Page 32 of Win a Date with a Baker

She doesn’t wait for an answer.

Instead, she reaches up and brushes another invisible streak of flour from my cheek.

“I don’t think you realize you do it.”

“I don’t.”

“I don’t think so either.”

I shake my head.

“You’re very observant.”

“I told you.”

“I know.”

“No...”

She cups my face gently.

“I don’t think you do.” Her voice has softened. “I don’t think you realize how much you hide.”

My chest tightens.

“I’m not hiding.”

“Aren’t you?”

“I...”

The word dies before I can finish it. Because the truth is... I don’t know.

She studies me with those warm brown eyes that somehow make me feel completely seen.

“I think everyone online sees Donut Daddy.”

I groan. “Please don’t call me that.”

She laughs. “I had to.”

Her thumb brushes lightly across my jaw. She leans in first this time.

The kiss is slower than before. Less hurried.

As though neither of us has anything left to prove.

My hands settle at her waist while hers curl lightly around the back of my neck.

She fits against me so naturally that it’s hard to remember there was ever a time she wasn’t standing in my kitchen.

My hands move up and down her shapely hips. “Elizabeth, may I…”

“What?”

“Can I touch you?”

Her lips curl up. “I thought you were.”