Page 35 of Heaven Leigh’s Little Halloween

She wasn’t sure how it was possible to dread something and want it so badly at the same time. There was pre-naughty guilt already rising, but Hayleigh had told her that Dominants enjoyed punishing sometimes.

Angel certainly seemed like he had the day before. She’d felt him getting hard when she was across his lap, and he hadn’t seemed upset at all. Stern yes, but not upset.

It would be okay to do this. She’d get punished and that would suck, but she’d ask for Angel to deal with it. He was sure to agree since her plan made him an unwitting part of the prank. She could feel things growing between them and another punishment scene might just be the trick to bring it out in the open.

“Heaven, you ready to help?” he called.

“Be right there, Angel!” She grabbed a towel to dry her hands and hurried out to him. Already her mind was working, trying to figure out the best way to bring up the subject.

Chapter 13

They had a busy morning. Working with the kitchen staff to tag team the ovens and fit in the pastry shells whenever there was a chance, was a task in itself. They came out perfect despite that. He’d had no doubt they would.

Angel enjoyed watching Heaven at work. She was nervous at first, but once she got into the swing of things, the anxiety seemed to drop away. Her mouth curved up in a half smile as she rolled out the dough, and she hummed softly under her breath.

He thought it was a hymn, but he wasn’t sure. She worked with dough the way he worked with chocolate. Her hands were quick and flexible, knowing exactly how much to press into each pan.

There were only so many pure chocolate desserts he could make. Grand centerpieces, like he was creating for Halloween, weren’t something he could concentrate on for daily life, not on the Ranch. There just wasn’t call for that kind of art every day.

People wanted a variety of desserts they could enjoy, and he had long ago learned to branch out and fill those needs. They all had some elements of chocolate, of course. That was his passion after all, but sometimes it was only a garnish, and the real dessert was something entirely different.

So he’d built up other skills that complemented the chocolate, but he was slower and clumsy with them. Pastry was always a struggle. Heaven though, she had a gift.

On top of that, she was a joy to watch, because she seemed to put a bit of showmanship into the act. It wasn’t incredibly obvious, but he was paying close attention. There were little flourishes here and there, like she was performing for an invisible audience—and he didn’t think it was for his benefit, because she seemed to have tuned him out entirely.

“It’s like watching a cooking show,” he commented.

She jumped and tore the shell she had been fitting so carefully into the mini tart pan. “What?”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” He laughed. “I think you forgot I was here.”

She grinned and shrugged. “I do that when I bake. Sorry. What were you saying?”

“Oh, just that you have a flair for this. It’s like watching one of those fancy cooking shows.”

There was an odd expression on her face, but she blanked it before he could examine it for meaning. “Really? Well, I did spend a lot of time on stage when I was a kid.”

He sensed a half-truth there. She’d stated a fact, he was sure of that, but the fact seemed… unconnected. “You think it came from that?”

Her eyebrows went up. “Where else could it come from?”

Angel was used to Littles, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to fib. There were often tells, like the way Heaven was misdirecting his comments and questions—and the way her hands had gotten fidgety as she played with the dough.

He was pretty sure she was hiding something, but it wasn’t his business to know. Not yet. Just from the small amount he knew of her past, he could understand why she wasn’t used to being fully candid. Still he wanted to encourage her to talk. “Hmm. You tell me, Heaven. I mean… that could be it, but it feels like there might be more.”

Her mouth opened and then closed. Her eyes shifted to the left and then dropped down to the dough as it crumbled from being overworked. “Well…”

“Well?”

She shot a look around, as if making sure no one was near enough to listen. “Well, I might have done a baking show for a while. For my cakes.”

Angel’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Um, yeah. It had a few seasons. We used to make a realistic cake, and then we’d have guests guess which was the cake and which was the real item.” She grinned a little. “Baking is kind of boring to watch, even when you cut to the good parts, so I always tried to make it more exciting.”

It hit him. He knew the exact show she was talking about. Now that he’d made the connection, he wondered why he hadn’t recognized her, except that the vivacious, sometimes loud, pastry chef on the show seemed to share little in common with Heaven. At least as far as personality went.

He pointed at her. “You’re Chef Cleary!”

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