Page 49 of Lead Me Knot

“I’m learning all kinds of interesting things about you.” He packs up the previous batch I already frosted and tucks the box in the fridge. “Can’t say I don’t want to learn more.”

I pause with the tip of the piping bag pressed to the next cupcake. I turn around to face him. “I want that, too.”

“You want to learn more about me?” The surprise in his tone catches me off guard.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I want that?” Pressing his hands to the worktable between us, he looks at me like. . . I don’t know what that look is.Happiness? Curiosity? Flattered?And then it occurs to me. It’s all those things. “What’s happened between us has been fast. I mean, look at you. You obviously don’t have trouble getting women, and I’m no exception. But I want you to know that although I see you as a sexy piece of meat—” His mouth falls open, making me laugh. “Kidding. I’mkidding.” When our laughter dies down, I say, “You are very handsome, like ridiculously so, but that’s not what I like most.”

“What do you like most?”

There’s such a boyish charm about him in the moment, like he’s not some model of a man loose in Manhattan who’s given compliments all the time. We both know that’s not true. Women trip over themselves to catch his eyes, but I caught them.

I don’t feel special because of his attention. I feel special because of how sweet he’s been to me. He doesn’t hesitate to jump into the mix to make my life easier, to check on me if I’m feeling confused about what’s happening, or even willing to keep us secret so I don’t have to deal with the aftermath after he leaves.

I come around the table, setting my bag on the table on the way to him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I confess, “I want to get to know you better. All of you, and who you are as a person, here and in New York City.”

His hands cover my hips, and he moves closer. The grin he was wearing flattens as his eyes drop to my lips. When his gaze slides up to mine again, he says, “I want to get to know you better as well.”

I’m kissed. My breath is stolen right when I take it, leaving me no choice but to steal it right back. It’s not deepened, but the pressure is perfect, wanting and controlled, sweet, but with passion.

When we part, my eyes flutter open to find him staring at me. “I’ve never known anyone like you, Shortcake, and I’ve known you my whole life. Seems like I’ve been wasting a lot of time on other women.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” I say, smiling from the inside.

He taps my noseand kisses the tip. “But first, cupcakes.”

I groan.

It’s not like I usually mind frosting them. It moves fairly fast as a process. I just feel like we could find better ways to spend our limited time together. “But alas, cupcakes.”

Though it feels wrong to leave the strength of his fingers digging into my hips, and that expression on his face makes me feel like the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. I’m becoming addicted to the desire. How his pupils widen when I move closer, as if he needs to take more of me in, and that grin that I’m only privy to on occasion, usually followed by a kiss. I slip from his hands and grab the piping bag again, but the smile stays right where he put it on my face.

“We’re moving quickly.”

“Do what you need to do. I’m in no hurry.”

I keep my head down and my hand moving across the cakes, but guilt sets in. I glance back at him. “You must be tired, though. If you’d like to go upstairs, you can.”

He comes around the table and rubs my back. His eyes stay on the project in front of us as if he knows I need to focus. I stand back up, though, and wrap my arm around his back. Leaning my head on his arm, I say, “You don’t have to wait on me. This is my problem, not yours.”

Kissing the top of my head, he says, “I like being here with you. I find it fascinating to watch you do everything with such ease and certainty. You don’t question yourself or your abilities. You dive right in and just do it.” I look up at him, feeling seen and so cared for under his gaze and swimming in his words.

“Cupcakes are hard to mess up.”

“It’s not about the cupcakes, Shortcake. It’s about how you contribute to everyone around you and step in without being asked. Everything’s better because you were a part of it.”

“Aw,” I hum, feeling my cheeks heatunder his sweet compliments. “Thank you. I appreciate that. No one has ever said anything that nice to me before.”

His arm tightens around my waist just as I lift to kiss him. It’s only a peck, but I’d take a bushel of those from him any day or night because this feels so right. “You deserve to hear it more.”

A million things run through my head, making excuses for why he’s being so nice, from the time of night to wanting to get laid. But none of those fit just right because his voice is as genuine as his eyes are sincere.

I may not be able to pinpoint the moment things between us changed, or maybe it’s been slowly morphing since his last visit, but I’m eating it up. It’s not the chemistry between the sheets, though I can’t complain. No, it’s the silent moments, the choices he makes to accompany me, even when we haven’t made any intentions public.

So I stop questioning and get out of my head, deciding to let my heart lead me through this with him. I’d rather hope for the best. If I get hurt, I’ll deal with those consequences.

“We should get back to work so we can finish up. You’re moving fast. Then we can go upstairs together.”

My heart wasn’t racing before but now it is at the mention of getting to stay with him again and whatever else we want to come with that situation.

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