The sound of the shower curtain scraping against the rod sounded just before cold air hit my wet body. “Agh! Cold!” I shouted, my eyes shooting open to find Derrick in all his naked glory climbing into my tub. The sight was mind-altering, really. It made my mouth water and my body quiver… but I was already running late.
He gave me a wicked grin. “Sorry about that. Let me warm you up.”
“No, Derrick,” I said with a laugh as I tried to dodge his hold in the small confines of the claw foot tub. “I’m already late! This is the second morning this week.”
He reached for me. “It should be illegal to wake up so fucking early. It’s not normal, baby. Way I see it, I’m doing you a favor by keeping you in bed longer.”
“Maybe if I was actually sleeping!” I giggled, goosebumps breaking out across my skin. “But I’ve had less sleep in these past three days than is healthy, Derrick. And it’s all your fault.”
He looked at me with a smirk and nipped my bottom lip. “You’re welcome.”
“If you don’t keep your hands off me, then the cupcakes won’t get baked. If the cupcakes don’t get baked, the people of Pembrooke will revolt!”
“Let them,” he mumbled, his fingertips digging into my waist as he pulled me flush against him and began kissing my neck.
I moaned with pleasure before giving him a pathetic shove, barely moving him an inch. “If they revolt, I’m blaming it all on you.”
His head came up, his eyes narrowed in playful slits. “You wouldn’t.”
“Watch me. I’d throw you right under that bus and not feel bad about it.”
“Evil woman,” he said in a raspy voice, going back to my neck, knowing damn good and well that spot was my weakness. “Good thing you’re too damned cute for me to stay mad at.”
It was all too much, sensory overload. His smell, his touch, his mouth against skin as his erection dug into my belly. I don’t know why I bothered fighting it, we both knew I’d cave.
And that was exactly what I did.
We stayed in the shower until the water ran cold, then moved to the bed for round two. In the end, I didn’t get down to the kitchen to start baking until a quarter after five.
And I didn’t regret it a single bit.
“LOOK AT YOU.” I glanced over my shoulder to find Erin and a few of my other employees staring at me with shit-eating grins on their faces as I iced the latest batch of chocolate and espresso cupcakes. “You’re all glow-y. Someone’s getting some!” she sing-songed.
All I could do was grin because she was not wrong. “Pretty sure I pay you guys to do more than stand around and give me shit,” I said, but I did it with a smile.
“See!” Erin cried. “You’re even smiling when you’re trying to be a hard-ass! It’s three o’clock, you’ve been on your feet all day, and you’re still smiling! No wonder he calls you sunshine,” she winked.
I rolled my eyes as Kristen, one of the girls that worked the register up front pushed the door to the kitchen open. “Hey, Chloe. There’s a woman up front asking to talk to you.”
“Really?” I asked, standing from my hunched over position. “You know who she is?”
Kristen shrugged. “Never seen her before. She just asked to talk to the owner.”
“Huh. Okay. I’ll be right out.” I handed the piping bag over to one of my pastry chefs and went to wash the icing from my hands, curious as to who was asking for me. The moment I pushed through the door to the front of the bakery, I got my answer. And I was not happy about it.
“Layla,” I offered congenially even though all I wanted to do was reach across the countertop and slap the resting bitch face right off of her. “What can I do for you? Do you need coffee? Something to eat?”
“The only thing I need from you is to leave my husband alone,” she blurted out, none too quietly.
Okay, I attempted being nice even though the woman standing before me was probably the only person on the planet who made me contemplate homicide, but if she wanted a fight, I was down for that, too. Onlookers be damned.
“I’m pretty sure you mean ex-husband. Because the last I heard he couldn’t stand your manipulative, self-centered ass.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she spit out, her pretty face twisted with so much hatred and anger it made her look ugly.
“Really? That’s funny, because I’m pretty sure I’m dating him seeing as we’ve been in the same bed the past three nights.”
