by Leslie North
“I don’t know,” she whispered into his ear, locking her thighs around him. “Aren’t celebrity chefs legally required to be hairless for their sexy calendar shoots?”
He smirked, grabbing handfuls of the flesh above her hips. “Hey. I only did one sexy calendar. And yes, they shaved me.” He snagged a juicy kiss, then broke apart to level her with his gaze. “So you bought the calendar?”
“I didn’t buy it,” Mara whispered, rubbing her pelvis against the trapped ridge of his cock. “A friend had it in her house, and I just looked at it.”
“Hm.” Chris smiled through another kiss, squeezing her ass cheeks as hard as he could. “Defiant.”
“I didn’t want to support your career, but I couldn’t not look,” Mara laughed.
“Thoughts?”
“The real thing is way better.” She clutched at his biceps. “Take those pants off now.”
It was hard to say no to that. Chris stood and hopped from one foot to the other as he shimmied out of his pants. Mara sat up, tearing off her shirt and bra. Chris inhaled sharply, easing back on top of her before covering her breasts with his hands. Her head tipped back, and she moaned.
“I agree one hundred percent,” Chris said. He swiped his tongue across each rosy nipple, turning them pebbly, before he tugged down her pants, followed by her panties. He buried his face between her legs, scraping his teeth against the stiff peak of her clit.
“Ohhh, lord.”
“Mmm.” He got to work moving his tongue back and forth over that hard nub. She locked her thighs around his head. His chest heaved as he slurped and licked at her, eager to send her over the edge before they’d even begun.
“Chriiis.” She bucked her hips, knotting her fingers in his hair. He growled and slipped two fingers inside her, probing her silken heat. His eyes fluttered shut, and he took her clit between his lips. Yes, he wanted her to unravel first. And then again. And again.
Chris worked his fingers in and out, sucking and nipping at her clit until her whole body went tense and she tossed her head back. She squeaked out, “I’m close—” before her pussy started convulsing around him. Her orgasm prompted a guttural cry from her. He swiped his tongue back and forth over her clit a few more times for good measure.
When she lay panting and trembling on the couch, he pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh and then eased himself down on top of her. She looked up at him with wild eyes.
“Got energy for one more?” he teased, wiggling his hips so that his straining cock found the damp crease of her pussy.
She swallowed hard and nodded. “God, yes. I want you inside me right now.”
That was all he needed to hear. Chris dipped down and caught her lips in a kiss. He rocked his hips in a slow circle before his cockhead slipped inside her. Mara groaned, hooking her arms around his neck, and he sank deeper. The tops of his shoulders prickled as he eased into her velvety heat, bliss washing over him.
This. This right here. The electric heat of Mara that filled him from the inside out. The sizzling contentment that sparked anytime she was near. After the evening they’d shared, and now being buried deep inside her again, it was hard to remember why she shouldn’t be the one for him.
Chris groaned, his lips skating over her jawline as he rocked into her, over and over again. Mara melted against the couch, clinging to him, little whimpers mixed with gasps. Her breath against his ear sent shivers down his spine and pushed him even closer to the edge. He scooped her body into his arms and sat back on his heels. She locked her thighs around his waist, eyes flashing as they assumed the new position.
“Mmm.” A throaty laugh escaped her, and she rocked her hips against him. The new angle provided even more depth. His abs tightened in preparation for what came next.
“That’s right. Ride me, Mara.” He palmed her ass cheeks, jiggling them a little until she giggled. Her head lolled back, and she started a slow but intense rhythm on top of him. Her breasts jiggled in his face each time she slammed down on top of him.
“Oh, God,” he croaked, after she claimed his cock yet again. He tightened his arms around her waist, smashing their bodies together. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, and she rocked against him again, bucking her hips just as he thrust upwards. A surprised cry escaped her, and her thighs tensed around him.
She was coming. Again. Chris grunted and drilled upward into her, which allowed his own release to come barreling forward. His orgasm exploded, sticky sweet and raging, filling his limbs with heat and prickles and relief. He held onto her for dear life as the waves of pleasure pummeled him. When he could finally think again in the languid aftermath, he looked up to find a lazy grin on her face.
“Wow.” She blinked slowly, as if she might fall asleep on top of him.
“Mm hmm.” He buried his face in her neck again, reassured by the scent of her. It would still be a minute before he could form words.
She sighed, running her fingertips back and forth over the wide planes of his back. She rested her head on his shoulder, and for a long time, nobody said anything. This was a sweet lull. The type of dreamy aftermath he’d missed without even realizing. He and Mara had always made magic together. And now, even after so long apart and so many lost years between them, it looked like they were right back to doing the same.
Mara was the magic he was missing in life.
And this time, he didn’t want to let her get away.
10
That entire weekend, birds chirped extra loudly. The normally gloomy December sky shone extra blue. The sun even shone, melting some of the snow that had accumulated around Chris’s condo, which Mara spent the entirety of the next two days in.
