29. Chapter 29
twenty-nine
Sadie
“Da– Diesel! What are you doing here, and in those jeans?” I could feel the heat going to my cheeks.
“Well, I was given a command to take a vacation this week, and I heard there were some stoves that needed to be moved… so…” He grinned and my heart stopped for a minute.
His shirt was tight in all the right ways, and his jeans were dark and tight. I might be drooling.
Amy cleared her throat. I had thoroughly forgotten she was still here. I shook my head and looked over at her.
“I’ll watch the counter if you want to show him where to move the stoves.” She gave me a knowing look, and I just nodded and headed into the kitchen.
I showed him I needed them moved about two feet over so I could put in the chef cart I got to extend the storage in the kitchen.
Then he just did it. Moved the two huge ass stainless steel ovens and I watched as his shirt got tighter, his muscles flexing.
Fuck.
He wiped his hands on a towel and looked around, like he belonged there.
“Well?” he asked, chest rising and falling like he hadn’t just manhandled hundreds of pounds of steel like it was nothing. “That good enough, sunshine?”
Sunshine. Damn him.
I nodded, too busy trying not to climb him like a tree to form words. “Perfect,” I finally managed.
He stepped closer, looking smug in the way only a man who knew he’d been caught being stared at could look. “Didn’t even break a sweat. But if you want an excuse to make me take my shirt off, just say the word.”
My jaw dropped. “Daniel Callahan, you did not just—”
“Oh, I did,” he said, crowding into my space. “You said I should know my worth. Figured I’d start cashing in.”
I was seconds from either kissing him or throwing flour at him.
“Cocky,” I muttered, but I didn’t step back.
“Only when you look at me like that,” he said, voice dropping.
I felt my cheeks flame hotter. “Like what?”
“Like you’re thinking about what’s under the jeans.”
My brain short-circuited. “Well now I am, thank you very much.”
He laughed, low and rumbly, then tugged a strand of my hair that had slipped from my ponytail. “You make it real hard to keep my hands to myself, Sadie May.”
I swallowed hard. “So don’t.”
He blinked like he hadn’t expected that. Then, just like he’d moved those stoves, he closed the space between us, hand sliding to my waist like he’d always known the way.
Diesel
I don’t think I would ever get tired of kissing this woman. My fingers dug into her hips as I pulled her close—close enough that she could feel me. All of me.
Every part of me wanted to take her on every damn surface in this kitchen.
Then came a tap-tap on the kitchen door.
“I’m not looking,” Amy called out, “but I’m putting up your closed sign and leaving a note that says you’ll be back at one. That’s like… three hours from now. Do what you need to do so you can serve the lunch crowd.”
“Fuck,” I growled.
But Sadie, she laughed, full-on belly-laughed like Amy had just gifted her a puppy.
“What’s so funny?”
“Amy just gave us every reason not to stop.” She pushed me back, breathless and grinning. “But we can’t do anything in here. Health codes, remember?” She winked. “Luckily, I don’t live that far away.”
She headed for the stairs, and I was on her heels, barely holding myself together. I needed to taste her. To worship her like the baking goddess she was.
But when she made a beeline for the bedroom, I stopped her with a hand on her wrist. She turned, brows furrowed.
“I’m hungry,” I said, voice low and rough. “Need a snack.”
“Oh…” She blinked, adorably confused.
I didn’t explain. Just pulled her into the kitchen, lifted her onto the counter, and started tugging at the jeans that looked painted on.
“Diesel! What are you—?”
“I told you. I needed a snack.” I met her gaze. “Sunshine, that’s you.”
She turned pink. And damn, I loved it.
Dropping to my knees, I got those jeans off her. She had on soft pink cotton panties with a tiny bow at the waistband. I groaned at the sight.
“I wasn’t expecting…” she started, flustered. “These are just my comfy undies I wear to work.”
I let my gaze linger on her, slow and deliberate, until she started fidgeting like she didn’t know what to do with herself.
“Yeah,” I said, my voice low. “I can tell.”
I hooked a finger in the soft cotton, dragging it lightly against her hip. “They look… comfortable.” My mouth kicked up in the barest hint of a smile. “And I like it comfortable.”
Her lips parted just slightly, her breath catching. She wasn’t blushing out of embarrassment anymore.
I bent forward, pressing my mouth to the little bow like it was the most decadent thing I’d ever been given. The smallest sound escaped her, and her fingers curled against the edge of the counter.
That was all it took. There was a shift. She sat taller, shoulders squaring just a little, like she wasn’t apologizing for what she was wearing anymore.
“Sunshine,” I murmured, looking up at her from my knees, “you have no idea.”
With that, I shoved that pink cotton out of my way, needing to see her. All of her. I caught her wrist before she could pull away, my grip firm but careful.
“Not yet,” I growled, voice thick with need. “You’re mine to savor.”
I tugged her closer, the heat between us sparking and crackling.
Her fingers clenched the edge of the counter, body trembling beneath me.
The shift was clear. The game was on.
And neither of us wanted to stop.
She looked down at me, eyes heavy-lidded, chest rising like she couldn’t catch her breath. Her leg eased open without me asking, hips tilting forward like she already knew who she belonged to in this moment.
Hell, she was already glistening for me.
I burned it into my memory—something no other man would ever get to see—before leaning in and claiming what was mine.
Her taste hit me like whiskey after a long day. She was sweet, sinful, and goddamn addictive. I groaned against her, chasing another hit like I didn’t care if I drowned in it.
Her hand slid into my hair, nails scraping my scalp, and it made me growl against her. I wanted to wreck her, keep her, have her shaking apart until she forgot every man who came before me.
She whimpered, and it went straight to my cock.
I didn’t slow down. Couldn’t. I was a man who knew engines and grit, but right now I was running on pure need—taking her on the kind of slow ride that had nothing to do with speed, and everything to do with making sure she felt me in her bones long after I let her go.