Sugarcoated

by Erin Nicholas

  She slowly nodded as if catching on. “So we’re just going to have sex every time you come home to visit. And I don’t see anyone else? I just wait around for you? We’ll have a long distance relationship from here to Chicago?”

  He shrugged. It was not the time to tell her about Hot Cakes. It was definitely not the time. “Fuck, yes to the not seeing anyone else. Yes to the sex every time I come home. But no more visits, no more waiting around, no more long distance, no more Chicago.”

  “What?” She was clearly puzzled.

  “I’m here now. To stay.”

  “Come on,” she scoffed. “Sure.”

  “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Christmas,” he said, letting his voice get a little husky and holding her gaze. “The kiss. Everything. I want it. All of it.”

  “Oh.” She blinked at him. She frowned. Then her eyes got wide. Then she crossed her arms. “Well, you need to get over that.” She swallowed hard at the end though.

  That was the tell. The sign that she wasn’t flippant about this. Or angry at his audacity. She was shocked, sure, but she wasn’t nonchalant about this.

  “Not gonna happen,” he told her honestly.

  “I can not have an actual relationship with you, Aiden.”

  “Of course you can. It’s perfect.”

  “You really think you’re just going to move here?”

  She did actually seem confused by all this.

  “Sure,” he said simply. It was simple. This part anyway.

  “How does that work?” she asked, clearly thinking he was nuts. “Your company is in Chicago.”

  “I’ve got a lot of money, Zoe,” he said. It sounded arrogant, but it was also true. And with her, he could be a little cocky.

  “Oh, great, I definitely want to date a guy who’s just sitting around on his ass being rich,” she said with an eye roll.

  She knew he’d never do that. He wasn’t wired that way. “You know, we just sold our company to a bigger gaming company,” he told her. He and Cam had shared the news with the family at Christmas as a matter of fact. “They’re taking over most of the operations. We’re involved as much as we’d like to be, and we still get royalties, but we’re not as busy with it now. We’re in the midst of looking at new opportunities.”

  All true. No need to go into those specific opportunities—or the one that was in her backyard—at the moment. He really wanted to get a feel for the Hot Cakes situation and how the transition would work before he made a big deal out of it with the McCafferys. Yes, her whole family hated Hot Cakes, and more specifically, the Lancaster family who had started and owned and was now selling the company. He wanted to be able to assure them it was all nothing to worry about, and it wouldn’t change their relationships at all, but he felt like he should at least set foot inside the factory before he said that.

  “I can work from anywhere,” he said.

  That was true enough. He’d still have a hand—or at least a few fingers—in Fluke Inc., his company in Chicago. It was best when the five of the partners were together. It would be best if he was there with them, at least some of the time. God knew what Ollie would have them investing in next or who Cam would piss off if Aiden wasn’t there some of the time. But Chicago wasn’t that far away. Even if he was there once a week, he could keep them on track. Probably. Piper, their executive assistant, was there, at least. He could give her more authority and power to keep the guys in line. Especially Ollie. Grant, their CFO, had hired her as Ollie’s direct assistant, though she definitely helped them all. If someone could just keep an eye on what Ollie was doing and knew when to alert Aiden, things wouldn’t get too far out of hand.

  “You’re going to move here. We’re going to have tons of sex. And then what?” Zoe asked. “How does that breakup work out? My family will be heartbroken. No other guy in this town will want to date me.”

  “Well, excellent on the second part,” he said firmly. “As for the first—there’s no breakup. Nothing to worry about.”

  “We’re never going to break up?” she asked, her eyebrows nearly to her hairline.

  “Right.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  “Why? This makes total sense.”

  “It makes no sense. You can’t just kiss someone, push them away, then come back five months later and essentially propose!”

  He was getting a little irritated with her insistence against this. “Looks like I can.”

  She huffed out a breath while rolling her eyes. “Well, I’m not going to marry my brother’s best friend. A guy I’ve known forever.”

  “Why not?”

  Zoe propped her hands on her hips. “My entire life goes according to plan too, Aiden. But not just everything I touch turns to gold like you. I make it happen that way. But I live in the same town I’ve been in all my life. I took over my family’s business. I moved into a house of a lifelong family friend. The people I work with and wait on are people I’ve known forever. The things I do at work go according to specific recipes that have been tried and true for half a century. There are very few surprises or bumps or glitches.”

  “And you love it that way,” he pointed out.

  She nodded. “Which is why I think having some surprises, excitement, adventures in my love life… and my sex life… would be great.”

  He lifted a brow. “Really?”

  She tipped her head. “Yes. Really. Is that so hard to believe?”

  “Yeah.” He shrugged.

  “Hey.”

  “You haven’t even deviated from a recipe by a half a teaspoon in all your life,” he told her with a little laugh.

  “We’re making cake pops now!” she said, gesturing toward the worktable.

  “And I’ll bet you one million dollars that it was all Josie’s idea that the cake and icing and everything you’re using is the same stuff you’ve always used, so that those things taste exactly like all the other Buttered Up cakes—which is a fantastic thing, by the way—and that even having those little balls of cake added to your menu makes you a little itchy.”

