Livvie didn’t end up walking to the dining room, she more like ran there, but who could blame her? Scrumptious treats were awaiting her, and one of them came in the form of a tall and handsome, green-eyed man, who had been so sweet to her last night. Plus, if this baker were anything like the other baker Drake had, she would be leaving here at least ten pounds heavier than when she arrived. The thought depressed her, but not as much as denying herself scones and possibly cake. When she reached the dining room door, she slowed her steps, reluctant to appear too eager. Not only did she crave sugar, but also she craved the man sitting at the head of the table with his mouth full and his hands filled with delectable treats. How she would love to be the delectable treat in his hands. The thought alone turned her on.

“Ah, I see you’ve come,” Drake said with his mouth full.

She felt a huge butterfly in her stomach. Could Drake sense her secret yearning? There was no way he could know just from sitting at the other end of the room. But hearing him say “come” made her think of only that. Forcing her mind to shift gears and reminding herself why she was standing in his dining room was not an easy task.

“I could never turn down scones.” Livvie smiled widely. She had been smiling a lot lately. But Drake wasn’t the only reason she was smiling. No matter how turned-on she felt scones also excited her. The thought of them alone made her mouth water. Great, now she was wet in two places! Livvie started to laugh at the thought.

“What’s so funny?” Drake asked still with his mouth full.

Needing to think of a way to get out of answering his awkward question, she slowly walked over and sat next to him in the exact spot where she had sat at dinner the other night. It felt strangely natural to be near him. She remembered when she had first sat here, she had been nervous beyond belief. Now, rather than feeling nervous, she felt over the moon to be spending time alone with him.

“You won’t tell me what’s funny?” Drake had a twinkle in his eye and scone crumbs all over his chin.

She would love to lick them off him. “I was just thinking about how much I love scones.” Livvie had no choice but to give him a half-truth. She wondered if the day would come when she didn’t feel the need to lie to this man. Maybe if she listened to Mr. Birkshire and left her baggage at the door, she could start to trust Drake.

“That’s what made you laugh?” Drake looked at her with doubt in his eyes and instantly stopped chewing.

No, thought Livvie. “Yes, my mom used to make fun of me when I was a little girl. She’d tell me that no matter what was going on in my life, I’d never say no when it came to eating something with sugar.”

She missed how simple her life had been when she was a child. Back then she hadn’t had to deal with losing her job and being unemployed. Drake grabbed her hand from under the table and squeezed it, causing what felt like an electric current shooting through her body again.

“It’s both happy and sad, remembering our childhood.”

Livvie swallowed hard. She wished she had thought of another reason why she had laughed.

“Thank you,” Livvie whispered.

“Thank you?”

“Yes, for being so kind.” And she meant it. He had given her the journal yesterday, and Mr. Birkshire had told her how he helped the autistic boy. And he took her up to the roof at two o’clock in the morning. He was full of surprises. Who knew what other kind deeds he had done?

This time Drake laughed. “No one has ever said I’m kind.” He smiled warmly at her. “I think I know how to be more than kind.”

He wiggled his eyebrows up and down, making Livvie laugh.

“By giving me a scone?” Livvie tried to sound as flirty as possible. When it came to the art of flirting, she was awful. Carly had told her to give up flirting altogether and just be herself.

“Oh, I’ll do more than give you a scone.” His eyes changed from humor to intense lust. Drake reached over to a large plate of scones and took a moment, examining each one, as if wanting to make certain he chose the perfect specimen.

“Ah,” Drake said as he finally picked one. He gently broke it apart with his fingers and once again turned toward her.

Realizing he was about to feed her the scone himself, she held her breath, her stomach doing summersaults. She was beyond turned on already, and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to taste more—his delectable fingers or the delicious scone.

“Open up, princess.”

Livvie would have opened her mouth no matter what, but his use of the term of endearment made her feel as if she would have done absolutely anything he wanted. Women were never too old to be called princess. At least that’s how Livvie felt. And as she sat up straighter to take the scone into her mouth, her nipples hardened. Why her nipples would harden from a simple term of endearment, she would never understand, but they did. And now not only was she experiencing the feeling of his fingers touching her lips and the burst of mouthwatering sugar hitting her tongue, but her nipples wanted to get involved, too. She acknowledged them by giving them some attention. She moved forward slightly, so they brushed Drake’s arm as he fed her a chocolate chip scone. When her nipples made contact, she moaned. Luckily, Drake thought her moan was as a result of tasting the scone. Or at least she hoped that was the case. And he laughed. Not a full out laugh, but a soft, seductive laugh that caused even more havoc between her thighs.

