Page 51 of Charmed, I'm Sure
Taylor’s hand slipped down my body, gliding over my ass until he could palm one side, giving it a hard squeeze as he pressed his hips into mine.
Giggles from inside the house filtered into the lusty haze clouding my brain, and I pulled back with a groan, resting my brow on his.
A disbelieving chuckle rumbled out as he palmed both sides of my ass, grumbling, “One of these days, I’m going to get you alone, and there won’t be another living soul around to get in my way.”
“We’ll see about that,” I chuckled, spinning his hat back around as I pulled out of his hold. If the way he’d palmed it said anything, it was that he would probably be staring at my ass as I walked away. So I made sure to put a little swing in my stride as I sauntered up the steps, laughing when I threw a glance over my shoulder and caught him red-handed. “Come on, cowboy. Let’s get some lunch.”
“Cowboy?” he barked, eyes wide as he took the steps two at a time to catch up to me. His hands gripped my hips as he hauled me back against him, his breath hot on my ear as he whispered, “Save a horse, baby.”
Sweet baby cheeses.
13
Alligator or chicken?
Magnolia
Icouldn’tconcentrateifmy life depended on it. Today marked my first day back atCharCutiesince the storm, and every—every—inch of the space reminded me of being there with Taylor.
The shop had fared well, thanks to the protective charms and enchantments, but after being closed for a week, I was woefully behind. I still needed to prepare for two catering gigs booked during the last Meat-Cute—one of which was only three days away. Jaelyn and I had decided to push this month’s event back a week, but I still had to plan the menu, update my table rental order, and, of course, go shopping for the whole thing. On top of everything else, I also had to finalize the menu for my storefront. But everywhere I looked, I saw Taylor.
Rolling out and laminating dough for croissants? My mind took that moment to remind me of when he’d been in my bubble, his rough palms sliding up my sides as he kissed me senseless in that exact spot.
Pulling out bowls? I was bombarded with flashes of him chasing after me after I laughed at him while he sat among a pile of those infernal things.
I could see him lounging on the benches in the main area, leaning against the counters with that megawatt smile. I felt him like aphantom’s kiss along every inch of my body that his hands or lips had traversed.
“Earth to Magnolia,” Jaelyn chimed, waving her hand in front of my face, a sly smirk settling on her lips.
Startled back into reality, my rolling pin slipped from my grasp and clattered against the stainless counter. A curse tumbled from my lips as I scrambled to catch it before it rolled onto the floor. “Damn it, Jae. Don’t sneak up on me.”
“Sneak up on you? Girl, I don’t know where you are, but it sure as hell isn’t here,” she said with an amused chuckle, her coils bouncing around her face as she shook her head. “I’ve been talking to you for the past…” She checked the nonexistent watch on her wrist, her gold bangles jingling as she turned her hand. “Five minutes? Well, I guess I was more or less talkingatyousince I didn’t realize your brain had left the conversation.”
“Sorry, Jae,” I replied with a grimace. My mind was there in that kitchen—it just happened to be focused on a past-tense version of it.
Giving myself a mental shake, I began rolling out the dough until it was a quarter of an inch thick, then folded it over itself twice before starting again. “What were we talking about?”
“Iwas discussing the menu for the party on Friday. Did you still want to do sauce-piquante? If so, are we doing chicken or alligator? Or did you want to switch to passed hors d’oeuvres?”
After repeating the process twice more, I wrapped cling wrap around the dough with a groan and walked it to the cooler. The trick to achieving perfectly layered and flaky croissants was ensuring the butter stayed cold. It took time to complete all the lamination, but it was always worth it.
When I returned to the counter, I grabbed a wet rag and began cleaning up my workspace. “I should probably call them and see whatthey want to do. I didn’t even think of that when I called to confirm they still needed catering.”
Though most of my catering jobs revolved around charcuterie boards and pastries, someone occasionally requested an actual meal, and this just so happened to be one of those cases. I both loved and loathed it. I enjoyed dusting off culinary skills that I didn’t get to use often, but the prep for actual meals, along with everything else, was a lot more work than I had time for at the moment.
With the counter sufficiently clean, I tossed the rag in the sink and walked over to where Jae leaned over the island, scribbling on a notepad while scouring the forms spread across the surface.
“Okay, soifthey want to do a full meal, maybe we can simplify it?” she asked, one dark brow rising as her caramel eyes met mine.
“Sauce-piquante isn’t hard to make; it’s just time-consuming. As long as the number of guests doesn’t increase, it shouldn’t be a big deal. But we do need to find out if they want alligator or chicken so that I’m not running around last minute. It’s going to be hard enough to find everything I need as it is.”
Jaelyn nodded as she swept the forms into a neat pile. “I’ll give them a call and finish up the list so we can grab everything later.Youneed to pop some Excedrin and chug some caffeine.”
“Get out of my head,” I teased, bumping my hip against hers. We’d been friends long enough that she could see my migraines coming from a mile away. It was the little things—a pinch in my brow, the squinting to block out some light, or because my vision would start to blur. She was always there with a snack, water, caffeine, and some kind of pill that she knew I wouldn’t take unless she watched me like a clucking mother hen.
“I thinkyouneed to get out of your own head.” Before I could respond, my phone pinged in my pocket. Pulling it out, I glanceddown at the screen before quickly tucking it back into the back pocket of my jeans. Apparently, I wasn’t fast enough, as Jaelyn’s eyes widened, her lips pursing as she ran her tongue along her teeth and chuckled to herself. “Tell Taylor I said ‘hey.’ I’ll go take care of this; you lock up the front and see what Mr. ‘As you wish’wants.”
“You’re never going to let him live that down, are you?”
