Sugarcoated

by Erin Nicholas

  Jane had never liked Cassie, but that had made it all so much worse and had made Jane a little depressed and a lot pissed off. She’d looked into moving her dad in with her, but her work schedule kept her from being able to be the caregiver he needed. So she also felt guilty.

  But Jane was strong and smart and had a huge heart and if her fellow employees—many of them friends after working together for so long—thought she’d be the best one to represent them all, she’d take that seriously and would want to do a good job. If Aiden could make her feel more confident and even hopeful about the meeting, then he’d be a hero. Something he was really good at. Something he really liked to be.

  Seeing him reassuring Jane and building her up, giving advice as a person in a powerful position, trying to truly help, did something to Zoe. Something that felt stronger than turned on. That was there too, but this was more.

  I love him.

  It hit her squarely as Jane pushed her chair back, smiling.

  Jane gave Aiden a quick hug and he said, “You’re going to be great.”

  Yep, Zoe loved him. She’d loved him in a brotherish way for a long time, but now… this was different. It was deeper. More. He was more. She wanted him badly.

  “Bye, girls!” Jane called to Zoe and Josie.

  “Bye!” Josie returned.

  Zoe waved, but her attention was on Aiden. He’d followed Jane to the door.

  Aiden held the door for Jane, then shut it behind her, twisted the lock and turned the sign to closed.

  “Yeah. Okay,” Josie said, backing toward the kitchen door. “So I’m going to… just go.”

  Zoe didn’t look toward her friend. She knew Josie was already gone. The look on Aiden’s face said it was time for them to be alone.

  Her whole body flushed with heat, and her heart started pounding even harder and louder.

  She’d talked big in her text three days ago. She’d flat out told him she was horny a couple of hours ago. Now he was here, looking at her like he definitely wanted to eat her up. She was suddenly feeling jittery, and she had no idea what to do.

  He rounded the counter and came straight for her. Zoe turned, the edge of the worktable against her lower back and held her breath just waiting for whatever was about to happen.

  He crowded close. He didn’t touch her. He just looked down at her for a moment. Then he said, “You ready?”

  Oh, God. She was ready. She was so not ready. She wanted this so much. She wanted him. She wanted this. That was the only thing she knew for sure.

  “I think so,” she said softly.

  He leaned in, bracing his hands on the table on either side of her. His lips were nearly against her. “Need you sure.”

  He was giving her a chance to say yes. Or no. To really decide. He wanted to make sure everything about this was intentional on both their parts.

  That was really sexy.

  “I’m sure that I’ve been thinking about this for days. And I’m very hot and wound up about it. But I’m also jittery and a little nervous about it.” She could be honest with him and it felt amazing. This was Aiden. He’d never tease her. Not about this. Not in a mean way anyway. Maybe in a really hot way. But he’d never make her feel bad or silly about being nervous.

  He shifted, running a single finger over the back of her hand where she was gripping the edge of the worktable and then up over her wrist and up her arm. Goose bumps broke out, tripping up her arm and down her body.

  “I like that you’ve been thinking about it. I like that you’re hot. I even like that you’re a little jittery and nervous,” he said, watching the goose bumps.

  “You do?”

  He met her gaze. “It means this matters to you. And I love that. Because this matters so damned much to me, I don’t even have the words.”

  She read his sincerity in his eyes. He really meant that. “This definitely matters to me,” she said, putting as much earnestness into her tone as she could.

  He ran his finger up and down her arm, the corner of his mouth curling. “Because you’re a virgin? Or because you’re a cream-filling-on-your-clit virgin?”

  She sucked in a sharp breath as heat arrowed through her. “Well—” She swallowed hard. “Both. But because it feels like this, with you, with us, is more than just sex.”

  His grin was sexy, and cocky, and triumphant all at the same time.

  Triumphant? She tilted her head.

  And then it hit her.

  She’d just confirmed she was, in fact, still a virgin.

