sweet roll. “Want to shoot for lucky number three?”
“Are you trying to butter me up.” She took a bite and moaned. The sugary cranberry compote in the center was the prize-winning addition. “What’s Noah doing? Shouldn’t you be asking him?”
“He was asked to help i
n some competition last minute.” I shrugged at her words.
“Really?” She scowled and I wanted to kiss each crease on her forehead. “Wait, you always compete with your brother.”
“Yeah, but things are different this year.” I drizzled some glaze over the rolls. “Is that okay?”
She took another bite of the sweet roll. “I guess.”
“You can ask him yourself.” I said it loud enough because Noah was in the other room. Our walls were paper thin in our house.
“Ask me what?” Noah walked into the kitchen and reached into the pan to pull out a roll. “Oh, that reminds me Cora, did Aiden ask you about the next competition?”
“See,” I said and raised my arms up in the air as a surrender.
“Wait, so you really do need my help?” She glanced between us. “Why can’t you do it?”
“One of the teachers at the culinary school Aiden and I went to, asked me to help last minute.” Noah sat down beside Cora and bumped her shoulder. “You can’t say no, you’re on a roll with winning.”
“Plus, it’s a cookie competition this time.” I wiggle my eyebrows. Cora loved cookies and pastries. I figured the word cookies alone would entice her to say yes.
She groaned and dropped her head onto the counter. “What have you done to me?” she moaned and lifted her head up. “What kind of cookies?”
“That matters?” I burst out laughing and walked around the counter. “What kind do you want to make?”
“Macarons.”
“I’ll let you plan out the cookie tower.” I grabbed her hand and lifted her up from the barstool. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to my body.
Noah grabbed another sweet roll. “I watched the latest competition last night on The Bakers Network.” He started to leave the room. “You both make a great team. I may need to find a new partner.”
