Best Served Cold

by Emma Hart

  “If you’re trying to make me stop looking at your tits, you’re doing a bad job.”

  She looked down and immediately dropped her arms. “Yeah, well, shut up.” She sniffed. “How many holes are left?”

  I scanned the wall. “Three. You should try one. It won’t kill you.”

  She shifted. “No offense, but I don’t know if I trust you around me with tools.”

  “I wasn’t even near you when you dropped the scraper on your foot. I won’t drop the drill. I promise.” I paused. “If anything, I’m the one who should be worried given that you’ve already dropped the drill once.”

  “That was an accident.”

  “Exactly.” I pushed off the wall. “Come on. You might learn something.”

  “I doubt it,” she mumbled, wiping her hands off on her dress and coming to stand at my side. “Okay, let’s humiliate me.”

  I laughed and drew her into my body. She nestled against me as if she were made for me. Her ass curved perfectly into my hips, and the gentle sweep of her back flattened against my stomach and chest like a missing puzzle piece.

  “Wrap your hand around the handle,” I said, raising her hand to it. “And hold onto it. Tight.”

  “I think I can figure that out.”

  “Remember who dropped the drill.”

  She sniffed. “I didn’t expect the wall to be so hard.”

  “Rae, it’s fucking brick. Not marshmallow. What the hell did you expect?”

  “Shut up. Are we doing this or not?”

  “Yes.” I shifted behind her and lifted the drill. “Press the edge of the drill bit onto the ‘x’ and hold the drill straight.” She did as I guided her. “Now, I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that you went full power when you started.”

  She looked back at me. It took everything I had not to kiss her. “Well, yeah. What else would I do?”

  “There you go. That’s why you had the shock of your life.” I bit back a laugh. “You have to start off slow. Press the button in just a little, then as the hole grows, give it a little more power. Like this.”

  I guided her fingers onto the button and gently pressed. The drill whirred to life at a slow speed, and the wall cracked as it gave way to the hot tool.

  “Now a little more.” I squeezed a little harder, and Rae winced as the drill picked up pace and moved a little farther into the wall. “Keep it straight and push into it. The farther into the wall you go, the harder you squeeze.”

  I swallowed hard as she pressed her back against me. Her ass was nestled right into me, and I took a deep breath to stop my thoughts from going where they wanted to.

  To her being bent over somewhere with that dress flipped up over her hips.

  I shuddered and finished drilling the hole as my cock throbbed. “There. Done. It wasn’t hard.”

  Rae let go of the drill and stepped away from me, her hair flicking over her shoulder as she turned her head to look at me. “That doesn’t mean I want to do it again.”

  “Is that you telling me I should do it myself?”

  “No, it’s me telling you that I’m not going to do it again.” She flashed me a flirty grin. “I’m going to make ice cream.”

  She spun on her heels and strolled around the counter to disappear into the kitchen. I watched her go, moving up onto my toes to get a good look at her ass.

  Damn it.

  I couldn’t see it.

  Talk about a downer.

  ***

  I finished the drilling and by the time Rae walked out of the kitchen with a weird fucking multi-color sundae in her hand, I had all the holes ready for the lights to go right up.

  “What the hell is that?”

  Rae set the glass on the bar counter and held out a spoon for me to take. “Fairy Sundae. What does it taste like?”

  “Like fairies and glitter and fucking princesses, looking at this.” I poked the spoon at the glittery, pink and red concoction she’d placed in front of me. “What is it?”

  “A Fairy Sundae. I just told you that.”

  “But what is it?”

  She sighed. “Strawberry and raspberry ice cream with strawberry sauce and pink edible glitter. And a wafer cut into a crown. Does that answer your question?”

  I looked at the sundae then at her. “Yes, but why are you giving it to me?”

  “Because I want you to taste it. Jesus, you’re hard work.”

  I grinned and dipped the spoon in. “What, you can’t do it yourself?”

