AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You work at the Muffin Tin, which explains why you always smell good. Tell me what else I need to know.”
He thought I smelled good? He noticed how I smelled? A little thrill went through me for some reason at the idea of Rock thinking about that.
“There’s really not much else. Dad is nearby, so I have no plans to leave, even though...”
“Here it comes. Tell me the dream.”
“I’d like to go to culinary school.”
“This is why you got so upset about the kitchen?”
“Only semi-related,” I assured him. “I’ve always love to bake and cook, and working at the Tin just makes me wish it was mine.”
“So your plan is to go off to learn some incredible cutting-edge culinary strategies and then open a competing bakery in Singletree?”
I laughed. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t really have a plan. I can’t leave my dad right now.”
“Because...”
“Because he’s old and alone. He needs me.”
Rock didn’t say anything to that, and we finished our meal making small talk about the weather, the boardwalk, and what it was like living in one of Maryland’s prettiest spots, remote though it was.
“Let’s walk,” Rock said after he insisted on paying for brunch and we found ourselves facing one another on the boardwalk outside.
I checked my watch. “I have about an hour.”
“Perfect.”
We walked, the late spring sun beating down on us as the salty air began to hint at the warmth of summer to come. A few other people were scattered down the length of the long wooden boardwalk, and walking by Rock’s side felt strangely comfortable.
He told me about hockey, about how he’d gotten into playing, and how he’d been recruited to his team out of college. “Can’t play forever, though,” he said, sounding almost sad. “And I guess I’m kind of starting to think about that. About what’s next.”
We’d come to a stop along the edge of the walkway, and faced each other with the cement wall to our side and the sound of the water lapping beneath us as sea birds wheeled above.
“What’s next?” I asked him, sensing a subtle shift in the air between us as his eyes met mine again.
“I think next,” he answered slowly, his eyes dipping to my mouth and then slowly coming back up. “Next, I’d like to kiss you.”
I responded without intending to, stepping closer and tilting my chin up to him, and one of Rock’s enormous hands moved gently to cup my cheek, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw. And then slowly, almost painfully so, he inclined his head to meet my lips.
The kiss was tentative, at least at first. His lips were soft and gentle, and the touch on mine was just a whispered suggestion, a hint. But a tiny sound escaped me then—a mix of pleasure and disbelief—and it must have been a cue to Rock to increase the pressure.
His arms went around me, pulling me against his solid form, and I found my own hands on his back, trying to get closer to him, to increase the contact between us. His lips moved against mine, his tongue teasing until I opened to him, and he dipped the tip of his tongue into my mouth.
Sparks exploded in my mind—I’d never been kissed like this. Ever.
Rock’s mouth moved expertly, coaxing, tasting, teasing me until I was practically wrapped around him, a rag doll in his grip.
Finally, he broke contact, keeping me pulled against him as he gazed down with darkened eyes. “We’re going to have to stop or this is going to get out of hand. And there are children around.”
That snapped me out of it, and I detached myself from his enormous form as quickly as I could. My legs were a bit shaky. “I, uh. Yeah.”
“Shall I deliver you to work?” he asked, stepping back and running a big hand through his wavy hair, sending it standing on end in a very sexy sort of mess.
“Oh. Ah.” I was having a hard time getting my brain to click back into place. “Yes. Thanks.”
Rock drove me to The Muffin Tin, greeted Lottie with a kiss to the cheek, and then departed, leaving me with a spinning head and a bit of explaining to do.
