by Maya Hughes
“You could have fooled me. You sure act like it.”
“I don’t hate you,” she said, letting out a deep breath. She nibbled on her bottom lip. Now was as good a time as any to hash this out. “I dislike you because of the way you treat my food and since my food is probably the most important thing in my life, how you treat me.” She held her breath waiting for his response.
“What are you talking about? I don’t hate you or your food.”
“You hate my food, Liam,” she nearly shouted. It hurt because she felt so stupid for liking him even though he did. “How am I supposed to work as a chef in a kitchen you now co-own, when I know you hate the food I make?” she said, her voice rising with each word.
“I don’t hate your food. I don’t hate it at all.”
“You could have fooled me,” she said, incredulous, thinking back to all the little comments about anything she’d ever served him. Never to her face, but she’d always heard them or had other people in the kitchen report them back to her.
“I don’t hate it and that’s part of the problem.”
“I’ve heard you, Liam.” Just thinking about it made her want to punch him. “I’ve seen your face when you see the food I make, when you smell it. Not the face someone makes when they are enjoying something.”
He was quiet for a long time. Maybe this would finally shut him up and leave her to get some rest. She settled back down, closing her eyes and resting her head on her hands behind her head.
“The problem isn’t that I hate your food, Rox, it’s that I like it way too much.” Her eyes snapped open, and it took her a second to remember there were no lights. It was so dark she couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face. She sat up.
“What are you talking about?” She scrunched her eyebrows. How could liking her food be a problem?
He didn’t respond. And the dark silence got a little awkward.
“What are you talking about, Liam?” she repeated, gently. He seemed a bit hesitant about sharing and she wanted to get to the bottom of this once and for all.
“I was a fat kid, okay,” he rushed out. “Growing up, it was rough, especially with Lucas as my twin, my much thinner twin. He could always eat whatever he wanted. Me, on the other hand, I don’t know how it happened, but I ended up with the short end of the stick on that one. I was a fat kid.”
“But why does that make you act the way you do around me and my food.” It didn’t make any sense. Shouldn’t he be all over her food then, or at least able to appreciate it?
“I’m not a fat kid now because I worked really hard at it. I started boxing in high school and working out, but I still have to be careful with my food. And your food is like my kryptonite. I learned this trick when I started to get serious about weight loss. In addition to cutting back on food, I would imagine that foods I really liked, foods I knew I couldn’t resist, were covered in disgusting stuff. I was trying to psych myself out to keep from going insane and, say, eating an entire tray of candied bacon. You have no idea how good it smelled. The salty sweetness filled the whole kitchen. You’re lucky I didn’t knock you over to get a piece. I had to get out of there fast before you were in danger when you got between me and that bacon.” She heard the smile in his voice and held back her own laugh.
“Are you serious?”
“Rox, you were about five seconds from being pushed out of the way and me diving into that tray of bacon.”
That melted her a little. She knew what it was like to not feel comfortable in her own skin and to worry about how other people saw you. To worry about what other people thought about you. He did like her food. Her heart soared. He didn’t hate it. He liked it—a lot. All the faces and comments were only because he couldn’t resist her food. Somehow this changed all her interactions with him. No longer were these laced with anger and hurt, but understanding and even little smiles.
“Yup, I imagine it’s covered in crap or puke or bugs, whatever it needs to be to keep me from going insane and devouring everything in sight. I’m sorry if I made you think I didn’t like what you made. The problem is I like it way too much.” Now the looks of disgust made sense.
“Wow,” she said, laying back down flat. “Okay, I guess that’s sort of a compliment. Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I didn’t want you to know I was a fat kid. A fat kid who couldn’t control himself around your food without stupid mental tricks. I liked you way too much to embarrass myself like that.” Her heart thudded. He liked her. When he said he liked her, did he mean like a friend or like more than a friend?
“Liked? So, you don’t like me anymore?” She held her breath waiting for his response. She swore he could hear her heart pounding from the other side of the freezer.
“Rox.” He let out a deep breath. “Like. I still like you, Rox.” She froze then. She was in the middle of the thawed out walk-in freezer with a man she’d been able to resist for a long while because she thought he didn’t like her. And now he said he did. He did like her. All those daydreams she’d suppressed when it came to him came rushing back. His muscled arms and chest under a tight t-shirt, his light brown hair that her fingers itched to run through, his emerald green eyes that reminded her of green apple hard candy all filled her mind. No, she hadn’t been thinking about him at all. He’d barely registered on her radar. Yeah, right.
The bright light of his phone lit up the freezer and he crossed the space between then, sitting down next to her, resting his arms on his knees. That t-shirt should be illegal as it left nothing to the imagination. Down girl! She held her breath and folded her hands in her lap.
“I really am sorry, Rox. I didn’t mean for you to hear anything of the things I said or see the faces I made. It kind of became a kneejerk reaction whenever I was around your food. I knew it tasted amazing and I had to stop myself from going crazy.” He ran his hands across his thighs. His large muscular thighs. Rox shook her head. Was she seriously losing it? It was like a switch had been flicked when it came to Liam.
“Don’t worry about it, water under the bridge,” she said, glancing up at him, smiling.
