Page 10 of Midnight Snack

I take a deep breath, steeling myself. I walk closer to her. I need to see her eyes close up for this conversation. Really remind myself that this woman is not who I expected her to be.

“No, I am not a fan. What you do is not baking and it’s certainly not professional,” she snaps.

I shrug. “Not baking? That seems a little hasty.” I crowd into her until she backs up to the counter.

She visibly swallows.

“You haven’t even sampled…” I let my eyes rake down her body, then back up to her face. “Any of my treats.”

“Your videos are deplorable?”

I feel my cheek kick up in a half smile. “Oh sweetness, is that a question or a statement?”

She frowns. “You’re standing very close to me.”

“We’re going to have to work very closely with one another. Might as well get used to it.”

“I hope that you don’t expect to do any of those shirtless shenanigans during the competition,” she says, her voice breathless. “That would be very distracting. Er… disturbing.”

“Yeah, I know exactly what you’re saying.” I step even closer, bracketing my arms on either side of her voluptuous body. I stand at least a head taller than her, but leaned over as I am, we’re eye-to-eye. “You need to know that I’m going to bake the way I always bake. But don’t worry, Sweetness, I’ll show you how things work. I’m more than happy to help you get your hands dirty.”

She sucks in a breath and her eyes flutter closed, and I swear she looks like she’s on the brink of a climax. Holy shit that’s hot. And somehow my dick gets even harder.

Then she gives her head a little shake and shoves against me.

“That charming, seductive nonsense might work on most women, but I can assure you I am not most women.” Then she turns, grabs her bag and disappears into the other part of the cabin.

And I’m left with a hard-on and a partner who clearly hates me. So why do I still want her so damn bad?

chapter

six

Damien

I head outside to sit on the patio and stare up at the inky night. The cabin is far enough out of town that the sky is peppered with twinkling stars.

I lean back in the Adirondack chair and squeeze my eyes shut. That had not gone as planned. More than likely all the buzzes were more texts from my sister. She likes to boss me around.

AURELIA: I’m going to need all the details immediately.

AURELIA: I’m serious, Damien, don’t fuck with me.

AURELIA: What’s happening? Dammit, why isn’t this show live?

ME: Thank God it’s not live. I don’t need you spying that closely on my life.

AURELIA: How did it go?

ME: It could have gone better.

AURELIA: Couillion. What did you do?

ME: Why do you automatically assume it was me?

AURELIA: Now I know it was you. Spill or I’m going to video call you.

ME: She wasn’t what I was expecting. In fact, she was kind of bitchy.