  “Yeah, but that’s like a chef creating a whole new menu and never giving anyone else a try before it goes on the menu.” She shrugged. “It tastes good to me, but that’s not the point. I need to know if it’ll taste good to anyone else.”

  “Don’t you have Sophie do this?”

  “Yes, but do you see Sophie?”

  I looked around. “I don’t. I’d hear her before I see her.” I paused. “Why are you asking me? You know I’m not going to do anything but love this ice cream. I’m totally fucking biased.”

  “Chase! Just taste the damn thing!” She slapped her hand against the counter, and the look she gave me had me shoving a mouthful of the ice cream in my mouth.

  It was so fucking good.

  I moaned, putting the spoon down. “Are you capable of making a bad ice cream?”

  Rae groaned and leaned forward. “Why can’t anyone just tell me it’s crap?”

  “Because it’s not. Has it occurred to you that you’re just that good at what you do because you care about it?”

  “Yes, but not everybody likes everything, and—”

  “Rae. If someone comes in here and doesn’t like your ice cream, then that’s their opinion. This is a foreign concept to you, but you can’t please everybody.”

  “I know I can’t please everybody. I’m not a vibrator. Or a taco.”

  “Not even tacos please everyone, babe.” I picked the spoon back up and got sucked in.

  It really was that good.

  Her lips tugged to the side as she watched me. “I thought you didn’t want to touch it because it’s pink and princess and fairy-like?”

  “Yeah, but it tastes good,” I said around a mouthful of the ice cream. “Nobody is watching me eat ice cream. My male integrity is fully intact.”

  “That fact that you think eating pink ice cream will ruin your masculinity is ridiculous.”

  “It’s pink.”

  She snorted and took the spoon from me. “If that’s all you’ve got, then you lose your man card for your inability to explain anything.”

  “My man card is dependent on my ability to explain things?”

  “Sure is.” She turned the spoon upside down and licked it clean, then pointed it out to the side as she leaned forward on the counter. “Your man card is issued for several things: stupidly arguing with women when you know you’ll lose, believing your cock is at least three inches bigger than it actually is, being a couch manager in any given sports season, and your uncanny ability to ignore any size of a hint.”

  “That’s the weirdest insult I’ve ever been given.”

  “Is it an insult if it’s true? I mean, that’s just kind of a truth bomb.”

  “Sometimes the truth is insulting. Like, you are, on occasion, kind of a bitch,” I said, taking the spoon from her and digging back into the ice cream.

  Rae sighed and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “It’s only insulting if you’re insulted by it. I’m not insulted by that at all. I know I’m kind of a bitch sometimes. But, that said, I’m only a bitch to people who deserve it.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Are you telling me I deserved the bitchy treatment?”

  “Chase.” She pointed at my store next door. “You totally deserved that, and you know it.”

  “What changed your mind?” I asked the question before I could stop myself. “What made you stop bitching me out?”

  Sighing, she stood up straight and took a few steps back into the counter behind her. She gripped the top of it. Her
eyes darted down to the ground, and she quickly let go of the counter and wrapped her arms around her waist.

  “Rae?”

  “You were too nice.” She met my eyes with a one-shoulder shrug. “How could I hate you when you were so nice? Then the other night on the beach…” She tightened her grip on herself. “Everyone can change their mind, Chase. Even when I said I needed to figure out if the way I felt was just because you were right here or if because those feelings were real.”

  My heart thumped in my chest. What was she saying? Was she saying the way she felt was real? That there was something there? That we had something again?

  “What are you saying, Rae?”

  “I’m saying I don’t know. I still don’t know.” She drew in a deep breath, seemingly not letting it out.

  I knew. I fucking knew. I knew what she was saying to me.

  And what she was actually saying was a pile of shit.

  I dropped the spoon. It fell to the counter with a clatter and bounced onto the floor. The metal clinked as it scattered, flipping a few times before it came to rest against the wall.

  I only had eyes for Rae.

