by Holly Renee
No one had looked at me like that when I was running errands. No one had ever looked at me like that ever before.
Brandon let the door close behind him, and I tried to clear the fog in my head that seemed to stick around any time he was near.
Brandon cleared his throat. “So what are we baking?” He pushed the sleeves of his Henley up his forearms which only seemed to make him about ten thousand times more attractive.
“You bake?” I asked as I wiped my lip to check for drool.
“I wouldn’t call myself a baker, exactly.” He chuckled, and I swear the sound reverberated in my stomach. “But I can make cookies from a package without screwing them up.”
“That is not baking.” I put my hands on my hips and his eyes followed the motion.
“Well, then I guess you have a thing or two to teach me.” He leaned his elbows against the counter, and I pinched my leg to stop myself from telling him that I there are far more things that he could teach me than I could even begin to teach him. Far more enjoyable things.
“I’ve already made the cupcakes, but you can help me decorate them.” I pulled out an apron and held it to him. It probably wouldn’t cover a quarter of his chest, not to mention it was frilly as hell, and I couldn’t hold in my laughter as he held it up to his body.
“I’m not wearing this.” He shook his head.
“You have to. It’s the first rule of working in a bakery. You have to cover your clothes. Especially when you’re dressed all preppy like that.” Preppy would never be a word that I would use to describe him, but for some reason, I knew it was the exact word that would piss him off the most.
I was right.
“What did you just call me?” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“I didn’t call you anything.” I laughed nervously.
He slowly lifted the apron and hung it around his neck before he tied it in a neat little bow behind his back. He didn’t take his eyes off of me the entire time, and I took a nervous step backward.
“I must be crazy, but I think I heard you call me preppy.” He took a step toward me and I mirrored his step with one of my own in the opposite direction.
“You’re putting words in my mouth. I said that you dress preppy not that you are preppy.”
He narrowed his eyes farther and I grinned.
“I do not dress preppy.”
“Says the guy wearing a brand name Henley and some sort of hipster jeans.” I waved my hand in the direction of his outfit.
“You are just making this worse on yourself.” He continued to walk toward me, and I backed away until my back pressed against the counter.
“What are you going to do about it?” My voice sounded breathless and I could think of about a million things I wished he would do. But watching him stick his hand into my bag of flour before pulling it out with a pile of flour gently pouring between his fingers was not one of them.
“Don’t you dare.” I pointed a finger at him as I attempted to move even further away.
“Say I’m not preppy.” He took another step toward me and a trail of flour followed him.
“I never said that you were to begin with.” I held my hands out in front of me as I laughed.
“Semantics.”
“Take it back.” He used his opposite hand to pinch a small amount of flour out of his hand.
“You are not going to…” Before I could get the rest of my sentence out, he flicked his fingers out and puffs of white flour covered my face.
“Oh my God,” I screamed and scurried around the island to get farther away from him.
“There aren’t many places for you to run to, Freckles. Now take it back.” His grin was taking over his face, and I swear he had never looked so handsome. There wasn’t a moment when I was around Brandon where I didn’t think he was hot as hell, but it had always been in the bad boy, pure dirty sex kind of way. The Brandon standing in front of me with a handful of my cake flour looked like someone else entirely. He was somehow more attractive than ever before.
It made me even more nervous.
Brandon was dangerous. He was the kind of guy who ruined girls like me. I had to keep my wits about me when I was near him. One little slip-up and I wouldn’t recover.
“Okay. Okay.” I held my hands up in surrender as I took a step back toward the counter. I pressed my hands against the lip of the counter and prayed he couldn’t see what was behind me. “I take it back.”
He almost looked disappointed that I gave in so easily. His hand lowered an inch, followed by his grin.
I knew it was then that I had to strike. “You don’t look preppy,” I said almost breathlessly as I wrapped my fingers around the open bag of powdered sugar that was hidden behind me. “You look dirty.”
“Dirty?” That grin went right back into place. “Well, I’ll take that as a—”
Before he could finish his sentence, I flung the bag in his direction and puffs of powdered sugar filled the room. I managed to cover him from head to toe while also covering myself, but I didn’t care. The look on his face was worth all the hours it would take for me to clean it.
He opened his eyes as he fanned his hand in front of his face to calm the delicious particles of sugar that flew around the room before he pointed his finger at me.
“You are mine.”
I knew what he meant, but it didn’t mean his words still didn’t send a thrill through me.
He didn’t give me a chance to even think before he barreled after me. One second, I was laughing my butt off, the next I was running away from him like my life depended on it.
My attempt at escaping him was pathetic at most. I only took a few steps before his arms wrapped around my waist. My feet slid through the powdered sugar causing white puffs to fill the air around us as he lifted me off the ground.
He twirled me in the air, and I laughed uncontrollably. My back was pressed against his chest and my head was thrown back on his shoulder, and I didn’t let myself think too much about it as I laughed more than I had in as long as I could remember.
