Chapter 27 #2
He was not to be outdone, and he would not be accused of being a spoilsport. So he wrapped her legs around him and spun around once more.
Plopping his ass right in that flour. “Now you’re gonna have to clean flour out of my butt crack,” he said as he fumbled to get their aprons out of the way.
Candace grabbed his cock and huffed out a “Fine” — even though yeah, she’d love an excuse to rub his butt for a little while in the shower, like a sexy genie that she could really only wish for one thing from, but it was a thing she really wanted, so it was okay — and lowered herself down onto him.
And sighed.
And sank against him.
And reveled in his kisses.
Laurin let her move at her own pace, even when sweat began to bead on his forehead and he grew more vocal.
She was about to offer a change in position — although she truly did not want to sit in that flour — when he suddenly grabbed her by the ass and forced her down, locking them together as he said, “Stay here. Stay forever. There’s nothing left for you in New Jersey. I’m here.”
She scowled at him, squirming away, but he refused to release her so it just created more friction between them. “It’s not fair of you to ask me that when we’re like this.”
“And it’s not fair for you to tell me you’re gonna leave me again when I’m balls deep in your pussy!”
“Laurin!” she admonished, placing her hands on the firm pads of his pectorals, both to hold herself back and to hold him, to keep him at precisely arm’s length where she could. “I didn’t say that. I only said—”
“I meant what I said about the birth control. If you were pregnant right now—”
“I’m not. I’ve been on it since I was 14 and got big boobs—”
Laurin grabbed the bib of her apron and pinched it together so her breasts could tumble into his palms.
“—And my mother said I was going to be a whore.”
Laurin sighed and fixed her apron. “I hate your family. I hate—gah!”
Frustration got the better of him, and he rolled them both over, barely avoiding the five-thousand-dollar rounder as he laid her down on a relatively flourless section.
“I love you,” he said frankly as he guided her legs around his waist and took on a pace commensurate with his frustration.
“And I hate everything you’ve been through, but I’m not going to apologize for how perfect our lives can be together.
You can have a good life here. Not just with me, either.
You just won all that money. You can start over however you want, right in Atlanta, and decide for yourself how I’ll be in it.
” He took a second to look down between them and catch his breath.
“Preferably like this, though. You know network headquarters is right down the street; you could score yourself a job there and be a bona fide celebrity baker if you wanted that. And I’d be here.
I’d be — damn, are you almost there? Because I’m—” He shut himself off and brought a hand between them so he could make sure they finished together.
“Laurin,” Candace whispered, wishing she had it in her to say those words, wishing they were easier than they were and could be accepted without any of the strings that came attached.
Laurin gave her a lopsided but knowing smile.
“Maybe it’s not about you giving up everything for me or that my life is so much bigger than yours.
Maybe our life is big, and it’s finally time for you to live it.
Maybe I’ve been saving your spot for you all these years because you’re the only one who could ever fill it. ”
He settled back down to nuzzle at her shoulder. In the quiet moments that followed, Candace weaved her fingers through his thick, dark hair and dreamed up a fantasy of how wonderful this life could be.
When Candace got into Laurin’s car the next day for their trip to the Food2Love offices and an afternoon of poking around Atlanta, she felt good. Confident. Smug.
She had a present for Laurin. She just had to convince Mike to go along with it, and she hoped it wouldn’t be too difficult.
She’d won the competition three times before already, and there’d never been any ceremony behind the check.
This was a much bigger prize than usual, but she couldn’t see there being a problem.
Also, Pauline had absolutely loved the croissants, raved about them all night to the point where Candace was still blushing when Laurin deposited her in his bed.
She would have sworn his mother was only being nice and going over the top with it, but then she’d lovingly wrapped and boxed some of them for Candace to give to Mike the next day, and Pauline didn’t seem like the sort of person to sabotage the woman her son was in love with.
But the closer they got to headquarters, the more Candace thought about why this meeting was happening.
She hadn’t been the one to ask for it, so what was it that Mike wanted from her?
Before now, the only times she’d been there had been for filming.
Any sort of actual meetings she’d had in the past had been over the phone.