She let out an indelicate snort. “Please, just because he fucks you doesn’t mean you’re together, you ignorant little girl.”
I leaned in closer, propping my hands on the wooden surface between us. “Oh, I know that. I’m talking about the fact he told me I’m the first woman he’s met who’s ever made him consider commitment after, and I’m paraphrasing here, so forgive me, ‘living a decade of fucking misery.’”
Layla’s top lip curled up. “You’re nothing but a home-wrecking slut!”
“And you’re a shrew who was too self-absorbed to see she had a good man for ten years! And what’s worse, you’re still clueless to what you have because you treat your daughter like she’s nothing but a game piece! You don’t deserve either of them and I can’t wait for the day when it’s all ripped out from under you. Eliza’s a brilliant little girl and you should be counting your blessings that you’re lucky enough to have her. Instead, you’re too consumed with being a greedy bitch to see what’s right in front of you! If you don’t get your shit together, Layla, you’re going to lose her too. And that just makes me sad for you, because you’re too stupid to see what you’ve got.”
“You stupid bitch!” She lunged, but I’d been prepared for it. With the bar between us, all I had to do was take a step back to get out of her reach, leaving her to make an even bigger fool out of herself as she tried to scramble across the waist-high counter in too tight clothes and impossibly high heels, making the feat impossible.
I rolled my eyes. “Your pathetic attempt at threatening me isn’t going to work, so you might as well just quit wasting my time and yours and get the hell out of my bakery before I call the cops and have them remove you. And trust me,” I glared, “I’d love nothing more than to do just that. I’m willing to do anything to help Derrick build a case against you for full custody if you don’t get your shit together.”
At that, all of the color drained from her face and her body went lax, sliding off the countertop until her heels hit the floor.
“Uh, everything okay here?” I turned to see Noah standing a few feet away, his body drawn tight like he was ready to pounce if need be.
“Hey!” I smiled, coming around the bar to give him a hug. “What are you doing here?”
“Harlow had a craving for cookies and when I offered to bake them myself, she threatened to dismember me in my sleep.” I laughed and one corner of his mouth hooked up, but he didn’t quite smile, his eyes sliding back to Layla in concern.
“Everything good?” he asked, looking back at me.
“Yep.” I turned to face Layla. “She was just leaving.”
Having composed herself after my last well-placed hit, she glared at me as she hooked her purse over her shoulder. “This isn’t over,” she warned as she walked past.
“It’s so fucking over it’s not even funny,” I told her. “And if you ever step foot in my bakery again, you won’t like what happens.” She turned to stomp out, but I wasn’t finished. “Oh, and Layla?” I paused until I had her full attention. “You can rest assured that I’ll be telling Derrick about this little exchange.” I waved my hand around to encompass the room and all the customers sitting in fascinated silence. “Coming into his girlfriend’s place of work and threatening her?” I shook my head, giving her a pitying look. “Not smart, honey. Really not smart. Especially when your daughter’s school got out thirty minutes ago and it’s a twenty-minute drive back to Jackson Hole. Wonder how a judge would feel if he knew you made your own child wait outside her school just so you could stir up drama
?”
“Probably wouldn’t be too pleased,” Noah offered, throwing an arm around my shoulders in a show of solidarity.
“No one asked you!” she bit out.
“You’re still standing here,” I said in warning as I reached to pull my phone from my apron pocket. Before I even got it all the way out she was scuttling out the door faster than a woman in heels that high should be able to move.
“You sure you’re cool?” Noah asked once she was gone.
I let out a long sigh and looked up at him. “Yeah, I’m good. She doesn’t get to me. I just really can’t stand that woman.”
He chuckled. “Think the feelings mutual, sweetheart. And who knew you had it in you to be a badass?” He gave me a light jab in my shoulder. “I’m seriously impressed, although I have to say, I don’t think I’m okay with you and Harlow playing together anymore. She’s bad enough as it is.”
I shot a wink at him as I walked back behind the counter. “Where do you think I learned it?”