Brandon set me back on my feet and leaned against the counter. My body was still flush against his, and when I turned to look up at him, I couldn’t contain my laughter at his solid white face. Brandon grinned at me before shoving his face into the crook of my neck and rubbing the powder sugar onto my skin.
If I wasn’t laughing hysterically, I probably would have died at the feel of his skin pressed against mine. My body didn’t care that we were laughing though. All it knew was that the hottest man I had ever laid eyes on currently had his face pressed into the curve of my neck and his hands were wrapped around my stomach that was doing somersaults. My thighs tightened involuntarily, and I let out a little squeak that, thank the Lord, was hidden behind his laughter.
Brandon pulled his head back to look at me. He was so much taller than me that I had to look up to look into his eyes. Eyes that looked like they were as turned on as I felt. Eyes that searched my face before he lifted his hand and pushed some stray curls out of my face.
His gaze paused on my lips for only a few moments, but it was long enough for the dust of powder sugar to settle around us and for me to try to get my head back on straight.
There was a split second where his face moved closer to mine. A split second where I was actually crazy enough to think that he might try to kiss me. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what was happening, and so I did the only thing I could possibly think of. As his mouth moved closer to mine, I took a deep breath before I picked up the cupcake I had just finished making moments before he arrived and I shoved it, icing side first, right in his face.
CHAPTER 6
CREEPER
Brandon
My damn hands were starting to go numb.
I had been working on this same piece for the last four hours and the guy was a beast. He hadn’t so much as moved during the process, and he never asked for a break. Most people weren’t capable of it. Even the toughest looking men squirmed
like crazy when they were lying under my needle.
I finally had to tell him when I needed to give my hands a break. Otherwise, I’m pretty positive he would have laid there perfectly still until I was completely done.
I walked outside and sat down on the bench that conveniently gave me a perfect view of Charlie’s bakery.
I didn’t want to admit that I was staring into the glass in an attempt to get a glimpse of her, but I was starting to get a crick in my neck from craning so hard.
I had moved too fast last night. Went too far.
I didn’t know what I was thinking, but I knew that I couldn’t control myself around her. There was something about her that made it impossible to leave her alone.
She was gorgeous sure, but that wasn’t it. She was far more innocent than any woman I had ever been with before. A sure sign that I needed to leave her alone.
But she was so fun to be around. She was so fun to mess with.
I wasn’t interested in dating the girl. Hell, I hadn’t actually dated someone in so long that I could barely remember what the term meant.
I just didn’t want David to date her either. If she dated someone I didn’t know that would be fine, it just couldn’t be David. I knew how much of an ass that made me. I had absolutely no right to tell her who she could and could date, but I was basically like a guardian angel or some shit like that. I was making it my job to make sure she at least knew who was completely wrong for her.
“You don’t look like a creeper at all.”
I looked up at Livy as she walked out of the door of the shop.
“I’m not being a creeper. I’m just giving my hands a rest.” I flexed and unflexed my fingers on both hands to prove my point.
“And all the sudden you started resting your hands outside where you had a perfect view of Charlie’s bakery?” She raised an eyebrow, and I hated how well she could call me on my shit.
“I haven’t even seen her since I’ve been out here,” I defended myself.
“But you have been looking.”
When I opened my mouth, but no response came out, she laughed.
“What’s your deal with her anyway?” She sat down next to me on the bench and her gaze followed where mine had been since I came out here.
“There is no deal.” I shrugged.
“There is most certainly a deal. You never act like this.”
“Act like what?” I finally took my gaze off of Charlie’s bakery long enough to look at her.
“All territorial. It’s cute.” She patted me on the top of my head as if I was a toddler.
“I am not acting territorial. I just think you all did a really shit job in setting her up that’s all.”
“You like David.” She said it so loud that I quickly looked back up to make sure Charlie wasn’t outside.
“Sure. I like the guy as an acquaintance, but I don’t think he’s dating material for one of my friends.”
“One of your friends?” She cocked her eyebrow again, but I ignored it and kept going.
“I would have never let you date him. He didn’t show enough effort. He didn’t even open the door for her.”
“First of all, you would have sabotaged any guy that wasn’t Parker, and second, I’ve never seen you open a door for a date.”
She was feeling smug, but she was wrong.
“When have you ever seen me go on a date?”
I could practically see the wheels turning in her head. “I’m sure there have been.” She looked down at the ground. “What about that girl? No. Definitely not.” She didn’t even need me as a part of this conversation. “Why the hell haven’t you been on a date?”
She finally looked up at me, and I instantly regretted sending her down this path.
“I just haven’t found a girl I’ve wanted to date.”