  “You’re such a jerk,” she said.

  But he pressed in closer, his big body giving her not an inch of air that wasn’t filled with the smell of him. The heat of him.

  “You have no idea how fucking hot it is that I get to be your first, Zoe,” he told her, his voice gruff.

  She felt like he was touching her, running rough palms over her skin, but he wasn’t even touching her arm anymore.

  “You have no idea how much I want you. No matter what. But to know that I get to take you through this for the first time…” He pulled in a deep breath. “I have never wanted anything more in my entire life.”

  Suddenly she didn’t care he was so smug about her not getting rid of her V-card between Christmas and now. She didn’t care if he thought it was all about him—it was mostly all about him anyway. She didn’t care if he thought she’d been sitting around, just waiting for him to come home again. Maybe deep down she had been.

  None of that mattered now. He was here. She was a virgin. And she really, really wanted him to change that. Right now. Right here.

  Well, maybe in the kitchen away from the front windows.

  “I don’t know what to do,” she said, almost in a whisper.

  He swallowed hard. He clenched his jaw.

  She lifted her hand to his face, frowning slightly. “What? Are you okay? I’m sorry. I mean, I know the basics but…”

  He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand to his mouth. He pressed a hot kiss to her palm again and then put her hand over his heart, his hand covering it. “I was going to say, ‘You just do whatever I tell you to do’ in some attempt to be really hot and sexy and dominant,” he said.

  She widened her eyes as tingles went from her nipples down her belly to her clit. “That would have worked.”

  He gave her a little smile. “But the truth is, you can’t do this wrong, Zoe. Not with me. Whatever you do, however you do it, as long as we’re doing it together it’s going to be amazing. You have to know that. I want you to do whatever feels good, whatever you want to try, whatever you’ve fantasized about. I’m all yours.”

  Her eyes widened even farther. Yeah, that was even hotter. Her nipples, belly, and clit were suddenly on fire. Throbbing. Wow. Suddenly her mind was spinning through a whole reel of fantasies and things she'd read about like a movie reel going double time.

  “Aiden?” she said, her voice breathless.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m totally ready.”

  This grin was big. Immediate. Wolfish. A shiver of hot anticipation went through her.

  He grabbed her wrist and pulled her after him, into the kitchen. He stopped by the worktable and tossed two things onto the top.

  One was a package of chocolate cupcakes. The other was a strawberry pastry. From Hot Cakes.

  She narrowed her eyes. “Those were in your glove compartment?”

  “Oh, no, I stopped for those special three days ago on my way home.”

  She looked up, ready to tell him that this was really not the way to get on her good side. But he’d just pulled the knot loose from his tie and was sliding the tie from around his neck. He tossed it next to the snack cakes and then flicked open the top button on his shirt. He was watching her, and she could tell he expected her to say something sassy.

  Instead she turned on her heel and marched to the fridge. She pulled it open, reached for the bowl of extra cream filling she’d made—also three days ago—and then bumped the door shut with her butt
. She brought the bowl to the center island and set it next to the snack cakes.

  He’d untucked his shirt by the time she got there.

  Unfair.

  She looked up at him.

  “Battle of the cream filling,” he said.

  She lifted a brow. “Oh yeah?”

  “Bet I can make you love this stuff.” He pointed to the chocolate cupcake.

  A Cupette. That’s what Hot Cakes called their bite-sized cupcakes. It was such a stupid name.

  “Not more than this.” She pointed to her bowl.

  “Let’s find out.”

  And just like that, all the butterflies and jittery feelings were gone. She was in her kitchen, teasing and flirting with Aiden. This was familiar. Fun. Hot. This was the stuff that had been surprising her since he’d returned to Appleby but that she was getting used to very quickly.

  “Yeah, let’s find out,” she agreed.

  His eyes were hot, and he started unbuttoning his shirt. She felt her pulse start racing, but she nonchalantly dipped her finger into her bowl of cream filling and then lifted it to her lips, sucking the sweet concoction off while watching him.

