Forking Around (Hot Cakes Book 2)

by Erin Nicholas

  The first room on the right seemed to be some kind of community room. There were several round tables with chairs and wheelchairs pulled up to them. There were about eight people in the room along with a woman who looked like a staff member, judging by her lavender scrubs and the name tag he could see but not read. It looked like they were working on some kind of craft project.

  The next room was empty but was clearly a small chapel. On the left was a much larger room filled with exercise equipment of various types. Two staff people were working with two residents going through a set of leg exercises. He gave them a smile as they continued on.

  They passed the office of the nursing home’s director, empty at the moment, and finally got to rooms that seemed like resident rooms.

  There was a lot of noise—a lot from televisions in the rooms, but also some conversation—and a variety of smells. There was a medicinal disinfectant smell underneath the smell of food being prepared.

  Finally, they reached the end of the hallway, where two more hallways led off in either direction. In the middle of that intersection of hallways was a round desk where staff, who were clearly nurses, typed on computers or leaned over writing on papers.

  They took the hallway to the left and went four doors down. Jane hesitated just outside. “Oh, also, you should know my dad thinks you’re my boyfriend.”

  “I’m totally good with that. In fact, I think we should just make that official.”

  She rolled her eyes but was smiling. “Okay. That would help so I don’t feel like I’m lying to him.”

  “Great.” Dax felt that warm feeling that had settled in his chest earlier, spread. “And does he think we’re going to this bridal fair because we’re talking about getting hitched?” he asked. He could totally play along with that too.

  “Oh no, he knows it’s all about the cake and pie for me.”

  Dax laughed. “Right. He probably knows you pretty well.”

  She nodded. “But he and Kelsey think it will be fun to pretend we are getting married and we’re there to make plans.”

  Dax liked Jack already. “So at the event we’ll have to act like we’re in love and like I’m ready to throw an elaborate, over-the-top party to declare you off the market and totally monogamous to only me.”

  She lifted a brow. “Well, you will also be off the market and totally monogamous only to me.”

  He liked that little flicker of possessiveness. He leaned in and stole a kiss. “Damn right,” he said against her lips.

  She gave a little sigh and then pulled back. “So you can pull this off?”

  “Acting crazy about you and that I love an extravagant party?” he asked. “Absolutely.” He let a beat pass and then said, “No acting required. For any of it.”

  For a second she looked like she was going to confess something, but she just nodded and said, “You are so the extravagant party type.”

  “I’m the extravagant everything type.”

  12

  “Now this is my kind of forking around,” Jane said, dragging the tines of her fork over her tongue slowly and thoroughly because of the way it made Dax’s eyes darken.

  “We’re taking some of this pie home with us.”

  “Please,” she said, letting her voice get husky.

  They’d been eating dessert and teasing with frosting and sprinkles and whipped toppings for two hours, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever had more fun.

  Kelsey and Jack seemed to be having a great time as well. They’d not only sampled desserts but had also done a couple of passes by the hors d’oeuvres tables and had checked out all the other booths, including the ones showing off honeymoon packages and tuxedo rentals and we-can-build-it-in-a-day gazebos.

  “I want to suck this whipped cream off your nipples and lick this strawberry glaze off your clit.”

  Jane’s eyes flew to Dax as she made a little gasping-choking sound. “Dax!”

  He grinned. “No one can hear me.”

  “But…” She felt a flush go through her. “Yeah, you should definitely do both of those things.”

  She’d never been with a guy who was dirty and sexy and sweet and playful all at the same time.

  She was completely addicted and almost giddy. Giddy. That was a word she’d never used to describe herself before. Of course, that was probably because she’d never felt giddy before. She wasn’t the giddy type.

  She watched Dax lick whipped cream off of his index finger—slowly—catching her eye and giving her a wink.

  She was definitely the giddy type now.

  “And finally, we’re thrilled to announce our grand prize winners!”