“Damn it! I knew she’d corrupt all the good ones! We need an exorcism, STAT!” I laughed as I boxed up a dozen cookies for him to take to Harlow. “Now, you know you’re gonna need to call your man and fill him in on everything that just happened, right? If he hears it from someone else, his head’s liable to explode.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll call him.”
“Good. And Harlow wants you guys over for dinner—” I looked at him with panic etched across my face before he could even finish that sentence. Luckily he held up his hands and exclaimed, “Don’t worry. I’m picking up take-out from the Moose.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “In that case, we’ll see you tonight.” I handed him the box and he gave me a twenty and a kiss on the cheek before heading out. Now to call my overprotective, somewhat moody boyfriend and tell him I’d just had a run-in with his ex-wife from Hell.
What fun.
Derrick
“KEEP STARING LIKE that and you’re gonna get her pregnant just by looking at her.”
I choked on the sip of beer I’d just taken and turned to glare at Noah, the bastard. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and elbowed him in his gut, taking pleasure in how he hunched over and groaned in pain. Harlow and Chloe both looked at us from across the deck. I smiled and waved like it was nothing until they turned their attention back on the baby in Chloe’s arms.
“Will you shut the fuck up?” I whisper-yelled.
“Just stating the obvious, man,” he grunted, still out of breath from my well-placed elbow to his ribs. “You’re looking at her like she’s a steak and you haven’t eaten in a goddamned week.”
There was no denying that. I wasn’t sure exactly when it happened, but Chloe had suddenly become something I obsessed about on a regular basis. When we weren’t together all I could think about was her. When we were, I couldn’t keep my damned hands off her. I was like a junkie needing a fix. I’d gone from anti-commitment to wanting her within my grasp constantly in the blink of an eye. If you had told me months ago I’d actually enjoy being so twisted up about a woman, I’d have laughed in your lying face.
But that was then. And as I looked at Chloe holding Lucy, Noah and Harlow’s new baby girl, there was no fear, no dread tying my stomach into knots. I didn’t worry about the what-ifs. I was just happy. Really fucking happy.
And damn she looked good holding that baby.
“She tell you about what went down with Layla at the bakery today?” Noah asked, pulling me out of my own head.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do about that woman.” Anxiety clawed at my insides whenever I thought about my daughter. I’d give anything to have Eliza with me constantly, but I just didn’t have what I needed to take to a judge in order to strip Layla of her rights. At least not yet. But the wait felt like it was slowly killing me.
“Man, you should have seen your girl,” he tilted his chin toward Chloe, appreciation heavy in this voice. “Didn’t know she had that kind of spunk in here. Even I was a little scared of her. Sweet, shy Chloe’s got some claws on her, brother. And they’re sharp as hell. I’m pretty sure Satan’s Mistress is still feeling the sting of them.”
I wasn’t going to lie, after Chloe told me what had happened, and the boiling rage that turned my vision red finally subsided, I’d gotten hard as a rock visualizing my little sunshine going toe to toe with the she-devil. Hell, I was getting hard now just thinking about it.
“Says good things she’d defend you and your girl like that,” he continued. “Woman like that, well, I’d say she’s worth keeping around for the long-haul. But that’s just me,” he shrugged like he thought he was being smooth and I didn’t have a clue what he was getting at.
“You aren’t telling anything I haven’t already realized, man.” I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, one side of my mouth hitching up in a grin.
He chuckled. “So you managed to pull your head out of your ass?”
“Yep.”
“Thank Christ,” he sighed and patted me on the shoulder. “Harlow will be pleased. Now she won’t have to shank you in your sleep.”
Chloe
I LET OUT a yawn as I walked into Derrick’s house, dropping my purse and overnight bag on the couch as I passed. “Lucy’s adorable,” I smiled through my exhaustion as I thought about the tiny baby I’d just spent hours holding. Was there anything on earth that smelled better than a newborn baby?
