Lizzie must have read his confusion, because she said, “He came to the shop and apologized.”
Blue let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “He did? Are you upset with me for talking to him?”
She ran her finger along his collarbone, making his entire body aware of that one sensual touch. “No, not upset with you at all, but it kind of bothers me that it took you talking to him to make a difference. Then again, he’s stubborn, and I’m glad that he finally came around.”
“He loves you, Lizzie.”
“I know. I think Sky was right when she said that my father loves me too much, and that’s why he was so upset.”
“Love can really screw with a person’s mind.” He stepped back and waved at his apron. “As you can see, people do weird shit for love.”
They both chuckled, and he kissed her again before leading her into her newly renovated kitchen. “I took the liberty of fixing things up for you. I couldn’t stand the idea of you working with an oven that was older than dirt or counters that looked like they belonged to your grandmother.”
Again her eyes widened. “You redid my kitchen?”
“I tried to match the look of your old appliances so it wouldn’t be too noticeable in your videos. I hope you don’t mind.”
“You did this in a day? Why did the upstairs one take weeks?”
He smiled, slightly embarrassed that her quick inhalation meant she’d just figured it out. “It was my chance to be closer to you. Do you blame me?”
“For dragging out a job so you could see me?” She laughed. “Hardly. But I do blame you for making me get up even earlier than usual so I could leave before you saw me.”
“Why did you do that?” He folded her into his arms.
“Because I knew that if I was alone with you I’d have a hard time saying no when you asked me out. And I also knew you’d see that on my face, or sense it in my vibes or something.”
He nuzzled against her neck, drinking in her sweet floral scent. “I do love your sexy vibes.”
She threw her arms around his neck and went up on her toes, striking his favorite position with their bodies and mouths pressed together. They kissed like it was their first time, a slow, intoxicating kiss that made him want to forgo the baking altogether.
“Thank you,” she said before she pressed her lips to his again. “Thank you for loving me, for everything you do for me, and”—she shifted her eyes to the baking supplies on the counter—“for baking with me.”
He forced himself to pry his mouth from hers, and she giggled as her eyes dropped to his raging erection.
“We’d better get cooking before I bend you over the counter and have my way with you.”
“That’s number thirteen on my Fuck-It list,” she said as she dragged her finger across his jaw.
He cursed under his breath. “How am I supposed to function with that on my mind?”
She eyed his erection. “I could say the same. You sure you want to do this? You said you couldn’t watch me film, that it was too hard.”
“Obviously it is too hard,” he teased, pulling her against him again. “I realized while I was talking with your father that I needed to cross this line. It’s the only one we have left, so let’s do this.”
“Only one? I can think of a dozen or more.” She raised her brows.
“Christ, Lizzie, that’s all? Baby, I’m going to show you lines you haven’t even thought of yet.” He lowered his lips to her in a kiss that left his entire body throbbing. “I meant lines relating to your webcast.”
“What if I can’t do it?” She bit her lower lip nervously.
“What do you mean? You do this several times a week.”
“I’ve never had to seduce a camera in front of you. It’s embarrassing.”
He slid his hand to the nape of her neck and brought her in close again. God, he loved her. “Not half as embarrassing as it is for me wearing an apron with a hard-on. Together we can do anything. Haven’t you learned that yet?”
***
LIZZIE WONDERED WHAT she’d done in life to deserve to be this happy. Blue had put on black-framed glasses like the ones she wore and a baseball cap. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she thought her viewers were probably mostly men and might not like watching a guy. Then again, what did she know? Maybe they would.
She and Blue laughed the whole time they baked, and she found she didn’t like him seducing the camera at all. It made her even more jealous than she cared to admit to herself. She’d never been on the other side of the fence, and now she understood why it had made Blue’s skin crawl. She had the urge to stand between him and the camera, so women wouldn’t see his gorgeous biceps and chest peeking out from the apron, or the hard planes of his back, and want him the way she wanted him.
He moved with confidence, every muscle coming to life with the smallest of motions, and that made him even sexier as he stirred the frosting they’d made.
“Everyone knows you need a taste test,” he said in a husky voice as he dipped his finger into the frosting and brought it to Lizzie’s mouth.
As he slid his finger into her mouth with a scorching-hot look, her body smoldered from the inside out. She swirled her tongue around his finger as she dug her own finger into the frosting, then stroked it over his lower lip, following it with her tongue. She nibbled at his lip, making him groan—and hard—before stepping back and bending over to take a tray out of the oven. She sensed his heat before she felt his erection press against her. It took all of her focus not to let on to the camera that she was suddenly madly aroused.
She set the hot tray on top of the oven and turned a seductive gaze to the camera while she fanned her face. “It sure is getting hot in here.”
Blue moved beside her again, dipping his finger into the frosting and sucking it off with a look that could melt steel. She narrowed her eyes again, this time taking him up on the obvious challenge. No way was he going to do a better job of seducing the camera than she was.
