Nina had only been with the bakery for about six months, but today was the first day that she’d ever been distracted enough to mess up the measurements on a custom cake order. After that snafu, she'd been working against the clock to get the cake done before the client arrived to pick it up.

All she could think about was the stranger with hair so black that it reveled midnight and eyes so green that it reminded her of an emerald jade stone. And every time she thought about his skin so tanned and taut over muscles so big and tight, she tensed up and her entire body heated in response. She was so sex deprived that it wasn't even funny. She couldn't even remember the last time she had an orgasm. Nonetheless, she spent the whole day hot and bothered by the memory of a stranger that she shouldn’t have even allowed near her home. But he had saved her ass by getting her car working again. It hadn’t failed on her since and a couple days had passed since then. She almost wished it had. She wasn’t doing herself any favors by thinking about the stranger instead of work.

The bakery had closed about an hour ago, and she had just finished cleaning up. Looking a mess with spots of icing and fondue on her clothes, face, and hands, she locked up the shop and headed out. Of course, she had no desire to cook after the hectic day and decided to stop by Bubba's Burger joint to grab a loaded double cheeseburger. Damn what her scale said right now. She'd make time next week to work off some of the excess pounds during her pit stops around the city.

Nina had almost reached the end of the sidewalk when she spotted him—her stranger. She couldn’t have mistaken that sleek, black hair anywhere. He was seated on his parked motorcycle and looking in her general direction.

But how in the world did he know where she worked?

She stopped in her tracks and looked around, grasping for some sign that this perfect Adonis wasn't real and may have been a figment of her imagination. But he was…real.

The strange vibe she got while she was talking to Raoulf in her driveway resurfaced and she dropped her gaze and walked casually in direction of her car. It seemed odd to feel the way she did about a man she didn’t know.

What if he really wasn’t who he said he was? What if he couldn't be trusted? Who was he really? This was insane.

She sighed. Okay, Nina. The guy admitted he was just looking for work. Of course, he's a stranger. He fixed your car for half the price as the auto repair shop. And he kept his word by checking to make sure the car still ran properly.

She was being rude. Again. She had to do what she planned to do: thank him personally.

Reluctantly, she turned back around just as he started up his motorcycle engine. He was about to pull his helmet over his head when she walked in his direction.

“Hey!” she called out to him over the motor, holding up her hand to get his attention.

In her three-inch platform shoes, she clogged down the sidewalk to come to a stopping point in front of his motorcycle.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” She blushed. “I mean, I thought you were just riding through. How’d you find my job?”

He assessed her like a hungry animal and those damn sexy eyes had her rooted to the spot.

She chuckled nervously. “I’m sorry. Don’t answer that. I just think it’s so strange that we keep running into each other like this and we don’t know anything about each other.”

“Yes.”

“Excuse me?”

“I knew you worked here,” he said. “You had on your name badge yesterday when I helped you get your car started. Your friend, Hailey, also mentioned the name of the bakery.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “Well then…I don’t think I really got the chance to thank you properly. I came home the other day and you were gone. Thank you so much. You saved me a bunch of time and money.”

“No need to thank me.”

She dipped her hand down into her purse and pulled out her wallet. “I finally have some more cash. I’m actually glad you came by here. Why don’t I pay you what I would’ve paid at the mechanics—”

“There’s no need for that,” he said.

“Um…but I hate to not give you what I actually owe you in return. Last time that happened, they charged me two hundred dollars to get it working again. What about lunch or dinner or something? My treat.”

For a moment, it looked like he was going to accept and then his gaze moved to the ground between them. His eyebrows furrowed together as if he was deep in thought about something serious. He was taking a really long time to decide whether he would accept her invitation or not.

She bit the corner of her lip and rolled her eyes. “I’m so embarrassed. You know what, just forget it.”

“I’d love to have lunch or dinner with you,” he finally said.

“Okay…” It dawned on her that her fingers were sticky and she probably smelled like a dessert factory. “I’m a little yucky from work. Will you still be in town tomorrow by any chance? I’m actually off tomorrow. Most of the morning, I’ll be out scouting a new unit for my business. And then I’ll be cooking dinner. But, of course, if you just want to grab a bite to eat from a food chain, we can do that too.”

She was rambling.

He grinned. “I actually prefer homemade.”

She smiled. “Why don’t you stop by my house around six-ish? You still remember where I live, right?”

He nodded. “I’ll see you then, Nina.”

The way he said her name had a rush of heat rising up along her spine. As she walked away from him and cobbled clumsily in the direction of her Honda, she knew that his eyes hadn’t left her. He hadn’t even made any moves to start his motorcycle engine. Nina was more than confused. She should’ve been running in the opposite direction from this stranger who had such an intimate impact on her. He had shown up at what seemed like the perfect time. This stranger on a motorcycle who claimed to have just been riding through town. When she’d invited him to dinner, she’d acted on impulse with not much thought. Something compelled her to want to know him.

When she reached her car, she tossed her purse down in the passenger side seat and then turned around to glance back at the stranger. He was still seated on his motorcycle, eyeing her suspiciously. Only this time, he was holding a cell phone in his hand fumbling with something on the touchscreen.

Just when she thought she was making something out of nothing, he stuffed his cell into his back pocket and then cracked a lopsided grin at her.

Too bad he wasn’t near enough to witness the heat rising up her chest and neck. A total stranger was seducing her.

Nina started the engine, backed out of the parking space, and drove off. She was anxious the entire night about her dinner plans with him. She even dreamed about him.