  I reached her in steps. Barely anything at all. She didn’t move. Not even a flinch.

  Not a damn thing as I cupped the back of her neck and pressed my lips to hers.

  She could tell me she didn’t know all she liked, but she did. She fucking did. She fucking knew how she felt and she knew it was damn real.

  If I had to kiss her to make her admit how she felt about me, then you could bet your ass I was going to kiss the ever-loving fuck out of her.

  And that was what I did.

  I grabbed her face and kissed her.

  Rae gripped my shirt, her nails tickling me as she wound the material in her hands. She was already pressed against the counter, but she kissed me back hungrily, tugging me right against her.

  Blood pumped through my body. I kissed her harder than I’d ever kissed anyone in my life. Goosebumps erupted over my skin. I felt like I was going fucking crazy.

  I slid my hands down her body as hers moved up mine. Lifting her onto the empty counter, I stepped between her legs and pulled her right against me.

  My cock was rock hard, and I wanted her to know.

  I wanted her to know what she did to me.

  I wanted her to know how badly I wanted her.

  Rae’s hands curved around my neck as she pressed herself into me. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and as my cock nestled firm between her legs, it took all my willpower not to groan.

  Fuck.

  I wanted her. I wanted her so fucking bad it was almost painful not to undo my pants, move her underwear to the side and take her right here on this counter.

  All I could say was thank fuck the blinds were down.

  I pulled back and touched my nose to hers. I couldn’t keep kissing her without taking it further, and I was certain that having sex in a place that sells food would get her shut down.

  “I can’t—” I took a deep breath and leaned back so I could meet her eyes. “If you keep kissing me like that, you’re gonna need an awful lot of disinfectant.”

  Rae brushed her thumb over my jaw. Conflict waged in her eyes, and I could see that she was trying to decide what to do.

  She was trying to decide whether or not to take this further, because if she did, she knew the game was up.

  She’d have to admit she had real feelings for me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE – RAELYNN

  I didn’t know what to do.

  I knew what my body wanted. The throbbing between my legs was intense, and my heart was beating straight out of my chest. Desire tingled as it flushed through my veins.

  I already knew that what I was feeling for Chase was nothing residual. They were so real I could reach inside and tug them out to put on display if I really wanted to.

  It’d been, what? A week? Ten days? How long had it been since I started this renovation and he plowed back into my life like a comet? Because that was what it felt like.

  It felt as though he’d flown into my life at lightspeed, bringing a blazing trail of change with him.

  If I gave into what my body—and very obviously his—wanted, there would be no turning back. There would be no more denial, and the only thing left would be seeing if we could make a relationship work again.

  Could we?

  I didn’t know, but I also knew I had a stack of unfinished business with the man standing in front of me. Business that wouldn’t be over unless one of us categorically said we were done, and with how we currently were, that wouldn’t happen.

  I pushed him back and slid down off the counter, careful not to put the full weight on my still-sore toe. “Come with me.” I grabbed his shirt and dragged him after me, only just catching how quickly his eyebrows shot up before I turned.

  I led him to the back of the store and the half-empty store cupboard. I yanked the door open and pulled him inside with me.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You wanna drive the fifteen minutes to your place and do it, or save yourself the frustration and do it right now?” I raised my eyebrows and closed the door. “I’m literally offering it to you on a platter right this second. If you wanna wait…”

  “I didn’t say I wanted to wait.” Even in the darkness of the cupboard, I could see his eyes shine with laughter as my eyesight adjusted. “I’m just confused about the location.”

  “Well, we can’t fuck on the counter, and it’s not like a storage cupboard is the weirdest place we’ve ever had sex.”

  He paused. “You’re right. The bathroom at the courthouse after my aunt got married is probably top of that list.”

  “Exactly. We both know we aren’t over.”

  “Raelynn Fortune, are you admitting that you have feelings for me?”

  I pulled him into me. “I’m gonna have some very specific ones if you keep talking.”