“Great.” His face brightened and he smiled back. “Now that you know about my fat kid past, you’re going to have to guard that kitchen. All the smells from the kitchen come right into the office. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were drool stains all over Mark’s desk.” And that explained why he wasn’t up there much. She shook her head.
“What?”
“Nothing, I’m just putting a few things together.” Her breath caught as she glanced up at him. His eyes really were breathtaking. Deciding that she could go on holding a grudge or try to make the best of this, she made a choice.
“How have you been finding it? Running the bar?”
He let out a deep breath and stared at the walls of the freezer.
“It’s a lot different than I thought it would be.”
“How so?” She shifted her legs, crossing them and her knee touched his leg. A jolt shot through her and she peered over at Liam. He stared at her and a blush crept up her neck and she glanced away.
“I don’t know. I ran a bunch of teams at Doppel, helped build it from the ground up. For some reason, I thought I could jump in here and pick things up right where Mark left off. He’s entrusted me with this place and I’m screwing everything up.”
“You’re not screwing everything up,” she offered. He shot her a look. “What? I mean you’ve left the kitchen alone. For that, you get bonus points, especially now that I know you don’t hate my food.”
“I guess there’s that. At least I know when people are better off without me meddling.”
“The other stuff will come to you, if you pay attention and actually read and follow through with the notes that people leave you. Check your desk.” She gave him a gentle whack on the leg. He glanced over at her and her breath quickened. Now that her view of him wasn’t clouded by the hatred she thought he felt for her food, those earlier butterflies she got in her
stomach when she was around him were returning. They spent the next couple of hours talking about ideas he had for The Bramble. Getting some more great music in was his top priority. Eric Newcastle playing their place a few times had put them on the radar of other musicians in the area and maybe that could turn into a thing. And with an LA and upcoming NYC location, it seemed the perfect spot to showcase upcoming talent.
“My ass has fallen asleep,” he said, shifting back and forth next to her.
“You can lie down here. There’s plenty of cardboard for both of us.” She scooted over and he unfolded himself and stretched out next to her. His arm brushed up against hers and goosebumps broke out all over her skin.
“Are you cold?” He slid his arm under her head, wrapped it around her shoulder, and pulled her closer. Rubbing her arms to try to warm her up, he was only making her flutters even worse. He stopped rubbing, but didn’t take his arm back so she rested her head on his arm. She breathed him in and despite working behind the bar all night, he still had a nice clean smell. Like a freshly opened bar of soap. She found herself sniffing his shirt before she could stop herself.
“Did you just sniff me?” he said, chuckling. She froze, scoffing.
“No, don’t be ridiculous. Of course I wasn’t.” Why had she done that? Did she really just smell him? And why did he have to smell so good?
“You were totally smelling me.” Even in the dark, she could hear the smile in his voice.
“I swear, I wasn’t.” She was lucky he couldn’t see her beet red face right now.
“Liar,” he accused before sitting up and tickling her. Rox laughed and squirmed as he attacked her stomach with his fingers of evil. Laughing so much she started crying, she wiggled trying to get away from him, but ultimately ended up under him.
“Admit it!”
“Okay, I admit it! I sniffed you!” She squealed, short of breath from all the laughing. “I sniffed you! I was just wondering how you could smell so nice and fresh after working all night.”
“Want to know my secret?” he said, bending closer to her. Her breath caught as he moved in closer to her, the warmth of his body on hers. It was pitch black, but she was very aware of where he was, especially because his hands were still resting on her waist.
“Sure,” she said. Her breath sounding way breathier than she meant it to.
“I had a spare shirt in my bag. Someone spilled a drink on me earlier and I didn’t want to come in here smelling like beer and vodka.”
“Why not?”
“Do you really not know, Rox?”
“Know what?” She gulped, feeling him move even closer now. The heat from his body enveloped her and his breath breezed across her face. He threaded his hands in her short hair and lifted it up.
“I’m crazy about you Rox. I had to come in here because it was driving me crazy. You’ve been driving me crazy.”
9
Chapter
“I have?” she squeaked.
“You have. I couldn’t take you hating me anymore. I wanted to come in here to clear the air.” His lips were inches away now. Under the cover of darkness, her inhibitions were lowered. There wasn’t a fear of him seeing her vulnerability or her scars. She tentatively lifted her hand and brought it to the back of his neck, pulling him down to meet her lips. He let out a groan and she wanted to stay there all night. His mouth tasted like peppermint. He brought his hands to both sides of her face and pulled her in even tighter, delving deeper into her mouth.
“You taste so good. I think you’re my new favorite treat.”
“I completely agree,” she said, grabbing onto his shirt and searching for his lips again in the dark. He brought his head back down and she started to run her hands up his back. Looking for the hem of his shirt, when her hand contacted the smooth skin on his back, he let out a short hiss.
“You’re playing with fire.”
“I’m a chef, that’s what I do.” She ran her fingers over the corded muscles of his back. He wasn’t kidding about the boxing. He made a growling sound and her hand froze in place.
“Don’t stop now. I’m just mad we don’t have any light in here. I want to unwrap you like a present.”
