Chapter Eight
AFTER BLUE DROPPED Lizzie off at her house with more heart-stopping kisses, she showered and dressed as quickly as she could, thinking about the things he’d said. He wanted a relationship with her, and just as she’d feared, going out with Blue had unearthed the feelings that had been seeding and growing over the past year. And overnight they’d bloomed into something beautiful and desirable. But looming above her, dark clouds threatened, clouds that only she could see.
She couldn’t figure that out right now. Blue was coming back in less than an hour, and she still had to check the Naked Baker email, review stats on last night’s show, and figure out what she was going to bake for tomorrow’s program.
She pulled up her email and readied herself for the onslaught of lewd and suggestive messages that had become the bane of her existence.
One hundred and seventy-seven new emails.
Fun.
Not.
She riffled through them, scanning for anything important. Sometimes viewers sent in baking ideas, and she was thankful for the ones that weren’t looking for naughty-shaped cakes or cookies, although those were interesting to bake. It had taken her a while to get past her own hang-ups on inappropriately shaped food, but once she got into her Naked Baker mind-set, just about anything went. The sexier the shows, the longer viewers watched, and the longer they watched, the more money she earned. Oh, the joys of monetizing videos. Not to mention that her website was also completely monetized. There were months when she raked in more than ten grand, making up for slower months, when she made just a few thousand dollars. Of course, being the good girl Lizzie was, she reported the income to the IRS and paid her taxes diligently. She wasn’t about to be caught with her pants down, so to speak.
With offers ranging from the greatest sex she could imagine to a guy who was willing to lick whipped cream from between her toes—ew—she made it through with one golden nugget. MrWhipIt@whipmegood.com requested a cake in the shape of handcuffs. That, she could do!
She checked her website stats next. Views were up, as was length of viewing time. She must have done something right in the last show. She noted the stats in the ledger where she kept track of these types of things. She’d watch that video again tomorrow and compare it to the others that did well and the ones that didn’t, noting the differences. Lizzie was always trying to figure out what the viewers liked best. It seemed to be a moving target.
That thought brought images to her mind of potbellied guys pleasuring themselves while watching her videos, which she tried not to think about, but sometimes it was impossible to push those images away.
Her phone rang, startling her. Mom. She closed the laptop and headed upstairs as she answered her mother’s call. She wasn’t even comfortable talking to her mother in the same room where she made the videos.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, Busy Lizzie. How are you?”
She smiled at the endearment. “Fine. Sorry I haven’t called lately. Things have been crazy.”
“That’s okay, sweetheart. I know how busy you are with the flower shop. We were just wondering if you were still planning to pick up Madison this weekend or if you needed Daddy to do it.”
“I can do it. I’m picking her up Friday night and coming straight there for dinner. She wants to stay with me and then she’ll take my car to see you Saturday.” Lizzie closed her eyes as silence filled the airwaves. This was a recurring theme. Madison liked to stay with Lizzie. Who wouldn’t prefer staying with a sibling rather than eagle-eyed parents whose idea of a wild night was watching CNN and discussing current events?
“Oh.” Disappointment rang in her mother’s tone.
“Mom?” Lizzie went into the bedroom and checked her outfit one last time. She had on her favorite crushed-cotton skirt and a long-sleeved V-neck shirt that was soft as butter. Since she’d decided to give herself one more day with Blue, she hoped he’d find her irresistible and want to keep her close—even if she wasn’t going to sleep with him. She’d drawn that line in her head, and now, as she looked in the mirror, she wondered if it was fair to want him to find her irresistible. No, she reasoned. It was one thing to enjoy another day together before cutting ties, but a whole other thing to become even more intimate and then try to go back to real life. She ran her fingers through her hair, remembering the exquisite sting on her scalp when Blue had tangled his fingers in it. She flushed with the memory.
“That’s fine,” her mother finally said, bringing Lizzie’s mind back to their conversation. “We’ll enjoy our time together when you get here. We love you, honey.”
Familiar guilt settled around her as she ended the call. Not guilt over her sister staying with her, but the feeling that she was hiding part of herself from her own family. She wished she could talk about the show, and Blue, and that her parents would be supportive and understanding. Maybe even thankful that she was helping Maddy financially and thankful that she’d done such a miraculous job of helping herself. But knowing what their reaction would be, that wasn’t an option, which was why she hadn’t even told Maddy or Sky. She couldn’t take the chance of her parents finding out about the Naked Baker. She couldn’t take the chance of losing them.