  He shrugged out of the shirt, letting it fall to the floor.

  Then he unbuckled his belt and pulled it through the loops. Zoe caught her breath as the buckle hit the tile with a clank. This was getting real. He popped the top button on his pants. Then stopped.

  He reached for the cupcake. Zoe felt her nipples tighten as the package crinkled. Oh, boy. He could not train her body to respond to Hot Cakes. That would be so unfair. She couldn’t get hot and bothered when faced with their bright pink and black logo or their fake, plasticlike frosting. That would be so bad. He couldn’t buy them in bulk and bring them home to sexually torment her. She couldn’t contribute to their bottom line because Aiden Anderson…

  He broke the cupcake open, revealing the white cream inside. Then he lifted it to his mouth and licked the cream out with a swirl of his tongue, his eyes pinned on hers. He licked the dab of cream from the pocket of chocolate cake with a confidence and skill that she didn’t have to be experienced to understand.

  Her clit ached. She wanted his tongue doing that to it. She’d never had anyone’s tongue do that to her before, yet she knew Aiden’s tongue doing that right there would be freaking magical.

  Dammit. She was going to give Hot Cakes money. Because they were now a part of this.

  She swallowed.

  “You want some of this?” he asked. Taunting. Teasing. But with a smile that was full of affection and heat.

  “The cupcake?” she asked. “Looks like you got that pretty well taken care of.”

  There was no cream left in that half of the cupcake. None. He’d licked it clean. She felt a little shiver of desire go through her.

  “Well, the beauty of eating cupcakes—” he said.

  And yes, eating cupcakes sounded totally dirty and made her hotter. Zoe shifted her weight as she felt the urge to grab him and beg him to put his tongue on her.

  “Is that there are ways to get more cream as you go.” He reached for the bowl in front of her, took a huge dollop of cream on his finger and then spread it into the middle of the cupcake he’d just licked. With his big, long finger. Slowly and with a little extra circle at the top.

  Holy crap. Zoe felt her face flood with heat. He hadn’t used any specifically dirty words. He hadn’t even touched her. But that was the dirtiest thing anyone had ever said to her.

  She was never going to be able to look at half a cupcake with cream filling without thinking about female body parts and sex. Great. That was going to make her job as a baker of cupcakes with cream filling a little difficult. Or at least uncomfortable.

  “I’m going to be blushing every time someone wants cream-filled cupcakes forever now, aren’t I?” she asked. “I’ll be making chocolate cupcakes with green cream middles for Halloween and still thinking dirty thoughts.”

  He gave her a wicked grin. “Oh yeah.” Then he licked the cream he’d just added out of the cupcake.

  Zoe felt her inner muscles clench. Damn, he was good at that. Or seemed good at that. Looked good doing that. She’d love to know if he was as good as he appeared to be.

  “And you’re right,” he said. “You do have the best cream in town.”

  She swallowed hard. “Wow.”

  “What?”

  “I would have been even more pissed at Christmas if I’d known this about you.”

  “What about me?” He licked a chocolate crumb from his finger.

  “How dirty you are. How good you seem to be with your tongue.”

  He put the cupcake down and came around the edge of the table to her side. Zoe had to force her feet to stay put. She wanted to bolt. Which was stupid. She wanted this. Him. His hands and mouth and tongue on her. She wanted him talking more. A lot more. Dirtier. But for a second there, she felt like she should run.

  Everything was about to change.

  She didn’t like change. Change meant she might make a mistake.

  Until now. She wasn’t going to mess anything up here. She could feel it.

  “Not showing you how good I am with my tongue and how dirty I can be was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he said. His voice and expression were dead serious. He lifted a hand and ran his thumb over her cheek. “I’m still not entirely sure how I managed it. I’ve been thinking about you nonstop since Christmas. I’ve been waiting to get back here every fucking day. I’ve never needed someone like this.”