  There was a woman on the makeshift stage at the front of the largest building set up for the bridal fair. She was going through the winners of several door prizes, including a basketful of goodies from Buttered Up.

  Jane had been past Zoe and Josie’s table a couple of times, and they always had a cluster of people in front of them, tasting their desserts and asking questions and placing orders.

  Josie was thrilled. Zoe looked overwhelmed.

  But she’d be okay. Aiden would talk her down, and they’d all pitch in to fill orders if needed. Jane was so happy for her friends and grateful to Aiden for coaxing Zoe out of her box to try new things.

  “The couple’s weekend at Pine Grove Bed and Breakfast includes the Diamond Suite, a couple’s massage, tickets to the local production of Wicked, and gift baskets from The Sweet Spa, Rutherford Winery, and a shopping spree at Naughty and Nice Lingerie and Gifts,” the woman said excitedly.

  “I think we should take some of the cupcakes from that place over by the other door too,” Dax said.

  Jane nodded. “Yes. But we cannot tell Zoe.”

  “Never,” he agreed. “We can take all the contraband back to my hotel room. Then there’s no risk of her even seeing a wrapper.”

  Jane grinned up at him. “That’s pretty smooth.”

  “What?” he asked innocently.

  “Making going back to your hotel room practical.”

  “I’m just presenting facts,” he said with a shrug. “I’d hate to hurt Zoe’s feelings.”

  “But you’d also hate to leave this pie and those cupcakes behind.”

  “I would hate that so much,” he said with a nod. And a wicked grin.

  “You know, this could seem kind of like a guy trying to lure kids into his unmarked white van with candy,” Jane teased. “You know if you dangle strawberry pie, I’ll do almost anything.”

  “No,” he said. “I know if I dangle strawberry pie, you will do anything. No almost about it.”

  She laughed. “You’re using my weakness against me?”

  He took a big bite of the pie in question and grinned, unapologetic.

  The truth was, he was her new weakness.

  “Fine,” she said as if put upon. “I’ll go back to your hotel with you tonight.”

  He swallowed. “We’re going to give a new meaning to orgasmic strawberry pie.”

  “Do people refer to strawberry pie as orgasmic?” she asked.

  “They should.”

  “Dax Marshall and Jane Kemper!”

  They both jerked at the sound of their names coming over the loudspeaker. They looked at one another then toward the stage.

  “Oh my God!” Suddenly Kelsey came jogging toward them pushing Jack’s wheelchair. They were both grinning widely.

  “What’s going on?” Jane asked.

  They were toward the back of the crowd, away from the stage, and people were starting to turn.

  “You won!” Kelsey laughed and then high-fived Jack. “You’re the grand prize winners!”

  “We are?” Jane looked at Dax. “We didn’t do anything.”

  “We s-signed you u-up,” Jack said,

  Jane was frozen for a moment, just looking at her father. She hadn’t seen him smiling that big in far too long. He looked younger and healthier. Her heart tripped.

  “We signed you guys up for a ton of s
tuff,” Kelsey said. “We went around to all the booths and got samples and entered all their draws with your names. Since you’re the bride and groom.” She winked at them.

  “You condone this?” Jane asked Jack.

  He just grinned.

  “And hot damn, the grand prize!” Dax said. “That’s awesome. What did we win?”

  “You didn’t hear any of it?” Kelsey asked. “It’s like this huge package with wine and massages and a free stay in a B and B.” She looked immensely proud of herself. “You’re welcome.”

  “Wow, they just drew our names?” Jane asked. “That’s amazing. But… we’re not even really engaged. Are they going to throw us out when they find out?”

  Jack shook his head. “D-don’t t-t-tell.”

  Jane gave him a look. “Lie?”

  “F-f-for fun. It’s free st-stuff.” Jack also looked proud of himself.

  “Oh yeah, you can’t give it back,” Kelsey said quickly. “Dad had to write an essay to win that!”

