Walker cuts me with his eyes. “She is. She’s just not good at taking compliments unless I’m telling her how pretty she is.”
My cheeks flush. God, he knows me so well. He could say a million things about me, and none of them would make me hot in the way him calling me a baker does.Because he sees me.
I don’t think anyone has ever seen me quite like Walker does.
“She baked all the pastries over there. Go try one. You’ll be begging her to make more.”
“Speaking of—” I take that opportunity to escape because if he keeps sweet-talking me like this, I’m liable to drop to my knees right here. Or worse, kiss him.
Flustered, I point toward the house. “I have to grab more since we’re running low.”
“It was nice meeting you, Tally,” Jackson says, and I’m glad at least I know one of their names.
“You both as well.”
Without looking at Walker, I rush away. Though I don’t even make it to the kitchen before I hear the door slam shut and his heavy footsteps follow me inside. Trying to appear preoccupied, I do what I came in here to do—not hide from him and all these big, oversized feelings that are swirling in my chest but scrounge up extra pastries to sell.
With every step Walker takes in my direction, my stomach swoops wildly, until I’m a bubbling-over pot of tension.
“Wildflower?”
When I don’t reply, his arms land on either side of the counter, surrounding me until he presses his chest against my back and his mouth goes to my ear. “Feel my heart, Tal?”
I do. It’s beating hard right against my spine. I nod but don’t say nothing.
Walker rolls his nose into my hair and against my neck, and he inhales. “There’s no need to run from me. I feel it, too,” he murmurs.
“You can’t—” I start to say but then I stop and let out a long breath. “We shouldn’t—”
Walker spins me to face him. “I can, and we should.”
“Only a few days agoyouwere tellingmewe couldn’t.”
Walker’s lips lift, sliding into place, and that smirk appears. “And then I tasted you.”
Wouldn’t it be amazing if life really was that simple? If we could all just go after what we wanted and enjoy it? No worries about the future. No concerns about what others have to say. No guilt for the price we’ll have to pay.
“I want it to be just for us,” I whisper.
The smirk morphs into a real smile, and his eyes lighten. “We can do that.”
I climb my fingers slowly up his hard chest and bite my lip. “So no winking at me in public.” His brows dip. “No claiming me in front of your friends.” He rolls his eyes. “And no getting attached.” His jaw clenches. Palm flat against his heart, I focus on the rapid beat that matches mine. “The sneaking around will be sexy. We’ll have to be careful …and creative.”
Walker’s fingers slide into the pockets of my jeans, and his brow quirks. “Creative?”
I kiss the edge of his jaw. “So we don’t get caught. Because technically you’re my boss.”
He squeezes me tight, tugging me closer and tilting his chin down so his lips are against mine. “Does that mean you’ll actually listen to me?”
I snort, a happy giddiness warming me. I’m just about to suck his bottom lip between mine when I hear my mother’s voice. “Tally!”
Walker and I both push apart, and I turn back to busying myself with arranging muffins on a platter. “I’m coming!”
“You’re not right now, but you will be tonight,” Walker husks as I walk past him. He’s adjusting himself, and I bite my tongue to keep from whimpering at the sight of how hard I’ve made him. “You can hide from me in public, Tally, but in this house, when everyone is gone”—he leans into my space before I can disappear—“you’re mine.”
But because I can’t ever let him have the last word, I sway my hips, knowing he’s still watching. “Who says we have to wait until tonight?” I wink at him over my shoulder. “Be more creative, Cowboy.”
CHAPTER 33