A knock at the door startled her back to the moment, and a new type of guilt found her. She glanced at a photograph of her and Madison, both sticking their tongues out at the camera, and she reminded herself that these lies of omission were just her way of doing what she had to do to help her sister. Her flower shop earned her a good living, but the desolate Cape winters meant stretching every penny, and she didn’t earn nearly enough to pay for four years of college for Madison. She’d never dipped into the Naked Baker income for herself or her flower shop, but if she were honest with herself, even knowing it was an option helped her through the rough winters.
She pulled open the door and found Blue casually leaning one arm on the doorframe, holding the picture they’d painted together in the other. Her breath caught in her throat, but it was her heart, once again, that pulled her under. It wasn’t just the way his inky hair magnified the rugged edges of his cheeks and jaw, or his athletic physique that she’d slept beside, touched, and practically memorized. She knew her heart wasn’t skipping to a new beat because of Blue’s innately captivating presence. What she felt went too deep for just good looks. It was the depths of emotion in his eyes that had her stepping forward, going up on her toes, and kissing him like he was hers. And when he wrapped his strong arms around her waist, holding her as close as two people could be, and kissed her possessively, she knew she’d crossed an invisible line. She was already his.
“That was the longest hour of my life.” He kissed her again. “Let’s not do that again.”
She laughed. “How will we go to work?”
“Work is highly overrated.” He squeezed her to him. “This is where we should always be. Right like this.”
He captured her mouth again in a slow, sensuous kiss, leaving her powerless to resist his charms—and unwilling to even try.
AFTER HANGING THE picture they’d painted between her kitchen and living room, so she could see it from either area, they drove out to Yarmouth, stopping for muffins and coffee along the way. Blue wished Lizzie had accepted a date with him a year ago. Despite her claims that her life was too complicated for them to date, she was warm and openly affectionate, holding his hand and kissing him without his prompting. He could only assume she’d somehow waylaid those worries in the hour they’d spent apart.
She was acting different, even more relaxed than last night and when they were making out this morning. More present and less hesitant. Not only was she not afraid to join him in singing off-key like a goof on the way into Yarmouth, but she tortured him—in the very sweetest way—with the silliest knock-knock jokes known to man. He loved seeing that uninhibited side of her almost as much as he loved seeing the unguarded sensual side of her.
They spent the morning perusing arts-and-crafts booths at the annual Seaside Festival. The grounds were lined with large blue vendor tents, selling everything from handmade furniture to used books and children’s toys. Lizzie gravitated toward the more crafty exhibits, like homemade quilts and pottery, which didn’t surprise him, given her creativity with flowers and plants.
Children ran around the lawn, and a clown entertained a group outside the largest tent. Lizzie pulled Blue over to watch.
“When I was little I was afraid of clowns,” she confided as the clown made balloon animals for the children.
“Because of the whole strange man dressed up in a costume and playing with little kids thing?”
She laughed, and he tugged her in closer for a kiss.
“That scares me, too. But I’ll protect you.”
“I bet you will,” she said with another sweet laugh.
After watching the clown, they meandered through a few more booths, then wandered over to listen to the band playing by the beach. Lizzie pulled Blue into the center of a crowd of people who were dancing.
“I suck at dancing,” he said, holding her close and hoping she’d stick with a slow dance.
“You couldn’t suck at anything. Just let yourself go.” She pushed away and swayed her sexy little hips, awakening his entire body. “Come on, move with me.” She stepped in closer and placed her hands on his hips. Pressing her body against him, she guided him to the beat, instantly arousing him. “See? You can dance. You just needed the right motivation.”
He clenched his jaw against his mounting desire. She was so sexy, with those dimples beckoning to be kissed as she smiled up at him, oblivious to what she was doing to him.
“Only with you, Lizzie.”
Her fingers trailed over his chest, making it impossible to take his mind off of her seductive dancing. And when she lifted her hands over her head and swayed, it was all he could do to keep from taking her right there.
“Lizzie,” he warned.
Her eyes narrowed, darkened, and a wicked smile split her lips. She was clearly aware of the effect she was having on him. He took her hand and led her out of the crowd.
