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Avel tore off his apron, slung it on the counter, and stomped off, ignoring Holly’s protests as he left.

This wasn’t for him. Holly wasn’t for him. He’d made a mistake. He wouldn’t do it again.

Chapter 5

The kitchen was once again spotless. Holly tidied away the last of the cleaning cloths and icing equipment from her evening class before turning to inspect the room.

She swiped her hair from her face and looked at the counter. The only thing she’d left out were Avel’s burnt, sunken cupcakes. She walked over to them and bit her lip. They were dreadful. She’d never seen such an awful cupcake. And his icing skills were atrocious.

Holly shook her head. What was Avel even doing in her class? She’d only meant it as a joke yesterday when she’d challenged him to come to her cupcake class. Never in a million years had she expected him to take her up on it.

Avel clearly wasn’t used to working in a group. His rage had gone from zero to a hundred as soon as he’d been challenged.

Holly was aware that Chien enjoyed teasing new recruits in her class. She should have kept a closer eye on him. But she’d never had anyone react like Avel. He’d been full of fury when he’d attacked Chien. It was like he acted on autopilot and attacked without thinking.

Maybe it was his work that made him behave like that. Holly still wasn’t certain what he did, but it was something physical and involved his knuckles. He could be in security, something that needed a certain amount of muscle. A bodyguard, maybe?

She shrugged as she removed the burned cupcakes and placed them in the recycling chute.

Holly hadn’t heard all the argument, but Chien had insulted Avel’s baking effort, and no one liked being insulted.

She’d lived with insults for years, thanks to Eric. If he wasn’t complaining that she needed to lose weight, he’d suggest she get a boob job or a facial peel or sort out her frumpy wardrobe. His insults had made her feel ugly. She could barely look at herself in a mirror, thanks to his daily taunts. How could she have ever believed they loved each other?

Whereas Avel tossed his anger out when it reared up, Holly kept hers caged. She’d never fought back or shouted at Eric and told him to keep his rude, insulting mouth shut, although she’d thought it a hundred times. She’d kept the hurt, rage, and despair inside. It had festered for a long time until she believed that Eric was right.

Holly couldn’t see herself as attractive and couldn’t believe that anyone would desire her. She’d felt lucky that Eric had put up with her. Even though they’d been separated for almost two years, those thoughts still lingered inside her, making her doubt herself whenever she tried something new that might make her stand out.

It was part of the reason it had taken so long to get her chocolate business off the ground. Every time she’d thought about it, Eric’s bitter voice had entered her head and told her she’d fail and nobody would be interested.

“Well, Eric, you’re not around to tell me what to do anymore.” Before she could talk herself out of it, Holly walked to the industrial-sized refrigerator and took out a tin of vanilla cream cupcakes.

She wanted to learn more about Avel. If nothing else, she wanted to understand what had made him so angry. Why did he feel the need to lash out? His anger was free and bright and a little terrifying. Holly wanted to know if she could unleash her own pent up rage. She was sick of feeling scared and not good enough. Maybe punching a few things was the way to go.

She left the kitchen and walked along the corridor until she reached the living quarters on Prodigy.

Holly pressed the alert button outside Avel’s door and shifted from foot to foot, still undecided if this was a good idea.

The door slid open. Avel stood in front of her, dressed in a towel that wrapped snugly around his waist.

His eyes widened. “Holly! What are you doing here?”

She tried so hard not to leer at his hard abs. She utterly failed as her gaze ran over him. He was all lean lines and hard muscle. Her gaze settled on several scars on his abdomen.

“Is everything okay?” A smile traced across his face as her gaze snapped back to his.

Heat rose up Holly’s neck. “Fine. I wanted to make sure everything was good with you after the incident in the kitchen.”

Avel looked away and grimaced. “Yeah, everything’s great. I didn’t mean to lose my temper. I’m sorry if I ruined your class.”

“It was all everyone talked about for the rest of the evening,” Holly said. “You made an impression.”

Avel shrugged. “That guy was a dick. He deliberately squirted icing at me.”

Holly chuckled. “Chien is known for causing problems. It’s my fault. I should have kept a better eye on him.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Avel’s gaze settled on the tin in her hand. “What have you got there?”

“If you let me in, I’ll show you.”