Chapter 15
Leo
She’s the first thing I see as I step into the bustling, little cupcake shop. She’s standing behind the counter in a tight black t-shirt under the watermelon pink apron tied around her waist. Her dark hair is pulled back from her face in a messy ponytail. I kick myself internally for noticing the rich brown color of her eyes and the soft fullness of her lips.
Sweet Reese. Cupcake Girl.
And the way her tongue runs nervously along the plump flesh when she sees me.
Our eyes meet and my pulse booms in my veins. I still haven’t gotten used to the way my body overreacts to seeing her. Being around her makes me feel less than steady, a little shaky on my knees. The sensation is unfamiliar to me. I’m used to being strong, with an impenetrable will. This girl throws me off-balance.
Shifting my eyes, I pretend to take interest in the exposed brick walls, the stainless steel sinks, the butcher's block counter and finally, the display of decadent-looking cupcakes spread out beneath the glass case. But inevitably, my attention comes back to her. I have no choice.
She’s a goddess. Pure temptation. So beautiful. So perf—
“Hey big head. What’s the cupcake of the week?” I glare at Charlie as he greets his sister.
Such brotherly affection. Warms my heart.
Tearing her gaze away from me, Reese glances at the display case and stutters. “Uh well, uh…we’ve, uh…we’ve got maple-banana split. It’s a banana bread cupcake sprinkled with, um, chocolate, nuts and a cherry on top. And instead of caramel, we used, uh, maple sauce. I mean, maple syrup. An unexpected twist on the well-loved classic.”
Charlie pauses and looks at her. “You okay? You sound like a late-night infomercial host with a speaking impediment. And you look like you’ve got an upset stomach.”
Her cheeks pink up and she folds her arms across her chest. “You gonna take it or not, Charlie?” Her voice is impatient.
He waves her away dismissively. “Yeah, sure.” He faces the customer tables and lets his predatory gaze sweep over the room. He quickly spots something that he likes and strides over in that direction. “You mind bringing it over to my table? I’m gonna go say hi to that beauty over there.”
Reese makes an unintelligible sound after her brother as he stalks over to the table where a young professional woman is deeply immersed in a novel.
"Excuse me. Is that the latest Oprah Book Club pick?" he asks.
Blushing, she nods. "Yes. It's beautiful. Very moving." Her hand falls to her heart and she exhales wistfully.
Charlie bobs his head in agreement. "A breathtaking piece of literature," he says solemnly.
"It is." Her breathing goes wispy.
He sinks into the seat across from her and leans over the table. "I don't usually do this but, how about I come over to your place later? To discuss the book, of course."
Her eyes are wide, shiny disks. Her lashes flutter at the attention. "I'd love that..."
Reese rolls her eyes as her pick-up artist brother intertwines the woman’s fingers with his and programs her number into his phone with his free hand. I just shake my head.
“What a charmer,” I mutter into the air.
“I know right.” Reese’s eyes move to me and they’re like magnets, pulling me toward the counter when I know for sure that I should be walking the other way. There’s that feeling in my gut again. It intensifies when she sucks in her bottom lip and her eyes smile coyly. Jesus—I’m in trouble with this one.
Desperate for a deflection, I turn my focus on the cupcakes. “You made all these?” I ask, motioning at the goodies in the case.
She nods with a smile that’s nervous. She speaks in a voice that’s breathy. “Yes.”
The corners of my lips climb faintly and our eyes hold. Silence stretches between us for just a second too long.
She rushes to fill it with her rambling. Now, she’s telling me that she popped the cupcakes into the oven at 3:47 this morning and that she started working on the donuts while they baked. She’s saying that she had to let the cupcakes cool before decorating them so she got started on the frosting mix while the donuts sat in the oven. The next step was icing the cakes and then glazing the donuts. She goes into detail about the decoration and display process.
God—she talks a lot.
It’s a shaky, nervous kind of disjointed verbosity with lots of nervous giggles thrown in. My gaze is transfixed to her lips the whole time. I study the way they quirk when she speaks and how they lift at the corners when she smiles.
