Chapter Nine
Daisy-Mae
The timer on the ovendings.I open the door and breathe in the scent of freshly baked sugar, cinnamon, and dough.Smiling, I set the rolls on the stove and pour my bowl of glaze over the top.The trick is to frost them when they’re piping hot, it gives the very best, gooiest rolls.
I take out two plates and contemplate waking West.He’d fallen asleep on the couch last night and he looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to disturb him.Instead, I’d covered him with a blanket and had taken myself off to bed.
Now, with the baby kicking my insides as if he might stomp his way out to get to the goods, I decide I can’t wait, so I fix both plates and set them down on the kitchen table.
“Jesus.Are you trying to kill me, Daisy-Mae?”
I jump with the roll halfway to my mouth, “Oh my god, you scared the bajeebus outta me.”
“Imagine how I felt when I woke to the smell of freshly baked goods and not a stinking pile of bull shit.”His voice is all husky from sleep, and I’ve never seen a man look so damn gorgeous this early.He really needs to go easy on the rest of us mere mortals.“I’m sorry I fell asleep.”
I shrug.“You looked so peaceful I didn’t have the heart to wake you.Besides, you’re cute when you snore.”
“Right.Just what every man wants to hear, ‘cute’.”West sits in the chair opposite me and eyes the cinnamon roll bigger than his head.“Is this for me?”
“Nope, it’s my second, but there’s cereal in the pantry.”
“Oh, come on, Daisy.”He presses a palm over his heart.“You wouldn’t wound a starving man this way.”
“No.I wouldn’t, but only because my ass can’t afford to get any fatter.”
He rolls his gaze over me with a salacious grin.“Hey, your ass isfiiiine, remember?”
“Uh-huh, that’s totally why my husband left me for his secretary, myfiiiineass.”
West tucks into his breakfast, and moans as he devours my baked goods, his pink tongue darting out to lick the sticky glaze from his lips and fingers.
Oh my god, what is wrong with me,and who knew eating cinnamon rolls could be so ...erotic?
Heat claws up my neck and cheeks.I clear my throat and quickly stand.“You want coffee?I need coffee.”
“Sure,” he says around another mouthful.
I reach for the mugs, and find I need to stand on my tippy toes now because my belly is so big it bumps the kitchen counter.Sensing my struggle, West comes up behind me and reaches the mugs without any effort.He sets them on the counter, and the faint scent of his aftershave washes over me.God, it should be illegal for a man to smell this good during my pregnancy.
“You know you really need to start asking for help, Dais,” he whispers, his breath stirring my hair.My nipples bead, and I turn to look at him.He angles his body toward me, that grin just about undoes me, and I fear I may need to excuse myself to the bathroom to relieve some of this tension.“I ask for help.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Well, maybe I’m just used to doing things by myself.”
“Maybe, but I’m here now.”The teasing in his voice is all gone.I meet his gaze, his eyes are so blue and serious, and I never noticed the gold flecks in them before.I wet my lips and swallow hard, but West doesn’t miss a damn thing.Those eyes track the movement and for a heartbeat, I think he’s going to lean in and kiss me.
Please be about to kiss me.
And then I remember myself.I remember I’m still married to a lousy man who cheated, I remember I’m heavily pregnant with his baby, and I remember that even though West is here, offering to help just as he claimed, I’m on my own.It’s just me and this little baby, and that’s all I can really trust right now.
I can’t expect a single man—who frankly has no right to look and smell as good as he does—to drop everything to play house with a single pregnant woman who’s been crushing on him since she was a teenager.
“Coffee.”West continues staring at my lips.
“Coffee.”I turn toward the window, because I don’t trust myself when he looks at me like that.The gleaming white picket fence catches my eye.The gleaming, newly mended fence that I’d just told West about the week before.
