She couldn’t smile back. Or even give him a proper “hey!”. Because her gaze was latched on his finger. In his mouth. And how he sucked on it. And how it was wet and glistening when he slid it back out…
“You okay?” he asked.
Zoe squeezed her eyes shut and shook herself mentally. Get a grip! She opened her eyes and gave him a bright smile. “Yep. Of course.”
He looked from her, to the pie, and back to her. “Are you going to eat that or not?”
Right. The pie. She’d asked for it. If she didn’t eat it, he’d want to know why she’d wanted it. Was now the time to say, I was wondering if you’d give me anything I asked for? And what if he said yes? Should she then say, great, then next I’d like an orgasm please?
“Zoe?”
Again she realized she’d zoned out. She picked up the fork and stuffed a piece of pie in her mouth.
Aiden was watching her. Well, he was watching her mouth. She withdrew the fork slowly, pressing her lips around it to be sure to get all the chocolate.
He stepped closer. Had he meant to do that?
She felt her heart rate pick up. She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, then pressed her lips together.
His eyes were on her mouth the entire time.
She felt hot. Very hot. Maybe because he was standing really close now. He was big and it made sense that he’d put off a lot of body heat.
But no. This felt very much like it was coming from inside of her. Her blood was humming through her veins, her stomach was swooping, her skin was tingling.
Holy hell. He hadn’t even touched her yet. Hadn’t even said anything that was sexy or romantic or dirty.
Oh, she wanted Aiden to say something dirty.
Where that thought had come from she had no idea. This was Aiden. She wanted to hear him say… what? She wasn’t even sure. She wondered if it would sound weird if he did say something dirty. Would she laugh? Dammit. Maybe.
See, this was the kind of stuff she needed to with Aiden first. If she did laugh when he talked dirty, she’d rather it be with him that with some guy she was really into and trying to convince she was a sex goddess.
“So…you really like my pie, right?” she asked.
She didn’t cringe. But it was close. That did not sound sexy or seductive. She was not cut out for this.
But one corner of his mouth curled up. “Your pie is the best I’ve ever had,” he told her.
And damn. That did sound sexy. Dirty-ish. Because he said it in a lower, kind of husky tone that she wasn’t sure she’d heard from him before. No, she was sure. She had not heard that tone from him before.
Her suddenly tingly nipples confirmed it.
“Yeah? You’ve had a lot of other pie?” she asked.
Wait, she didn’t want to know that. She did not want to know that. Of course he’d been with other women. Women who would be better at this than she would be. She just really didn’t want to know about that.
As a matter of fact, she didn’t want to know how much other actual pie he’d had either. Because she thought he’d probably had quite a bit and she really liked being the one who made his favorite.
Yes, she rolled her eyes when her mother insisted she make Aiden’s favorite because well, really, did Maggie have to make it that obvious that she felt Aiden should be treated like a prince? But truthfully, Zoe loved the idea that Aiden looked forward to coming home and… eating her pie.
She actually felt her cheeks heat at that thought.
Baking terms as sexual innuendo were going to make her professional life difficult.
“I’ve had my share,” he said with a little nod. “But none like yours.”
Of course, they were talking about pie. Not pie. Because he hadn’t had her pie. Yet. But she still felt warm and a little light-headed.
“I’m glad,” she said honestly. And a little breathlessly.
“So, if you’re not going to eat it, I am.” He took the plate and fork from her and took a huge bite.
“Hey!”
He grinned as he chewed. “You can’t be dainty and slow with pie like yours, Zoe. Your pie inspires enthusiasm. Your pie should be eaten with gusto.”
Her mouth fell open. He didn’t mean it like that but…
There was something in his eyes as he finished the pie off that made her wonder. Maybe he did mean it that way. But maybe he thought she didn’t know what all of that was insinuating and he was just messing around.
She reached out and ran her finger over the plate he held, lifting some chocolate pie filling to her mouth and licking it from her finger as he watched.
His eyes definitely heated a bit. She definitely didn’t mistake that.
Okay, good.
“I’m so glad to hear that,” she told him with a smile. “Do you think about my pie when you’re not here, Aiden?”
His smile was gone and he was watching her with a look that was hot and serious and maybe a little confused.
She liked that. Confusing him a little seemed like a good idea if she was going to have any kind of control here.
“I do,” he said. “A lot, actually.”
Yeah, they were probably talking about actual pie now, but she liked that he thought about that when he wasn’t here too.
She smiled up at him. “Hey, can I borrow a hundred bucks?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Sure.”
See? Not even a what for? Just “sure”. He was definitely willing to do her favors and give her things.
“Thanks. And—” She might have batted her eyelashes a little then. Accidentally, of course. “I have to pick a friend up from the airport in Dubuque tomorrow. Really early. Was wondering if you’d go with me? You know how the roads can be extra slick in the early mornings before the sand trucks have been out.”
For a second, she thought maybe she’d made a mistake. He’d think this was suspect for sure. Zoe would never ask someone to get up early and drive with her to the airport. She was completely capable of driving to Dubuque by herself in her own car at any time of day.
