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With that, East groaned and headed to Natalie’s cupcake shop, determined not to fall into her pants again.
After a quick drive and a mental pep talk, East was staring down Natalie’s bakery door. The sign out front said Closed, and the blinds were drawn shut. But the smell of vanilla and frosting wafted from inside.
He knocked.
He heard something fall over and a soft curse. Finally, the door opened, and there stood Natalie in her apron and glasses and messy ponytail. She had a smudge of flour on her cheek.
Damn, she looked hot.
“I closed early today so I can get all these cupcakes made by Saturday.”
East grinned. “Yep, that’s why I’m here, darlin’. To help.”
She raised an eyebrow and shoved her glasses up her nose, leaving a smudge of flour behind. God, she was adorable. And that dirty apron couldn’t conceal her fantastic curves.
“I’ve got it covered.” Natalie sounded annoyed. East glanced around. It looked like she had almost all of them baked, but not frosted or decorated. Judging by the smell, there was still a chocolate batch in the oven. “Besides, you don’t have to do my brother’s bidding.”
“What makes you think Matt has anything to do with this?”
She went back to stirring a big vat of frosting. “Because I know him. Between him and my mother, they think I can’t walk and chew gum. I told him I’ve got this covered, but of course he didn’t listen to his little baby sister.”
“Maybe I want to help?” he said.
“I don’t need your kind of help,” she said.
“Oh, I think you do,” he came closer. “But I won’t make you admit it.”
“How kind of you.” She didn’t look up from her frosting, but her shoulders relaxed just a bit. Or maybe he was just imagining it.
“Why don’t you just tell me how you fix these and I can do some?” East offered. “Like put on the frosting before you do all the fancy, uh, decorating stuff?” Sure, these weren’t technical terms, but maybe he wasn’t a total waste of space.
“I’m not going all out with these. They’re just going to be your basic cupcakes, but it still takes finesse.” She spared him a glance over her shoulder then gathered a bit of frosting on the spreader and picked up the cupcake.
“Finesse,” he repeated as he watched her delicate hands work the frosting on the mini cake. “I have some skills in the finesse department.”
Natalie snorted.
“What? You disagree?”
“I think you have skill.” She gave him a saucy smile and credit and that made him want to grin. “But finesse? Sorry, I didn’t feel any of that when I was up against the wall of the bar the other night.”
“That’s because you were busy feeling two orgasms,” he countered. “And anyway, those weren’t my best moves. Just efficient and—judging by your moans—enjoyable. I didn’t have the time or privacy to show you what I can really do.”
She put the cake down and spun to face him. “Oh yeah? I think I have a pretty good idea of what you do, East. And like I said, I’m not a notch. And this,” she motioned between them, “isn’t a good idea. I don’t have the energy or time to fight with you right now.”
“Who said anything about fighting?”
She rolled her eyes. “When don’t we fight?”
“Is that what we’ve been doing? I thought it was foreplay.”
He smiled and she glared. “There you go, making jokes. Casual, confident East. Nothing but swagger. You couldn’t take a funeral seriously.”
If only she knew how much she threatened all that swagger she was calling him out on. Her. Just her. He’d never felt so on edge for a woman before. Never wanted one so badly. Until
Natalie.
“If you’re looking to hurt my feelings, darlin’, you’re getting there. Why don’t you tell me what is actually on your mind instead of giving me hell?”