She stuck three fingers into the frosting, eyeing the camera, and said, “There are so many good uses for frosting, and as we all know, it’s the little lusty surprises that bring us the most pleasure.” She slid her hand beneath his apron, knowing that all the audience would see was her hand disappearing below the counter, and she wrapped her frosting-covered fingers around his erection.
Blue’s chin dropped to his chest as he uttered a curse.
“Why, it looks like my baking partner is having a hard time.” She picked up the towel from the counter and wiped her hands. Blue’s eyes bored through her, filled with wanton desire she could practically taste—and oh, how she wanted to taste him!
“Let’s see those big, strong arms in action.” She turned her eyes to the camera again. “Watching a man in the kitchen is such a turn-on, isn’t it?” She handed him the spatula as he gritted his teeth. “You spread the frosting, and I’ll—” She dramatically dropped the towel to the floor. “Whoops!” She sank down to her knees and lifted his apron, dragging her tongue along his frosted length.
He grabbed the counter as she loved him with her hands and mouth. She cupped his sac as she licked the wide crown of his arousal, then swallowed him deep.
“Lizzie,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Camera’s rolling,” she whispered, though she’d already turned it off with the remote she kept beneath the counter. He tried to frost the cake, stopping every few seconds to breathe heavily or mutter a curse. Knowing he was close to exploding, she pulled back and slicked her tongue over his swollen head again.
“Fuck,” he said under his breath.
“Oh? Okay.” She tossed a seductive look over her shoulder as she bent over the counter and spread her legs, revealing her bare ass.
He moved between her and the camera. “Lizzie.”
She backed up, pressing her ass against his hard length, before she reached back and guided him between her legs. “What’s wrong? Camera shy? I just knocked
another thing off my Lick-It list.” She licked her lips playfully. “Frosting. Yum.”
“Your…Oh, I’ll show you a Lick-It list.” He tore off his hat and glasses and tossed them aside. He took a handful of frosting and smeared it between her legs, then turned her to face him and dropped to his knees. The first slick of his tongue made her entire body shudder.
She fisted her hands in his hair as he guided one leg over his shoulder and licked the frosting clean, then thrust his tongue inside her and brought his fingers masterfully into play. Within seconds, she shattered, crying out his name as he thrust his fingers inside her and took her up to the peak again and again. She could barely breathe, barely think, as he rose to his feet and untied both their aprons.
“You’re so damn sexy, Lizzie. I’ll delete the tape, but I’ve got to have you.”
She swiped her fingers in the frosting and rubbed it on her nipples. “Enjoy.”
“You’re damn right I’ll enjoy.”
She took off her wig and glasses and dropped them to the floor, then leaned back against the counter as he feasted on her body. From the tug of his lips over her nipples to the feel of his heat searing into her skin and the scrape of his teeth as he dragged them over each taut peak, she was completely, utterly lost in him. There were no words for the sensations consuming her: gratitude at being loved so completely, desire for more of his touch, taken by the rasp of his scruff against her skin, wooed by the sweetness he whispered as he tasted every inch of her. Carnal lust made her want to do even dirtier things with Blue—only with Blue.
“Turn around.” It came out like a demand, and she knew that he was as lost in them as she was. He placed her hands on the counter and bent her over at the waist.
Lacing his fingers with hers, he held her there, nudging her legs farther apart with his feet before he drove into her in a thrust that made them both gasp a breath.
“Blue,” she cried out, the last of his name fading away to sheer bliss.
He pressed his chest to her back as their bodies moved together.
“God, I love you, Lizzie,” he said against her neck. “I have to see you.”
He withdrew, and she whimpered at the loss. He turned her in his arms and lifted her to the counter, tugging her to the edge.
“Look at you. You’re stunning. Gorgeous.” He ran his finger over her collarbone, sending shivers through her entire body. Following the path with his mouth, he buried his mouth on her wet heat again, laving her sensitive flesh until she was sure the heat inside her would sear her skin. He brought his tongue to her clit, taking her higher, until her entire body was quivering, and finally—blissfully—she came again. She arched against his mouth, her body quaking from the intensity of the orgasm, on the fringe of another.
She couldn’t take any more. Her flesh was too sensitive, too ripe and ready. Even though she felt like every touch sent her insides spiraling, she ached for more of him. She yanked his head back and pulled him to his feet, locking her lips over his. The taste of him overpowered the taste of her, and when he drove into her again, her head tipped back with the pleasure of it.
“Blue—”
He drew back, and she could see he was worried he’d hurt her. She pulled on his hips. “Don’t stop.”
His lips quirked up as he thrust into her again. Lifting her into his arms, their bodies still joined as one, he lowered them both to the floor, knocking the flour and sugar off the counter with his elbow and showering them in white powder. They both laughed as he kissed the sugar and flour from her lips, her neck, her jaw, scrambling her brain into love-soaked mush.
“Marry me, Lizzie,” he said as he gazed into her eyes, never breaking their stride. And what she saw there, all that love, for her, bowled her over. “Marry me. I want you to be mine. I want to be yours. I’ll support your naked baking on every level.”
She could barely breathe, but a smile tugged at her lips. “You want to marry the Naked Baker?”
