by Kat Baxter
The first thing I noticed when I woke up was how perfect I’d slept. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept all the way through the night. The next thing I noticed was the warm curves pressed against me.
My morning wood was exceptionally hard today all nestled up against the roundest bottom I’d ever felt and my left hand held the distinct weight of a breast in it. I squeezed gently, then froze realizing who I was manhandling.
“Hey, Coop.” Ally’s voice broke through the darkness in the room. “Could you let go of my boob so I can get out of bed? I’ve gotta pee.”
I rolled away and stared up at the ceiling despite not being able to see anything but the faint shadow of the ceiling fan as it made its rotations. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I invited you to sleep with me. It happens. Warmth seeks warmth and all that.” She stood from the bed. “I gotta get ready for work.”
“Yep.” I didn’t have anything else I could say. I was ridiculously turned on and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it at the moment. And being attracted to my best friend/fake wife was fucking inconvenient.
She flipped on the bathroom light, bathing her curves in soft light. “That’s some impressive morning wood you’ve got there.” Then she closed the door and a moment later the shower turned on.
It took unbelievable strength for me to not tear off my boxers and meet her in the shower. Push her up against the wall and fuck her until she screamed my name. Instead, I got up, put on my running gear and got the fuck out of there.
Chapter 11
I was taking a short break in my office at the bakery to sort and prioritize the most recent orders. Jilly had gone to grab us some lunch. Once again, I had to reset my timer to focus on my current task. Distracted didn’t begin to describe how I was feeling today.
It’d been nearly a week since our wedding ceremony...since that damn kiss. I had done my best to forget about it, but waking up in Cooper’s arms this morning with his erection pressed to my ass hadn’t helped. There was no forgetting that kiss when I woke up all aroused with his hand on my boob. I’d been a horny mess all day
To make matters worse, this weekend we’d have to play the happily married couple at his work picnic. More touching.
Yay.
My phone rang and Cooper’s stupid handsome face with his stupid sexy smile came up on the screen. I swiped. “Hey.”
“Whoa. You okay?”
“Yeah. Just having a bad focus day.”
“Did you take your ADHD meds this morning?” His voice was gentle and calming. He always knew how to handle me.
“No. And I should have. It’ll be alright. I’ll just tell Jilly to double-check my work to make sure I don’t forget anything.”
“You need me for anything?”
An orgasm would be nice. “Nah. I’m good.” I paused for a moment. “Coop, did you call for a reason?”
“We’re having a shitstorm here at the office so I won’t be home until late. But listen, I got some bad news today.”
My heart plummeted. “What?”
“Don’t panic, it’s just that the fertility treatment part of our insurance benefits don’t kick in until you’ve been covered for ninety days.”
I sank into the chair. “Damn.”
“I know. But that’s only three months. We can wait that long.”
Disappointment ate at me, gnawing and biting. “Yeah, you’re right.” I was close to ovulating, I knew that. I’d expected we’d be able to have our first treatment in the next few days. It was why I hadn’t taken my Adderall that morning.
“Listen, I gotta go, Allycat. I’ll see you at home.” Then he sighed. “Don’t forget about this weekend.”
“The picnic, right?”
“Yes. I hate those damn things. Sorry you have to come along.”
I told him it wasn’t a problem, then we disconnected. Something felt off. Not just the insurance issue, but something in Cooper’s tone. Was he already regretting sacrificing his social life for me and my crazy baby quest? Or already regretting being with me because of my issues. I knew I could be tedious at times though I’d had years to figure out tricks to deal with most of the problems.
And now we’d have to wait even longer, which meant he’d be celibate for longer than we’d agreed. It hadn’t even been a full week since we’d gotten married and Cooper probably resented me.
This had been a terrible idea.
“So I know you’re already having a shit day,” Jilly whispered an hour later. “But your mother-in-law is here.”
“My who?”
“Cooper’s mom.”
“Shit!” I wiped my hands on my apron. “How’s my hair?”
Jilly gave me a ridiculous look. “You’re adorable. Go.”
I glanced down at my flour-covered apron which thankfully hid most of my Goonies Never Say Die-shirt. But nothing could be done for my denim capris and my black Chucks. I was hopelessly casual, but it was impractical to bake in nice clothes. What difference did it make? The woman had never liked me.
I took a deep breath, then stepped out to the front of the bakery. I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing that we weren’t currently busy. Only a handful of patrons sat at the tables nibbling and reading or working on tablets or laptops.
“Allyson,” Cooper’s mother purred. “It’s so lovely to see you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Janns. You as well.” God, why did I sound so stiff when I talked to this woman? I’d known her forever. Still, she made me so damn nervous.
The older woman clicked her tongue. “None of that Mrs. Janns business, you’re Mrs. Janns too.” She smiled though her lips curled into more of a sneer. “We’re family now, you must call me Kitty.”
Oh. Hell. No.
I just smiled. “What can I do for you?”