She spent so much time there that she had to run home to get clean clothes, only to return to Chris’s rented condo to continue having sex and drinking hot chocolate. Honestly, it was hard to do anything but that. The espresso gave them energy. The sex gave them pleasure. And the scent of Chris made her feel like she was falling love all over again.
When Monday rolled around, she took a detour to her own home to do her makeup before heading into work for the day. Being away from Chris felt unnatural at this point. After a full forty-eight hours in his presence, she already missed him, and it had only been a mere half hour.
That was troubling. But also…somehow just right.
Mara whipped herself into camera-ready shape as quickly as she could and headed for the community center. She was already excited to see him. Already excited to see how the rest of this week might unfold between them. And, amazingly, already missed the weight of him between her legs.
She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her coat as she hurried up the sidewalk to the community center. A smile overtook her face as her mind drifted back to the weekend they’d shared. Could there have been a more perfect weekend? She’d come more times than she thought humanly possible. She and Chris had spooned the entirety of three nights in his ultra-comfy king-size bed. And each morning, he’d made her coffee while she slept, which they shared once she roused.
The man was perfect in every way possible. And the idea of exploring his perfection nightly, weekly, monthly from here on out, was one that she was very eager to adopt.
But one thing was clear. It had to be behind closed doors only. Because while they were in public, they needed to keep this thing—whether fling or romance or full-blown second chance—out of the competition.
“Mara!”
She turned to find Dan jogging toward her. He waved his reporter’s notebook in the air.
“Hey, Dan! I didn’t know you’d be showing up again.”
“Yeah, well my boss wanted me to stick around until the announcement of the winner.” His cheeks were pink as he caught up to her. “Turns out, all of America is obsessing just over the teasers, so we need to have full coverage.”
She grinned and started to walk toward the front doors, but he reached for her wrist.
“Wait a second.” Something serious overcame him.
“I need to ask you something. Are the rumors true?”
She blinked, searching his face for some sort of clarity. “What rumors?”
“That you and Chris are together.”
His words slammed through her, both exciting and uncomfortable at the same time. The words you and Chris together were oddly titillating, but how the hell did Dan know?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A strange cocktail of emotions washed over Dan’s face. Part relief, part confusion. He was laying something out here—Mara just couldn’t discern what it was.
“The network said there might be a little romance brewing between competitors.”
“I don’t think that’s anyone’s business,” she said with a tight smile. She started walking toward the doors.
“You might want to make sure Chris is on the same page,” Dan called out after her. She pulled open the door, a gust of heat whooshing out. Inside the community center, the front lobby was buzzing with journalists. The network had spaced out the media days so that each channel and news outlet could get their turn at different points of the competition.
And at the start of the day, with a handful of press conferences under her belt already, she’d felt confident. She and Chris weren’t fighting anymore. They’d kissed—sexed, rather—and made up.
But now? Dan’s little tidbit had made her doubtful and tense.
Chris was already seated at the long table facing the reporters when she breezed inside. She hurried to hang up her coat and joined him in the seat next to him. He sent her a warm smile, and she returned it tightly.
Dan had said the network knew about a potential romance brewing between competitors. And how else could the network know if Chris hadn’t told them?
Her mind spun as she settled into her spot and tried to make sense of where the information could have come from. They’d been seen ice skating. Maybe someone had spotted her going into Chris’s condo. Or leaving and returning on a food and clean panties run. But Glenford was a small, tightknit community. She couldn’t imagine someone selling her out so quickly. They’d been together last weekend; who on earth could have seen them and already alerted the network? Nobody here had the bigwigs on speed dial.
The most logical answer was Chris himself.
The realization thudded through her, making her morning coffee churn unpleasantly in her gut.
Conversation murmured around them as the dark realization seeped through her. Chris slung his arm over the back of her chair, and she sat forward. She needed to put distance between them. He cleared his throat, and she could sense him searching for her attention.
But he wouldn’t get it. Not right now.
The press conference began and the questions for Chris came fast and furious, as always. He retracted his arm and rested his elbows on the table as he answered a few questions about the operations of his restaurant back in NYC and whether he planned to continue his famous cooking show forever. Mara had to fight from rolling her eyes.
Toward the end of the press conference, one of the reporters finally dared to ask the question. “Is it true that you two have been dating since before the competition?”
Mara stiffened, glancing over at Chris. She tried to keep her face neutral, since she didn’t want to provide some meme-worthy reaction that would go viral somehow, somewhere. Everywhere. But what the hell could they say? We’ve only boned once in his condo, and technically “once” refers to an entire weekend, and once down the hall, so that’s hardly a relationship thankyouverymuch.
“Mara and I have been friends for a long time,” Chris said slowly, as though he was measuring his words. He glanced over at her, and she caught something playful in his gaze that only deepened her confusion. Maybe this really was all a game to him. Probably he’d pursued her just to get a ratings bump. She’d been the perfect pawn in his superficial ploy.
“We knew each other in high school,” Mara added sharply, adding a tight smile. “That’s all.”
