Page 46 of The Gingerbread Bakery
‘Well, thank you for the local business report, but I already knew they’d closed up.’ Leaning in the open doorway, she crossed her arms over her flour-covered apron. Mac stood in the glow of the streetlight, the snow dusting his dark hair and broad shoulders.
He tried to peer past her. ‘What are you doing in there that’s so important?’
‘Bakery stuff.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Bakery stuff?’
‘Yes. This is a bakery.’
His laugh sent a puff of breath into the cold air. She was not going to invite him in. She’d been doing too much of that already, letting Mac get close to her again. She had to draw the line somewhere: it might as well be the threshold of her bakery.
‘I like the name-change by the way,’ he said, gesturing up to the new sign.
Annie gave him a begrudging thank you. The bakery had gone through many changes over the years; the new name was the most recent one. She’d gone from her little table at the Christmas market to an online shop, sharing the kitchen with her parents and siblings and still managing to get her orders filled. When she got approved for the loan to lease this shop five years ago it had been one of the best days of her life. But Mac wasn’t here for any of that.
She wasn’t about to discuss with him why she thought The Gingerbread Bakery was a better name for her business.
‘What’s so important that you’re here late on the night before your best-friend’s wedding?’
‘Well, we were kinda busy all day, remember? And besides, it’sforthe wedding.’
‘The cake?’ he asked, his interest piqued. Annie had kept her plans for this house completely under wraps. Only the bride knew that they’d replaced the cake with a gingerbread house, a gift for the groom, who had an aversion to frosting.
‘Let me see it,’ he said, inching toward the door.
‘No way.’
‘Come on, Annabelle. Let me see it.’
‘Don’t call me Annabelle,Macaulay.’
It was his turn to frown and Annie laughed at the reaction.
‘As the best man, it’s my duty to check the cake in advance.’
‘You’re still not the best man. And that is definitely not within the realm of groomsmen duties.’
Mac shrugged. ‘Logan didn’t want strippers so what else am I supposed to do?’
‘Of course he didn’t want strippers. The man didn’t even want frosting. It’s like he’s allergic to joy.’
Mac’s eyes lit up and Annie realized too late that she’d given away a vital piece of information.
‘Logan doesn’t like frosting?’ He stepped closer until they were both crowded in the doorway. ‘What did you make, Annie?’ Their breath mingled between them, creating their own little steam cloud. ‘Let me in.’ He held her gaze and it felt like he was asking for so much more than entrance to the bakery. His offer from earlier totry againran through her mind.
‘Please,’ he added, his gaze flicking to her lips and back. Annie hesitated, her resolve weakening like it always did around this infuriating man.
The problem was, Annie hadn’t been lying earlier, not exactly. So maybe he hadn’t given her an orgasm but that didn't mean the sex hadn’t been good. It didn’t mean he hadn’t been sweet and tender with her for her first time. It didn’t mean she didn’t think about what sex could be like between them now. It was like her body had had sex with him eleven years ago, and her brain had kept it up ever since.
His head dipped closer to hers, his breath a welcome warmth on her face. Her eyes fluttered closed.
‘Please, Annie.’
She put a hand on his chest and relished the small hitch in his breath as she opened her eyes and saw it, the hunger in his eyes. Hunger mixed with hope. And she almost felt bad before she pressed that hand harder and shoved.
Mac skidded back in the snow, slipping and sliding but, much to Annie’s dismay, remaining upright.
The obnoxious smirk was back on his face by the time he got his footing, but the earnestness with which he’d saidpleasewas long gone.