She gave a cursory glance to the glass display case holding all my daily offerings, then brought that shrewd gaze back up to me. “It was such short notice, but I managed to get us a reservation at Crema de la Crepe, that new French bistro in town. They have the most amazing marinated free-range chicken breast.” She glanced at her delicate gold watch. “They grow all the herbs in this adorable garden behind the restaurant. But we need to leave now.”
“Now? I can’t leave. This is my bakery.”
Her brows furrowed. “Yes, but surely you can leave that girl in charge of your little bakery.”
I wouldn’t rise to that challenge. I would keep my temper in check. Deep breaths. “That girl is my assistant and though she’s quite capable of running the bakery in my absence, I’m working on a special order right now and I am the baker. So I can’t leave. I’m sorry.”
Her lips thinned into a tight line and she nodded. “I should hope you’d be able to at least take a short break so we can discuss the details.”
“Details?”
“Of the reception. Didn’t Cooper tell you?”
Oh damn. Yeah, he had told me, but I’d hoped it would all blow over. That his mother would be too embarrassed to introduce me as Cooper’s wife. Or that she’d plan the party and forget to invite me. Evidently not.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I’ve just been busy here and it slipped my mind. Would you like a cup of coffee? Anything to eat?”
“Coffee would be fine. Thank you.”
“Excellent. Just pick a table and I’ll be there in just a second.” I turned my back and stepped into the kitchen area.
“What does she want?”
“For me to leave and go to lunch.” I rolled my eyes. “She wanted me to leave you in charge of my ‘little bakery’.”
“She’s so stiff and proper. Kinda hurts looking at her. I mean, she’s wearing pantyhose for fuck’s sake.”
“I know! Who wears pantyhose in Texas?”
“Who wears pantyhose in 2019?” Jilly shook her head. “How did Cooper come from that?”
“No idea. I’ve always said he was switched at the hospital.” I poured two cups of coffee, then grabbed a couple
of my salted caramel scones. I found her at a table in the back frowning at the decor on the walls. Evidently, she didn’t like my antique posters. “Here you go.” I set her coffee in front of her then sat adjacent and plucked off a piece of the scone closest to me and popped it in my mouth. “Help yourself.”
“I saw the picture of you and Cooper from the courthouse, your dress was very…” she paused, “stylish.” Her eyes dropped to my scone. “I suppose it’s a good thing you don’t have to worry about fitting into a wedding gown.” She took a sip of her coffee and I waited for the judgement about that, but nothing came. She opened her planner and pointed at the Saturday two weeks away. “I’ve reserved the Country Club for this Saturday. It was the only available weekend on such short notice where we could also ensure we had Chef Marcel’s talents.”
Whoever the hell Chef Marcel was. “Oh good.”
“Did you have anything in particular you wanted served?” she asked.
“Honestly, I haven’t given any of it any thought.” I took another bite of the scone despite her watchful eyes. I didn’t care if she thought my ass was too big. “You sure you don’t want one? These are delicious. I sell out of them every day.” I gave her a sweet smile.
Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t eat sweets.”
Of course she didn’t. The bell above the door rang and three ladies stepped inside. They waved to me, then headed to the counter to place their orders.
“Now tell me where all did you register?” his mother asked.
“I’m sorry?”
“Register. For gifts and things?”
I shook my head. “No, we didn’t do any of that.”
“Well, we can fix that. I just need to know your patterns and colors.”
“For what?” We weren’t speaking the same language. I honestly had no clue what she meant by patterns.
“For China and linens. I can have my personal shopper get everything taken care of with your choices. So people know what to buy you.”
I think my head was still shaking. “No. I don’t...we didn’t... I’ve been single and an adult on my own for a while, as has Cooper, we actually have everything we need. Can’t we celebrate without gifts?”
Her lips pursed, making her lipstick crack in an unappealing way.
Should I have lied and told her I liked plaid? Did I want plaid plates? No. No, I did not. I reached over and patted her hand which caused her sharp eyebrows to raise.
“We don’t need gifts. Honestly. The celebration will be gift enough.”
She eyes me as if I’d told her what I really wanted was for everyone to come naked. Yes, come to our naked wedding reception. I managed to swallow my laugh because there was no way I could explain my train of thought to her.
“We could always ask people to make donations in our name to a charity. I’m partial to anything that helps animals, but my personal choice would be AAA.”
His mother frowned. “The car help service takes donations?”
I choked on my coffee. “No. The Alzheimer’s Association of America.”
She made a note in her planner then looked up at me. “Now then, the other items we need to decide on are theme, decor and the invitation list.”
Another five customers enter. It was getting to be one of our busy times, aside from first thing in the morning, the post-lunch crowd was sizable.
“I’m honestly good with whatever you decide. I don’t have family, so no one to invite.” I eyed the counter and saw the line. Jillian could handle things, but this conversation was futile. I’d never be who Mrs. Janns approved of and eventually she’d know this marriage was a sham. “I really should get back to work.”
“You don’t want to make any choices for your wedding reception?” she asked and I couldn’t tell if she was annoyed or surprised.
“I’ll pick my dress. And I’ll call a friend from pastry school to make the desserts. How does that sound?”
Her lips thinned, but she nodded tightly. “Of course, dear, whatever you want. This is your party.”