She didn’t have a friend coming in tomorrow. She just wanted to hear him say that of course he’d get up super early and drive her to the airport in the freezing cold on Christmas Day. Because if he’d do that, surely he’d do her the favor of helping her get rid of her virginity too.
This was a test but she couldn’t let Aiden know that.
“What friend?”
Fair question. Aiden knew all of her friends. All of her friends were from Appleby and it was reasonable to expect that the two who didn’t live here now would already be home for the holidays.
She really should have planned out these test questions ahead of time. But she was absolutely winging all of this.
“Emily. You don’t know her. Moved in our senior year. Lives in… California.”
She’d have to eventually tell him this was all a big, fat lie. But after they had sex he’d be willing to forgive her, she figured.
He sighed. “Yeah, I can do that.”
Okay, she hadn’t messed up. He wasn’t enthusiastic about it—not like about eating her pie…and yes, her cheeks heated again thinking about how he’d said that—but he was willing. She would want him enthusiastic about the sex, of course, but the first step was willing. For sure. And surely, he’d look at sex as more appealing than getting up early and going out in the cold, dark morning to pick someone up from the airport.
Wow, she hoped so at least.
But hey, if she could only have willing or enthusiastic in bed, she’d take willing at this point.
“Or I could just borrow your car,” she said, wanting to hear him say that no, he really was willing to make the twenty-minute drive with her in the dark and cold. “You have better tires than I do.”
“I’ll drive you,” he said more firmly. “Now that I know you’re going, I’ll feel better if I’m with you.”
“You don’t think I can drive myself?” she asked, because usual, not-trying-to-get-laid Zoe wou
ld be offended to think he thought she couldn’t do it herself.
He sighed. “For fuck’s sake. Of course, you can. But now you’re not going to.”
Dang, she liked when he got a little firm.
She frowned. Okay, that was new. She didn’t like being bossed around.
He leaned in and she sucked in a breath. But he was just putting the empty pie plate on the counter.
She let the breath out slowly so he wouldn’t know that she’d sucked it in.
“What time are we leaving?” he asked.
He seemed to still be leaning in a little.
“Five a.m.,” she tossed out. Since it was a lie, it didn’t matter.
He sighed again. Aiden wasn’t really a morning person. It was one of the reasons the was the story she’d come up with to test him involved an early hour. Five a.m. was a normal time of day for her to open her eyes. The bakery opened at six. But Aiden didn’t get up before eight and it was rarely before nine when he was on vacation.
“Fine. But you better have muffins and coffee ready.”
And just like that, everything clicked into place. Relief washed through her.
He’d been willing to give her the last slice of his favorite pie. He’d loan her money without question. He’d get up three hours early and drive on snowy December roads to pick up a friend of hers from the airport on Christmas Day.
He would definitely help her get rid of her virginity.
“Thanks, Aiden,” she said with a bright smile.
He lifted his eyebrows again, probably thinking that her sincerity was a little over-the-top for a simple ride to Dubuque.
And it was. He had no idea all the things she was going to be appreciating him for later.
3
Aiden heard his door creak as it opened slowly and he sighed.
Was Cam in the wrong room?
He’d had several beers—as he often did after running into Whitney Lancaster—so maybe he was too drunk to find his own bed.
“Cam, wrong room, bro.”
The door swung wider and the floorboard just on the inside of the threshold creaked.
Aiden rolled to his back. It wouldn’t be the first…or maybe last…time he and Cam shared a bed. They’d crashed together on more than one spring break trip and road trip. It had been a while though and his best friend was a blanket hog.
His door swung shut and latched and another floorboard creaked. Aiden sighed. He’d just have to get up and go to Cam’s room, he supposed.
“Cam, dude. You better not puke in here.”
Aiden had had a few beers too as they’d all played cards and chatted and laughed. He always kicked back and relaxed when he was in Appleby and he didn’t usually drink much. His hometown was one of his favorite places in the world and the McCafferys were some of his favorite people and he found himself mellow and having fun without any extra alcohol. But trying to ignore Zoe tonight had required a couple additional beers.
It hadn’t helped, but he’d tried.
But he definitely wasn’t puking drunk. Or not-find-his-own-room drunk.
Thankfully, while Cam would have nasty headaches and be ten times grumpier than usual—which was really grumpy—after having too many, but he rarely puked.
“Aiden, it’s me.”
That soft voice was not Cam’s.
Aiden blinked into the darkness. “Zoe? You okay?”
Zoe McCaffery was in his bedroom. Well that was…unexpected. And way, way too tempting. Especially after the chocolate pie incident.
It had hardly been an incident. He knew that. But his brain wouldn’t stop thinking about her mouth and her finger and the chocolate…
Yeah, she really needed to not be in his bedroom.
But if she was sick or hurt or something was going on, then he’d have to fix that first. And pray to God that she was wearing long, baggy, flannel pajamas.
She moved closer to the bed and the light from the street light outside his window hit her from the waist down.
She was not wearing long, baggy flannel pajamas.
She wasn’t even wearing that little bitty nightgown she’d been wearing around the house.
