Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
EVIE
Okay, so if she was going to start something with Gabe, she needed to cut Shepherd and Asher loose.
It wasn’t fair to have them running errands for her if she was taking up with another man.
No matter that they’d insisted they were acting out of friendship, they’d both said things that made her wonder, so it didn’t sit well with her to feel like she was stringing them along.
Except it seemed both men had other ideas.
Ignoring the spanking comment that had soaked her panties, Evie tackled Asher first, the next time they were playing Santa and his elf together at the festival.
Watching how amazing he was with the children, no matter how scared, bratty, rude or tantrummy they were, tugged at maternal strings inside her. She had a son, after all, and couldn’t help imagining what a fantastic father Asher would be. But no, she shouldn’t be thinking like that when Gabe…
“Why the frowny face, sugarplum?” Asher asked, standing close enough that Evie could feel his warmth seeping into her chilled bones after the frosty walk to the grotto. She wanted nothing more than to stand there and bask in it, and Asher seemed happy to comply.
He dipped his head until his breath fanned her ear. “Have you been a naughty girl? Does Santa need to give you a spanking instead of some of the goodies in his sack?”
His words short-circuited her brain. Evie simply couldn’t wrap her mind around fun-loving, playful Asher and this kind of dirty talk. And not just any sexy talk, either. What the fondant?
“I umm…” What was she supposed to be saying?
Asher gave her a knowing smirk. Wow, that was potent. She felt like she was having a sugar rush just talking to him like this.
Evie closed her eyes and tried to pull herself together. They were in the changing room behind the grotto, and had an afternoon of kids ahead of them, so her time was limited.
She bit her lip, “I was going to insist that you stop manning my festival stall for me. I need to take responsibility, and…”
“Was going to? Does that mean you’ve changed your mind?”
“What?” Evie screwed up her eyes, trying to make sense of his words.
“Or are you thinking about it?”
He was standing too close, and to make matters worse, with only a foot between them, he peeled off his t-shirt. Evie found herself standing face to chest with a set of carved abs she would never have expected to find under Asher’s clothes unless she’d seen it with her own eyes.
Her fingers itched to reach out and touch them, test the flex of his muscles with her fingers and check they were real. Maybe lick him…
“Evie?” His voice, filled with humor, brought her back to herself not a moment too soon.
“Ah… what are you doing?” she accused, needing to take the focus off herself and her reaction to him.
“We don’t have a lot of time. I need to get changed,” he said, his hands going to the button on his jeans.
Evie spun around, slapping her palm over her eyes and closing them against his knowing chuckle.
Fortunately, looking away went a long way towards clearing her head.
“Look, it’s not that I’m not grateful, or even that I don’t need the help,” she continued, trying not to imagine the clothing being removed with each rustle.
“But you’ve said things, and I don’t really know how serious you are, but Gabe, well…
he’s also suggested things to me, so I feel like I’m leading you on if I continue to… ”
“Evie, stop.”
His normally cheerful voice held a wealth of command, which shocked her into compliance. She was rambling, she knew, but…
Warm, demanding hands on her shoulders spun her back to face him.
Holy cinnamon rolls, where were his clothes?
He was standing there in a pair of tight black boxers with a body made for sin, deep frying her synapses like a batch of doughnuts.
But this time, his hands drew her closer still, until she was pressed against him, and not even a sliver of light could wiggle between them.
She could feel the impressive length of his cock lengthening against his belly, and her core softened in response.
Wait, what was she doing?
“Asher…”
She didn’t finish. His mouth was on hers, his tongue taking advantage of her open lips and delving inside.
Evie's mind went blank as Asher kissed her deeply. His lips were soft yet insistent, coaxing a response from her. She found herself melting into him, her hands coming up to rest on his bare chest. His skin was warm and smooth under her palms, and she couldn’t stop her fingers from wandering.
The kiss seemed to go on forever, setting every nerve ending alight. When Asher finally pulled back, Evie was breathless. She blinked up at him, dazed.
"I hope that clears up any doubts about how serious I am," Asher said, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief and desire.
