Page 20 of The Gruff Loner’s Bargain

I quickly get dressed, since I showered last night. If I get naked at this point, I’m gonna have to jerk off. Fuck, she makes me hard.

I don’t know what it is about her. I mean she’s beautiful. Anyone with eyes can see that. But it’s so much more.

Twenty minutes later, she steps out of the bathroom, dressed and ready. She doesn’t meet my gaze.

I stop her and tilt her chin up. “Don’t be embarrassed around me. But I am sorry if I was taking advantage while you were sleeping. It wasn’t my intention.”

She opens her mouth, then closes it with a nod. “Thank you for saying so.”

“I can sleep on the floor tonight. Or crawl my big ass back in the bathtub.”

“No, it’s fine. I promise. It’s not like I didn’t like it.” Pink blooms on her cheeks as she turns away from me.

I link our fingers as we step out of our cabin and head to the main building.

“Hard to believe they call Saddle Ridge a mountain, huh?” she asks, looking at the view surrounding us.

“Yes. Not quite as big as these bad boys. But she’s home.”

“I hope it feels like that to me someday.”

“It will. Your sister’s there. You’ll find your place and your people.”

“The bearded philosopher. That’s what I should call you,” she says.

I bark out a laugh. “I don’t think anyone would believe you. I’m not exactly known as a deep thinker.”

We walk the rest of the way in silence and I’m glad that the cake tasting room is set up privately. I don’t know where the other couples are, but I’d much rather just be with Brook.

We’re met by a baker who introduces herself as Mary. She sits us at a table that has eight small pieces of cake divided upon four plates. She explains the four different flavors, and how we should proceed.

“Now I’ll get out of you two lovebird’s hair if you don’t have any questions.”

“We’re good,” Brook says.

Mary smiles and leaves the room. “Holler if you need me.”

“So, we’re literally here just to eat cake?” I ask, leaning closely and lowering my voice.

“Yes. Because this is the on-site bakery for the venue.”

“Will y’all have one of those?” I ask.

“Probably not. We’ll likely just use Sugar Bakers in town. Have you been there?”

I shake my head. “I have a terrible sweet tooth, so I try to stay far away from bakeries. I have a hard enough time with Sprinkles. Homemade ice cream sandwiches made with fresh baked cookies.” I pat my stomach. “That’s heaven right there.”

She smiles at me. “Which should we try first?”

“The orange creamsicle looks good.” I pick up the small square. “Are we supposed to feed each other?”

Her nose wrinkles and she shakes her head. “No, I’m sure we don’t need to do that.” But she’s still smiling at me, and man, if that doesn’t make me feel ten feet tall.

“The last one we’ll do that,” I say.

“Okay.” She bites into the orange one and her eyes roll into the back of her head. “Ohmygod! This is amazing.”

I pop the whole square into my mouth and she’s not wrong. It’s delicate and flavorful without being too sweet. But their orange buttercream is whipped to perfection. “Wow.”