“Out of all the women I’ve seen hang all over you when we go out to a bar or leave with you after only a few smiles from you, you mean to tell me that you haven’t been interested in dating even one?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. It wasn’t a lie. Getting women had come easy for me. Too easy really. I didn’t sleep around like Livy’s idea of me would make you think, but I also wasn’t against an easy lay every now and again. But that’s all it ever was. Easy.
Livy turned away from me just as Charlie walked out the front door of her bakery. We both watched her as she went to her car, an old beat up Honda that had definitely seen better days, and we both waved as she drove past us with a giant smile on her face.
I watched her until her car disappeared around the building on the corner of the street before standing to go finish the tattoo that would take a few more hours.
“You like Charlie, huh?” Livy’s voice was soft and far less accusing than it had been earlier.
“Yea, Liv. I like Charlie.”
She smiled. That damn smile that I knew made Parker do anything she asked then she pumped her fist in the air like an idiot.
CHAPTER 7
HANDSOME DEVIL
Charlie
I wasn’t expecting it when my phone dinged, and I had a text message from David. I also wasn’t expecting for him to admit that he didn’t want to wait until next Saturday to see me.
It was sweet, and despite how our group date went, it made me smile that he was thinking about me.
I had barely sent back two words when he was already asking me if I would like to go to dinner with him. Just the two of us. He was crystal clear about that.
I agreed.
I had nothing to lose. David may not be my happily ever after, but I wouldn’t know that for sure if I didn’t at least give him a chance.
When seven o’clock rolled around, I took a last look in the bathroom mirror before locking up the bakery. David was picking me up, but I wasn’t quite ready for him to pick me up at my house. Because then he would have to drop me off at my house, and I wasn’t quite ready to fend him off if he made a move. I definitely wasn’t ready for any of that.
He already knew that I had the bakery, and sure, he could try to kiss me but anything other than that would have to get really inventive at the bakery and that didn’t seem like it was in David’s first move repertoire.
David was standing outside a, I kid you not, big red truck when I walked outside, and he looked handsome. He had on a pair of jeans with a white t-shirt and a ball cap that sat low over his eyes. For the first time, I realized just how handsome he was. It was like I hadn’t even noticed how tan his skin was from working outside or how genuine his smile was when he saw me walk out.
“You ready?” That smile didn’t drop from his face as he gently pulled my hand in his and walked toward the passenger side of his truck.
“Yeah.” I smiled back at him, and I meant it.
He opened the passenger door for me and gripped my hand to help me climb inside his insanely tall truck. I never really understood trucks like this. Was he planning on joining a monster truck rally or maybe he needed the height to escape the law after he did something rugged and dangerous. I smiled at the thought but kept my mouth shut. Grilling him about his vehicle choices at the beginning of the date probably wasn’t the greatest way to start this off.
He shut my door and quickly made his way to the driver side. He managed to make getting in his truck look easier than I did, and I took a second to admire the muscles of his arms as he gripped the steering wheel and settled into his seat. How had I not noticed them the other night?
“You look beautiful tonight,” he said over the loud rumble of his truck.
“Thank you.” I could practically feel the blush forming on my skin. I had never been very good at taking compliments. “You look handsome.”
“Thanks.” He smirked at me, and in that moment, I realized that I could really get used to seeing it.
We pulled up outside a steakhouse that I had never been to, and David rushed to my side of the truck to make sure to open my door. David wasn’t a complete ogre during our group date, but this David,
David on his own with me was completely different.
We ordered our drinks and food and I tucked my hands under my legs to stop myself from fidgeting while I tried to navigate through these awkward moments of trying to get to know each other.
“So,” he leaned back in his booth. “What made you decide that you wanted to open a bakery?”
“I’ve been in love with baking for as long as I can remember,” I told him honestly. “It’s just been a lot of work to get here.”
He nodded his head as if he understood that hard work perfectly, and if I looked hard enough, the signs that he truly did were visible. His tan hands were callused in a way that only hours and hours of hard work could cause. My mother would call them “real man’s hands.”
She was wrong though. Brandon worked his ass off and his hands weren’t nearly as callused as David’s. It was just a different kind of work, and he was a different kind of man, and I needed to quit thinking about Brandon.
“What about you? Have you always wanted to work in construction?” I took a sip of sweet tea to clear my head and brought my attention back to David. Where my attention needed to be.
“No.” He chuckled. “I mean I like it, but it’s a job. I love working for Mason, but the hours are long, and the work is hard.”
I nodded my head because I did understand what he meant. Sure, I had never worked in back-breaking construction, but I had spent countless hours doing work just to pay the bills.
“What do you want to do?” I asked, genuinely interested.
He ran his fingers through his short hair and looked to the side. “Honestly?” He turned his gaze back to me. “I feel kind of crazy saying this, but I’m almost thirty years old and I don’t have a single idea.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. It means you still have all the options in the world.”
He smiled a soft smile, and I decided that it was my favorite look on him so far.