  Zoe felt her breaths coming in fast little pants. She was staring at him but she couldn’t make herself stop. The look in his eyes was too good, too delicious, to interrupt with even a quick blink. He looked, yes, hungry. Needy. A little pained. Like the past five months really had been difficult.

  “I haven’t been with anyone since that night,” he said, his voice gruff, his thumb now dragging along her jaw, his fingers sliding into her hair. He tipped her head back. “There’s no one else for me anymore, Zoe.”

  She pulled in a breath. He meant it. She could see it. Hear it in his voice. He had his shirt off and was touching her now, but they weren’t really doing anything, and yet she felt like he was already making love to her.

  Holy crap, this guy was good. She was so out of her league. In over her head. In way too deep.

  And she loved it.

  “Please let me cover you in cream and lick you like a cupcake,” he said.

  There it was. Dirty and sweet, teasing and serious, just like she wanted it, just like she knew Aiden would give it to her.

  “If you don’t, I can’t be responsible for what I’ll do to you with my rolling pin.”

  He gave her half a grin, but his fingers tightened in her hair and he tugged slightly. Her nipples tingled sent sparks to her clit and she gave a little gasp.

  “I’m going to need you up on this worktable.”

  “We’re going to have to really sanitize this thing after,” she said, already bracing her hands on the edge, preparing to lift herself up.

  “I’ll buy you a whole new one if necessary.” His big hands settled on her waist and he lifted her, practically tossing her onto the tabletop. “Maybe we need two. One for baking and one for sex.”

  She smiled. “We could go back to the house.” There were, after all, four beds, two huge couches, a couple of tables, and several countertops there.

  “I need to taste you here for the first time,” he said without even considering her offer.

  She and Aiden had history in a number of places. If they were going for some kind of nostalgic, meaningful moment, there were several choices, probably. Most importantly, they could have a redo of Christmas Eve in his bedroom at the house. Get it right this time.

  But maybe—just maybe—they’d gotten it right last time. Not that she’d ever admit that to him, but he’d turned her down because it couldn’t be just a quickie, just a practice run for her with other guys, just a one-night thing. And he’d k
nown that. Even half asleep and totally ambushed.

  That made her love him even more.

  Aiden had done it right at Christmas.

  Now, here in the bakery, this felt right too, and if he wanted to associate her and sex with cream filling and pink sugar and candy sprinkles and the smell of vanilla and cinnamon and buttercream, she wasn’t going to argue. Because this was a part of her life. Would be a part of their life. They might move to another house. She’d get new lingerie. There would be many holidays. But this bakery would always be a part of their life.

  He moved to stand in front of her and she parted her knees. He immediately moved between them. She took his face in her hands and looked into his eyes. She nodded. “Yeah.”

  His eyes heated, and he reached for the back of her neck where her dress tied. It was a halter style, so when he pulled the string, the bodice fell away, baring her breasts. Her breasts were small. Something she’d always hated. But her friends had assured her that not having to wear a bra unless she wanted to was the luckiest thing in the world.

  At the moment, with Aiden’s hot gaze on her, she felt pretty perfect.

  “Damn, you’re gorgeous.” He lifted a hand and ran a thumb over her nipple.

  She shuddered, her whole body reacting to the touch.

  He leaned in and took her mouth in a deep kiss as he played with her nipple, making her wiggle on the table, the heat between her legs building. Her eyes were closed, and she was so lost in the feelings, she didn’t notice him reaching for the other half cupcake that was just behind her. But she felt it.

  She pulled back as she felt him pressing the cupcake to her other breast, the cream center over her nipple. She looked from it up to his face, but he was watching as he smeared white cream and chocolate cake over her breast.

  Hot Cakes cream and cake, to be exact. She opened her mouth to protest. Probably. Though protesting anything about being half naked and having Aiden touching her seemed like a stupid idea.