CHAPTER 4
Driving home from the funeral, Carigan O’Reilly decided to stop at Baker’s Bakery and grab a dessert to take up to the hospital. Beer and Pizza was covered, but nobody mentioned dessert, and this was very much the time to indulge. Sugar from Baker’s fixed everything.
Sugary goodness to drown their worries in wasn’t the only thing Carigan was on a mission for. There was more. A six foot something brawny man in a bun, who happened to be a beast in bed…to be exact. It felt weird returning to Baker’s. The last time she had been there it was to rescue Gran and save her life – a little heavy for a light and fluffy bakery.
Emotion coursed through her when she pushed through the front door. Looking around, she noticed the place was quiet, just a few families and a handful of teenagers scattered about with soft music playing in the background. She looked first to the back corner where the world had shifted, knocking them all off balance. She could still see Sam and Meg at a corner booth, comforting each other – Morgan and Blake over Gran…it was surreal. There was another memory etched in her peripheral, BJ Baker. The beast in bed.
Jed Baker owned the bakery, it had been in the family for generations. He had his own health challenges over the past year – a fall that required hip replacement. Age and hips that were never the same after surgery required him to slow down and let others run the business. She didn’t know that other’s
included BJ coming back to McKenzie Ridge.
Once upon a time, Carigan and BJ were an inseparable couple of high school sweethearts with dreams of forever. That was until forever was put off while he finished his culinary studies at Le Cordon Bleu, then again after traveling abroad to finesse his craft in the kitchen. Bartholomew James Baker, of humble roots in McKenzie Ridge, was a world class chef with one of the highest sought out restaurants on the West Coast – Chez Sol in San Francisco. It was a five-star dining experience that would knock your socks off and break your wallet in the process.
The relationship had been off and on long distance for a few years before eventually fizzling out. Seeing him again brought back a flood of emotions from anger to excitement. Even the rush of twisted butterflies had returned from their long hibernation. It was kismet seeing him again. By the expression he wore, she could confidently say the feeling was mutual.
After leaving Lou at the hospital the night of her heart attack, Carigan came home to find a strange car in her driveway. She shouldn’t have been surprised to find it was BJ, concerned for her well-being. He was a McKenzie native and understood the blow Lou’s condition had on the community, he just wanted to be there for her.
Oddly, they were completely in sync as if no time had passed at all, talking well into the night. Though there was one distinct difference, he wasn’t a high school boy anymore – he was a hot virile man. BJ was the epitome of tall dark and handsome with a hint of long haired hippy all rolled in to one. His scruffy beard and dark shoulder length locks that had sun bleached ends caused her to wipe the drool from her chin often and cross her legs a bit tighter. A man bun wasn’t her idea of sexy, but he wore it well, too well. He was damn hot with his rock-hard physique and sultry gray blue eyes.
BJ and Carigan had been inseparable since that night, and as she found herself approaching her home with the brownie bottom cheesecake she’d picked up at the bakery, she noticed his car in the driveway and hoped she would find him in her bed right where she left him. She sat in her car for a moment, staring at her house, the lights on inside suggesting someone was home. It felt nice, it felt right to come home to someone. Shaking her head at the premature ideas of forever, she reminded herself that he left once, he could leave again. She would take whatever this was one day at a time, leaving all expectations at the door.
Damn, he wasn’t in the bedroom like she’d hoped. She found him in the kitchen, cooking – she hoped they’d do some cooking of another kind in there too. Why not?
He greeted her with a long, heated kiss that was both spicy and sweet, matching the intense aroma that she couldn’t quite identify. “It smells amazing in here! What are you making?”
He held her close and stole another kiss before putting a small piece of what appeared to be bacon in her mouth. “What do you think?”
“Oh, my God, is this bacon?” She let out a throaty moan and reached for another piece.
“It is. I take it you like it?”
“Um, I love it! What is it for?”
“It’s bacon crack!”
“You can say that again, I’m already addicted!”
He tossed his head back and laughed. “No really, that’s what it’s called. It’s bacon rubbed in a variety of chiles and brown sugar to give it a crispy, sweet and spicy edge.”
“Well, I love it!” Proof of such was in the handful she was feasting on.
“I use it for a lot of things. I was testing recipes for the bakery.”
Her eyes widened, surprised by his admission. The menu at Baker’s hadn’t changed in years, if ever. “You are going to serve entrées at the Bakery now? Interesting! This stuff will sell out, I can tell you that much.”
The smile he gave in response to her compliment would get him anything he wanted from her. She was starting to sweat and it wasn’t from the spicy bacon.