Something had shifted between them when they were on the rooftop. She wanted it to continue. Her fear was Drake becoming arrogant toward her again.

“Another?”

Livvie smiled as she finished swallowing the scone.

As he broke off another piece, she instinctively opened her mouth once again. The sugar, chocolate, and the fact that he was feeding her was driving her crazy. With both hands, she grabbed onto his arm, desperately trying to center herself again. Once the rest of the scone had been placed in her mouth, he brushed his thumb along her lips. She wondered if he still considered this not intimately touching.

And she was determined to emphasize the point. The second Livvie swallowed, she circled her tongue around his thumb and moved it back and forth, tasting him. How she wished it was his cock and not his thumb, but she had chosen Plan B. She looked into his gorgeous eyes, and she could read the intensity in them, mirroring hers.

“Olivia, if you keep this up, I’ll be feeding you more than just scones. And I’m trying desperately to keep my word with you.” Drake paused. “You did come down here for scones. Am I correct?”

“Well…” Livvie said as flirtatiously as she could. What was she doing? She was playing with fire; that’s what she was doing. “I also came down for some cake.”

Drake laughed. Livvie loved that sound, and the fact she had caused it made her feel all mushy inside. He pecked her on the lips and then shouted Mr. Birkshire’s name.

The man appeared through a side door. “You called, sir?”

“Yes, my lady requests cake. Please have the new baker bring in a piece. A very large piece, Mr. Birkshire.”

Mr. Birkshire nodded and then left the room. When they were once again alone, Livvie grabbed the sides of Drake’s face.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She wasn’t used to a man trying to please her. Usually, she was the one trying to please them. And it felt odd. Good, but odd. Especially coming from a man who never wanted a committed relationship.

To make matters worse, Drake kissed her on the lips in response to her thanking him. A kiss that was far from a peck. He inserted his tongue into her mouth as if he deserved to be there. Her tongue automatically joined his, and they connected in the way that the rest of her body was dying to do. He ran his hands through her hair, and she didn’t even care that his fingers were covered with crumbs and sugar. It felt more natural, being messy. Livvie mirrored his actions and ran her hands through his hair. Instinctively, they both moved closer, while tugging at each other’s hair as their lips performed a dance of ecstasy.

The kiss would have lasted forever, but Mr. Birkshire cleared his throat. She was super mortified, and her face grew hot. She hated it when her face gave away her emotions. Drake, on the other hand, was cool as usual. He stopped kissing her and nodded at Mr. Birkshire, as if kissing a woman in the dining room with scone crumbs all over his hands was the norm around there. And maybe it was, to Drake. Maybe Mr. Birkshire had seen this hundreds of times. The thought made Livvie cringe inwardly.

When the cake appeared a second later, Livvie wasn’t sure if it was such a good idea for Drake to feed her again. She wanted him badly. And feeding her food directly from his fingers wasn’t making resisting him any easier. Luckily for her, Mr. Birkshire stayed in the room.

“Mr. Morganthal, I also have news.”

Drake didn’t seem at all happy with him still being there. “Yes?” he said quickly.

“Your mother will be joining your lunch party tomorrow as well.”

Drake sighed loudly. “Why?”

“She implied on the telephone that she hasn’t seen you in a while. I figured the easiest way for you to deal with her would be at lunch with others.”

Drake nodded. “I don’t like it, but you’re right. Thank you.”

Mr. Birkshire nodded and left the room. Drake handed Livvie a fork, and together they dove into the vanilla buttercream cake with tiny pieces of chocolate in the center. It tasted divine, but after finding out about his mom’s impending visit, Livvie felt uncomfortable.

“So what kind of lunch are you having tomorrow?” she asked after she had swallowed a big bite of cake.

“It’s a lunch with some of my loyal customers. They’re flying in from the East Coast.”

“Just for lunch?” Livvie asked.

“No, they have business in San Francisco, I believe, so they’re stopping here first.”

Drake resumed eating the cake, and Livvie felt too awkward to ask more questions. She was dying to know if she was invited, but she couldn’t ask. After all, she was only his raffle winner. Although, she felt like they were becoming good friends. To avoid asking the question, Livvie shoved a mouthful of cake into her mouth.

