Page 28 of Temptation Trails

“Use this to make them uniform.” I scooped a glob of dough to show him how. “Then just put it on the tray. Leave room between them, since they spread. Like this.” I put another next to the first one.

“Okay. I can do that.”

He started scooping cookies while I got a batch of sugar cookie dough going. When the trays of chocolate chip went into the oven, I set the two timers, plus the timer on my phone, just to be extra careful.

Then I turned my attention to finishing up the last of the cakes for the day.

I chatted with Owen as I piped frosting, showing him how I used the different tips to make particular shapes. Since he seemed interested, I gave him some to try on a few day-old sugar cookies. He wasn’t half bad.

The afternoon flew by. Before I knew it, we’d finished the cookies and added them to the case—to the delight of the waiting customers—and put the last touches on the custom cakes. I was about to start cleaning up the cake mess when Garrett Haven appeared, startling me.

I gasped and my icing spatula clattered to the floor. He was almost as wide as the doorway, and that uniform made him look so intimidating.

Then again, he was probably intimidating in regular clothes.

“Sorry.” His deep voice sent a tingle down my spine.

“That’s okay.” I tried to ignore the way my heart sped up. “I just didn’t see you there.”

His eyes didn’t leave mine, holding me captive for a moment. They were a stormy blue-gray. So intense. Like he carried the weight of the world on those broad shoulders.

“Dad?” Owen asked. “You’re doing it again.”

Looking away, Garrett cleared his throat. “You ready?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Wait!” They both looked at me like I had a wooden spoon growing out of my head. “You need some cookies to take home.”

I brushed past Garrett and grabbed a to-go box.

“That’s okay,” Garrett said. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I want to. Besides, he helped make these.”

I put half a dozen chocolate chip cookies in the box and turned around to hand it to Garrett.

He watched me like I didn’t make sense, a furrow in his brow that was so unintentionally sexy.

Didn’t matter. I wasn’t dating anyone. Least of all Garrett Haven.

I held the box out. “They’re still a little warm.”

He hesitated for a second, then took it. “Thanks.”

A girl could really get lost in those turbulent eyes.

“Owen was great, by the way. It was fun having him. Things got a little crazy earlier, but don’t worry, there wasn’t a fire. The fire department happened to be close when the alarm went off and we ruined the cookies, but that wasn’t Owen’s fault or anything.” I was making next to zero sense, but I couldn’t seem to stop talking. “Anyway, he was a big help and he’d make a pretty good cake decorator if he practiced.”

The corners of Garrett’s mouth lifted in a subtle smile and my knees almost buckled. It changed his entire face, warming his expression. I had a feeling that grin didn’t come easy, and seeing a hint of it made me want to do anything to get him to smile at me again.

I laughed, almost cringing at how awkward it sounded. “Well, have a nice afternoon.”

“K, Dad,” Owen said. “I served my time. We can go now.”

He glanced at his son as if he’d forgotten he was there. “Right. Yeah.” He held up the cookies. “Thanks again.”

I watched them leave, still a little awestruck by Garrett’s smile.

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