Page 43 of Baking it Merry

Walking out to the kitchen, he placed the dishes in the sink before heading back to bed.Daphne was lying down with her eyes closed and a pang of regret hit him hard.Slowly, he slid back under the blankets and shut off the bedside light.She was exhausted and, as much as he was hoping to make love to her again, there was no way he was going to wake her up when she was sound asleep.

I wish I could fall asleep that easily.

Sighing softly, he faced her and got comfortable.Unable to help himself, he reached out and gently caressed her shoulder and then down her arm.She hummed quietly—the cutest sound he’d ever heard—but didn’t move.He’d never felt the need to simply watch someone while they slept, but he was fascinated by Daphne.Right now, she looked a little like a sleeping princess.She was sexy and beautiful, her skin was so soft, and he couldn’t make himself look away.

“If memory serves, someone mentioned dessert,” she whispered as she slowly rolled onto her side to face him, and he heard the humor in her voice.

“I thought you were sleeping and I was trying to be respectful.”

Shifting closer, her hand rested on his abs and then slowly moved up over his chest before sliding around to the back of his neck.“That was very nice of you, but…I have the rest of the weekend to catch up on sleep.Tonight, I want everything you promised.”Gently, she pulled him closer.“And more.”

Tristan rolled her beneath him and loved the way her legs immediately wrapped around his waist.“Brace yourself, love.Dessert is about to be served.”

Eight

Sneaking out of Tristan’s house before the sun came up wasn’t something Daphne had planned, but she was an early riser—no matter how little sleep she got—and she had a to-do list a mile long.She considered leaving him a note, but she didn’t want to rummage around trying to find paper and a pen.

“I’ll text him when I get home,” she whispered as she quietly let herself out the front door.Seeing her work van in the driveway made her groan.It was cold out and it took forever for the heat to really do its job because of the open space.At some point today, she’d have to get her car.“One more thing for the list.”

The drive home was short, and it felt weird to be coming home at this hour in her clothes from the night before.She’d never been someone who spent the night at a guy’s house and left in the morning.Typically, it was the other way around and she kind of didn’t like it.

“Ugh…I should have stayed.”

But that would have meant staring at the ceiling for who knows how long and worrying about how awkward things were going to be when Tristan woke up.

And there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that things were going to be awkward.You didn’t go from being enemies to lovers without some awkwardness.Just like her snarky comment while they were eating sandwiches in bed, there were things you couldn’t just turn off because you’d had sex.

No matter how freaking hot the sex was.

Tristan Knight was a powerful man who was fully focused on his business.He had a commanding personality and was full of confidence.

Luckily for her, all those qualities also applied in the bedroom.

The dreamy sigh was out before she could stop it.She’d always been a woman who enjoyed sex, but sex with a man who seemed consumed with giving pleasure rather than just receiving it was a whole different ballgame.

Sadly, she had a feeling Tristan was going to be the standard to which she held every other man she got involved with in the future.

And sadder still was that she honestly didn’t see this as being a relationship that went beyond the holiday season.They were too different and their reason for initially coming together forced a proximity that never would have developed.At some point, they were going to go back to their normal lives—she’d put her gingerbread house back in storage and return to working on building her web design business, and he’d probably build something impressive in the city.

Sighing, she pulled up to her house.It looked a little dark and it felt weird to be coming home at this hour.When she opened the door, the sight of her Christmas tree and all the decorations in her living room greeted her, making her smile as always.She hung stockings over her little fireplace even though it was just her, and there was already a small mountain of presents under the tree for friends and family.It was tempting to plug it all in so everything would be lit up, but…was it really necessary?

“Screw it.I’m doing it.”So she plugged in the tree and then the garland with the twinkly lights on her mantle.Stepping back, just the sight of it made her heart happy.“That’s better.”

Walking into the bedroom, kicking off her shoes was the top priority.Next, she stripped off her dress and moved into the bathroom to take a shower so she could officially start her day.Cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, getting her car back from her mom, and planning out all her prep work for this week’s baking were on the agenda.

“Probably need to add a nap to that.”

The reality was that she probably wouldn’t take one, but it was nice to pretend.

Wrapped in a towel, she stepped out of the too-quick shower and immediately sprang into action.She stripped the bed and put her sheets in the wash.After that, she pulled on her robe and brushed her teeth, applied some moisturizer, and dried her hair.Once that was done, she allowed herself to sit down with a cup of coffee so she could work on her baking schedule.

Everything was peaceful—the perfect way to start the weekend.

Until someone started knocking loudly on her front door.

“What the…?”Putting her mug down, Daphne went to the door and was about to look through the peephole when…

“Daphne?I know you’re here,” Tristan called out between angry knocks.“I’m not opposed to waking up your neighbors!”

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