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“How’s Ramona?” he asked, rubbing his hands together for warmth as he followed her.
“See for yourself.” He came in the door and walked over to Ramona where she was curled up on the couch. She didn’t give him the time of day, but neither did she disappear underneath the couch or attack him, so Sloane was considering it a win.
Nicholas nodded. “Looks like she’s doing great.” He smiled at Sloane. “She’s got a good owner.”
Sloane waved a hand even as she felt her cheeks get warm. The only compliments she got were from men about her body. She didn’t know what to do with Nicholas admiring her.
“Come on.” She spun and turned for the kitchen. “I just got the cake rounds out of the oven. And I’ve got coffee brewing.”
Luckily she’d gotten it all set up last night so all she’d had to do was push the start button when she rushed in this morning. She hadn’t even taken the time to pour herself a cup yet. The scent had been teasing her for the last forty-five minutes while she’d prepped and baked the red velvet cake and cupcakes.
She turned back to him right as they stepped into the kitchen. “How are you?” she asked at the same time he said, “Something smells good.”
She laughed. “Oh. Thanks.” She felt her cheeks go even hotter. He really needed to stop complimenting her.
“I’m good,” he said. Then he smiled, that wide one that showed all his teeth. “It’s been a long week waiting to see you again.”
Sweet. God, he was sweet. And sexy. She’d forgotten just how much his very presence heated her blood.
He looked around, thankfully not noticing her drooling over him. “Do you need any help with anything? I know I might not look it, but I’m good in the kitchen.”
“Sure,” she said, standing up straighter. Number one rule of hospitality: it was rude to ogle guests. “Could you move that cake pan from the oven top over to this counter? So far it’s been cakepans one, Sloane zero.” She held up her arm and he winced when he saw the burn.
“Are you okay?” He immediately came over to her and gently took her arm, bringing it close to see the burn better.
All Sloane could do was blink. He was touching her. It had been so long since she’d been actually touched by anyone, much less a handsome, godlike man like this.
“Do you have any ointment we can put on it? Maybe some aloe vera?”
“What?” Sloane blinked some more. “Oh. Um. Sure.”
“Just tell me where it is and I can go grab it.” Still holding her arm, he looked down into her eyes. Her breath caught as those bright, intelligent hazel eyes landed on hers.
“Oh, it’s fine. I’ll— I’ll go get it.”
His eyebrows bunched in concern. “You sure?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, pulling back from him. Her head felt a little clearer as soon as he wasn’t touching her. “I’ll just go—” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder but still stood there for another long moment. “Right,” she finally said, turning and hurrying out of the room. So much for not being a freak.
She came back with a tube of aloe vera moisturizer and found Nicholas moving the pan where she’d asked him to.
“These look delicious,” he said, nodding at her cake tins full of red velvet cake along with the single one of cupcakes.
“I meant to have them frosted and decorated by the time you got here.” She winced a little.
“Let me guess,” he said, “life got in the way?”
She laughed. “More like sleep. But yeah.” She opened the tube of aloe vera and went to put some on her fingers so she could rub it on the burn, but Nicholas stepped close.
“Let me.” He took the tube from her and before she could say a word, he’d squirted some on two fingers and touched them to her burn.
“Ow,” she hissed, just barely forcing herself not to pull back from his touch.
“I’m sorry,” he said, voice low and brow knitted as he applied the barest pressure to spread the ointment around.
In spite of the pain, Sloane couldn’t take her eyes off the spot where his skin touched hers. She blinked, trying to memorize the feeling. But all too soon he was pulling back.
“There. Hopefully that will help a little.”
Sloane swallowed. “T-thank you.” She offered a weak smile. God, what was wrong with her? Why was she acting so shy? She was only shy when it was a character she was playing for tokens.
She shook her head like she could shake off how ridiculous she was acting. “I’ll just get the ingredients out for the frosting.”
“You make it from scratch?”
She made an offended noise. “Of course. Is there any other way?”
He grinned at her. “My mama would like you.”
Sloane narrowed her eyes as she peered at him. Occasionally, like when he’d just said mama now, the slightest accent came out.
