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And cute. “A man’s been known to bring a woman flowers now and then.” He chuckled.
Her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink. “I—I... Thank you.” She took the flowers, staring down at the blooms as she asked, “You stopped by to give me flowers?”
He sat. “Partly. Thought I’d sign up to judge your Gingerbread Festival.”
Her eyes locked with his. Surprise, again. Good. The element of surprise would keep her on her toes and give him the upper hand.
But as she sank into her seat, she looked his way with open suspicion. “Why?”
“It’ll give us time together.” He saw no point in beating around the bush.
Her shoulders drooped. “Ash, you don’t need to do this—”
“Maybe I want to.” Their futures were forever tied now. They owed it to each other—and their baby—to get to know one another.
She looked at him then, those blue eyes knocking the air from his lungs. He waited, bracing himself for what she’d say or do next. But when she finally spoke, she neatly sidestepped the elephant in the room altogether. “Have you ever judged a baking competition before? Or a gingerbread house competition?”
“No. But I’ve eaten my fair share.” He grinned, watching her do her best to fight back an answering smile.
She shook her head, losing her battle in spite of her best efforts. “You go ahead and tease all you want, but this is a serious competition.”
She looked tired. Like she hadn’t slept all that well last night. He knew the feeling. Teddy Boone was right. She had to start taking better care of herself—for the baby’s sake if nothing else. “Did you eat breakfast?” he asked.
He caught her glance at the clock on her wall. “I wasn’t hungry. But I’ll have a big lunch to make up for it.”
“I’m headed to the real estate place around the corner.” He stood. “I’ll come back to get you and we can have lunch together.”
“Wait,” she said, placing the flowers on her desk and standing. “I can’t have lunch today. I’m too busy.”
He didn’t doubt she was busy but, dammit, he wasn’t a fool. She was doing her best to keep him at arm’s length. Guess she needed to know he could be just as stubborn as she was.
“You have to eat. Besides, how else are you going to catch me up to speed on the whole judging thing? You just said it was a serious competition. I don’t want to mess that up for anyone.”
She wavered, chewing on her lower lip. That was the thing about Renata—that mix of genuine sweetness and mind-numbing sexiness. He had to focus, to keep his goal in mind, or he’d be staring at her like an idiot in no time. Again. “Be back at eleven—since you didn’t eat breakfast,” he reminded her. “The baby’s growing, Renata. It’s up to you to take care of the both of you.”
“Ash,” she squeaked. Her eyes widened and the color drained from her cheeks as she marched around the desk and opened her office door. “I can take care of me...us...just fine.” Her defiant whisper was the cutest damn thing he’d ever seen.
He nodded, standing in the doorway—inches from her. “Good, glad to hear it. Eleven it is.” She smelled like roses.
“Ash,” she hissed when he turned to go.
He faced her, close enough to breathe her in—and make the air between them spark instantly to life. And it did. Every inch of him was aware of one thing. “Renata,” he murmured, the urge to touch her crowding in on him.
She was breathing heavily, her cheeks resuming that rosy glow. “You... I...”
Damn it all, he couldn’t help himself. His fingertips traced along her satin skin. Her temple, down her cheek, along her jaw, to her chin. “You’re glad I stopped by. Can’t wait for lunch?” He paused, smiling. “Really want a kiss goodbye?”
She shook her head, her gaze fixed on his mouth. Her lips parted slightly.
Well hell. He wanted to kiss her goodbye. Wanted to feel her in his arms. More than wanted to. “Need a kiss goodbye?” He could barely get the words out.
She shook her head again but didn’t move when he leaned in. It would be easy to pull her close. She wouldn’t resist—he knew it. If they weren’t in her office, he might have considered it. But he wasn’t sure pressing her flat against a wall to kiss her senseless was the same thing as being charming. And he needed to be charming. He dug deep, resisting what he wanted for what needed to be done. Almost. At the last minute, he kissed her cheek.
Hearing her soft sound of disappointment and annoyance had him smiling the rest of the morning.
Chapter 6
Renata was mortified. As a result, she’d spent the past few hours in hiding in her office with the door closed. Never in her life had she behaved so...so unprofessionally.