As she goes on, listing off all the different varieties of cupcakes and donuts and cake pops on display, I don’t really hear what she’s saying. Instead, I let her voice wash over me. It’s calming, soothing. And she’s fucking cute. In an I-want-to-bend-her-over-this-counter-and-frost-her-butt-cheeks-with-my-cum kind of way.
Fuck, that was inappropriate. I'm becoming a creep. I'm gonna need an outlet for all this sexual tension. Soon. Before I do something that I won’t be able to take back.
I settle on a classic vanilla cupcake with sprinkles. She boxes it up and I reach across the counter for the treat. I see the way her chest hitches and the way she bites on her lip when our fingers brush.
The electricity of her touch skitters along the surface of my skin. I instantly drop the box to the counter and, for one hot, irrational, not-thinking-straight second, I lock my fingers around hers. My heart is a wild stallion in my chest, just like it was when I kissed her last night.
Can’t get last night out of my head. And the look on her face tells me that she can’t either. Kissing her like that was a bad idea. That’s clear now that I’m looking into the brumous depths of her brown eyes. I fucked up.
I release her hand and throw a quick glance over my back at Charlie. He’s still immersed in his seduction dance with that gullible woman with a taste for literary fiction. Moving closer to the counter, my gaze locks on Reese and I lower my voice. “Are you okay?”
She inches a careful step back and pastes on a wide smile. “What do you mean?”
Cocking an eyebrow, I give her a stern look. “You know what I mean, Reese. Are you okay?”
She steals in a breath and her smile goes wider. “Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I crossed a line last night. I shouldn’t have kissed you. That was inappropriate.”
Her brows furrow and she gives me a sympathizing look. “It was just a kiss, Leo. What? You think I’m all torn up over a little kiss?”
Well, that response is not what I was expecting. Tilting my head, I examine her again. Her features are schooled in impassive confidence. Her shoulders are back. Her head held high. Shit—I misread her.
“I’m sorry,” I begin. “I thought…”
“It’s okay. You don't have to develop some weird complex because we kissed. We're both adults here.” She taps my hand patronizingly. “We got a little carried away. That’s all.”
My ego takes a hit as I realize that the kiss that kept me up all night didn’t mean anything to her. It didn’t affect her one bit.
“So, I’ve been overthinking this?”
One corner of her mouth tilts up. “Absolutely. I’m so over it. Let’s just move on.” At her words, I feel a sharp pinch in my chest. I was sure that she’d felt something when I kissed her. The way her body had keened toward me. The way she’d locked her fingers in my hair. The way she’d groaned against my lips. But I won’t push the issue and make an even bigger ass of myself.
Instead of debating with her, I nod my head in agreement. “Yeah, let’s just move on.”
Her chest hitches and her eyes widen slightly as they lock on something over my shoulder. I feel someone approaching.
Charlie pops up over my shoulder. “The service here sucks!” he gripes, cutting his eyes at his little sister.
“Sorry, we don’t pander to rude non-paying customers,” she jabs right back.
He gives me a rough squeeze on the shoulder. “Let’s get out of here. Sophia and Josh are coming by the worksite again after lunch so we’ve gotta get back down there and pretend that we’re working hard.”
Reese hands Charlie his cupcake and places two takeout cups of iced tea on the counter between us. Charlie grabs his drink and strides toward the door. “Later, kid,” he calls out to his sister.
I reach into my pocket and slip out my wallet. “How much do I owe you?”
She waves me off. “It’s on the house.”
“Leo—let’s go!” Charlie calls impatiently from the door.
My attention stays on the petite baker. “Reese…”
“No,” she insists. “Your money’s no good here.”
Sighing roughly, I yank a twenty out of my wallet and slide it into her tip jar. She glares at me as I walk toward the exit.
But there’s something more in her eyes. That’s desire, isn’t it? I swear—that’s desire.
I let it go. I’ve already made enough mistaken assumptions for one day.