  Jane felt her eyes widen. “An essay?”

  “Yeah,” Kelsey said. “I wrote it but they were his words. And it’s awesome.” She grinned at her father. “Very mushy. All about how happy he is that his daughter found true love and how he couldn’t have picked a better guy and how he knows Dax will be there for you through all the tough times to come.”

  Jane felt her throat thicken and a stinging behind her eyes. There were tough times coming. Probably. Eventually. No one really knew. But no matter what happened with his condition, there would be a time when Jane would have to deal with losing Jack. And having Dax beside her for that sounded amazing.

  He couldn’t fix everything that happened or went wrong, but he made things better. Facing things with him was infinitely better than facing them without him, no matter how it turned out.

  “You totally used that wheelchair to get this win, didn’t you?” Jane teased her dad, blinking back her tears.

  Jack nodded. “Y-yes. This thing sh-should have some p-p-perks.”

  Jane laughed. He had a point. “Okay.” She looked up at Dax. “I guess we have a grand prize to collect.”

  Everyone in the room applauded as Jane and Dax made their way to the stage. They hammed it up—it was Dax, so of course they did—with him raising their clasped hands high overhead as if they’d just been crowned the heavyweight champions and then dipping her back to give her a big, sweet kiss.

  Jane was laughing when he righted her and accepted the huge basket of goodies and gift cards. She found her dad and Kelsey at the back of the room and could see, even from the several yards between them, that Jack was beaming.

  He loved being in on the joke, and she could see that he’d had a great day.

  Dax had been right. Getting Jack out had been a good thing. A great thing. And with Dax along, it had been much easier than other outings. He handled the chair and assisted Jack without even pausing in whatever funny story he was telling and didn’t even blink when Jack tripped over his words. He’d thought ahead about how to avoid anything that might have been an obstacle, and he’d done it all with humor and a laid-back charm that made Jane once and for all sure she was madly in love with him.

  With their big win in hand, they headed back for the car and back to Appleby. They dropped Jack off first. The girls kissed him goodbye and stepped into the hallway, when Jack said, “D-D-Dax.”

  Dax turned back. “Yeah?”

  “S-St-Stay for a m-minute.”

  “Okay.” He glanced at the girls. “Meet you at the car,” he said to Jane.

  “Uh, sure.” She looked at her father. Oh boy, they were going to talk in private? “I’ll walk Kelsey out.”

  Dax came strolling out ten minutes later.

  Jane was leaning against her car the way she had been the day before in the Hot Cakes parking lot. She had her sunglasses on and her arms crossed. The perfect picture of nonchalance.

  She hoped.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “Totally.” Dax gave her a smile, coming to stand directly in front of her.

  “Was that all about me?”

  Dax grinned and tucked his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “The part about how much he liked me and knew I’d be good to you? Yes. The part where he asked me to help him into his chair? No. The part where I asked him to look up a couple of things for me and give me his thoughts? No.” He gave a thoughtful, totally fake, frown. “So one-third of the conversation, yes. Which means, the majority of it, no.”

  Jane’s frown was real. There were lots of things she wanted to know more about there. Like what Dax wanted her dad to look up for him. Jack had access to a computer in the community room and certainly knew how to Google things. But why would Dax ask him to look something up? Something like what? But the thing she was most focused on was that second one. “He asked you to help him into his chair?”

  “He did.”

  “That’s pretty… amazing.”

  “Is it?”

  “He sometimes lets me help him, when he’s feeling strong enough that it’s not a lot for me to do. He never lets Kelsey or Cassie help him. He’s almost always already in his wheelchair when we get here. He doesn’t like people to see him weak or incapable.”

  Dax nodded but didn’t say anything.

  “Did you have to give him a lot of help?”

  He took a breath but then nodded again as he blew it out. “He said he’s tired from the outing. I had to lift him and did a lot of the work getting him into the chair.”

  “Wow, but he let you.”