“Where are we going?” She stumbled to keep up as he pulled her too quickly behind the stage and gathered her warm, pulsing body against him.
His hands traced over her curves as he took her in a punishingly intense kiss, knowing it was all they could have. She pressed her body to his, moaning with pleasure, making him want to go further despite the fact that they were outside at a festival with hundreds of people walking around just out of eyesight.
“I’m sorry,” he said against her mouth. “I had to kiss you.”
“You don’t have to take me away from people to kiss me, Blue. I’m with you.”
He loved the sound of that, although he would have liked it even more if she’d said, I’m yours. “I didn’t take you away just to kiss you.” He stepped back, and her eyes dropped to his very noticeable arousal.
“Oh.” She covered her mouth with a giggle.
“Get over here.” He kissed her again, and she rocked against him. “You’re not helping.”
“Oh, I think I am,” she said with another sinful laugh. “You’ll be sure to think about me all day long after this.”
He took her hands in his and backed her up against the wall, pinning her wrists beside her head. “You don’t think I’ve been thinking about you every day since the moment we met?”
She pressed her lips between his pecs, then went up on her toes—a move he’d already come to love—and whispered, “Kiss me again.”
A tormented groan tore from his lungs. Knowing he was only going to be more tortured, more desperate to have her, he sealed his lips over hers and released her hands so he could clutch her fine rear end and press their bodies firmly together.
“You feel incredible.” He kissed her neck, and she lifted her chin, spurring him on to take more. He buried his fingers in her hair—he loved her hair—and sealed his mouth over her flesh.
She brushed her hips against his.
He gripped her hips. “Lizzie, I won’t be able to walk out of here if you keep doing that.” His eyes darted to the grounds around them. They were tucked behind the stage among wires and technical equipment, out of eyesight from passersby, but still, as badly as he wanted her—and he did, desperately—he felt possessive and protective of Lizzie. He didn’t want to take a chance of anyone seeing them when they were being intimate.
She trapped her lower lip between her teeth, looking even more adorably sexy. He’d never met a woman who could look equally seductive and innocent—and it was a total turn-on.
“You’re too freaking sexy.” He kissed her again, weighing the urge to take her home and make love to her, with the part of him that remembered her plea for him to be strong when she couldn’t.
“I’ve never been this attracted to anyone in my life, and I’m afraid of crossing a line if we don’t get out of here.” He forced himself to take a step back.
“But I love kissing you,” she said, reaching for him again.
He cupped her face and gazed into her sultry eyes. “Lizzie, I want you so badly I ache, and if I keep kissing you, I’m going to pin you against that wall, and take my fill.” She smiled, and her cheeks pinked up. He added, “Which would be incredibly hot, until I killed some guy who happened to notice us and we got arrested for indecent exposure—and murder—and you had to explain to your parents why we were in jail.”
She laughed. “Well, I do have a Naughty-Places list we could work on, and this plays right into it.”
“A Naughty-Places list? Holy cripes, woman, who are you?” He stepped in closer again, even more aroused.
She dragged her finger down the center of his chest. “It’s a list of all the places I want to…you know.” She licked her lips, and he gritted his teeth.
“You’re every man’s darkest fantasy come true, but I want you as mine, Lizzie. I’m not good at sharing.”
“No sharing. Got it.” She went up on her toes and kissed him again.
A surge of desire drew him further in to her. “Lizzie,” he growled against her lips, and reluctantly took another step back, trying desperately to stand up to his promise of behaving. “I cannot wait to work on that list, but in light of keeping this PG, stay here while I walk this off.” He glanced down at his obvious arousal and shook his head.
“Don’t think of me,” she whispered. “Think of math or science.”
He closed the distance between them again. “I could think of seaweed, and if it’s your voice I hear, I’m a goner.”
“Oh, the power,” she said with another wicked grin.
He captured her mouth in one final kiss and said, “Try not to sound sexy.”
A very long and painful time later, they finally returned to the festivities.
“I love being out with you,” Lizzie said as they walked toward the arts-and-crafts booths.
“I love being with you, too.” He swept her into his arms and kissed her again, knowing he was kissing her way too much but so utterly taken with her, he was unable, and unwilling, to stop. “I love being with you. It should be illegal to taste this good.” He kissed her again. “And feel this good.”
She giggled and, holding his hand, ran toward the tent. “Come on. Otherwise I’m going to make you do things to me you really want to do.”