“So Chris isn’t your celebrity crush?” another reporter asked.
Mara’s nostrils flared. Of course the only time the attention would turn to her was in relation to Chris. If she was dating him. Fucking him. They only cared about her in terms of sex with Chris. She was over this circus.
“Definitely not,” she said, her voice clipped. “We’re competitors, nothing more.”
Chris steered the questions away from their potential budding romance, and the press conference ended soon after. Each time she attended one of these, she felt like the overlooked rookie in a room full of star football players. And wasn’t that how it actually was? Chris the celebrity commanding all the attention, all the advertising dollars, all the millions of households.
And here she was, just a regular woman trying to open a damn bakery once the dust from the contest settled.
She excused herself as quickly as possible from the press conference, heading for to the multipurpose room. Dan caught up with her in the hall, grabbing her arm.
“Hey. You okay?”
She stopped walking, softening as she turned to him. They might not have seen each other much over the years, but Dan was a good guy. He seemed to care.
“Yeah. Thanks for asking.”
“I think you handled it well. Just so you know, I didn’t ask any questions because I didn’t want to add to the fire. I could tell you were uncomfortable.”
She grimaced. Uncomfortable was an understatement. Sold out was closer to the truth. One weekend with the celebrity, and he himself had sold them out to the tabloids? Unbelievable. But maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. She’d gotten caught up in amazing sex. This was partially her fault.
She glanced back toward the press table and saw Chris come to his feet, his gaze sizzling on her and Dan. Anxiety spiked inside her, and she offered a smile to Dan.
“Everything’s fine. But thanks for checking.” She breezed past him, heading for the multipurpose room. Everything wasn’t fine, but it would be soon. Once she got to work and started focusing on what really mattered.
Winning this damn competition.
11
Chris knew something was off.
It had been ever since the press conference that morning. Mara would barely look at him, and the frosty way she’d responded to the insinuation that they were together told him everything he needed to know.
Mara didn’t want to be with him, at least not in a public way.
And maybe it was better that way. After all, what could he even offer her other than a couple weeks of sexual pleasure and excellent hot chocolate? The thought lurked inside him as he and his crew worked on the gingerbread creation for that day. They’d finally gotten the primary structure complete—a New York City-inspired gingerbread skyscraper, complete with the Statue of Liberty in the white-frosted harbor—and now it was time for the excruciating detail work.
Which meant he had ample time to stew and overanalyze what exactly was going on in Mara’s head after their exceptional weekend together.
Despite how well they’d left things that morning, jealousy still streaked through him whenever he saw Dan near her. The fact that she’d not only entered the building with him on her heels but also gone directly to him after the press conference? It turned his stomach into a peach pit.
They were close to the end of filming for the day. Mara wiped her hands on her apron and headed out of the multipurpose room, but Dan intercepted her. They chatted near the doors for a few moments, and Chris couldn’t look away.
Was it so wrong to still hate Dan? His nostrils flared as he beat back the urge to storm over there and physically remove him from Mara’s personal bubble. Dan placed a hand on the side of her arm, and Chris frowned.
That did it.
He was going over there.
He tore off his apron and headed for Mara and Dan. He pressed a hand to the small of her back once he got close. “Mara, can we have a word real quick?”
She looked up at him, surprised. D
an’s gaze flitted between the two of them.
“Uh, sure.”
Dan sent him the fakest smile he’d ever seen. “Great. Mara, I’ll be in touch. Can’t wait to connect about this.”
Dan wandered away, and Chris strode toward the hallway, Mara lagging behind. Once they were alone, Mara crossed her arms.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Nothing. I just wanted to see how you were doing.” He cleared his throat, sniffing as he jerked his head toward Dan’s retreating figure. “He’s been extra friendly today.”
Mara lowered her head, her green eyes growing stormy. “What’s that supposed to mean?
“He can’t seem to stay away from you.”
“I’m shocked you even noticed,” Mara spat. “With how much time your press pandering has taken up today.”
“My press pandering?” Chris scoffed. “Oh please. I’ve been right alongside you in the kitchen all day.”
“Yeah, you have. Making sure this is, and stays, the All About Chris Show.” Mara’s nostrils flared. “I can’t even talk to Dan without you freaking out. Are you really that insecure?”
“I’m not insecure,” he hissed, stepping toward her. “But I am confused. What you said this morning at the press conference—”
“About our ‘relationship’?” She used exaggerated air quotes. “You know, Chris, I’m wondering who even told the network about us. Could it have been you? Are you the one leaking this to the press? Hmm?”
He watched her for a moment, taken aback by the vehemence behind her words. He hadn’t leaked it to the network, but the director had. They had told Chris that hinting at a romance would be a great ratings boost, so of course Chris had agreed. Besides, it wasn’t like they’d be able to hide it for long. The director had caught on early enough, and these shows could tease anything they wanted out of the footage.
Still, this had gone downhill fast. In a flash, the fight went out of him. He pinched his eyes shut and rubbed at his forehead.