Page 13 of Cream and Punishment
“Look at that, you already have a new hobby.” I returned to the kitchen, keeping the book out of his reach. I considered sticking it in the fridge for time-out, but the book hadn’t been the one trying to scale him. It was innocent. Instead, I held up a cupcake for him. “What hobby are you going to try next?”
He accepted the cupcake, his fingers brushing against mine. Our eyes locked for a heart stopping moment before he pulled away like I’d infected him.
Ouch. Warranted, but ouch.
He cleared his throat, effectively breaking whatever weird spell his touch had cast over me. “I don’t know yet. I made a resolution this year to try one new thing every week.”
I busied myself stacking cupcakes onto a plate. “Sounds adventurous.”
“It can be.” He paused and inspected the cupcake. “What kind of cupcake is this, exactly?”
I grinned, satisfaction sparking in my chest. “My very own creation. It’s like the lovechild of the brownie and red velvet with a bit of Oreo pixie dust sprinkled in.”
A brownie base with red velvet cake on top, covered in Oreo cream cheese frosting, to be exact. It had taken a few test runs with the first three cupcakes to figure out how thick to make the brownie batter in the bottom, but I’d finally mastered it so the brownie and cake would cook equally. The combination was divine, in my completely unbiased opinion.
“That sounds amazing.”
I tried not to stare as he bit into my creation, anxiously awaiting his verdict. I loved the difference in textures and flavors, counteracted by the sourness of the cream cheese frosting. But, some people didn’t like that much chocolate. Or happiness.
What if he hated it? What if he somehow got food poisoning from it and his hatred for me would be cemented for all eternity?
He hummed appreciatively, sending goose bumps up my arms. I clasped my hands behind my back to hide the effect such a simple sound had on me. What was up with that? Had our weird book wrestling really scrambled my brain that badly?
“You like it?” I asked unnecessarily. I may not be able to read people right all the time, but I knew when they liked what I made. And Max definitely did.
He nodded, swiping a stray splatter of frosting from the corner of his mouth with his thumb. I swear, he could do nothing but eat a cupcake for a Betty Crocker ad and sales would skyrocket. How could anyone make such a simple action so enthralling? The movement of his hands and jaw, the subtle flexing of muscles under his skin. I couldn’t explain it, really, but I didn’t want to look away.
Aaand I was staring like a creeper.
Terrified he’d noticed, I dove into my own cupcake with a little too much gusto. Frosting smeared onto my nose and up my nostrils. With my monster-sized bite, the cake and brownie shoved so far back in my mouth it made me gag until it overflowed into my bulging cheeks.
Like a chipmunk, exceptIwas the nut, and my cheeks were full of regret and bad decisions.
Should I make a run for the bathroom where I could spit it out and clean off my nose in peace? Try to sneak half of the oversized bite into a paper towel and pretend nothing happened?
The frosting up my nose made it hard to breathe. My mouth was too full to chew comfortably. I was going to be stuck like this, chipmunk-faced and frosting-nosed, until either my pride died, or I did.
When Max looked in my direction, I panicked, and sank into a squat, praying the counter would hide me long enough to deal with my dilemma. I clapped my hands over my mouth to ensure no reddish sludge oozed out while I chewed like my life depended on it.
“Dekker?” Max asked, his voice coming from a little above me like he’d leaned over the counter to see. And with his height, he could probably see the whole thing. “You okay?”
“Mnnhnnn,” I managed to grunt out. It sounded as far from “okay” as possible, but at least he’d know I wasn’t choking.
“You sure?”
I’d only swallowed half of my monster bite, so I shot my hand into the air to give him a thumbs-up. Until I felt the breeze through the hole in my armpit. He couldn’t see that from here, could he?
I snapped my arm down just in case.
I’d barely gulped down the last of my bite when Max appeared in front of me, his brows furrowed. He’d either finished his cupcake already or left it on the counter since his hands were resting on his knees as he squatted. For once, I was grateful for the frosting in my nose since it blocked out most of his spicy cologne.
Oh, halibut and radishes—the frosting in my nose!
Right on cue, a twinkle lit his dark eyes, the muscles around them relaxing a bit. He tapped the tip of his own nose. “You have a little, uh…on your nose.”
Acting on my limited self-preservation instincts, I used the first piece of cloth at my disposal: my stretched-out shirt collar. I scrubbed until I could guide Santa’s sleigh all by myself and no longer smelled frosting.
“Did I get it all?” I finally asked, afraid of the answer.
