I smile. "You want to?"
I already know the answer. He feels like doing anything but baking and I’m doing everything I can to distract him—even though I know he should prepare the dessert buffet line for the opening of the new city hall.
"I want to kiss you."
With a playful snap, I place a kiss on his rosy lips.
"Why aren’t you doing it, then?"
"Because I wouldn't be able to stop... or concentrate on the cakes," he groans, glancing at the clock behind me.
I smear his nose, lips, and cheekbones with chocolate cream.
"I know. I’m irresistible and it’s only natural that you can’t focus on work when I’m around. That’s the price you pay for being in a relationship with the hottest girl in town."
I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, lacing my fingers behind it. His hands return to my hips, our foreheads resting against each other, lips just barely apart.
I kiss one of his cream-smeared cheeks, then follow a trail of light kisses—skipping his lips—down to the tip of his nose and then the other cheek.
When I’m just one breath away from his lips, I stop and meet his gaze with an amused, teasing look.
Steven closes the distance, pressing his lips to mine as I wrap my arms tighter around his neck. One of his hands rises, resting gently at the base of my neck, sending waves of warmth through my skin. The taste of his lips is sweet.
Kissing Steven is like breathing again after an hour underwater. Every time he kisses me, it feels like the first time. My legs give way. My heart slows. It’s like he reminds me what it means to feel safe.
“Is the hottest girl in town aware that she’s late for work? Again,” Steven murmurs between kisses.
I leave a series of light kisses on his lips, taking back control. “Right now, she doesn’t care.”
“She’ll care when she realizes they’ll make her do the closing cleanup with the band if she’s late one more time,” he counters.
I rest my forehead against his. “Steve...” I say, a warning in my voice.
“Hmm?”
“Can you remind me why I even tell you things if you always use them against me?”
He sits on the cabinet he’d been leaning against, pulling me with him, standing between his legs, and gives me a small smile. His blue eyes are less dull than usual.
I search his gaze for anything—uncertainty, weariness, hesitation, surrender—but find only a veil of amusement.
“Because you love me? Because I’m the voice of your conscience who convinces you to do the right thing?”
“Well... I don’t think any of those options are valid. I’m really going to go now. I swear.”
Reluctantly, I pull away after letting him have one last, lip-smacking kiss, and I head toward my bag, abandoned on a stool near the kitchen island.
“Have you seen my ke— Thank you.” I don’t even finish the question before he hands me the keys I’d been searching for.
“I finish at midnight. I’ll meet you back here at one o’clock, okay?”
He stiffens at my words, clamming up. Though he tries not to show it, I know it bothers him. But I can’t leave him alone. I don’t want to.
“Why don’t you go straight home? There’s no point in coming back here. Maggie might worry, and you haven’t seen Fleur since this morning. You hate leaving her alone,” he says, trying to sound casual as he resumes mixing ingredients in the bowl he'd set aside.
I head toward the door that leads from the kitchen to the main room of the bakery. “You know I like to keep you company while you work. Maggie knows I’m with you, and today she’s busy with the final prep for her girls’ exam. As soon as you’re done, you can drive me home. What do you think?”
Steven rests his elbows on the counter. He doesn’t meet my eyes as he speaks. “I think you’ll be tired after a six-hour shift. You should go home to rest. You’ve got your seminar in the morning.”