  He put a finger to my lips. “I don’t have a condom. I didn’t exactly come to work expecting to have sex today.”

  I sighed. “I haven’t had sex since we broke up and I’m on the pill. Unless you hooked up with a bunch of questionable women, I think we’re probably okay. We haven’t used a condom since the night we met.”

  He laughed, drawing me into him and kissing me. His hands curved around my ass, and his hard cock twitched against my stomach. “No questionable women. Or any women at all. I was too busy trying to win you back, wasn’t I?”

  “In the dumbest way possible.”

  “I’ll give you that, but for someone who wants to get on with it, you’re talking an awful lot.”

  I gripped his collar and tugged his face down to mine. Even in the darkness, our lips met with an ease that sent a shiver down my spine.

  A few steps back had me bumping into the wall. Chase’s hands explored my body as we kissed deeper, giving in to the desire that swirled around us. My heart was beating like crazy, and I wound my fingers into his hair.

  God, it felt so fucking normal. I hated that it did, but it did. I couldn’t stop that. Chase would always be normal to me—he’d always feel right, even when I wanted it to be wrong.

  He stepped to the side, turning my head with me, and slipped one hand beneath my dress. My thighs twitched as his fingers trailed up them toward my clit.

  “Open your legs,” he murmured, brushing his knuckles over my underwear.

  I did as he said, parting my legs just enough for him to push my underwear to the side. He kissed me as his fingers worked through the wetness of my pussy, flicking over my clit again and again.

  The heat that flushed through me was almost unbearable. My legs were trembling. I wanted this—bad. More than I thought I had.

  “Chase,” I whispered between kisses.

  He chuckled against my lips, but he removed his hand and took a step back. There was a clink as he undid his belt, then a quiet whoosh as he dropped his shorts.

  He tugged me a few steps over and kissed m
e again. His hands traced numerous paths over my body until he reached my thighs. His grip there was strong, and using the wall to brace me, he lifted me. I helped him with my hands on his shoulders and wrapped my arms around him.

  His bare cock pressed against me. A whimper escaped my mouth as he stepped forward, making his cock bounce and rub against my clit.

  He laughed into the kiss, but he pulled back so he could position his cock correctly. I was wet and aching—my clit was throbbing, and all I wanted was for him to be inside me already.

  Chase moved slowly. Oh so fucking slowly, inching inside me bit by tiny bit. A tiny spark of pain flashed through me as he pushed deeper inside me, but it quickly subsided.

  His groan shot tingles across my skin. It was deep and guttural, and I just about clenched at the damn sound.

  He moved, adjusting himself and digging his fingers deeper into my legs. He lifted me a little higher, and my head knocked against the underside of the shelf.

  I squeaked. “Shelf. Ow.”

  Chase buried his face into my shoulder, laughing. “Sorry.”

  I swatted his arm. “Apologize later. Get on with it.”

  And he did just that, the laughter instantly dying.

  He moved slowly at first, kissing me the exact same way. It didn’t last long. Within minutes, he had his forehead on my shoulder as he fucked me hard, sending wave after wave of pleasure shooting through my body.

  I wrapped my legs around his body and clenched, hugging his cock tight. He groaned, gripping my ass harder than I ever thought possible. His fingers dug right in, all but holding me in place as he thrust.

  My nails made dents in his shoulders as I held him tight. Shivers ran over my skin as goosebumps prickled in their wake, and the more the pleasure built inside me, the faster my breathing came.

  Our moans echoed off the walls, reverberating around the small space and making them seem ten times louder. Or maybe that was just me because the orgasm was swift when it hit, tightening the muscles all over my body.

  I couldn’t see, I couldn’t think, and I could barely breathe.

  All I was aware of was Chase moving a handful more times before he let out a long groan, burying his face in my neck. He kissed the sensitive skin, holding me in place for a moment before he slowly pulled out of me and helped me lower my wobbly legs to the ground.