Chapter Eleven #2
Leaning against the door, Georgia covered her face with her hands.
She hated confrontation of any kind. It was another reason she’d left Boston.
David and Lisette both thrived on drama, deriving pleasure from riling up the people around them.
She swiped at her cheeks, embarrassed by her outburst. Time to pull up her big-girl panties and deal.
She shoved away from the door and squared her shoulders. “I’m sorry you were subjected to that.” Talk about airing her dirty laundry in public. Kieran moved toward her, then stopped, leaving the kitchen island between them.
Tears threatened again, but this time she blinked them back.
Much as she’d have welcomed a hug, she couldn’t depend on him.
Hadn’t she had this discussion with herself earlier?
“I’m sure you didn’t plan on becoming involved in my past drama.
Maybe you should go talk to your brothers, fix whatever’s between you, and leave town. ”
It was impossible to read his expression. Flickers of emotion came and went. It was as though he didn’t want to feel. She could relate. She wanted to turn back the clock a couple of days and pretend none of this happened, but it had. Forward was the only direction.
“What did you ever see in him?”
That drew a chuckle. “He’s handsome, and he can be quite charming when he puts his mind to it, which is usually when he wants something. I’d never had a man pay that much attention to me before.”
She was past being embarrassed about it. “I should have known better. I’m full-figured and have average looks. I like who I am, but I’ve never had men beating a path to my door.” Which had made her more susceptible to someone like David. Hindsight was brutally honest.
“Don’t say that.” The harshness of his tone surprised her, but she shrugged.
“It’s the truth.” A quick look at the clock made her groan. “I’m never going to get everything done in time to open.”
Kieran prowled around the table, halting in front of her. Her pulse sped up, and her mouth went dry. He towered over her, dark and brooding, but she wasn’t physically afraid of him. It was her heart that concerned her.
“He wants something from you.”
She briefly closed her eyes and nodded. “You think I don’t know that?
Contrary to what you might believe, given the events of the past couple days, I’m not stupid.
Nor am I about to allow him, or anyone else, to take advantage of me.
” Warning given, she began measuring ingredients, paying scrupulous attention to amounts.
She couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
“Not for one second would I mistake you for stupid, but you are vulnerable.”
Dry ingredients combined, she set the bowl aside and went to work on the wet, cracking eggs into a bowl before adding them to the mixer with the butter and sugar mixture to combine. “To David?” She gave a very unladylike snort. “Trust me when I tell you I’m no longer susceptible to him.”
No, it was Kieran who was likely to hurt her heart.
The difference was that he’d never pretended their time together was anything but temporary.
Sleeping together had been her idea, and she had no regrets.
Being with Kieran had made her realize how much had been missing between her and her previous lover.
With the mixer on low, she added vanilla and buttermilk and left the machine to work while she started on the next batch. It was basic vanilla and chocolate cupcakes today. She’d pump up the icing, maybe make a chocolate ganache for a filling.
“Contrary to what you might believe, given the events of the past couple days,” he repeated her words back to her, “and David’s accusations, I really am competent in the kitchen. Put me to work.”
Since he’d already proven stubborn, she gave up trying to get him to leave. “Grab those cupcake pans and put liners in all the cups.” She pointed out where everything was. “When you’re done, check the muffins. If they’re cool enough, put them in the wire racks and get them out front.”
He didn’t smile, but the tension in his shoulders eased. “Yes, ma’am.”
She snorted again and got back to work. Under her direction, he gathered ingredients, watched mixers, and filled muffin cups. He undertook every task she assigned without complaint, moving with a grace not normally associated with a man more than six and a half feet tall with muscle to match.
Neither spoke, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence.
They worked easily, as though they’d done it a hundred times before.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
Without her asking, he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, opened it, and handed it to her.
“Hydrate.” Rather than protest his heavy-handedness—she was thirsty—she drank and ran through her mental checklist. They were going to be cutting it close, but they just might make the eleven o’clock opening.
“Can you pipe icing?” Both vanilla and chocolate espresso buttercreams were ready in piping bags.
“I’m a self-taught chef, not a baker. I’ve seen it done, but have never tried it. Show me.”
Lifting the chocolate espresso one, she demonstrated the correct way to hold the bag and how to make a perfect swirl with just the right amount of buttercream. Without hesitation, he took the vanilla piping bag and duplicated it on the vanilla cupcake.
“You sure you’ve never done this before? You’re a natural. Keep going.”
“If you want to start something else, I can finish both.”
She’d been around male bakers her entire career but seeing them work had never turned her on the way watching Kieran did. His concentration was absolute, yet she was certain he was aware of his surroundings. While not as distant as earlier, he wasn’t exactly relaxed.
