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And another.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Wilder
The oven timer sounds, and Maven is elbow-deep in dough with flour all over her hands and arms and even a bit on her nose. It’s adorable, but I don’t think she’ll appreciate me saying that, so I try something else.
“Need help with anything, sexy lady?” Standing around and watching her work all day doesn’t feel right, and I want to help.
“Yeah, can you take those trays from the oven and put them on the racks on that table over there?”
She’s barely looking at me, just pointing one flour-covered finger.
“Sure, no problem.” I grab her girly oven mitts and open the oven, and instantly the scent of brown sugar and cinnamon hits my nose.
“Damn, that smells good. What is it?”
She smiles. “You’ve never had a ginger snap before?”
“Uh, no. At one of the foster homes I lived in, close to the holidays, I helped some of the little kids with gingerbread houses. They were hard as fuck.”
Maven laughs and shakes her head. “Let them cool for a minute, and then try one. Gingerbread isn’t the same as ginger snaps, I promise. Houses need to be sturdy and stable. Cookies are meant to be soft and chewy.”
“You mean they were nasty on purpose?”
She laughs again, and the sound is pretty and melodic, just like the woman. “I take it that means you’ve never baked before?”
“Nope. I mean, I’ve popped some garlic bread or toast in the oven before, helped out in the foster homes when I was asked, but nothing like what you have going on here.”
I look around at her professional kitchen setup and all the baked goods ready to go into the display cases.
“At the group home, we helped with dinner, but there were a couple of guys who cooked really well, so we swapped chores with them to make sure we always ate good.”
Maven laughs again and shakes her head. “It doesn’t sound as bad as I imagined,” she says wistfully, almost as if she’s happy that my upbringing wasn’t as shitty as she imagined.
I shrug off her words because everything about Maven is throwing me off kilter. I’m not looking for anything serious, but there’s something about this woman, about being with her, that makes me not just want her but want to keep her. To make her mine. Completely. Fully.
“It wasn’t all bad,” I assure her easily. “It was rough not having a family but being surrounded by other guys in the same position made it easier.”
She nods and sets a mound of dough in front of me. “Think you can roll this out for me?”
I stare at the lump of dough like it might explode. “Uhm…sure?”
She laughs. “Like this.” She pinches some flour and sprinkles it on her hands and the rolling pin, rolling it back and forth until the dough starts to flatten.
“Do you keep in touch with any of the guys from the group home?” She hands me the rolling pin and motions for me to do what she just did.
“Nah, not anymore. For a few years, me and this guy Derek kept in touch, but then I started making trips overseas that I couldn’t talk about, and the trips grew longer, and we just kind of drifted apart.”
I let out a sigh, and it turns into a laugh. “I haven’t thought about Derek in forever. He was a prankster but not mean pranks, just shit like putting clear tape on the toilet or the doorway and loosening the cap on the salt. He’s probably why we didn’t kill each other over every little thing.”
“I’ll bet you could find him if you wanted to.”
I smile at her gentle prodding because it’s just another thing to like about Maven. She isn’t just beautiful and kind, she’s funny even when she’s not trying to be, especially when she tries to use current slang.
But there’s a maturity contained within her, a settled-ness about her that draws me in and makes me crave the peace she brings. And the fact that the sex is hot as fucking hell doesn’t hurt, either. I think I’m losing my shit over this woman, and now isn’t the time to lose my shit, period.
There’s a storm brewing, and we all know it. Sure, we try to go about our daily lives at Angel Harbor Choppers or Ace Motors or any of our other businesses in town. Whether we’re drinking a beer and shooting the shit or spending time with women, though, we all know it’s coming, and we’re all ready.