Unconsciously, she moaned. From the look on Drake’s face, she guessed he had never heard a woman moan while eating cake. Livvie stared back at him as if she had been caught taking a cookie from the jar. She wanted him to think she was a sophisticated adult like the women he was used to, but unfortunately, her cake obsession gave away that she was really a little girl inside a woman’s body. Livvie inhaled deeply and continued eating the cake, still moaning at odd moments.

Mr. Birkshire appeared once again, as if he sensed Drake needing him. They had the oddest relationship.

“Yes?” Mr. Birkshire asked.

“If Olivia’s recent display is any indication of how good this new baker is, please hire him immediately, and tell him to make the exact same cake for tomorrow.”

Livvie felt her cheeks flush, while Drake looked at her with a twinkle in his eye and an “I want to fuck you” smile on his face.

“Yes, sir.” Without batting an eyelid Mr. Birkshire nodded and left the room, once again leaving them alone.

“As much as I’d love nothing more than to stay and watch you eat this cake, I must prepare for tomorrow,” said Drake.

Feeling as if she had outstayed her welcome, Livvie grabbed her napkin and dabbed the sides of her mouth as gracefully as she could. She felt like she had buttercream all over her face. But Drake grabbed her hand as she was in the middle of dabbing herself.

“Please finish the cake without me. Watching you eat this was a huge turn-on. I’d like to picture you finishing it while I’m working away.”

Livvie’s heart beat faster as his fingers grazed her chin. She stuck her tongue down toward his fingers and began licking them. They still tasted like the scones he’d fed her. She licked them thoroughly, enjoying the taste and feel of him. She gazed into his eyes. She would have been perfectly happy, keeping her eyes closed, but his eyes kept on changing. First he appeared shocked, but then his gaze filled with an intense desire. Judging by the look on his face, he didn’t want her to stop, so she continued licking even faster, wanting to give him a performance to think about while he worked. She licked in circles, making sure she touched every part of his fingers while holding his gaze the entire time. Then he looked at her as if she was the most ravishing woman he had ever seen. His eyes grew in intensity, and he clenched his jaw as if it was taking every bit of control he had not to throw her down on the dining room table.

Then reality crept in. What was she doing? Playing with fire. That’s what she was doing. With much reluctance Livvie stopped licking and released his fingers. She grabbed the glass of water and began gulping it down, trying desperately to get his taste out of her mouth. Not that she wanted to. She adored his taste, but she had to look out for her fragile heart. There was no way she could sleep with Drake. It would feel as if she were throwing all the work she’d done on herself in the last few months right into the garbage.

When she looked up at Drake, his eyes were filled with anger.

“Does my taste repulse you?” Drake wasn’t yelling, necessarily, more like speaking quietly with a force that would scare anyone.

“No, not all.” Livvie spoke softly, but only because she felt guilty for almost crossing the line.

“Then why did you stop?” Drake’s tone had not changed.

“I didn’t want to stop,” Livvie said quietly.

“Then what’s the problem?” Drake asked.

Livvie inhaled. She needed to be honest with him. He was honest with her on the rooftop. “I’m afraid to sleep with you, and I’m afraid not to sleep with you.”

“Why are you so afraid?”

“Because you gave us an expiration date,” Livvie blurted out.

Drake looked at her as if she was one of those emotional, crazy types of women Carly and Livvie always swore they’d never become.

“Olivia, you would have slept with Andrew for one night and been completely okay with never seeing him again.”

Okay, he has me there, thought Livvie. And the fact he knew that didn’t make her feel any better.

“But my heart wasn’t involved with Andrew. And with you it is. What happened to the Drake I spoke with on the rooftop? He told me I deserved more,” Livvie said.

“We already crossed the line. My dick may not be inside you, but the line was crossed.” He groaned. “Be careful, Olivia. This week cost you one hundred dollars—the price of the raffle ticket. I wouldn’t want it to also cost you your heart.”

He threw his napkin onto the table and stormed out of the dining room, leaving Livvie alone. She looked at the piece of cake Drake had wanted her to finish without him. Not only was her appetite ruined, she also wanted to throw the cake against the wall. However, it wasn’t the cake that had caused this. Clearly, Drake and she both had issues. He had told her exactly who he was on the rooftop. Should she leave? Livvie considered it for a brief moment. No, that was a cowardly thing to do, and Olivia Collins may be a lot of things, but she was no coward. Drake would have to throw her out, and so far, he hadn’t. That gave her at least a little hope. But Carly had once told Livvie that when it came to men, feeling hopeful could be dangerous.