“I closed early today so I can get all these cupcakes made by Saturday.”
East grinned. “Yep, that’s why I’m here, darlin’. To help.”
She raised an eyebrow and shoved her glasses up her nose, leaving a smudge of flour behind. God, she was adorable. And that dirty apron couldn’t conceal her fantastic curves.
“I’ve got it covered.” Natalie sounded annoyed. East glanced around. It looked like she had almost all of them baked, but not frosted or decorated. Judging by the smell, there was still a chocolate batch in the oven. “Besides, you don’t have to do my brother’s bidding.”
“What makes you think Matt has anything to do with this?”
She went back to stirring a big vat of frosting. “Because I know him. Between him and my mother, they think I can’t walk and chew gum. I told him I’ve got this covered, but of course he didn’t listen to his little baby sister.”
“Maybe I want to help?” he said.
“I don’t need your kind of help,” she said.
“Oh, I think you do,” he came closer. “But I won’t make you admit it.”
“How kind of you.” She didn’t look up from her frosting, but her shoulders relaxed just a bit. Or maybe he was just imagining it.
“Why don’t you just tell me how you fix these and I can do some?” East offered. “Like put on the frosting before you do all the fancy, uh, decorating stuff?” Sure, these weren’t technical terms, but maybe he wasn’t a total waste of space.
“I’m not going all out with these. They’re just going to be your basic cupcakes, but it still takes finesse.” She spared him a glance over her shoulder then gathered a bit of frosting on the spreader and picked up the cupcake.
“Finesse,” he repeated as he watched her delicate hands work the frosting on the mini cake. “I have some skills in the finesse department.”
Natalie snorted.
“What? You disagree?”
“I think you have skill.” She gave him a saucy smile and credit and that made him want to grin. “But finesse? Sorry, I didn’t feel any of that when I was up against the wall of the bar the other night.”
“That’s because you were busy feeling two orgasms,” he countered. “And anyway, those weren’t my best moves. Just efficient and—judging by your moans—enjoyable. I didn’t have the time or privacy to show you what I can really do.”
She put the cake down and spun to face him. “Oh yeah? I think I have a pretty good idea of what you do, East. And like I said, I’m not a notch. And this,” she motioned between them, “isn’t a good idea. I don’t have the energy or time to fight with you right now.”
“Who said anything about fighting?”
She rolled her eyes. “When don’t we fight?”
“Is that what we’ve been doing? I thought it was foreplay.”
He smiled and she glared. “There you go, making jokes. Casual, confident East. Nothing but swagger. You couldn’t take a funeral seriously.”
If only she knew how much she threatened all that swagger she was calling him out on. Her. Just her. He’d never felt so on edge for a woman before. Never wanted one so badly. Until Natalie.
“If you’re looking to hurt my feelings, darlin’, you’re getting there. Why don’t you tell me what is actually on your mind instead of giving me hell?”
Her face stilled, then softened. Oh my God! He’d said something right. At least, he thought so. But that cute, stubborn chin of hers raised a tad.
“Well, you want the truth?” There was the slightest tremble in her voice. Slight. Almost unnoticeable, but like she was gearing up to say something she was a bit insecure about. “You irritate me and you date people like Cinnamon and that’s fine. But I’m telling you, I can’t…”
He waited, hanging on the silence and hoping she’d tell him…well, anything to give him a clue as to how to make that unsure, sad look on her face go away.
She shook her head. “I just can’t deal with this right now on top of everything else.”
“I’m not asking you to deal with anything,” he offered.
He grabbed her hips gently and lifted her to sit on the counter. She let him.
“East, don’t. I can’t do this, and I can’t afford to wreck cupcakes trying to get you to shut up again.”
He smiled and leaned in. “I’m not looking to wreck anything. But I’ve come to find that this position”—he stepped between her legs and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear—“makes you have to look me in the eye.” He took a gentle taste of her lips. “It takes some of your sass away, and I get some of the…” He kissed her softly again. “Mmm, sweet Natalie.”
And for the first time, Natalie didn’t look like she wanted to kill him for calling her sweet. Because she was. But that wasn’t a bad thing. Not to him. And judging by her expression and the way her body slowly eased toward him, as if silently begging him to stay near, she believed him.
“Sweet?” she whispered.