Evie opened her mouth, but no words came out. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. What about Gabe?
What about Shepherd? Except she said that in her head, since she really didn’t know about Shepherd, and right now, she didn’t have the bandwidth to add yet more confusion to what had swiftly become a tangle of emotions and relationship knots.
How had her attempt to let Asher down gently turned into... this?
"Cat got your tongue, sugarplum?" Asher teased, running his thumb along her lower lip.
The gentle touch snapped Evie out of her daze. She stepped back, needing space to think clearly. "Asher, I... This is..." She shook her head, trying to gather her scattered thoughts.
“I refuse to stay out of the running. If Gabe’s thrown his hat into the ring, then, baby, so have I.”
After an afternoon with Asher in the grotto, filled with sexual tension and innuendo, Evie trudged back to the bakery to meet Shepherd for the evening deliveries.
She rubbed at her temples, her mind a mess of confusion and conflicting desires.
Her lips still tingled from remembering Asher's passionate kiss, yet thoughts of Gabe and their heated moment in her kitchen kept intruding.
And now she had to face Shepherd, whose quiet intensity always left her feeling off-balance.
As she approached the bakery, Evie spotted Shepherd's tall form leaning against his van.
Her heart did a little flip at the sight of him, his dark, chin-length hair tousled by the wind and the start of a denser beard covering his strong jaw, like he was growing it in for the winter. She sternly told herself to get a grip.
"Hey," she called, forcing a cheerful tone. "Sorry I'm a bit late. The festival ran long."
Shepherd's dark eyes met hers, his gaze seeming to pierce right through her. "No problem. It’s not like I had to come far."
Evie busied herself unwinding her scarf as she walked through the back room of the bakery, hyper-aware of Shepherd's presence behind her. The scent of coffee and spice that always clung to him wafted over her, making her mouth water.
She called out a greeting to Jane and turned to Shepherd.
“So, ah… I need to speak to you before you go out on deliveries…” she told him, wincing at how high-pitched her voice sounded. “It’s just that, well, Gabe and Asher… but I’m getting ahead of myself. Um…”
She was rambling again. She couldn’t help it. These men were sneaky thieves who stole her common sense.
“I think it’s best if you stop doing my deliveries because…”
Shepherd grasped her hands, which Evie only just realized she’d been wildly gesticulating with.
“So, Gabe and Asher got in there before me, huh?” he mused, his dark eyes boring into her like they were searching her soul.
“I should have known better than to let Gabe talk me into letting him bring your favorite hot chocolate to you every evening and done it myself when I saw you for deliveries.”
His fingers played over her pink, chilled cheeks, leaving bright spots of heat. “But I wanted you to enjoy it when you’d stopped for long enough to appreciate it without it going cold.”
He cupped her face in both hands and searched her face. “Are you really going to deny me, sweet Evie?”
Her mouth opened, closed, opened again, but nothing came out.
Shepherd, however, obviously wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. His head dipped and he claimed her lips… and there was no doubt in Evie’s mind this was a claiming. Well, what little cognizance she had before he swept her away on a tide of passion that made her toes curl.
The kiss consumed Evie entirely. Shepherd's lips moved against hers with a slow, smoldering intensity that left her breathless. His beard tickled her skin, a delicious contrast to the softness of his mouth. The scent of coffee and spice enveloped her, making her head spin.
Evie's hands found their way into Shepherd's hair, needing something to anchor her as the world tilted on its axis and a soft whimper escaped her throat.
When they finally broke apart, Evie struggled to catch her breath. Her whole body felt electrified. She blinked up at Shepherd, taking in his desire-darkened eyes, and a thrill ran through her at the realization that she'd done that to him.
"I..." Evie started, then faltered. What could she possibly say after that? Her mind was a jumble.
Shepherd's thumb brushed across her cheek. "You don't have to decide anything right now," he murmured, his voice little more than a murmur. “But you should know, I intend to hold my own for a place in your affections, regardless of the competition.”
He leaned close to her ear and his voice dropped to a half-whisper, half-growl, which had goosebumps shivering down her neck. “Even if I have to tie you to the bed to make you listen.”