Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
AUSTIN
Sleet slapped against the window as Ava looked outside at the driveway.
“You’re stuck with me.” I led her back to the couch.
We turned on the TV and watched the news reporters relay the city’s message about staying home. Though the city had treated the roads, the sleet and the quick drop in temperature made traveling dangerous. Ice wasn’t like snow, where the snowplows could remove it easily.
“The bakery will have to close?” she asked, still looking anxious.
“Yes, I’ll notify Bianca now.” I sent her a text and placed my phone on the coffee table. “Are you okay? You don’t want to stay here with me?”
“We’re just starting over, and I don’t want to intrude.”
“You’re definitely not intruding.” I leaned into her. “You’re making my dream come true. We used to take turns staying at each other’s homes, remember?”
She nodded, and her stomach growled.
“What do you want for dinner?” I smiled. “I’ve got leftovers.”
“I need a shower first, but I don’t have any clothes.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I do?”
Rising, I led her to the guest room on the first floor and gestured to the closet and drawers. “Look.”
With furrowed eyebrows, she ambled over to the closet and saw the jackets and coats she’d left at my old place. She opened a drawer and sucked in a breath. “You kept all my clothes?”
“Everything.”
“Even the toiletries?” Her eyes widened.
I nodded. “But check the expiration date on the creams and lotions.”
She pulled out a set of pink cotton pajamas and a pair of panties. “Where’s the shower?”
“Want me to join you?”
“Okay.” Wickedness sparked in her eyes.
I enjoyed the unforgettable shower where she screamed out my name so many times. I loved the sound of her blissful cries and how her body went lax after the orgasm.
After the steamy shower, we got dressed and returned to the kitchen.
“I’m not that hungry anymore.” She popped green grapes into her mouth as she sat on the stool, looking satisfied and cozy in her pajamas.
She picked out a gray top and striped bottoms for me, the set she’d gotten me when we first started dating.
“But you will be soon.” I took the warm fried rice out of the microwave and placed it on the counter. I got out plates and checked the oven. Ten more minutes before the frozen pizza would be ready.
I brought over a pastry box and set it in front of her. “Want some?”
She opened the box and tilted her head up, looking delighted. “When did you get these?”
“The day you were off. I helped Cindy bake them. They’re cute.” I picked up the cat bun and bit into it. “So good. You can make an entire animal series.”
“Plan to.”
She watched me finish her cat bun, and a question flickered in those brown eyes.
“What is it?”
“Why is the bakery called No Name?”
“Because I wanted you to name it.”
“What?” Emotions stormed her eyes.
“I opened the bakery for you,” I admitted.
“But . . . but we weren’t together then.”
“It didn’t matter.” I shrugged. “Opening the bakery made me feel closer to you. Though I didn’t know anything about baking or running a bakery, I made it happen. Did my research, hired the right people, and invested in a dream that was important to me.”
Ava shifted, threw her arms around me, and cried. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I inhaled her hair, which had the scent of my shampoo. “What do you want to call it?”
She drew back and considered. “Not sure yet. So, I can name it anything?”
“Anything. The bakery is yours.”
She blinked. “What do you mean?”
“We own it together. I put you down as part owner when I started it.”
“Austin, that’s risky!” she huffed. “How could you be sure we’d get back together? What if—”
“My mission was to get you back no matter what it takes. When I saw Bianca had hired you as the part-time baker, I knew that was a sign. Christmas came early for me.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll help me make it the most successful bakery in the city.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “I’ll try my best.”
I tipped up her chin, thumbed away her tears, kissed her, and asked a question that would make her smile. “You never told me about the dream.” I wiggled my eyebrows. “Was I hot in it? What was I wearing?”
As expected, her lips curved. “You were scorching hot.” She pressed a finger to my chest and made a sizzling sound. Her eyes slid down to my pants. “You were giving me baking lessons in the nude.”
With a laugh, I tried to imagine that. “Oh yeah?”
She palmed the obvious bulge in my pants. “You said he was a skilled mixer that could churn me into a pile of sexy mush.” Her eyes gleamed with mischief. “It’s cheesy, but it made the dream extra special.”
Another roar of laughter escaped me, echoing in my kitchen. An image popped into my vision, and I couldn’t dismiss it. The oven beeped, signifying the pizza was finished. I took it out and set it on the wooden block. I wasn’t in the mood for pizza or rice right now.
I rushed back, stood behind her, and slipped my arms around her, cupping her breasts. “How’s my kneading?” I dropped kisses on her neck.
She leaned back into me, letting me play with her gorgeous breasts.
“At this rate. We’ll never have dinner,” she moaned.
“That’s okay. We’re making up for lost time.” I slipped my hands under her top, rolling her nipples between my fingers. “Dinner can wait. I’ve got baking lessons to give.”
“I can’t wait.” She laughed and lifted her arms for me to remove her knit top.
I’d never had a naked woman in my kitchen until now. “So what else happened in your dream? I’m going to make it a reality.”
She smiled. “You showed me all the ways we could whip up pleasure in the kitchen.”
In seconds, my clothes flew to the floor. She got off the stool so I could strip off the rest of her clothes, and I turned her around to face the kitchen island.
She bent over as I spread her legs and found her wet. “All ready for me, baby?”
She moaned into my hands. “You’re good at this . . .”
“This what?” I asked, shoving a finger into her.
“Baking . . .” She arched her back with her gorgeous ass beckoning me.
Unable to resist, I dropped to my knees and squeezed her firm buttocks. Her liquid heat glistened, and I licked it.
“Austin!”
God, I’d missed her taste.
“Can’t let this juice go to waste.” I feasted on her and earned a magnificent orgasm.
We spent the next hour fucking near the stove and the refrigerator. Then she nudged me against the marble island and got on her knees.
“What’s going on?” I asked, looking down at my love.
“Such an enticing cannolo.” Ava gripped my cock in her grip, stroking seductively.
A laugh bubbled out of me. This was the first time Ava had referred to my cock as a cannolo. Distance had brought us closer, adding humor, amusement, and depth to our relationship.
I loved the look of her all naked on my kitchen floor, pleasuring me with her hand. When she bent down and kissed me, I sucked in a breath, unable to take my eyes away from her. Those luscious lips and tongue sliding down my length while meeting my gaze.
“This is our version of beautiful ‘baking.’” She smirked like a vixen knowing exactly what she was doing.
When she took me into her mouth, I crooned and braced a hand on the kitchen island for stability. My fingers curled into her hair, watching her eat me like a wild woman.
For the next thirty minutes, she redefined the definition of a cannolo. I’d never look at it in the same way, and I vowed to make sure we had “beautiful baking” on our home menu from now on.