“More than I want anything else in this world. Say yes, and I’ll be right here by your side every moment of every day. We’ll fix up the lighthouse just the way you want it. And after two years, if you want to stop filming the show, we’ll start a family, or we’ll keep filming. Whatever you want, as long as we’re together.”
She wrapped her legs around his waist and smiled up at him. “I’d say yes, but I think you’re just asking me because of my mad baking skills.”
He laughed, narrowed his eyes, as if to say, Really? You’re going to tease me at a time like this? But he played along with it, and that made her fall even harder. “It’s that obvious?”
“Yeah, but you’re kind of cute, and you do give good orgasms, so…” She wanted to remember this moment, the look in his eyes, the flour hanging in the air, the scent of their lovemaking mingling with the aroma of freshly baked cake. She wanted to remember the fullness of her chest and the way her heart was so happy that there was no room for doubt.
“Wait,” Blue said, reaching for the apron. “I almost forgot.”
“Wait? You don’t want my answer?” She laughed again as he reached into the pocket of his apron and pulled out the most elegant diamond band she’d ever seen. Her heart nearly stopped. It, too, was peppered in white dust. He blew the dusting of white powder off the beautiful ring and gazed into her eyes again.
“I’ve never seen you wear jewelry, and I assumed it was because you don’t want it to get hooked on things while you work. I hope this isn’t too cumbersome, and if I was wrong, and you want a different ring, something bigger, flashier—”
With fresh tears streaming down her cheeks, she pressed her finger to his lips. “You’ve never read me wrong a day since we’ve met. Yes, I’ll marry you, Blue. Yes, yes, yes!” Their bodies were still joined together at all points as she pressed her lips to his.
As he slid the ring on her finger, he said, “I love you, Lizzie, and I will spend the rest of our lives making sure you are the happiest woman on earth.”
“That’s all well and good, but can we get back to making love, please, because I really want to knock another item off my list.”
He laughed and kissed her again. “Which item is that?”
“Make Blue happy.”
“Baby, you’ve just made me the happiest man on the planet.”
“Oh, trust me. I think we can make you even happier.” She wiggled out from under him, opened the fridge, and held up two cans of whipped cream.
“You just got a hundred times sexier.” He scooped her into his arms and headed for the stairs. “We’re about to add things to your lists that you never imagined.”
Epilogue
BLUE COULDN’T TAKE his eyes off Lizzie, standing across the room with Trish and Siena. They say that the bride should always be the most beautiful woman at her wedding, but Blue knew, at least in this case, that wasn’t true. Despite how gorgeous Siena looked, no one compared to his stunning fiancée. Lizzie was a vision in a blue dress that hugged every lush curve, her hair pinned up, with sexy tendrils framing her beautiful face. It was after midnight, and many of the guests had already left the reception. Blue couldn’t wait to get Lizzie back into his arms.
“Bro, you’re going to burn a hole through her, staring like that,” his older brother Gage said as he came to his side with Jake, Cash, and Duke.
“There are worse things in life than being attracted to the woman you love.” The woman I love. Blue hadn’t imagined thinking those words, and now he couldn’t imagine a day going by when he didn’t think them at least a dozen times.
“Where’s your woman?” Blue asked.
“No woman to speak of,” Gage answered, making his brothers scoff. Gage was as close to his friend and coworker Sally Tuft as two people could get without being lovers. But their friendship wasn’t like the friendship Blue had with Sky. Everyone could see Gage and Sally’s mutual attraction—everyone except them, that was. The serious look in Gage’s blue eyes told Blue that he didn’t want to have this conversation again.
“Okay, fair enough,” Blue said, letting it go.
“Why didn’t you bring Sally?” Duke pushed, giving Gage an elbow to his ribs.
“She’s visiting Rusty at Harborside University.” Rusty was Sally’s teenage son.
“She got sick of Gage not asking her out,” Jake said before taking a swig of his drink. “You can only tease a woman for so long.”
“Says the man who can’t settle down with one woman long enough to buy her a drink.” Duke lifted his chin with the barb.
“Shit. Why buy a drink when you can get the liquor for free?” Jake eyed a brunette standing by the bar. “Speaking of which, I’ll catch you guys later. I see a lonely lady just asking for a good time.”
“He needs to buy stock in condoms, the way he goes through women,” Blue teased, as Lizzie caught his attention from across the room with a smile, sending his heart into a frenzy. He’d never tire of seeing her smile, those adorable dimples, or the love in her eyes. He lifted his chin and crooked his finger. She said something to Trish and Siena, and the three of them approached.
“You guys put everyone else to shame. The Ryder hunks, line ’em up and roll ’em out,” Siena teased as she reached for Cash. “And I have the hunkiest of them all.”
“I beg to differ.” Lizzie wrapped an arm around Blue. “Mine looks the best in an apron.”
Blue uttered a curse.
“An apron? Do share,” Trish teased as her eyes skittered away, landing on a guy across the room. His shirtsleeves were pushed up to his elbows, exposing heavily inked forearms. Before Lizzie could elaborate, Trish said, “Who is that?”
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