Laurin shot a side-eye at her as she fished out a ginger candy from her purse, but he said nothing, instead taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
It was awful how easily they fell into a comfortable rhythm together. She was never going to be able to leave him at this rate.
She turned her head to look out the window so he wouldn’t see her smiling at that thought, but then her hand was being lifted to press against his lips.
Perfect bastard.
He calmed her nerves enough to get her into the building, through the lobby and past the tour group, waving at Lucy Miller, who was explaining the difference between a cobbler, a crisp, a crumble, and a grunt, on their way to the elevator.
By the third floor, corporate offices, Candace’s hand was shaking.
“Do you want me to go in with you?” Laurin asked.
Candace shook her head. “Thank you, but I’ve got this.” Besides, that would ruin the present.
She was called into the office immediately and was surprised at how big it was.
That jerk Lucas had little more than a walk-in closet here.
This one was spacious enough to have a desk in the center of the room, a set of comfy wingbacks on one side, and a huge bay of screens on the other side.
In between that was a wall of windows giving a surprisingly picturesque view of Atlanta for being only the third floor.
She always got twisted and turned navigating the confusingly laid-out city, so she hadn’t noticed before that the building was up on a hill.
Leaning against the windows, his back turned toward her, was a tall, broad-shouldered man in a fine suit, incongruous to the typical garb of Food2Love. Most people dressed casual here.
“Mike?” she said hesitantly, wondering if she’d somehow wound up in the wrong office. Food2Love shared the building with three other networks, but they should have all been on the upper six floors. “Hey, I’m—”
“Candace Coale,” the man filled in, his voice smoother than it had been on the loudspeaker, but that system had looked like it was part of the campground and sounded tinny. He turned to her as he said, “We’ve met, of course.”
Candace blinked hard as she hissed out a “Oh, holy crap” and then covered her mouth.
Yeah, she’d met Mike before.
Twice, at incredibly fancy banquets. Both along the same vein as what she’d be doing for New Year’s with Laurin: tickets as a thank you for catering because “you’re a face people might want to see.
” That’s not why Mike was at those banquets, though, because Mike wasn’t a mid-level reality show producer scrabbling to get a cushy salaried position at corporate.
Mike was Michael flipping Robbins, CEO of Robbins Hall Communications Network, the conglomerate that owned all the stations in the building.
“Why is your office on the third floor?”
He broke into a broad grin and a hearty laugh. “I like you, Candace. I never know what to expect from you. My office is on the third floor because it’s directly above Lucy Miller’s kitchen, so I always know when there’s a treat for me to go steal between shots.”
Michael Robbins was gigantic. He was in incredibly good shape, the sort of build that had caused many people to speculate about how he looked beneath the fine suits and several conspiracy theorists to juxtapose his photo over professional bodybuilders, so the sweet tooth was a surprise, but Candace immediately held out the box to him.
From twenty feet away. Like a crazy person.
“See there?” Michael said as he graciously crossed the distance to her and accepted the box. “I did not expect you to bring me a Christmas gift.”
“Croissants,” she blurted out. “Leftovers. Why did you produce the Christmas special?”
“Croissants from Laurin’s bakery?” Michael asked as he gestured to one of the comfier chairs.
“I baked them in Laurin’s bakery.”
“And how is Laurin?” Michael asked with a look so mischievous that Candace’s tongue glued to the roof of her mouth, and she was lucky to make it to the chair without tripping over her own feet.
“The Bake-Off is one of my favorite programs,” Michael explained as he sat next to her.
The chairs had a table between them with two envelopes, a folder, and a pen on it, and were tilted enough that they could talk without twisting awkwardly but weren’t staring each other down.
“After the incident at Summer Bakes, I took—”
“I’m so sorry about that.”
Michael waved her away. “You will never again apologize for that. My apologies, both for what happened and for not rectifying it sooner. I should have met with you before the Christmas show, but I had to know your heart was still in it.”
Candace furrowed her brows, confused. “What do you mean?”
Michael held up the two envelopes. “I have two offers here for you. I’ll let you choose which one you’ll take, but I’m hoping you’ll take this one.”