  She chewed on her bottom lip.

  “Deny it,” he challenged. “Any of it. You make those balls out of the same cake batter you do everything else, don’t you?”

  “No.” She paused. Then she admitted, “We use the leftover cake Josie trims off the custom cakes she makes. And leftover icing.”

  “Ah-ha!” He knew this woman. She needed to realize that.

  “It’s a great way to reduce waste,” she said.

  “It is,” he agreed. “And a great way to not really change anything.”

  She scratched her arm. “Even more reason to want an exciting sex life.”

  “The exciting, spontaneous sex life you wanted so badly but felt you needed to try out before doing it ‘for real’?” He even made the air quotes with his fingers because he did not take seriously that sex between them wouldn’t have been very real.

  ”Shut up,” she muttered.

  Aiden grinned. Zoe had never been good at admitting she was wrong or giving up a fight. Definitely something she’d inherited from her grandmother.

  “Hey, no worries,” he said. “That is not going to be a problem. I’m all for an exciting sex life. Whatever you want.” His body stirred with the very idea of exploring anything and everything Zoe would want to try.

  “Not. With. You.”

  She was so damned stubborn. “Zoe,” he said, dropping his voice.

  But she just narrowed her eyes. “Marrying a guy who’s basically been a part of my family my entire life, who I know as well as I know my brother, who I already have years of memories with, isn’t new or exciting.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he finally said. “Knowing me, liking me, your family already loving me, having a history together—that’s all counting against me here?”

  She shrugged. “Yes.”

  “That is nuts,” he told her.

  “Actually, the idea of marrying the first guy I ever sl
eep with is so sane and normal and”—she wrinkled her nose—“cliché, it’s ridiculous.”

  He straightened. “So the sex thing is still on the table though,” he said, focusing on the part that would help him out most. Because the rest of it… well, she wasn’t wrong. Falling for the first guy she slept with was absolutely a possibility, and Zoe was a forever kind of girl. Finding out she’d seriously dated and been intimate with only one guy would not have shocked him.

  And now that the guy was going to be him, it made perfect sense.

  Was he above taking her to bed and then pressing hard for more? Nope. Not at all. Zoe McCaffery was difficult. He wasn’t sure why he’d thought she’d suddenly be easy for him. Oh yeah, the candy-pink teddy she’d worn into his bedroom on Christmas Eve. That whole thing had seemed very easy.

  Forgetting about it had been the hard part. Impossible, in fact.

  She flipped her hand as if waving it all away. “Oh, no. Don’t worry. I’m good there.”

  He looked at her closely. “Good where?”

  “The sex thing.”

  He sighed. None of this was turning out to be romantic or especially hot. He’d expected it to be sexy. He’d truly thought he’d show up, she’d be a little miffed, but he’d quickly wear her down. She wanted him. That was a well-established fact now. That kiss was not something either of them was going to be able to forget about. He’d really thought by this point of being alone with her, they’d be back at it.

  “Look, I know you’re ticked off and embarrassed that I turned you down,” he said.

  “Of course I’m ticked off and embarrassed!” she exclaimed. “I asked you for one little favor! We’ve been friends forever! You couldn’t just do that one thing for me? Take twenty minutes out of your night? Instead, you had to make it this whole humiliating thing. Just no. That was all you freaking said, Aiden. Just no.”

  He opened his mouth then shut it and frowned. She really did make it sound like she was considering it a request she’d made of him like “Could you kill a huge spider in the bathroom for me?” or “Could I have a few of your frequent-flier miles?”

  “Well, it wasn’t exactly a little favor,” he said, his jaw tight.

  Her eyes dropped to his fly.

  He was surprised. That wasn’t what he’d been talking about. But it was good to know where her mind went.

  Then she rolled her eyes. The way she’d done to him probably a million times in their lives. But this time his male ego got riled up. “And twenty minutes? You haven’t even been reading good books about it or watching decent porn if you think it would only take twenty minutes.”

  Her eyes widened, then narrowed, then went normal sized, as if responding to a series of thoughts going through her mind.

  All of which made him really nervous.

  Her voice was completely calm when she said, “Anyway, you don’t have to worry. That’s all done. I’m good. I’ve got it taken care of.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” he demanded.

  But he knew. It meant that some other guy had showed her what sex was all about so that she could “get it over with” before she had it for real. And now he was going to need names and addresses. Because Zoe McCaffery was his.

  Not that he was going to say it quite like that to her. Zoe was very much her own woman. Hell, the sentiment would likely shock her. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He’d certainly never been that kind of guy about Zoe.

  Of course, if anyone had ever messed with her—teased her on the playground, been mean to her in high school—he would have been there to make that person sorry.

  This was different. This was about someone touching her, her wanting that person to touch her, pleasure her, do things she’d never experienced before.

  That was all supposed to be his territory.

  She would not appreciate that sentiment from him at all.

  The other men in Appleby would though. He’d be sure of that.

  “It means I’m fine. Without you,” she said. She cocked her head, giving him a little smile. “But really, thank you for your concern.”