“If you’re sure.”
“I’ve got this.”
She set her piping bag on the counter beside him. “Add sprinkles to half the vanilla cupcakes.” While tasty, they were plainer than she’d normally serve. Leaving him to finish, she started another batter. “These chocolate chip cookies are one of my best sellers.”
“They’re a classic for a reason.” He wielded the piping bag as though he’d done it a hundred times before, adjusting his grip as the amount of icing in the bag diminished.
His hands were large, his wrists wide. Thick muscles roped his forearms, the veins prominent. He was so innately masculine. She was intimately familiar with how gentle those hands could be, how they felt gliding over her skin, how they could grip her hips, holding her steady as he thrust.
Her breath caught in her throat. As if drawn by the sound, his head jerked up. His nostrils flared, and his eyes narrowed. She licked her lips, and his gaze followed. His fingers clenched reflexively.
Icing exploded from the tip of the bag, spilling outward.
“Fuck!” He dropped it on the counter and reached for a towel.
Some mischievous impulse had her intercepting him, bringing his hand to her mouth and licking the vanilla frosting from his fingers.
The low hum of arousal that was present whenever he was near kicked into overdrive.
Beneath the sweetness of the icing was the unmistakable taste of hot, masculine skin, of Kieran.
His black eyes watching her every move, she sucked his index finger into her mouth, letting her tongue glide from tip to base. He sucked in a deep breath, his chest expanding, testing the seams of his T-shirt.
“Georgia.” The rough sound of his voice, the longing in the way he said her name, made her knees weak. “This isn’t smart.”
She released his finger with a wet pop. “I know.”
“Fuck,” he whispered.
“We did that last night.” She peered up at him through her eyelashes.
“Maybe we could do it again tonight.” If she was going to have a brief affair, she might as well go for it.
Maybe it was a reaction to seeing David, this need for affirmation from another man that she was a worthy lover, but it wasn’t only that.
It was Kieran. There was something about him that drew her.
It went beyond his appearance to the tortured soul beneath. “Think about it.”
When she started to move away, he grabbed her hand and dragged it down to the bulge in the front of his jeans. “I won’t be able to think about anything else, but nothing’s changed. I’m still leaving.”
“We’re not a couple. I get that. We’re two healthy adults living in proximity who like each other.
Why not indulge?” She could hardly believe the words were coming out of her mouth.
She’d never been this bold in her life…except in the kitchen.
It was a new and undiscovered side to herself.
It likely wouldn’t last beyond Kieran leaving town.
That gave her pause, but she swallowed her misgivings. Life was short. For all she knew, she might never marry and have a family. This might be her one shot for at least having a memorable love affair with a man who ignited both her imagination and her body.
He scooped a dollop of icing off the counter and brought it to her lips.
Rather than allow her to lick it away, he smeared it over her mouth, then lowered his head.
“You always taste so damn sweet.” His tongue glided across her lower lip, lapping up the icing.
“And smell like vanilla and sugar.” Across her top one. “I’m becoming addicted.”
His tender words made her breath hitch. Then she forgot to breathe altogether when his mouth captured hers. He made a sound of pleasure and plunged his tongue between her lips. She loved the masculine and sweet taste, this playful side of him.
Who was Kieran Blackwell? The smiling, laid-back man she’d met had vanished beneath one who was aloof and detached.
He was anything but aloof now, their mouths melding together again and again.
His hands gripped her ass, lifting her up onto her toes.
She held fistfuls of his shirt, desperate to get closer.
Ding! The timer she’d set on her phone jolted her. She sucked air into her lungs and blinked several times to bring herself back to reality.
“What was that?” Kieran’s hair fell around his shoulders. At some point during the kiss, she must have removed the tie he used to hold it back. She had no memory of it.
She licked her lips, tasting him mixed with the sweet frosting.
“Umm, it’s a one-hour warning for the shop opening.
” It would be easy to ignore it and give in to the passion sizzling between them.
It would also be wrong. He would be gone in a matter of days.
Her business was permanent and deserved her full attention.
She’d gambled everything on this place and couldn’t afford to have it fail.
The kitchen seemed like a foreign area. For a second, she wasn’t sure what to do.
Then instinct kicked in. “We need to wash up and get back to work.” She half expected him to leave.
It wasn’t as though she’d purposely set out to tease him.
Okay, she had, but only in a playful way.
She hadn’t expected it to get hot and heavy so quickly. “Should I apologize?”
He was fully aroused, his erection outlined against the supple material of his jeans. Her nipples were fully erect, her core throbbing. She was in no better condition than him, but it was less visible.
“No. This isn’t over.”
It was a dark promise that carried an edge of threat. Whatever was between them was far from done.