Standing over him, I bent and kissed his forehead. The navy flannel sheets contrasted with his tanned and toned body, the accents of brighter blue making his bedroom feel less like a cave and more like a hideaway. At least it wasn’t stark white like the rest of the apartment.

His eyes cracked open and his strong arms wrapped around my waist. He rolled his head to the side and groaned.

“It’s so early.” His thumbs traced along the waistband of my jeans.

“Baker’s life. Bakers gotta bake.” I braced my hands on his shoulders. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be back by eleven. Syd and I are looking for a lawyer after the morning rush. There’s a lot of paperwork to figure out and put in order to get things rolling.”

“Why don’t you use one of mine?”

“One of your what?”

“Lawyers.”

“You have more than one?”

“I have three…no, four. One administers my trust, an old family friend of my parents. Randolph handles the charity trust, I have another who works with my agent for hockey, and then there’s another lawyer on backup in case something goes wrong with those lawyers.”

“That’s a lot of legal firepower.”

“Tell me about it.”

His fingers were traveling a much broader path upon my skin, and the early morning sleepiness turned into an ache between my legs that drove me to distraction. Pulling myself away again, I pushed against his shoulders.

“Oh no you don’t. I need to go. I’m not having you sexing me into a coma this morning. It was bad enough you woke me—”

“It was bad, huh?” He tugged me back to him, the sheets falling off his chest as he sat up higher in the bed. Trapped on his lap, I squirmed and laughed until the insistent nudge against my butt had me swallowing that laughter.

“I can’t wait to come home to you.” His breath caressed the curve of my neck, and I’d never wanted to crawl back into bed more.

“I can’t either.” I ran my fingers along the scruff on his cheeks. Hopping up, I evaded his grasp and danced out of the room. “I’ll see you later. Get back to sleep.”

Stepping out onto the quiet streets, the promise of possibility made the heinously early morning shine brighter than ever. After a walk not even long enough to make me break a sweat in the overnight summer heat, I slipped through the back door to the bakery.

A bear hug greeted me, nearly knocking me off my feet.

“We missed you!” Max yelled loudly enough to burst my eardrums. For someone smaller than me, she was a hell of a lot stronger.

“Holy crap, Max, are you trying to make me go deaf?” I jammed my finger into my ear, trying to salvage what was left of my hearing.

“You have no idea what it’s been like without you.”

I washed my hands at the sink, threw on my apron, and got to work. It felt good, so right I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

“Looks like someone didn’t just get a little relaxation at the shore. You got some!” Max burst out laughing, transferring a tray of donuts into the fryer.

“Shut it.” I chucked an oven mitt at her head.

We baked through the early dawn hours, the morning rush insane as always. The display cases were nearly empty when Syd and I left for our meeting at nine. Emmett had sent over the details and let us know we had a meeting all set up. Sweaty and covered with a fine coating of powdered sugar and icing, I didn’t feel the usual anxiety that was a constant companion. Walking into the ten-story glass building filled with high-powered people in suits didn’t freak me out one bit. Worries I’d always had about how people saw me fell away now that who I was and what lay ahead of me had crystalized into a picture I’d have never been able to imagine in my wildest dreams. Going home to Emmett at night, owning—well, part-owning—a bakery, and doing something I loved was everything I could have asked for.

“I have the co-ownership agreement right here.” The lawyer Emmett had arranged in record time slid two copies across the cherry wood desk to me and Syd. I’d finally relented after Syd and I had come up empty-handed trying to find someone to get things ready on such short notice. “No need to rush on those. Take them home and read them over, but it’s everything you two said you wanted.” The lawyer with a tailored black suit and salt-and-pepper hair had held our hands the entire way. I had a feeling the incredibly reasonable rate he’d quoted us didn’t normally cover the cost of him picking up the phone, but he’d been there with us for a couple of hours hammering out all the details.

My hands shook seeing my name on the top of the legal document next to ‘Co-Owner’.

“The deposit will need to be made with the city to stop the auction proceedings. I’ll file the paperwork today, and if you get me the money, Bread & Butter will be completely in the clear by the end of the week.”

“I can get it from the bank on Thursday.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, kid?” Syd’s fingers wrapped around my forearm. Her warmth and generosity had kept me and my family afloat, and I didn’t hesitate with my answer.

“I’m totally sure, Syd.”

Walking the short blocks back to Emmett’s, I smiled up at the shining summer sun. Staying at his place would be so convenient, but what would we do when he went back to LA? It was on the list. First, figure out Bread & Butter. Next, figure out how to handle being 3000 miles away from him while he crisscrossed North America.

I wiped a stray hair off my forehead with the oven mitt as I checked on the pans in the oven. The appliances Emmett had in his kitchen were a baker’s dream, including the top-of-the-line blast freezer and tons of gadgets that all seemed completely untouched even though he’d owned the place for a while.

Testing the spring of the cake with my fingers, I grabbed the tray and slid the pans out of the oven, placing them on the cooling rack beside the cookies and cupcakes I’d already made. With my apron covered in flour, I slid another tray of batter into the oven. I couldn’t decorate as well as Max, she was the Van Gough of buttercream and fondant, but I sure as hell made everything tasty.

“So, let’s hear all about it.” Mak’s voice came from my phone on the counter.

“My first meeting with Syd went well, but I need to show her I didn’t do this only to bail her out. I have a few new things I want to try, but this is going to be a collaboration. I hope she likes them.” I chewed on my bottom lip. Please let her like them.

