It didn’t matter that she was seemingly late to the party; Aspen was going to join the pair to ensure Mia was okay.
Aspen was only a few steps behind as she hurried to where Mia stood, but the warped wooden trim that jutted from the bottom of the counter caught her foot, sending her sailing in the air.She landed with a mightythudright at Mia’s feet.
Aspen lay face down, the shock of the fall paralyzing her for a moment.She began taking stock of her body to ensure there were no apparent injuries, when she felt herself being swept off the floor and into the muscley, tattooed arms of the man she’d been gawking at just moments before.
Aspen’s first thought was complete awe that the giant could so effortlessly lift her from the floor and into his arms.
Her second thought focused on how hard those muscles of his arms were, the same arms she now held in a death grip.Touching the beast caused the earlier vision of licking and tasting him to zoom back to the forefront of her mind.
Then, all thoughts swept away from her mind as she stared into those crystal-blue eyes with flecks of black – no, midnight blue – bursting outward in a starlike pattern from his now dilated pupils.
“My goodness,” Aspen whispered breathlessly as she continued to grasp the rounded balls of his shoulders.She didn’t even notice she was suspended in the air and may have even been kneading the thick muscles like she worked the dough of her‘Sin-uh-Man’rolls so popular during the Christmas season.
It was like the world melted away and they were the only two people in the universe at that moment.
As light and gooey as Aspen’s insides felt, the man holding her was all business.Not an iota of warmth or friendliness touched his hardened features as his eyes slowly roamed her face and lower down her body.Had she not spied his pupils expanded in awareness, maybe even desire, she would have been certain that he felt nothing.
Hell, maybe he didn’t feel anything.Maybe he just responded to the situation of Aspen’s precarious position on the floor and simply acted.Maybe he had the x-ray vision of a superhero and his perusal of her body ensured she had no broken bones.
Her mind swam with thoughts of her rescuer’s physique and how good his arms felt wrapped around her body.That’s a sign of interest, right?
Enough with the back and forth, girl!
“I’m fine.Really.You can put me down now.”
Aspen pushed at his shoulders to force the hulk to loosen his grip so she could find her footing on the ground.
Except he didn’t let go.Instead, he leisurely guided her down his body until her toes reached the worn linoleum of the floor.
Aspen’s eyes never left his during her journey back to earth and her return to reality.
“Give yourself a minute.That was a helluva tumble,” the man said, and just like that Aspen was sucked back into his vortex of hotness.
Aspen heard talking around her, but she couldn’t seem to tear herself away from the man and his massive hands loosely grasping her trim waist.His hands spanned her entire torso, his fingertips nearly touching, causing a shiver of responsiveness to rage through her body.
What kind of voodoo magic did he weave?
“...we really did want to just stop in and say hi.Introduce ourselves.Aspen, is it?”
It was then Aspen realized Mia’s brother was talking to her.With one final push away from her Viking-like rescuer, Aspen made her way over to Dante and extended her hand in greeting.
Act normal, Aspen.Act normal.
“Nice to meet you, Dante.Yes, I’m Aspen.Mia’s great.Wonderful really.It’s like we’ve known each other for a lifetime.I can’t believe she’s only worked here such a short time,” Aspen gushed out her words like a machine gun spewing shell casings in the midst of a battle.
“So glad to hear that,” he smiled in return.“This is Matty.And that guy is Wolfe.I’m Mia’s brother, Dante.”
“Wolfe?Really?”Aspen spun around, seeking out the man who now crouched down and inspected the offending baseboard that triggered her fall.
“Really,” Wolfe chimed in with a small smile tugging one side of his mouth that instantly caused her ovaries to stand at attention.“You need to fix this trim.You’re lucky you weren’t seriously hurt.”
Instantly, that smile dropped and he was once again all business.
Fascinating.
“Add it to the list,” Mia and Aspen said in unison.
There were a number of fixes needed in the bakery, but Aspen needed to walk the fine line of wants versus needs, especially because she needed every last penny and more to replace her current oven living on borrowed time.