In fact, he was pretty damned sure that what she was wearing didn’t even qualify as pajamas.
That was a teddy.
A skimpy, silky, lacy teddy.
In pink.
Candy pink.
His favorite color.
Fuuuuuck.
“I need you, Aiden,” she said, her voice soft and almost tentative.
Soft and tentative were not usual adjectives when it came to Zoe. She was fierce and sassy and stubborn and easily annoyed, by him and her brother in particular.
He pushed up onto his elbows. She needed him? Maybe she wasn’t okay. Maybe she always slept in that thing—holy shit was he going to wonder about that now—and she was in here because she was sick.
“Zoe, what’s going on?”
“I need you,” she said again.
“Yeah, but—”
Her meaning became very clear a moment later when she climbed up on the bed, and straddled his thighs, settling her hot, soft body on top of his.
On top of his.
In that barely-there teddy. And him in only his boxers.
His body reacted far faster than his brain did. His heart started thumping, his hands moved to rest on her hips, and his cock swelled. Instinctively, he pressed her down against the nearly instantaneous ache. Hey, he was a guy…a sleepy guy with a few beers sloshing around in his brain…and there was a hot, sweet-smelling woman right on top of his cock. What did anyone think was going to happen in that situation?
Besides, this was not just any hot, sweet-smelling woman.
This was Zoe. He’d thought she was beautiful, sexy, smart, and funny for years. Literally.
And for the past two he’d been trying very hard not to kiss her.
And not to admit that he was in love with her.
She gave a soft moan and circled her hips, rubbing against his hard-as-fuck erection. One thin layer of cotton and one very thin layer of silk was all that separated them and her heat seemed to seep into him and spread through his body.
He gripped her hips, fighting with himself.
He wanted to pull her in and kiss the hell out of her. Then roll her to her back, strip this tiny scrap of silk off of her, and plunge into the hot, sweet body he’d been trying not to think about when he jerked off at night. He’d even succeeded. Seventy-five percent of the time.
Okay, fifty percent.
But he couldn’t quite get past the what the hell is going on?
Had she had a bunch of beer? He hadn’t noticed her drinking during the card game earlier. Maybe she’d taken a couple of shots at some point when he hadn’t been looking? Though he felt like he’d been looking at her all night since the pie thing in the kitchen. The pie thing. Where they’d talked about how much he liked her pie. And about how he loved eating her pie. And how her pie needed to be eaten with gusto…
Fuck. He was definitely in trouble here.
What was going on? Was someone daring her? Was she just messing with him?
One of the things about having grown up with her as a like-an-older-brother was that it was not impossible to believe this was some kind of elaborate, torturous prank.
“Zo—"
She leaned forward, taking his face between her hands. The move shifted her forward on his lap and pressed her pelvic bone and clit against his cock. She sucked in a breath as he groaned.
But she started talking before he could say anything.
“I need your help, Aiden. I’m a virgin. A twenty-five-year-old virgin. And I want you to be my first. I can’t do this the first time with anyone else.”
She was a virgin.
His brain short-circuited at those words.
Jesus. He knew she didn’t date a lot and never seriously, but he’d had no idea she was a virgin.
And she wanted him to be her first.
&n
bsp; Fuck yes. That was his first reaction.
But right on the heels of those two words, he realized that yes, he was going to be her first.
But not tonight.
He nearly groaned out loud.
It was a surprisingly abrupt thought, but he realized in that moment that he’d known he and Zoe were headed in this direction for a long time. Maybe forever. Maybe they’d been destined for this.
But Zoe McCaffery was a not a one-night-stand girl. Not for anyone really, but especially not for him.
Everything in him knew that when they did this—not if, but when—it was going to change everything. Forever.
“Zo—” he started again.
But she leaned in and kissed him.
And he was half-naked, in bed, attracted to her, and not stupid.
So he kissed her back.
He cupped the back of her head, opened his mouth, and kissed her. He tasted her with his tongue, desire ripping through his body at the touch of her tongue in return, making his cock pulse against the hot silk she had pressed against him.
She made a whimpering noise that elicited a groan that he almost didn’t recognize as his own.
Then she pressed her whole body against his, her hard nipples against his chest, making him growl.
It took everything in him not to flip her over and take her, make her his, end this torture.
Instead, he pushed her back.
She blinked down at him, looking dazed.
Her hair was mussed where he’d had his hands. Her chest was rising and falling with her ragged breathing.
He just stared at her for a long moment.
God, she was gorgeous.
She could be his. Right now. Tonight. From now on.
But that was the only thing that was getting through his lust-filled brain… it wouldn’t be from now on. He couldn’t stay. Not right now.
He was going back to Chicago the day after tomorrow. His work, his apartment, his life was there. It wasn’t home. He’d never been able to think of Chicago as home. Appleby was home. It always would be. But he had to go back to Chicago. At least temporarily.
There was no way he was going to be able to leave if he slept with Zoe tonight. If they crossed this barrier there would be no going back.
Sugar Rush (Hot Cakes prologue) Page 2