“How could she not? If they are the slightest bit like the food you were making for everyone while you were here, she’d be insane to not like them.”

“We need you back!” Liv wailed in the background.

“I take it the cooking hasn’t been going well?”

“It’s been going okay, but no one gets up super early like you. Usually everyone stumbles down the stairs midmorning and settles for cereal.”

“It’s not the same, Avery. We miss you already,” Kara chimed in.

I’d forgotten how good it felt to be around people my age, to be with friends, having fun.

“I miss you guys too. We’ll try to come down Sunday night.”

I slid a toothpick into the center of one of the pans. I’d never had the time, space, and unlimited supply of ingredients to test out new things on this scale. Emmett had left before I came back from B&B, and after I napped, the pristine kitchen had whispered sweet nothings in my ear about coming over and breaking the place in.

“I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but Percy got towed today.”

“What?” I slammed the oven shut. “How?”

“I have a feeling a certain totally-into-you guy had something to do with it.”

I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “If he junked Percy, I’m pouring piping hot batter down his swimming trunks.”

“I don’t think it was that. The mechanic said something about improvements.”

Resting my elbows on the counter, I stared out Emmett’s floor-to-ceiling windows. The breathtaking view of the Philly skyline filled the space like a living painting. William Penn sat atop City Hall and all the other high-rises around it, and the light poured over everything in the apartment, making it look even more sleek and shiny than when we’d first gotten there.

“He’s impossible sometimes. I keep telling him I don’t need him to do this stuff for me.”

“Maybe he likes to do it because it makes him happy,” Mak offered. “Okay, we’re heading out for a kayak trip. Can’t wait for you to be back, and I’m glad things are going well with Emmett. Talk later.”

I ended the call and checked on everything in the oven and freezers. His place was so unlike what I would have expected. The white leather couches and carpet screamed cleaning nightmare to me. White bookshelves lined one wall and were filled with framed pictures of Emmett and the rest of the Kings along with some of his current team. There weren’t any with any women in them. I’d held my breath, ready for that gut punch when I saw one, but there weren’t any to be found. There were also none of his parents, and I wondered how recently they’d come back into his life.

The dining room table was glass, and the chairs were leather and brushed metal. It was just as cold as his house growing up had been. I’d always thought his childhood house had been a reflection of his parents’ tastes, not his, and it was a little disappointing that he’d followed in their footsteps aesthetically. Other than the pictures, there wasn’t much to indicate who lived in the apartment, or that anyone lived there at all.

How would it have looked if we lived there together? Pictures of our travels? Hikes? Kids?

I splayed a hand over my stomach at that hollow feeling inside. So many possibilities gone, so many possible futures.

A timer dinged, and I took out another tray of chocolate espresso cupcakes. So far I’d made three dozen cookies, two cakes, and three dozen cupcakes. The blast freezer was like a drug, because I could quickly chill everything down for decorating—my second favorite part—while the next batch cooked.

Using powdered sugar and gum paste, I turned up the music and got to work on my summer flowers like Max showed me. Each leaf and petal was cut out and pressed together to make a beautiful flower most people hated eating, but had me feeling wonderful. They only looked mildly wilted. I needed Max to give me another lesson. In the zone, I rolled out enough fondant to blanket the entire counter.

When the door flew open, I jumped and looked up at Emmett as he entered then stopped abruptly just inside the doorway. His eyes whipped to mine, as wide as saucers.

“Smells like Christmas exploded in here.”

His big grin made me want to let out a dopey laugh, the kind a cartoon character does when they’re in love. I snapped up straight and wiped my hands on my apron, like wiping that thought away was even possible.

I glanced behind me at the mountain of chocolate and vanilla, cookies, and calories then nodded.

“You had all the ingredients and the itch hit me, so I figured I’d try some new stuff out to take to Syd.”

“You baking in my house…” He put down his messenger bag and some papers on the table in the entryway.

“Me baking in your house…” I shifted from foot to foot as he stared at me, my pulse speeding up with each step he took forward. The thin line of tension between us grew thicker until it was so heavy I could barely breathe.

“How was your meeting?”

“Fine. The foundation just got another check written out to them. It will fund a lot of programs.”

“I still can’t believe you give so much away.”

“It’s not like I don’t have enough.” He swiped a cookie off the baking tray and tossed it from hand to hand before taking a bite.

“But all of it? What if something went wrong? You might need that money.”

“It’s only my hockey salary. I’ve still got my trust, which I get my yearly money from, and my birthday’s in a couple weeks so I’ll get another chunk. One person can only spend so much money before it becomes excessive.”

I glanced around his palatial apartment.

The tips of his ears reddened. “I didn’t say I was a saint.” He pulled me toward him, his hands wrapped around my waist.

“Only you could say ‘only your hockey salary’. That’s an amazing thing you’re doing. I’m proud of you.” I was. He didn’t have to do any of it. If someone like him had given to Alyson and me what he donated to schools, it would have made my life a hell of a lot easier. Backpacks filled with meals, laundry facilities, afterschool programs that offered extra tutoring and assistance—he was doing a hell of a lot of good.

When I’d read through the non-profit proposals, it had brought tears to my eyes. I’d kept a lot from him, but it was like deep down he knew some of the struggles I’d tried to hide. Maybe unconsciously he’d known more than I thought. He’d found a way to help other kids, and my heart did a happy dance in my chest.