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Another head shake came his way, then she turned and leaned over the counter to retrieve a large binder. “I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for checking out my cupcakes and cookies.”
Jesus, that ass. He tilted his head, angling for a better view. “I had your cookies when I came in and they were amazing. Gotta say, so are your cupcakes.”
Her head jerked in his direction, catching him in a full-blown, wide-eyed ogling of her backside. “Were you just—” Pink flooded her face and she shook her head.
He shrugged and grinned. “Yeah, Leigh, I was.”
Another binder landed on the counter as she straightened and faced him, one eyebrow raised, arms crossed over a pair of nice, full breasts. Damn, that spunk. So cute. And hot. With her kid in the next room, meaning he needed to behave. Wasn’t going to be easy.
LEIGH
“If you weren’tyou,Sam, I’d think you were hitting on me.”
“You’d think right.” He winked, of course. Typical Sam—sexy, playful, charming.
What woman was immune to that? Certainly not her. “Uh-huh. What are you really here for?”
“You.”
And she’d thought today couldn’t get wilder. The bridezilla from Wednesday hadn’t had a single complaint about her engagement-party cake when she picked it up. A last-minute order she shouldn’t have agreed to, but couldn’t afford to turn down, had fallen into her lap. Then Tim had called, asking to take Lennox to the cottage to celebrate the start of summer vacation, meaning Leigh could work on that rush order until the wee hours, guilt-free. Now Sam was standing in her store, claiming to be herefor her. Whatever that meant.
But God, look at him. Broken-in jeans rode low on his trim hips. A black, V-neck t-shirt showed off his hard, muscular upper body. The same olive-green cap he’d worn in the coffee shop completed the sexy-young-stud look. His smile and comments made her stomach do backflips on top of the somersaults that’d started when she pushed through the kitchen door.
The coffee shop had been a coincidence. This meeting was intentional—and entirely Sam’s doing.
“I would like to buy something too.”
A business transaction. She could work with that. “Okay.” She flipped one binder open. Attempted to reclaim her normal, businesslike posture, even though his innocent flirting had made her hotter than the ovens in the kitchen. “What’s the occasion? Wedding or engagement?”
“Neither.”
“Haven’t found your happily-ever-after girl?”
He chuckled. “Not since Wednesday, no. Still looking.” Totally teasing her, but it was her fault, she’d initiated the topic.
“Birthday? Graduation? Getting the guys together to watch the fights?”
“Nothing like that.” He moved closer, covered her hand on the book. “Something small and simple for a friend. Maybe a box of those cookies your daughter introduced me to?”
“Oh, well…” She kept her eyes on his face, but it didn’t help her concentrate on baked goods. Hard to do with his fingers stroking her hand, as he had in the booth at the coffee shop. “I don’t actually sell those cookies. I don’t have anything pre-made and ready to buy. Less risk of waste.”
“I can’t imagine they’d go to waste.”
“Me either, since I’d probably eat all the leftovers rather than throw them away. Then they’d be going tomywaist.”
“That wouldn’t be all bad. You’d need to hire me again, meaning I’d have an excuse to spend time with you regularly.”
She ought to pull her hand away and laugh at his innocent flirtation. She didn’t. “How soon do you need the cookies for your friend? I’m going to be baking tonight anyway, I could make you some, if you don’t mind waiting a couple of hours. Not actually waiting around, of course. That’s not what I meant. You could come back later to pick them up. Or in the morning, since it’s Friday and you probably have plans.” Great, she’d become a rambling mess. From a simple touch. She really needed to work on thatgetting laid soonplan.
“Or I could wait, hang out with you. We can talk while you bake. I’ll help, if you tell me what to do.” His eyes drifted to the kitchen door, then back to her face. “Unless that’s a bad idea with your daughter here?”
“She won’t be here. She’s spending the weekend with her dad. He’ll be here to pick her up any minute.”
Sam trailed his fingers up her arm, sending sparks racing along her skin. “Is that a yes to hanging out?”
“It’s Friday night. Don’t you have a date?”
“I don’t know, Leigh, do I?”
