The tears streamed down her face. She almost ran a red light as she drove into Bear Lake. He had tricked her. She knew it the instant she realized he was the one who had placed the cake order. Using her business as a ploy to get her out to his house was a low trick, even for Liam.

Sophia gripped the steering wheel. Liam Grayson was notorious for using women. Why would she think she was any different?

She tried to ignore how heavy her lips still felt as she pulled into her parking spot behind the bakery. They tingled with a raw fever. Her fingertips trailed over her bottom lip. Why did he have to be an amazing kisser? It would be easier if he were sloppy. But he wasn’t. He knew exactly how to use every perfect inch of his firm lips. She huffed. It had to be from all the practice he had.

She stormed into the shop and up the back staircase. On top of everything, he had admitted he had been pining over her the entire time she was with Noah. It almost felt like blame—blaming her for his non-stop womanizing. None of it made sense.

She threw her purse on the foyer table. The memories were there, but she had never seen it until now. Whenever she would arrive, Liam would always leave. He said he had a hot date. He had tried to find a way out of the blood oath ceremony. He said the elders could be the witnesses. She always thought he was avoiding her, and she was right—but not for the reason she thought.

She sank on to the couch.

Had she known this whole time? Had she seen how Liam looked at her? Did she realize he had feelings? And then the panic gripped her. Did Noah know?

If he did, he kept it as hidden as Liam had.

She pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and tucked her legs behind her. The shaking started in her shoulders and rattled her bones. It was everything she didn’t want to have happen. She could ignore it. She could fight it. She could run away to California. It wouldn’t do a damn thing to undo what that kiss had done to her.

With his hands tangled in her hair and his warm breath on her lips, she had felt alive. There was no sadness or emptiness. His skin was hot and his eyes full of life and lust. That kiss had stirred something in her she had wanted to forget, but as she started to drift off to sleep, she struggled to remember why she didn’t want to feel that bliss soar through her lips.

She fell asleep sometime after midnight. For the first time in two years, she dreamed about another man.

* * *

The alarm chirp sounded far away. Sophia stretched out, realizing she was on the couch and not her warm bed. She fished through her purse to silence the alarm. She tried to remember what was on today’s baking list as she got ready for the day.

She jogged down the stairs and flipped the kitchen lights on. Coffee was a must. She worked on making a pot while the ovens warmed up.

Her order book was next to the phone. There was an office in the back of the kitchen, but she rarely used it. The Sweet Tooth was a one-woman show. Most of the time she was stirring, taking orders, and answering the phone at the same time. She had shoved a small desk next to one of the refrigerators and used it to store customer information.

Saturdays were always busy. Parents liked to bring their children in for donuts, and it was definitely her busiest birthday cake day.

She rolled her eyes, thinking about Liam’s stunt last night. She had made an emergency birthday cake for a fake husband and a fake wife.

As soon as she heard the tap on the back door, she knew exactly who it was without having to answer.

She pulled on the handle, letting a gust of cold wind whip through the kitchen. Liam stepped in with a grin on his face.

She had seen that smile a hundred times before. It was the kind that melted the panties off most women—except hers. Never hers.

“Good morning.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

“What are you doing here so early?”

“Thought I’d grab a cup of coffee.” He leaned against the counter.

“Saturdays are insane in here. I don’t have time for your clan-mating speeches today. Okay?”

She expected him to argue, but when she turned back around, he was tying an apron around his waist. She almost started laughing.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping out. What can I do?”

She shook her head. “Oh, no, no. This is my kitchen.”

“Then I’ll go out there.” He brushed past her and started setting up the shop for the day. Within minutes, all of the chairs were on the floor.

Sophia twisted her lip under her teeth. It was hard to argue with the help, but she knew what he was doing. He was stealing minutes with her. Getting under her skin. Making himself useful. Showing her how damn sexy he was in an apron.

She fidgeted with the oven dials, trying to remember what temperature she used for the croissants. She made them five days a week. How could she suddenly forget the temperature?

“What else can I do?” His voice was low and deep as he strolled into the kitchen.

It wasn’t that Liam had done anything to change his appearance in the past two years. He had always had a sharp jawline and eyes so dark they could be mistaken for a night sky. He ran his hands through his brown hair and Sophia caught herself staring. He was one damn good-looking man. No, he hadn’t changed—she was just now noticing all the features that made him so irresistible.

She pointed to the white cardboard boxes near the window. “You could start folding those. Make at least twenty.”

Liam worked quietly, folding the corners together and assembling the pastry boxes.

“Here you go.” He walked past her with a stack. “I’ll put them up front.”

“Thanks.” She watched him through the window as he arranged the boxes near the counter.

In another hour, the bakery would open, and her regular Saturday morning customers would start filing in for cups of coffee and their favorite pastries.

She filled the paper cups with muffin batter and slid them into the second oven.

“How many things do you bake every day?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I change it up sometimes. Today we have blueberry muffins, croissants, donuts, banana bread, and of course every cupcake you could think of.”

“I think I’ll take one of each.”

“What? You’re not really going to eat all that, are you?” But she stopped. She had forgotten how much bears could eat. “Hold on. I’ll put something together for you.”

She started gathering an assortment of pastries and muffins. She handed the bag to Liam. Her fingers coasted over his and she felt the same rush she did last night when his thumb brushed over her cheek.

He smiled. “Thank you.”

“It doesn’t mean anything,” she warned.

He placed the bag on the counter and stepped closer. She felt the sudden flutter in her belly. God, was he going to kiss her again?

His eyes lit with mischief. The bad kind. The very dirty kind. The kind that made her want his hands on her.

He leaned toward her ear. She could feel his breath along her neck. “I’ll be back to pick you up at five.”

Every part of her body tingled from the nearness of him. “I-I didn’t say I was available,” she stammered. There had to be a way to gain control of her senses.

He barely moved an inch. His chest could almost touch her breasts.

“I’ll be here at five,” he stated again.

Before she could run through her usual protests, he skirted out of the back of the kitchen.

“Shit,” she whispered. She knew it. What was worse—he did too. He was getting to her.