“At least you can confirm I’ve been around that long, then.” Sasha bumped my hip with his. “Next question.”
“What’s her favorite food?”
He traced the frosting over the windows, and I looked for strands of red licorice to press to the outlines.
“Last week, it was blueberries, but that’s because we took her blueberry picking. If you ask for history, it’s hands-down grilled cheese.”
I laughed. “Grilled cheese is delicious. Zoe has good taste.”
“Oh yeah. I make far more at home than is considered normal, I’m sure.”
“Well, is it just the basic kind?” I ask. A dollop of frosting fell onto my thumb, and I licked it off. These would likely sit on the counter forever anyway because they’re for the decorations. No use wasting good frosting.
“I mean, when I’m feeling fancy, I get out the ham.” Sasha laughed.
I snorted before I could stop myself.
“Hey, don’t judge me. What are your fancy grilled cheeses then, Kaylinn?” He pointed the frosting at me and accidentally squeezed a dollop onto my arm.
I gasped and glared at him, far more dramatically than was warranted.
Sasha winced. “Oops. Sorry about that.” He looked around for napkins, which were nowhere to be found despite the dozens of kids with direct access to squirtable frosting.
“Shit,” he cursed under his breath.
The mom behind up gasped and threw him a scathing look.
“Here.” He swiped the frosting from my arm and sucked it off his finger. “It’s like it never happened.
I felt heat on my neck watching his lips close around his finger.
“Yeah, sure. I’m definitely not sticky or anything.” I heard the words escape my mouth without ever having consciously thought them but by the sharpening of his gaze, he definitely heard them.
“Well, I don’t know if I could help with that part while in polite company.”
For fuck’s sake, he was looking at me like he wanted to eat me, his gaze scanning over me and taking in every inch. I had to fight not to squirm under his intensity.
Another cough sounded behind us that we both ignored.
“Polite company? What are you, eighty?”
He laughed, the heat in his gaze falling back down to a simmer. “We can talk about that later. You’re skiving off your job, candy lady. The house is frosted.”
I glanced at the gingerbread house. He was right. I had finished the lights on the roof and the windows but not the chimney or the front door. “Fine. But don’t forget the base so we can put the gingerbread people down with some shrubs and gumdrops or something.”
“Shrubs? Who’s eighty now?”
“Shut up and frost, Sasha.”
He saluted me, the sexy idiot.
I dutifully put Runtz on the chimney and chocolate dots on the front door before I found some sort of red edible glitter that I dusted on the edges of the roof.
“I made a gingerbread Sasha and Kaylinn,” Sasha announced.
I turned to find him grinning and holding up two gingerbread people with no distinguishable features whatsoever, but he looked too pleased with himself for me to burst his bubble.
I felt myself soften. “They look great. But maybe use some of that red frosting to give us clothes,” I suggested.
