Page 28 of Act of Brotherhood
She stared at his chest before looking down at the ground. A frown appeared on her face. “Oh no.”
Garth drew in the sight of her and, as he did, he realized there was something smeared all over her baby-blue T-shirt. It was then he noticed that whatever it was, it was also all over the front ofhisshirt as well. And on the tops of his boots. When he spotted a smashed box labeled “Bakery,” he understood what the sickly-sweet-smelling goop was, or had been.
Cupcakes.
And he was covered in them. A whole lot of them.
The woman bent quickly and began scooping up smashed cupcakes before trying to deposit the mess into what was left of the box. She then lifted her head, jutted out her chin, and gave him a scathing look. “You weren’t watching where you were going.”
He opened his mouth to object, but she cut him off.
“You were too busy checking out those women in the short skirts. I saw them.Everyonesaw them.” She stood. As she lifted the damaged box, the bottom fell out of it, and all of her hard work landed back on the ground. This time it splattered up and onto Garth’s pant leg. The woman stiffened, her eyes widening. “And then you…you…you kissed me!”
He blinked, coming to his senses. “Yes, I did. Andyoukissed me right back. Or are you forgetting that part?”
“What did you just say?” she demanded.
He repeated it.
“That’s what I thought you said. But you’re kind of hard to understand.” Her hands went to her hips, drawing his attention there. She had great hips. The kind that a man could hold onto when he was pounding into her. As his thoughts drifted to doing just that, she stamped her foot on the ground.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she said sternly.
“Like what?” he asked, pulling his gaze up her ever so slowly. His cock liked what it saw, as noted by the fact it was pushing against his jeans, trapped between the material and his upper thigh. It was anything but comfortable, and he very much wanted to adjust it. When his gaze managed to make its way to her face, he found her sexy mouth tightening into a stubborn line.
Just like that, she cured his hard-on issue.
She was pissed.
“You could at least help me clean this up,” the beauty snapped, and then bent again. She mumbled something about him being a big oaf, and the way she said it made Garth laugh softly. She glanced up at him. “Hey, you let your hair down and changed your shirt. It was gray before, and you had a braid.”
Confused, Garth simply watched her. He’d not done anything to his hair or his shirt.
She sized him up and narrowed her gaze, seeming to scrutinize his features. She touched just above her right eye. “Weird. I could have sworn you had…never mind. I guess it was a play of shadows.”
“You’re a very odd woman,” he countered. Even with that, he wanted her. He didn’t need her to be sane, just willing.
Odin, please make her want me too.
“And you’re a friggin’ giant who should pay more attention to where he’s walking.”
Mysteriously, it no longer bothered him in the least to be the subject of her sharp tongue. If anything, it was amusing. It didn’t look like she could hurt anyone, let alone him. He chuckled, pleased she seemed to be able to understand his heavily accented English now.
“This is not funny,” she retorted, expelling an irritated breath. “Where am I going to find gluten-free, dairy-free, peanut-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, egg-free, preservative-free cupcakes by tomorrow morning? I had to special order these last week for them to be done tonight.”
The list of all the ingredients that were missing from the baked goods left Garth wondering what in the hell the cupcakes had actually been made of. Air? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, especially with as disgustingly sweet as they smelled. They turned his stomach.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” she demanded, her accusatory gaze swinging towards him.
“Nothing you’ll want to hear.” It was quite clear she wasn’t in the mood to listen to his apologies. Not that he’d offer any.
He wasn’t sorry he ran into her. Doing so caused them to meet.
He wasn’t sorry he kissed her. It had been divine.
And he wasn’t sorry he wanted to kiss her again. What man wouldn’t?
Shrugging, he bent and picked up the thin cardboard box the baked goods had been in. He thrust it out to her. “Here. Feed this to the children. It’s a paper product and will taste the same as the cupcakes. I’m sure of it.”