“She’s a little cutie,” Derrick agreed as he closed and locked the front door. “You look like you could fall asleep standing, baby.”
I hummed and gave him a sleepy smile as I kicked my sandals off. “I probably could.”
He moved closer and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Waking up so fucking early can’t be good on you, sunshine.”
I nuzzled into his chest, basking in his warmth and the concern lacing through his words. I never thought I’d be where I was right in that moment. I’d dreamed of Derrick holding me just like this countless times, but I didn’t actually think it would happen. I always considered him out of my reach. To be honest, sometimes I still had to pinch myself just as a reminder that I wasn’t dreaming.
“It comes with the territory, honey. A baker’s gotta bake.”
His hands ran a soothing pattern up and down my back and he spoke against the top of my head, “Maybe if you didn’t hold such a tight rein on your employees, you’d see they’re more than capable of picking up a little bit of the slack.”
I pulled back to look up at him, his arms wound around my waist so I couldn’t move completely away. “What are you talking about?”
“You put too much pressure on yourself, baby.”
My brows furrowed. “Well, yeah. It’s my business. My livelihood. If I don’t do it, who will?”
“Did the bakery fall to ruin when you were out sick?”
“No,” I answered on a glare, making him smile that devilish smile I loved so much.
“Who do you think took care of everything while you were gone those few days?”
“My staff,” I grumbled, reluctant to concede his point.
“I know you want to be in control.” He reached up with one hand and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m not saying you need to let things go completely, but maybe work out a schedule where you’re not the only one going in at the butt-crack of dawn to prep and bake for the day. I have no doubt your guys would be willing to take on the extra work. They’re pastry chefs after all, isn’t that what they like to do?”
I opened my mouth to argue but my mind blanked. There wasn’t a single thing I could say that he wouldn’t be able to rebuff, easily. Because the fact was, he was right.
“I see I’m getting through,” he chuckled and I smacked him in the shoulder.
“No need to gloat about it.”
“Ah, but there is. You see, if you lighten your load and share some of the early morning hours, I won’t have to feel so guilty for keeping you up all night
long.”
The glower I pasted on my face contradicted the rush of moisture I felt between my legs. God, he was hot. “Someone’s feeling cocky.”
His mouth came down on mine. “And in a few minutes, you will be too.”
MY HANDS SQUEEZED the slats of the headboard so tightly my knuckles grew white. I moaned in ecstasy as I threw my head back. I couldn’t remember sex ever being so good before.
“That’s it, sunshine,” Derrick grunted as he pounded into me from behind, one of his hands leaving my hip in order to wrap my hair around his fist. “I want to feel you squeezing me.”
“Oh, God. Don’t stop Derrick. So close. Baby, so close,” I groaned, using the headboard as leverage to push myself back on his cock even harder.
“Does my girl need it harder?” he asked after pulling on my hair so I’d straighten up on my knees, giving him the perfect access to my ear and neck.
“Yes. Yesssss,” I hissed out when he gave my hair another yank, never once losing stride in this thrusts.
“Want to fuck you hard, baby. You want that too?”
“Uh huh.”
I cried out at the loss of him when he pulled out, but the sound was cut off when he suddenly flipped me onto my back, spread my legs wide, and shoved back in. Hard.
“Hang on,” he warned just as he grabbed hold of the headboard like I’d been just seconds ago and began fucking me so hard I could feel him everywhere.
“Oh shit! Oh God. Yes, yes! Just like that,” I cried as I dug my nails into his shoulders. I could feel my release building, building, building, threatening to crash over me and pull me under.
“Fuck,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “So fucking beautiful. Christ, sunshine, the way you take my cock… goddamned perfect.”
My hold slipped on his sweat-dampened skin and I lost purchase of his shoulders, raking my nails on his chest as he continued to thrust, driving me closer to insanity with each one. He must have loved the bite of pain, because he lost all control, his whole body moving as he powered in and out, fucking me like a madman.
Sweet Sunshine Page 15