No, it’s really wasn’t. Not for me or Cooper. This was all about her and her fancy country club friends. But I didn’t say that.
She closed her planner and stood. Her perfectly coiffed hair didn’t even move with her and I had this ridiculous thought she must just remove the entire thing like LEGO hair and then put it back on in the morning. No one’s hair was that perfect. I want to reach out and touch it, but I managed to refrain from doing so.
She leaned in and I was unsure of what she was going to do until she did the sorta-lean-hug thing and air kissed both of my cheeks.
“Thank you,” I said dumbly because I wasn’t sure what else to say.
And then she was gone.
Chapter 12
“Honey! I’m home,” Cooper called from across the house. He’d said he wouldn’t be home until late, but evidently whatever issue they’d had at the office had been resolved.
I continued to measure and dump my ingredients, setting down the canisters harder than I intended. Powdered sugar clouded up around me and I coughed.
“Hey, whatcha doing in here?” he asked from behind me.
I turned around and pointed my rubber spatula at him. “I am NOT calling your mother Kitty!”
His brows rose and his eyes widened.
I turned back to my task, mixing the lemon glaze until it was a glossy, shiny consistency.
“You’re stress baking, aren’t you?” he asked.
Warmth hit my back before he actually touched me, then his arms looped around my body in an embrace and his chin fell to my shoulder. “You don’t have to call her Kitty.”
His heated breath scraped across my flesh and my nipples pebbled. Well damn. Husband or not, he wasn’t supposed to turn me on.
His arms tightened. “Was she terrible?”
“She insulted my bakery, Jillian, and said I was too fat to wear a wedding dress. I just agreed with all of her choices for this damn reception because I don’t even care about it.”
“I’m sorry, Allycat. I know she can be a bitch sometimes. She truly does mean well. She just doesn’t know how to not be obnoxious.”
“And pretentious.”
“That too.”
“And judgmental.”
“Always,” he agreed. “You know you’re not too fat for anything, right? You looked so beautiful in your wedding dress.”
He squeezed me once more then stepped away which was good because his touches were wreaking havoc on my body. I ran the rubber spatula against the sides of the mixing bowl, scraping off the glaze that had hardened there. In doing so, I managed to paint my knuckles with the sugary icing. I turned around to face Coop.
“She wanted to know where I’d registered for plates and sheets and stuff.”
He grabbed my hand and brought it to his mouth and everything around me slowed. My vision blurred until all I could see was his blazing hot gaze and his tongue as he licked the glaze off my hand.
I made some kind of incoherent noise.
He glanced up at me. “What did you tell her?”
“Who?”
He grinned and I swear my panties melted. “My mother.”
“Oh, just that we’d prefer people make donations to the Alzheimer’s Association.”
“That’s a great idea. I mean, unless you want new towels or dishes.”
He licked my hand. He fucking licked my hand and now was acting as if nothing had happened. I had to get over this new, weird attraction to him. We were friends. Only friends.
“Which reminds me. Jackson brought this for us today.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a frame. “He said it’s our wedding gift.”
I took the frame and saw it was a series of pictures from our wedding day. Us smiling at each other. Exchanging our vows while looking at each other. The kiss.
Damn. That kiss.
“We look happy,” I said absently. And very much like a couple in love.
He leaned over and kissed my nose. �
�We are happy. Now tell me about all of the amazing smells you’ve got going on in here. I hate you’re stress baking, but I’m glad I can benefit from it.” He nodded his head at the rubber spatula still in my hand. “That frosting is delicious.”
“Blueberry muffins with a lemon glaze.”
“Excellent. We won’t even need dinner.”
I let the hot water rain down on me. I should’ve been taking a cold shower, but I was a fucking moron. Or a glutton for punishment. I hadn’t decided which.
Why had I licked her hand? The lines between us were so blurred at this point, I couldn’t even remember the way things used to be. But I was sure I’d never licked her before.
What I did know was that icing or not, her skin tasted sweet and perfect. And the sharp suck in of her breath, and the way her pupils had swallowed the blue of her irises, I knew she’d felt it too. The blistering desire that made me want to push her against the counter and kiss her hard and deep. Not stopping until I’d licked every inch of her tempting body.
Then I wanted to fuck her hard and deep.
My cock was so hard I knew there was no denying myself. So while my best friend slept in the very next room, I took myself in hand. I swallowed a groan. All I wanted was to crawl into that bed and push into her wet warmth. I remembered the feel of her silk covered pussy grinding on me that night. I braced one hand on the shower wall and sped the tempo of my hand.
My sweet and lovely Allycat. And I wanted to do all sorts of filthy things to her. But that wasn’t how we agreed she’d get pregnant. So instead, I fucked my hand until I came so hard I saw stars.
Earlier the next morning I had to go into the bakery to get things set up for my absence. Jillian would run everything while I played the devoted wife at Cooper’s work picnic that afternoon. I was grateful for the two hours I’d spent alone baking that morning. It had given me time to think, to process the jumble of thoughts raiding my mind lately.
I was confused. Or rather my body was confused.