Erin’s heart beat faster. He had every opportunity to move out of the way, and he hadn’t. If Baker wanted, he could put his arms around her, and she would let him. Lips suddenly dry, she moistened them briefly. His blue eyes followed the motion of her tongue. “If you wanted to have a slice of cake, you might need several slices. Might not work as well as cheesecake.”
“Cheesecake?” His voice was much lowered pitched. Baker inched forward, less than a foot from her. He bent slightly over her, still too far away to touch, but close enough for her to imagine it. Close enough to smell him, the crisp clean scent of skin.
“Yeah, cheesecake is kind of decadent, rich and creamy, and it fills you up.” Erin wanted him to fill her up. “Whenever you eat chocolate cake, you can’t predict it. You might find a piece delicious enough that you can stop. Or you might find you ate the whole cake.”
“The North Star Cafe has aLight Speed Cake Toursampler with a dozen flavors.” He was crowding her inexorably against the kitchen island. “I had to try it.”
Erin was shaking with the power of his testosterone flowing over her. Her low threshold for refusing him could be breached effortlessly. There was no limit on what she’d do for him, even if he threw her down on the noodles. “Can I try it next time?”
Baker smiled slowly. For the first time since yoga class, it was a true and unguarded grin.
And it took her breath away.
“It doesn’t have to be cake. We could start with coffee. Coffee is easy. Cake may be more committed,” Erin said, overheating now… and rambling. She was fairly certain she had just asked the Chief out on a date, and he might have agreed.
Or he was humoring her undiagnosed bizarre cake-binge eating disorder.
They were talking about actual cake, right? Or was the cake innuendo for…?
“Coffee? The North Star’s coffee wasn’t its best feature. Instead—” the Chief was saying.
Because the universe wasn’t fair, the klaxon went off.
“Crap! Now?” Erin started shoving leftover noodles back into the fridge.
Baker had somehow teleported to the stairs and was gone before the first bunk room door opened.
* * *
It was not the best of nights.
Drinking and driving is never a solid plan. Their Medic made five MetroGen runs on four different accidents. Bleeding wounds were at least straightforward.
Dispatch seemed ready to discuss the heart on every patient, giving the impression it hadn’t been the best week for heart attacks either.
Noah’s heart was having a much better week.
Yesterday, Hudgens—Erin—invited him out for cake, or coffee, or both. Not only had he agreed, but it also was a good thing the klaxon had gone off because he’d almost started fraternizing with her in the kitchen.
Williams had quietly arrived around 0830, and Noah had chosen to give him space. While it was unlikely they could be friends again, they could be cordial professionals.
The B-shift started their maintenance checks after lineup. The A-shift departed, and Noah was undecided about what to do about the Erin Hudgens situation. They hadn’t set a date or time or even exchanged phone numbers. He could check her personnel file for her number… if he were planning crossing an even bigger line.
Still, the act of making a move made him lighter. The suffocating, claustrophobic war of his logical, analytical brain versus his caveman brain was gone.
Or the logical part had slowly been convinced by the caveman part this was an excellent idea.
The caveman in him wanted to make it happen but couldn’t come up with how to do that. His logical brain should kick in anytime now.
The decision was made for him.
Hudgens was waiting outside of his Chief Car with a large cake box. She wore skinny jeans and a bright yellow shirt. The biggest change was her hair though. She had completely freed it, allowing it to spread out in all of its curly, ebony glory. Every other time, it had always been restrained, from the messy bun to the tight braids of work.
Except they weren’t going to be at work anymore.
They were leaving Kansas en route to Oz.
She bit her lip nervously. “So, are we still on for coffee and cake? Or coffee?”