“It’s better in the dark. Stop talking and do it,” she challenged. He found her mouth again in the dark, seemingly trying to inhale her, while he ran his hands along the hem of her shirt. Pushing her shirt up higher, he cupped her breasts through her bra, playing with her nipples through the thin cups. Bringing her legs up behind his thighs, she pulled him down on top of her, feeling his cock through his jeans and hers, ready and at attention.
He grunted and came down closer to her on the floor. She felt him rear up and the whoosh of his shirt as he took it off. Feeling around in the pitch black, she felt his chest, his rock-hard muscles, smooth under her fingertips. She found his nipples and gave them a sharp pinch, making him suck in a tight breath. He settled back down on top of her, pulling on the bottom hem of her shirt and nudging her up so he could tug it over her head.
Both topless, he used his mouth on the side of her neck, kissing his way down her body until he found his way to her nipples. Taking one in his mouth, he gave the other one a slight pinch, drawing a gasp from her.
“It seems two can play at that game,” he said. She could hear the smile in his voice. “Are you sure about this, Rox?”
“Stop being so damn considerate and get those pants off,” she said, grasping for his belt buckle. It had been a long time for her. Much longer than she would have liked, but it was hard to feel safe with anyone. Pushing those thoughts aside, she needed him inside her pussy right now. Her core was clenching in anticipation of Liam getting those damn pants off and inside of her as soon as possible.
“I’m always considerate, which is why I’m more than happy to go along with your request.”
Together, they pushed his jeans down over his ass and she could feel his cock resting against her jean-clad lower half.
“My turn,” she said with a grin he couldn’t see, as she lifted her hips and shimmied the jeans over her butt and down her legs. Liam settled back on top of her and her eyelashes fluttered as she felt the heaviness of his velvet wrapped steel settling at the top of her pussy. This was going to be good.
Liam’s heart beat a mile a minute and his palms were sweaty as he rested his cock at the opening to her pussy. He couldn’t believe how quickly things had changed. From a shit night trapped in a broken freezer with Rox, to finally finding out why she hated him, to where they were now. He was in serious danger of getting whiplash, but he wasn’t one to pass up an opportunity to finally be inside the woman who had been on his mind since he tasted her patty melt years ago.
“Hurry up already!” She whined from beneath him, raising her hips up, attempting to get him inside her. He couldn’t help his smile. She was a minx and a demanding one at that. Pulling his wallet out of his back pocket he felt around for a condom.
“If you don’t hurry up, I’m going to get started on my own.” She shifted under him and he could hear the wetness of her pussy as she parted and began to play with herself without him. Her moans had him moving double time to unwrap this damn thing and get it on. A lot easier said than done with no light. Fumbling, urged on by her moans and gasps of pleasure, he finally sheathed himself and settled back on top of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he could smell her essence on her hands. He brought one hand down and put her fingers in his mouth, sucking her juices off her fingers.
“Next time,” he promised, before lining himself up with her opening and pressing forward. She gasped and he stopped, not wanting to hurt her. She wrapped her legs around the backs of his thighs and pulled him down on top of her, while rocking her hips. He sank into her and they both let out a groan. She was so fucking tight and wet, he had to stop moving and rest his head on her shoulder or he was going to come way too early, embarrassing himself.
She was getting restless under him, so he captured her lips with his, their tongues
mimicking what their bodies were doing as he began to slowly pump in and out of her. Rox brought her hands up across his back, pulling him tight to her. Once he was fully inside of her, blissed out at how amazing she felt, they started to pick up the pace. A more frantic rhythm took over and he was pumping into her, the cardboard underneath them shifting as they pushed along the floor of the freezer, his grunts and her cries bouncing off the walls.
He felt her tighten around him. Balancing on one arm, he reached down between them and gave her clit a little squeeze and that was all she needed to set her off. Her frantic cries grew louder and she went rigid under him. Knowing that she’d gotten hers, Liam pushed in deeper and started pumping in and out with abandon, quickly falling over the edge with her. His heart beating even more wildly, he collapsed next to her, panting.
“Still think I’m a tease?” He was still trying to catch his breath.
“No, not at all,” she said, resting her head on his chest. He wrapped one arm around her and used the other to take the condom off. Not exactly sure what to do with it, he felt around for his phone. He found it after a couple of minutes of reaching blindly. Lighting the room up, Rox immediately froze in his arms, quickly grabbing for her shirt.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.
“I didn’t mean to startle you, I just wanted to get rid of the condom.” She glared at him, pulling her shirt down over her breasts and redoing her jeans. He tied the condom and grabbed one of the small cardboard boxes, throwing it in here. He pulled up his pants, but didn’t bother buttoning them before turning back to Rox. She seemed back on her guard. He turned off the light and laid back down.
“Come on, lie back down.” He felt around in the dark for her, trying to coax her back into the non-hard ass mood she’d just been in. He could feel her hesitation as she scooted back over to him and laid down, eventually moving closer and resting her head on his chest. Liam breathed out a sigh of relief as he stroked his fingers through her hair. Shorter on the sides and long on top, he let the silk-smooth locks fan over his fingers.
