Regardless, he wouldn’t ponder it too deeply.He had a refreshing, almost dreamless night of sleep, with the exception of snippets of visions of he and Aspen lying on a beach—thank fuck he wasn’t actually in the ocean water—soaking up the sun on some tropical island.
Wolfe wasn’t stupid enough to explore the reason behind Aspen making an appearance in his dreams or the fact she played the leading role in his pre-sleep jack session.Nope, he focused on the job he offered to do.
Entering the shop, scents of baked goods once again surrounded him in a scrumptious wave of glorious goodness.Out of habit, he inhaled deeply and let the incredible aroma satisfy his needs.His teammates thought his vigilance of not consuming sweets was part of his rigid diet of clean eating, but no one knew the real reason he stayed away from tasty treats.In fact, it was twenty years to the day since he tasted anything that resembled a dessert, other than the pussy he enjoyed and sampled on a regular basis.
Shaking his head to rid his mind of images of women—or one badass baker in particular—Wolfe sidled up to the counter where he found Mia deep in her own thoughts.
“What’s up, buttercup?”
“Holy crap, Wolfe.You scared me to death,” Mia gasped.
“What’s going on in that amazing brain of yours, that you wouldn’t hear me enter the store, squirt?”Wolfe asked, but knew what, or ratherwhoshe was thinking about based on the sparks that flew between she and the rookie the last time they were in the bakery.
“I’m just focusing on cleaning the steam wand on the espresso machine before making your...cappuccino?That’s what you like, right?And what are you doing here, by the way?”
Wolfe hoisted up the weathered, camel-colored toolbelt he hadn’t yet slung around his waist.“Cappuccino would be great, and I’m here to help BB fix some things around her shop.It’s obvious there’s stuff to do.”
“Awwww.One cappuccino coming up,” Mia said, before going to work on his drink.“And it’s really nice that you’re helping Aspen fix some of the broken things around here.”
Because Wolfe was a dick and didn’t want to talk about himself, or whatever force drew him into Aspen’s orbit, he quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, who were you thinking about when I came in, little one?”
“No one,” she denied, but the length of time she held the ‘o’ on no told him otherwise.
“Right,” Wolfe drawled in the voice of Dr.Evil from Austin Powers fame.“You looked like you were a million miles away with a dreamy expression, like the ones girls get when they see Justin Bieber perform.It sorta matched the way you were looking at the rook when he came to the shop the other day.If I was a betting man, I’d say you’re into the brainiac from Hahvaaahd.”
“Am not.”Mia seemed to double-down in her denial.“And Justin Bieber?Ew, just ew.”
Denial just ain’t a river in Egypt, little one.
“I get it, sweet, I really do.You’re young.He’s young, blah, blah, blah, but you need to be careful,” Wolfe paused to take a sip of the frothy drink and to let the kid ponder what would come next.“Your bro is oblivious to many things around him, but you know how he is about the team, especially when it comes to his baby sister.That combination could spell disaster for you and the rook if you got together and things went south.Comprendé?”
He almost felt bad putting the half-pint on the spot, but the warning was necessary.Besides, it gave him the opportunity to ensure he deflected from the kid’s own poking and prodding at his reasons for running to the baker’s shop like a puppy looking for a bone, or cupcake crumbs.
Yep.Denial just ain’t a river in Egypt.
