And that left just one very important decision to be made. What was I going to do about the promise-filled stare-down?
“Jesus H. Christ. You just couldn’t leave me to suffer in peace, could you?”
“Well, you do owe me an answer. There’s just a few more hours left in the day, so I thought I’d apologize and find out if you’re going to disappoint Josh?”Keep your eyes on his face, Zoe.Don’t let him know how turned on you were knowing how turned on he was.
“You don’t pull any punches, do you?” Baz no longer seemed embarrassed by his condition. In fact, the longer we stood facing off, the more relaxed he appeared. And why wasn’t I removing myself from this tempting moment? We were cocooned at the end of a dark hallway, his friends on the other side of the closed door had no idea he was even there and I’d bet my last paycheck that the women had moved onto a new subject, forgetting that I’d practically raced after Baz.
“Not usually. But you seem to bring out the worst in me.” I wasn’t about to confess the other long-neglected parts of me I wouldn’t mind him discovering. And what would it feel like to be kissed by a man with a full beard? Would it tickle? Or would the sensation heighten the pleasure of having his lips pressed against mine?
“Is that what I’m doing right now? Or are you looking for something else? Because the way you're licking those pretty pink lips tells me something else entirely. Something neither of us should be entertaining because of your student. My nephew.”
His words felt like he’d dumped snow down the back of my neck, snapping me out of a lust-filled haze.Get it together, Zoe. Remember why I followed him down the hall. For Josh’s sake, and that’s all.
Clearing my throat, my voice sounded raspy as I asked, “Are you going to play Santa or not?” I couldn’t help the challenging tone any more than I could tame my galloping heartbeat.
“You really need to decide if you’re going to kiss me or not because I’m done trying to decipher the many versions of your scowl. Which one means you’re hungry? Or when you'reannoyed, is that the one where the left side of your mouth ticks up? Or how about when you don’t want to do another take of your last line at practice? You usually thin out your lips, so that means what? Impatience or are you?—”
Baz closed the distance between us in a blink. He cradled my face in his large, warm hands, pressing his full lips against mine. The hunger, the heat and, God yes, the beard. Oh my, the texture was so much softer than expected.
The kiss deepened. His hands tunneled through my hair. Goosebumps erupted along my scalp, down my neck. I grasped his forearms, my fingertips digging into his muscles. The ride was dizzying as my head fell back, his mouth trailing kisses along jawline, sparking nerve endings as he settled into the crook of my neck. Swirls of pleasure filled my belly; my knees weakened. Baz could teach a masterclass on kissing, and lucky me, I became his star pupil.
Faint noises penetrated the desire-fueled fog wrapped around me. Annoying, but I managed to banish them as I stretched and pressed my chest deeper into his. The overused cliché, “climb him like a tree,” wandered through my jumbled brain just as a louder, more insistent throat clearing rudely interrupted the kiss I’d give an A plus-plus.
Baz leaned back, and I whimpered. The loss of his body heat quickly turned into a splash of cold reality. Blinking slowly, I focused on his striking features as he offered me a silent apology.
“Your timing, in a word, sucks, Stafford.” Baz relaxed his hold on me and then placed himself between West and me. The unexpected and sweet move left me with mixed feelings.
“Hey, just wondering where you were. We heard your gas guzzler arrive ten minutes ago. You’re the one accosting this poor defenseless teacher. Hi, Zoe.” West grinned, laughter lacing his voice.
Swiping both hands over my hair, I stepped from behind Baz and returned the man’s smile. It was West. He was the OG owner of what used to be his uncles’ hunting lodge and started the process for it to be a sanctuary for veterans and first responders.
“Hi.” With an awkward wave, I swept past him. “I was just leaving. I’m sure you all have, uh, important groomsman stuff to figure out.”
“Zoe,” Baz called out. The way he said my name sent shivers down my spine before settling between my thighs. Promises of more to come, or an apology?
Either one could make things more complicated. “First rehearsal is on Monday at six in the auditorium.” Running wasn’t usually my thing, but self-preservation won out. Now back to a roomful of women. Which was the more daunting choice, but at least with them I could pretend nothing happened.
Come Monday, I’d need to be the one giving the performance of my life if I wanted to ensure Baz wouldn’t have a clue how much I wanted to break all my rules with him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
BAZ
Two weeks. Two weeks of spending my evenings with a roomful of ten-year-olds. Two weeks of their teacher pretending our earth-shattering kiss hadn’t happened. Two weeks of frustration, reminders of why I kept things simple where women were concerned and too many cold showers to count.
I threw myself into my next commissioned project. A life-sized moose for the city. But I couldn’t shake how Zoe felt in my arms. When I’m not with her, all I can think about is what she’s doing, who she’s with, and how I want to tempt making things awkward with my nephew and my sister by putting myself first and going after what I want.
Lord, I wanted her.
I wanted to call her every night.
But I didn’t.
I gritted my teeth and looked but didn’t touch and continued taking cold showers and becoming even more of a hermit.
My so-called friends tried to coax me out of my shop with offers of home cooked meals from West’s wife, Lauren, who was “nesting,” whatever that was now that she was in her third trimester. Then there was Ridge, dropping in uninvited, allpuffed up as he showed off pictures of his now one-year-old with Addy.
Then there were the non-stop kissing noises after West told everyone he saw me and Zoe in that clinch. Because of course he did.
