Page 78 of Simply Yours

“C’monnn…” he murmured, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “There aresomany puns I didn’t realize, and I’m just itching to use them.” His eyes sparkled, daring her to challenge him.

She smirked, rolling out her shoulders like a fighter stepping into the ring. “Work your dough and let those puns fly if it keeps youfocused,” she instructed, pointing a flour-dusted finger at him. “I told Harley over at Flyboys that I was bringing her a few loaves.”

Jason let out a low whistle, shaking his head as he resumed kneading. “You’re nice.”

“It’s calledbeing part of the community,” Caitlin countered smoothly.

He glanced sideways at her, his hands moving over the dough in slow, measured movements. “You do it so easily, too.”

She stilled for a moment, her gaze softening as she looked at him. “You know, you do as well—but I don’t think you realize it.”

“Meh.” He shrugged. “I’m just me.”

She nudged his arm with her elbow. “You’re a wonderful version of yourself and always leading the way.”

Jason’s kneading slowed as he absorbed that. He didn’t respond right away, just kept his hands moving in steady circles, as if considering her words. Finally, he let out a breath. “And you’re right.”

Caitlin arched an eyebrow. “About?”

“The puns.”

A reckless grin spread across his face as he turned to face her fully, resting one forearm against the counter. His voice dipped into something lower, more intimate. “Wanna lay one on me?”

Caitlin’s smirk deepened as she took a step closer, closing the distance between them. She tilted her head, peering up at him through her lashes, the heat of their proximity wrapping around her like a second skin. Holding up her bread lame between them, she let her voice drop into a sultry whisper.

“What’s that… a knife?” Jason asked, his tone suddenly huskier, more intrigued.

She let the moment stretch, then murmured, “Wanna score later?”

It hit him like a truck. His eyes went wide, his lips parting slightly as a small, strangled noise escaped his throat. And then—boom. Before she had time to react, hemoved.

One second, she was standing there, teasing him—the next, she was in the air, swept up effortlessly in his arms. He deposited her onto the countertop, stepping between her legs, his fingers already finding the waistband of her pants with a confidence that sent her pulse skyrocketing. Heat exploded across her skin, and there was a rush of adrenaline and something much deeper, much sharper, as she scrambled to react.

“Hang on—hang on!” she gasped, slapping at his hands in stunned disbelief. The bread lame clattered against the counter, forgotten. “There’s abladein that, watch out! It’s a term—just aterm! Because youscore each loaf—Jason, hang on! You score the bread,not me!”

Jason froze. His hands halted mid-motion, his breath coming in uneven bursts as realization dawned on his face. “Oh.” His expression shifted, first to confusion, then—slowly—to absolute mortification. “Ohhh. Um. Well.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I guess you didn’t really want to—oh boy.This is embarrassing.”

Caitlin, still slightly breathless, gaped at him. “Did you think I would just throw down and sleep with you?”

Jason didn’t even flinch. He tossed her a wicked, shameless grin. “I wasn’t about to saynoif you wanted to.”

Her stomach flipped. There was something so unbearably sexy about his easy confidence, his ability to roll with the moment, even when caught in the middle of a complete misunderstanding.

“You’ve gotta know by now that I think you’re incredible,” he added, his voice softer now, less teasing.

Something in her chestpulled. She swallowed hard. “But this is… new between us. And it was just a pun. A reckless play on words…”

“Yeah.” Jason exhaled heavily and hesitated, looking at his palms and grimacing. He was about to rub them against his jeans, but his hands were a mess of flour and dough. “Maybe we shouldn’t do those puns after all.”

“I guess not.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek, then glanced down at herself. “I’m sitting on the counter. In flour. And that isnotwhere I thought my first time would ever be—much less with you.”

Jason blinked. His head tilted slightly. “So many things to unpack there in that sentence,” he hedged. A beat of silence stretched before he met her eyes again, his gaze more cautious now. “Wait… your first time? And who did you want your, eh, um, who did youthinkyour first time would be with? And where?”

Caitlin’s breath hitched. The weight of his questions settled between them, thick and unspoken.

“Well, Ihoped… that someday, it might be you. That we might be a couple someday,” she admitted quietly.

Jason swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. His voice, when it came, was barely above a whisper. “You did?”

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