  “Yeah. I didn’t realize that was a big deal. I’m humbled.”

  “He trusts you.”

  “That’s awesome.” Dax seemed very pleased.

  Jane just stood looking at Dax for a long moment. Her dad did not have great taste in women, that was for sure. But as she thought about his friends and the men he chose to spend time with, she had to admit he did well there.

  “Your dad is a good guy,” Dax said.

  “So are you.”

  “You think so?”

  “I do.”

  “That means a lot to me.”

  He said it so sincerely that Jane felt a little hitch in her breathing. “I’m glad.” She waited a beat then said, “Dax?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Get in the car. The whipped cream is melting, and we have a long drive to your hotel.”

  Heat flickered through his eyes, and he gave her a sexy little smile, but he simply rounded the back of the car and got into the passenger seat.

  He didn’t dare touch her.

  During the forty-five-minute drive from Appleby to his hotel he didn’t touch her, though his palm itched with the desire to run up and down her thigh.

  He’d never seen her in a dress, and the one she’d worn today left her shoulders bare and hit above her knees showing lots of smooth, creamy skin. That plus all the fork licking and laughing today had him wound tight.

  He wanted to lace her fingers with his. Or rest a hand on the back of her neck. Something. Some kind of contact. But he couldn’t. If he touched her, he’d be demanding she pull the car over and they’d have sex in her front seat again.

  This time if he had her naked, he was keeping her that way for a solid twenty-four hours. She wasn’t leaving his hotel room until Monday morning when she had to leave to go to work. Unless he could talk her into playing hooky and calling in sick.

  He knew the chances of that with this woman were probably a thousand to one. But there was a chance.

  So he kept his hands to himself during the drive. And as they walked into the hotel and across the lobby toward the bank of elevators. And as they rode up in the elevator without touching. And as they walked down the hallway to the suite without touching.

  He waved his key card in front of the sensor and pushed the door open for her, standing back so she didn’t even brush against him.

  But the second he stepped into the room, set the pie down on the table just
to his left, and the door thudded shut, he pressed her against the wall and kissed her.

  He slid his hands up to the tie at the back of her neck holding the dress up. He pulled it loose and tugged the bodice of the dress down.

  Her fingers went to the front of his shirt and began tearing at the buttons as he filled his hands with her breasts. He teased the tips with his thumbs, and Jane’s fingers worked faster on his shirt.

  Finally, the last button came undone, and she spread it open, running her hands over his chest and abs as he plucked at her nipples. They were kissing and gasping and moaning until she pushed him back slightly.

  “Your pants are in the way again.” She pushed her dress over her hips.

  “You’re right.”

  They both kicked their shoes off, and he tore open his jeans, shoving them and his boxers out of the way as she skimmed her tiny blue panties off.

  When they were both naked, they came back together, their mouths hungry. Dax pressed her into the wall again, his hands roaming. He palmed her breasts, plucking and pinching, before gliding to her hips where he squeezed, then around to her ass where he cupped her, bringing her up against his aching cock.

  Her hands were just as busy. She ran them all over his back, to his ass, then around and over his ribs and abs, before taking his cock in hand, squeezing and stroking.

  “Fuck, you feel so damned good. I don’t know where to start,” he told her gruffly. He wanted every inch of her. He wanted to explore. He wanted to count freckles and catalog ticklish spots and memorize creases and curves, but he also just wanted to hoist her up against the wall and plunge deep.

  “We have all night and all tomorrow,” she told him breathlessly.

  He pulled back and stared into her eyes. “You promise?”

  “Promise.”

  “You’re not leaving? You’re staying here with me?”

  “Definitely.”

  “I haven’t even told you what I have planned.”

  “It doesn’t matter. This is where I want to be,” she said.

  She gave him a playful smile that was full of something that nearly sent him to his knees.

  Not lust. Not heat. Not naughtiness. That was all there too, but that wasn’t what he latched on to.