“Wait. You think that’s a threat?”
They decorated a pumpkin and gave it to a little girl who admired it. Then they ate hot dogs while they walked through more arts-and-crafts tents. All the while, they kissed and touched and teased. It was the most wonderful date Blue had ever been on.
“I need something sweet,” Lizzie said.
“There’s a pie-eating contest in five minutes. Want to try?”
“Really?” She was already dragging him toward the tent. “I love pie. Will you do it with me?”
“Sure, but you can’t possibly eat more pie than me. I’m twice your size.”
“Watch me,” she said with a challenging stare.
Donning plastic bibs, they joined a long table full of hungry spoon-yielding contestants.
“I’m so going to beat you,” Lizzie declared. “Even if I don’t beat everyone else, I’m still going to eat more pie than you.”
Blue laughed. “You wish.”
She rolled her eyes.
The whistle sounded, signaling the start of the contest, and while Lizzie gobbled down blueberry pie, Blue tried not to think about that naughty list she mentioned.
“I have a Naughty-Love list, too. If you’re lucky, maybe you can help me work through it.” She shoved more pie in her mouth.
“Naughty-Love list?” His fork paused on the way to his mouth. “Is that…?”
“Things I’d like to lick off a man’s body.” She licked her lips and gobbled down more pie. “And things I’d like to have licked off mine.”
“Holy…” The dichotomy of the heat in her words and the flicker of innocence in her eyes made his body fully alert again. “I think I found the perfect woman.”
They finished their first pies at almost the same time. Lizzie leaned closer to Blue as they started on their second. She lifted the spoon to her mouth and made a seductive show of licking the sweet filling off of it.
Who cares about the contest?
He pushed his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her into a blueberry kiss, which he intensified until he drew a lusty moan from her lungs and left her breathless. “Paybacks are torture.” He finished his second pie slowly, savoring every bite as she recovered from their scorching-hot kiss.
When the whistle signaled the end of the contest, he dipped his finger into the sugary blueberry and brought it to her lips. “I won’t leave you hanging, babe.”
She swirled her tongue around his finger, then drew his finger into her mouth and sucked it.
“No, but I will,” she said as she rose from her seat. “That’ll teach you not to cheat.”
“Cheat?” He scooped her into his arms as she giggled and squirmed. “You just got even hotter, but be warned. Second-time-around paybacks are even worse.”
“I’m so looking forward to it.”
He kissed her again before setting her feet back on the ground. “I love that you’re not bashful about eating like most girls are, and I love that you challenge me back with the naughty stuff.”
“I think you’ll find I’m nothing like most girls.”
He pulled her against him again. “Sweetheart, I’ve known that since the day I met you.”
“I have no idea how. I’m nothing special.” She gazed up at him with the most innocent expression of disbelief in her eyes, and his chest tightened.
“How did I get lucky enough for you to finally agree to go out with me? You’re not just special, Lizzie. You’re unique in every way. You make rules about kissing, and sometimes you catch yourself enjoying us too much, and I see you trying to pull away, but I can feel how much you don’t want to. You have a personality that lights up a room. You’re smart and funny and insanely sexy. How can you think you’re nothing special? I’ve never met a woman like you.”
She wrinkled her brow. “You can feel when I’m enjoying myself too much?”
“Not today, but I did last night and this morning. I thought you were just getting used to giving in to your emotions, the same way I was.”
“And you think I light up a room?”
“When I got back home this morning after dropping you off, my cabin felt like it had less life in it. Your absence was tangible, like part of me was missing. I realize that might be the craziest thing I’ve ever said after two dates.” He searched her softening gaze, seeing the disbelief slowly melt away. “It’s true, Lizzie. We spent a year building a friendship. A foundation, as you said. It makes sense that we’d fall hard and fast.”
She clutched his shirt just above his waist, and her eyes went serious again.
“You make me want to give in to what I feel and not worry about how complicated my life is.”
He touched his forehead to hers, basking in the knowledge that she wanted to give in to the emotions between them. “We’ll uncomplicate it together. Nothing is too much for us to handle.”
“I want to believe you.” Her grip tightened, snagging his skin in her clutches.
He covered her hand possessively and reassured her. “Trust in me, Lizzie, like I trust in you. We belong together. I’ve known it since we first met, and it’s only gotten stronger every day since.”