Chapter 12
TWELVE
LIAM
Standing outside the bakery, I lean my hip against my pickup truck as I watch the door. The bakery has been closed for an hour, and I’ve been standing here for almost two waiting for her.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, but I ignore it. I’ve got one thing on my mind and one thing only: Cupcake Girl.
After taking home my six treats, eating them, and trying to do anything other than come grab her, drag her into the back of the bakery, and fuck her brains out, I worked out. I probably worked out a little too hard, but I needed to do something to take my mind off it.
Now I’m standing in front of her bakery, unable to look anywhere else as I wait for her to open the door. The anticipation is killing me. I want to be with her. I want to touch her. I need to kiss her.
When the bakery door opens, I watch as she backs out and then slides her key into the lock before slipping it into her purse and turning around. Her eyes meet mine, connect with my own, and then she stops.
Pushing off the pickup truck, I walk toward her. The sun is still shining. Seems like Houston is always sunny and hot as fuck. Humid too. The air is thick, and I feel like I’m walking through honey as I make my way toward her.
One step and then another, stopping only when I’m close enough to touch her. “Liam,” she says, whispering my name. It goes straight to my dick.
“Ruby,” I murmur.
This isn’t the time or place to call her Cupcake Girl. This is different, bigger than a nickname. I’m chasing her, and tonight I’m going to catch her. Usually, I would catch and release, but I have a feeling little Ruby Bennett isn’t someone I want to release anytime soon, if ever.
Lifting my hand, I extend my index finger and glide it along her jawline, my gaze staying connected to hers, searching it in silence. I hear her breath hitch, and my lips curve up into a smirk at the sound.
“Come out with me tonight,” I softly demand.
Her gaze shifts to the side, then back to meet mine. I watch as her brows snap together, then she clears her throat. I think that maybe she’s going to tell me no, but then her lips slowly curve up into a grin.
“Where?” she asks.
My bed. “Doris Metropolitan.” It’s a steak house. I’ve only been once when my dad came into town. It was good, though, and the first place I thought of when I decided I was going to woo Ruby.
She stares at me for a moment before she speaks. “I’m vegetarian,” she deadpans.
My eyes widen. I don’t know what to do. When her lips curve up into a smile, she lets out a laugh, and I realize she is fucking with me.
Gliding my hand from her jaw, I curl my fingers around the back of her neck before I move closer to her, closing the distance between us. Dipping my chin slightly, I touch my mouth to hers, but I don’t deepen the kiss. Not yet, at least.
“You’re trouble, aren’t you, Ruby?” I ask.
“The only one who is trouble is you, Liam Fichtner.”
She’s not wrong.