“Well, dad says no, but I think McKenzie can use a little flavor like this. Why not? I use this bacon on a lot of things. I like to toss it with asparagus, wrap it around chicken, on top of a cupcake, even in ice cream for those with a daring palate for flavor...” She hung on every word, her mouth slightly open, eyes heavy with sensual intention, and she was shifting from side to side as she devoured him with a single look.
“God, I love it when you talk food to me.” She moved closer with a slight arch in her back putting her breasts on display. “I’m getting…hungry.”
Leaning her small body against his oversized frame, he lifted her as if she didn’t weigh a thing and placed her on the counter. Not wanting to lose the intimate contact they had, he stood between her parted legs, brushing a lock of coppery hair away from her face, resting it behind her shoulder with a two-finger sweep. Those fingers were teasing her.
“Are you now? What are you hungry for, baby? Just tell me what you want and it’s yours.” He ducked down and took her mouth. Soft and sweet at first, then swept her lips with his tongue until she let him in and he went to work.
“I’m…supposed to… meet everyone at the…” Her words were lost in a mind full of sultry thoughts he was generating with every kiss down her neck and across her collarbone.
She felt him grin against her neck as he said, “At the what, honey?”
“The...uhhh…” She licked her lips as her head rolled back and her eyes closed, completely lost in him. “Hospital…pizza. We’re having beer and pizza.”
“Uh huh. I heard. I’m going with you.” He continued, “But not until we are done with this.”
His mouth drifted lower, peppering kisses on each exposed shoulder, following the trail of goosebumps his hands made pushing down the sleeves of her dress and straps of her bra. The top of her black dress continued to fall, BJ trailing close behind, meeting the tops of her breasts with his wicked tongue. He took one step back and drank her in while he pulled down her bra, leaving nothing to his imagination.
“You are so fucking beautiful.” He pushed up her skirt, revealing the V at the top of her legs. “I’m glad you wore this dress today. I need the lace.”
“The what?” She was rummy from his intoxicating touch.
“Lift your ass baby, I want your panties. I think I’m keeping those.” Happy to oblige, she lifted while he pulled, sliding them slowly down her legs, then put them in his pocket for safe keeping. With a hand on each knee, he quickly parted her legs, exposing her completely, an act that would probably embarrass her with anyone else…just not BJ.
He looked her over, head to toe, taking in her creamy alabaster skin, emerald green eyes and the copper hair that made her his feisty little Irish vixen – he spent more time staring at her perfectly pink core that matched her hardened nipples, debating where he should begin. He knew one thing, it didn’t matter where he began, he was having every last inch of her, right there on the kitchen counter.
“So fucking beautiful.”
His hands were on each inner thigh, sliding up to heaven where he pushed her legs wider, opening her to him. He fell to his knees, his mouth at just the right height to take her in. A single stroke of his tongue down her center earned him an arched back and a moan that made him so hard he was sure he would have tracks from his zipper.
He pulled her ass to the edge of the counter and placed her feet there as well so her knees could fall open, giving him better access to what he was after. Her moans turned to cries when his fingers stroked her, pumping in and out of her faster and faster, his mouth matching the intense pace.
He watched her react to the intense pleasure that came over her when she tightened around his fingers and cried out his name. With her body limp, completely sated, he quickly undid his pants, pushing them to the floor. BJ pulled her from the counter and wrapped her around his waist, standing in the middle of the kitchen like she didn’t weigh a thing.
Resting her on his steely length, he leaned her back, ever so slightly, gaining access to her hardened rosy buds. He plunged into her just as he clamped down on her breast, causing her to cry out in pleasure. He filled her completely, like a glove, their connection familiar from years ago.
His brisk steady movement continued completely in sync with the tongue lashing he gave her plump breasts. As her first wave of passion subsided, a new one was brewing, causing her to ride him back hard, taking what she wanted – all of him. The friction they created was hot, and uncontrolled.
He let go of her breast with his mouth, tossing his head back on the brink of spilling over – his own moans matching hers. Her hands snaked through his hair, pulling herself closer so her now lonely breasts could rake over his chest with every rise and fall of her hips. Carigan O’Reilly was his sexy muse, taking her dirty fill before tightening around him for a second time, milking him to his own satisfied happy ending.
With her still cradled in his arms, and wrapped around him, he took them to the floor, leaning against the cabinets while they each caught their breaths.
“We’re going to need to bleach that counter,” Carigan joked, still a bit breathless.
“Probably the floor too,” he chuckled and stroked her back while she leaned against him, head on his shoulder.
It didn’t take long before she started to rock against him, slowly at first, picking up the pace as she felt him harden inside her. He pushed forward and laid her on the ground. Where it was fast and hard before, this time he made slow sweet love to her on the kitchen floor. Cooking in the kitchen had an entirely new meaning to them.
Their pizza was going to be cold by the time they made it to the hospital, but that was okay, they’d already had their dessert.