Chapter Two
"We can handle that,"Cal said, confidence and commitment driving out any hesitation in his bourbon-browneyes.
I swear to God, I felt a huge weight fall off my shoulders, right then and there. Hell, the second I walked into this little bakery - which was like some vanilla-scented dream plucked out of Narnia and accidentally set down three miles from my mom's place in the middle of upstate New York - I'd felt my shit day turningaround.
My idiot brother's cluster-fuck of a wedding, my incredibly irritating almost-sister-in-law's incessant demands, the total upheaval of my own life this week - they all seemed to fade thanks to this hot-as-hell baker, who seemed to be the only one around here who got myjokes.
"Wecan?" Maura repeated. Her eyes were practically boring into Cal like laser beams, begging him to rethink, but he gave her a quick, unconcernedshrug.
"We can," he confirmed, but he wasn't looking at her when he said it, he was looking right at me. And damn, that look was potent. Like sweet coffee, bracing and comforting at the sametime.
I could stand here and drink it in all afternoonlong.
"Oookay, fine!" Mara held up her hands in surrender. "Just FYI, I'm going toGoogle that thing about frogs for you!" She spoke in a dire, warning tone, totally incongruous with her words. "Try not to screw up yourentireValentine's Dayschedule."
"I'm not messing anything up," Cal told her. He sighed and his lips twitched. "Just trying to be a helpfulO'Learian."
Maura snorted as she walked away, and Cal winked atme.
I tried to bite back my smile. My first day as a resident of New York state in almost ten years, and suddenly I didn't regret the life choices that had led me back from California now that my contract with the Navy wasdone.
I was pretty sure Cal was flirting with me. Oh, he was keeping it super low-key, like maybe he was trying to be professional, but the way he was looking at me was anythingbut.And if this weren't enough, I'd downloaded a dating app and gotten matched up for a V-day hookup tomorrow,too.
Things were finally looking up for my sex life after months of lackluster dates and shitty backroom encounters at an off-base bar inCoronado.
As if on cue, my phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket and showed it to Karen. "My mom again," I told her, sliding my finger over the screen and stepping back from the counter with an apologeticsmile.
Karen made an angry noise. "Find out if she's heard fromMackie."
Mackie, the middle Martin brother and troublemaker extraordinaire, was avoiding all ofmycalls and all of his fiancée's, but if he was going to call anyone, it'd be mymom.
"Oh, Ashley! Thank goodness you answered!" My mother sounded like she'd been running miles, but I was pretty sure she hadn't done anything more strenuous than pace the kitchen relentlessly. At least, that's what she'd been doing from the moment I'd arrived this morning and she'd drafted me into eleventh-hour rehearsal-dinner-planning with the soon-to-be sister-in-law I'd never met. I was pretty sure that was what she would continue doing until Mackie was safely back from Vegas in time for hiswedding.
My mom's great, but she's way high-maintenance.
"I haven't missed any of your calls yet," I reminded her. "Did you hearanything?"
"Did you take care of the cake situation yet?" sheinterrupted.
"Yeah, Mom." I looked at Cal, who was staring at the countertop and politely tryingnotto listen in. "We're at the bakery now, and Cal's going to take care ofeverything. It's allgood."
I couldn't help the way my voice went a little husky as I said the last part. The tone went way over my mom's head, but Cal glanced up at me, like he was startled. He glanced from me, to Karen, then back again, and our gazes locked. A deep flush climbed up his neck and over his jaw, while his eyes flared hot in a way that made my stomach flip. I wantedsobadly for this guy to be intome.
The red hair, man. It had never done it for me before, but suddenly I was staring at the ginger sprinkled over his forearms beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt, and wondering if his hair was that color everywhere. I was calculating the difference in our heights and whether I could comfortably deep-throat him while he wasstanding.
His eyes flared even hotter, and I wondered whether he'dcareif I was comfortable. That thought made honest-to-God shivers zing down myspine.
"Thank goodness!" my mom sighed in my ear, totally killing my mood. "And everything's set at the Inn for the dinner itself. That's one problem out of theway."
"One problem?" I said warily. "Are thereothers?"
I was a Navy SEAL. Problem-solving was pretty much my entire job description. I was good at it. I'd saved lives doing it. But fuck if I wasn'ttiredof solving everyone else's problems. Just once, it'd be nice to have someone solvemine.
My eyes locked on Cal's again and I remembered the steady look in his eyes, his confidentWe can handlethat.
I craved them more than any of the colorful cakes in thecase.
I needed to cancel my date for tomorrownight.
