Annnnnd just like that Aspen was propelled to the moment when Wolfe held her in his thick arms in the bakery, or maybe the fantasy Viking ship from the yummy scene she’d spun in her mind.Regardless of the situation, she couldn’t seem to forget the intensity of his body as he enveloped hers.
“I didn’t really expect you to come by and fix anything,” Aspen explained desperately trying to focus on anything but Wolfe’s massive arms covered in ink that added even more mystery to his larger-than-life presence.
She moved to wipe the face of the display case to erase imaginary fingerprints but found herself catching glimpses of Wolfe.His stare remained unwavering and fixated on Aspen.
“I always do what I say I’ll do,” Wolfe’s brows pinched together, seemingly pissed that Aspen hadn’t expected him to return to the bakery.
A blush washed over her lightly freckled cheeks, and she instantly felt embarrassed that she dismissed his kindness.
Aspen folded the towel and tucked it into her apron tie.“I really appreciate your willingness to help, but I can’t pay you right now.And since you don’t eat sweets, I can’t even bribe you with baked goods.”
Wolfe paused before speaking and slowly perused her body from the tips of her Sketchers to the massive coppery bun planted atop her head.“Oh, there are other ways you can pay me back, BB.”
Aspen’s eyes widened as Wolfe’s intense gaze took a leisurely jaunt up her body to meet her own bewildered stare.
Aspen could feel a red wave of humiliation pulse against her cheeks.Actually, if she was honest with herself, the heat was arousal that settled in the pit of her stomach like a thousand butterflies fluttering in sync to a hip-hop song.A feeling similar to the one she experienced when she first spotted him leaned against the counter talking to Mia.
“Again, I can’t pay you right now,” Aspen forced confidence into her voice that she didn’t feel in her body, as she couldn’t help but be mesmerized by Wolfe’s towering frame from his wide shoulders encased in a cloud-white t-shirt that tapered to his narrow waist where a tool belt hung like a cowboy’s gun belt and holster.“But I will accept your generosity and let you get to that baseboard.”
Without waiting for Wolfe’s response, Aspen quickly made her way back to the kitchen.
A teenage girl has more confidence and charm in her gel-polished pinky nail than you at this moment,Aspen scolded herself.
Shaking her head at her inability to form a coherent thought around Wolfe—outside of her very realistic mental video reel of images of the hockey hottie as a marauding Viking—Aspen shifted her energy to gathering the ingredients for the chocolate cupcake concoction she intended to bake.
“I’m done for the day,” Mia called out to Aspen and tossed her barista apron into a hamper in the back of the shop.“I’ll see you in the morning, girl.”
After giving her ‘uncle’ a peck on the cheek, she turned to exit the shop.
“Thank you, Mia.As always,” Aspen called out and offered a genuine smile to her friend.
“For you, the world,” Mia wiggled her eyebrows at Aspen and headed out the door.
Mia may be several years her junior, but she was smooth.
Brat.
Losing herself in the‘Coo-Coo-for-Cocoa’cupcake recipe she created, Aspen thought about the crazed orange Cuckoo bird who tried to avoid the cereal’s chocolatey goodness from the commercials she’d seen as a child.She felt a certain kinship to the bird when he reached his breaking point, eyes spinning, just before diving into the tasty bowl of sweetness.
Wolfe symbolized the bowl of cereal and she the loony bird.
Aspen needed to figure out how to act like the poised and confident businesswoman she professed herself to be when Wolfe was around the shop.
So what if his arctic-blue eyes caused her stomach to flutter and her panties to dampen.Channing Tatum caused a similar physical response in Aspen’s body.
Yes, but Channing-freaking-Tatum wasn’t sauntering around your bakery like Wolfe with the tightest ass and thickest thighs you’ve ever seen grace your shop.
Aspen took the opportunity to watch Wolfe quickly and effortlessly attach the vinyl baseboard that he said would be more functional and easier to clean.
Thank goodness her mixer was on a timer because she found herself riveted to Wolfe sprawled across the floor to affix the baseboard.The muscles forming his exquisite biceps flexed and danced all to themselves as he ensured the adhesive covering the backside of the new baseboard stayed in place.
“...easy to clean without warping the material like the wood did.”
Aspen could literally feel her eyes twirl in a hypnotized fashion like that damn Cuckoo bird from the cereal ad.Wolfe’s explanation ignored.In a last-ditch effort to rejoin reality, Aspen collected a bit of skin on her forearm and pinched herself—hard—to force herself to snap out of her reverie of Wolfe sprawled on the floor, working in her shop.
“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you over the mixer,” Aspen said, and puffed up with a bit of pride that her voice sounded somewhat in control.“What did you say?”
“I said that I used a trowel to apply the mastic, so there’s no way the vinyl will lift.It will also be much easier to clean and far less porous than the warped wood that tripped you up, giving you a one-way ticket to land on your ass.”