  “You’re fine without me?” His voice was low, and he was sure she could see his temper was rising too.

  “What?” she asked, her eyes wide and blinking. “You thought I’d just be waiting around for you to come back?”

  “Yes!” It was the wrong answer, he knew, even as he said it. But it was true.

  “You are so full of yourself!” she said, immediately dropping the whole, obviously fake, you’re-so-sweet-to-worry-about-me thing. She frowned. “You actually thought I’d be waiting around, pining for you, didn’t you?”

  Maybe not crying herself to sleep every night, but thinking about him? Yeah. Fuck. He hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind for more than a few hours at a time. “It’s only been five months,” he said. “Is it really crazy for me to think that you didn’t get it ‘taken care of’ yet?”

  “Exactly! It’s been five months!” she said.

  “You went twenty-five years without sex, and you couldn’t go five more months?”

  “Well, it’s not like you gave me an IOU!” she shot back. “I had no idea when you were coming back, and I assumed your answer would have been the same. Not that you really gave me any explanation other than no. So yeah, I moved on, Aiden.”

  “Who was it?” he asked, noting his tone was suddenly a little ominous.

  “I’m not telling you that.” She looked at him like he was insane.

  “Tell me, Zoe.”

  “No.”

  “I’ll find out. This is Appleby. I’ll probably know by the end of tonight.”

  “You won’t.” She lifted her chin. “I can promise you that.”

  “Bet I do.”

  “Why do you really even care? Now you don’t have to do it.”

  “Because you’re mine.”

  Yeah, shit. See, he’d known that was the wrong answer to give. Guys didn’t go around claiming women like they were property or possessions. He knew that. He’d never had that urge before. This woman was strong and independent and confident and certainly didn’t need him for anything.

  But the idea of another man touching her, seeing her naked, making her feel the ultimate pleasure, made his blood boil.

  She stood, just staring at him. Then she picked up a cake ball. And threw it at him. It hit him square in the red tie and bounced back onto the table.

  “You’re a jerk.”

  Yeah, maybe he was. A nice guy would probably just take all her explanations and excuses about why they shouldn’t be together and admit his idea was crazy.

  He didn’t say anything. He didn’t wipe away the sticky crumbs the cake ball left on his tie. He picked up the ball and rounded the worktable.

  Her eyes widened, and she backed up as he came closer. He kept going. Until her back was against the front of the fridge.

  He didn’t say a word as he stopped right in front of her, lifted his hand to cup her face, and leaned in.

  Aiden ignored her hands on his chest. She wasn’t pushing. She wasn’t pulling him closer either, but she wasn’t trying to get away. She wasn’t lifting her knee to his balls. She wasn’t saying no.

  He stared into her eyes for a long moment. She could stop this. He knew she knew that.

  She didn’t.

  So he kissed her.

  He took her lips softly at first but then more fully. He stepped closer as he deepened the kiss, pressing her between the fridge and his body. He slid his fingers into her hair and tipped her head back slightly. Then he opened his mouth.

  She gave a little sigh and followed suit. Yes.

  He licked along her lower lip. She was so fucking sweet. She smelled and tasted like the cake and sugar and vanilla that surrounded her every day. It was like the scents had seeped into her skin and became a part of her. Appropriate. She and this bakery were connected in a deep way.

  Aiden slid his other arm around her, pulling her up against him fully. He w
as careful not to crush the cake ball he still held. But his arm around her waist settled her against him. Her breasts pressed into his chest, their pelvises aligned, and he took the kiss deeper, stroking his tongue in along hers, tasting her fully.

  She arched into him, her arms going up to encircle his neck as she went up on tiptoe.

  Damn, he wanted her.

  She slanted her head in the other direction and slid her hands up to the back of his head, pressing her body even closer.

  She fit against him perfectly and he had a few options. He could lift her against the fridge, put her up on the worktable and lay her back, or bend her over it to take her from behind.

  He took the tiny step that brought her back against the fridge again and moved his hand from her hair to her ass. He lifted her easily. She was light enough and she definitely helped. She pulled herself up, wrapping her legs around his waist and giving a little moan that made fire lick through him.

  Aiden leaned in, aligning his cock with the sweet spot between her legs, gripping her ass in one hand as she linked her ankles behind him.

  He ground into her. He wanted bare skin, but he also didn’t want to let go of her for a second. This spot—fitted against her like this in the middle of her kitchen—was ideal. In this moment, Christmas Eve, the past five months apart, the factory… none of it mattered. This was why he was here.

  This woman, who he’d known his entire life and shared so much with, also made him hotter than he could remember ever being for another woman. He knew their history, their shared loves—her family, the town—and their shared desire for purpose and meaning in their lives and work were a part of that. How could he ever feel this way for someone he didn’t know this well? That he hadn’t known through triumphs and tragedies, victories and challenges? How could she want someone who she didn’t know like that?

  Exciting? Adventurous? Surprising?

  Yeah, he’d give her all that.

  He might be her brother’s best friend, and this might sound a little cliché, but he didn’t give a damn.

  This was happening.

  He pulled back and looked down at her, still holding her against the fridge.