Page 70 of Christmas in Paradise

Seb narrows his eyes at me, then turns me around. “No breaking the rules,friend.You’re here for cake, not eye candy.”

He marches me into the kitchen where Charly and Uncle Rad both greet me with excited yips. I tense when Uncle Rad circles me, then rises on her hind legs and paws my knees. The last time she did this, she barely missed peeing on my feet.

“Down Uncle Rad,” Seb orders, and Uncle Rad drops back to the floor, without a drop of pee anywhere.

“Impressive.” I bend to scratch Uncle Rad’s belly and pull Charly into a hug.

When I release her, she darts back to the other room, calling, “I see Stewa.”

Uncle Rad chases after her, and I glance at Seb to see if I should stop her.

“Stella likes Uncle Rad and Charly time when she gets home from work. They’ll be okay.” He doesn’t move from his position leaning against the kitchen counter with his legs crossed in front of him, watching me.

He’s totally casual, in a carefully cultivated way. But there’s nothing casual about his gaze. His eyes shimmer with color, moving between a dark chocolate brown to chestnut tinged in gold. They hold me with an intensity that sends a charge of electricity buzzing through my entire body.

“When do I get to try this cake?” I fail at sounding as casual as he looks. Like I’m just here to eat dessert with a friend when we both know he’s the dessert I want.

Seb responds by scooting to the side without taking his eyes off me. As he moves, he reveals a small, round, cake, beautifully frosted white. I move closer to not only examine it, but also to stand next to Seb.

And that’s all it takes for him to drop his cool façade.

“I know that naked look with the cake not quite covered with frosting is popular, but I also know Georgia loves frosting. So I went with this swirled technique that makes the frosting look like flowers. That was Heidi’s go-to, so I thought Adam and Zach would like that too.” Seb talks fast, with a nervousness I haven’t heard in his voice before. “Hopefully Evie will be okay with it.”

“It’s beautiful. I hate to even cut into it. What flavor is it?” I dart a look at him, then swipe my finger through the frosting at the bottom where I won't mess anything up too much.

“Hey!” Seb grabs my hand before I can lick the frosting off my finger.

But then we’re touching, and a look of hunger crosses Seb’s face. I don’t know what he sees in mine, but it must be something about permission. He sticks my finger in his mouth and sucks off the frosting, never breaking eye contact with me.

And I am not sorry about it at all.

“That was supposed to be for me,” I say with a heavy breath. My body is on fire, and I can’t take my eyes off the lips that lit the kindling.

Seb shakes his head, his lip pulling with satisfaction at what he’s done to me. “There are consequences for picking at my cake. Lunch first. Then you can have asliceof cake.”

He hasn’t let go of my hand, and we are definitely in danger of exiting the friend zone, so desperate measures are needed to cut the sexual tension between us.

“Gia made me lunch?” I ask with a smile. “How nice.”

I slip my hand out of his and walk away with a slow glance over my shoulder before sitting at the table.

Seb narrows his eyes and pushes away from the counter. “I made you lunch, thank you very much.” He opens the oven and pulls out a plate with a grilled cheese and a bowl of tomato soup. “I kept them warm in here. Charly already ate.”

“You fed Charly?” I ask as he sets the plate in front of me.

He tips his head to his shoulder. “Mom did. But I knew to tell you. That counts, right?”

“It counts.” I pick up a triangle of sandwich, dip it in the soup and take a bite. “Mmm. This is so good,” I say around the explosion of flavors.

The cheese isn’t regular old cheddar but a goat cheese and…I take another bite to determine the second flavor. Havarti, I think. And the soup is rich with fresh tomato flavor and basil.

“This is the perfect cold weather food,” I say through another bite and glance out the window at snow gently falling.

“I know, right?” Seb sits across from me with his own plate and bowl.

We eat and make small talk between bites. When we’re both done, he clears the plates, rinses the bowls, and puts everything in the dishwasher. Not the sink for his mom to do later, but right into the dishwasher.

Then he cuts me a slice of cake. The answer to my flavor question is chocolate, which is perfect. Evie loves chocolate.

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