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Chapter 8
Remy
Remy whimpered as Mikel pulled her close to him in a hug. She had somehow ended up on his lap again. His arousal underneath her made her yearn to have him buried deep inside where she throbbed and ached with hot emptiness for him.
“Why did you stop?” she asked, breathless. His own racing heartbeat matched hers beat for beat, pounding against her chest.
“If I don’t stop now, you’ll be spread out under me and I’ll take the one thing you can never get back. I can’t do that to you,” he said, almost like it pained him to admit it.
“What if I want you to?”
His grip tightened around her. She’d asked the question aloud in her lust-induced haze.
“Let’s go out to dinner.”
She nodded. His arms loosened and she stood. She didn’t have to miss his touch for long because he took her hand and led her down the stairs towards his truck.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked, opening her door.
She climbed in. “Pizza could be good. Pirate’s Pizzeria does the best gluten-free crusts.”
He shut the door and climbed in on his side. Starting the engine, he said, “How do you work in a place where you can’t eat any of the baked goods?”
“I need the experience. It isn’t so bad. I bake my own things at home for practice,” she said, buckling her seat belt.
“Is your Stardust Bakery gonna have gluten-free stuff?” he asked, driving them towards their destination.
She smiled. “Yes. It will be a completely gluten-free and celiac-friendly establishment. I want to look into baking without any grains at all. After all my research, I’ve found new flours to experiment with so I can actually eat the food I cook. Something called cassava; have you ever heard of it?” she asked. Most people’s eyes glazed over when she went into detail on the chemistry of baking.
Mikel just flashed her a smile and said, “Nope. I’m sure if you want to do something, you could pull it off, Remy.”
Hope spiraled in her chest. He believed in her.
* * *
They slid into a booth at Pirate’s, and she ordered an iced tea and the special on a gluten-free crust. Mikel ordered a beer. The server brought out their drinks as they settled into an easy conversation.
“Today, Dolly wanted us to make two hundred cupcakes for a wedding while she focused on the cake as I’m still learning how to work with fondant. It’s kind of like clay. Anyways, it was fun,” she said as he gave her his undivided attention.
“That’s cool.”
“How about yours?” she asked.
“Pretty good. We got the framing done for the garage of a client,” he answered simply.
Mikel started tapping his foot on the ground.
“What is your favorite thing about your job?” she asked.
Mikel took a long sip of his beer. After setting it down, he began peeling the label off as he answered, “I like the numbers. The office end of things is probably my favorite, but I like being able to bring something to life with my hands too.” He held up his palms. “Building requires a lot of math. I mean, I was never great in school because it just wasn’t useful then. I think I learned better when the information was actually applicable. I had the basics, and then I figured out the rest through trial and error, or watching other people. It’s also a nice way to tire myself out.” He sipped his beer again.
Remy smiled as she listened intently, soaking up the pieces of himself he was willing to share with her. She was honored that he trusted her. “You’re incredible.”
He drained what was left of his beer before he shook his head. “Hardly.”
Remy wanted to ask him why he didn’t agree, but the server brought their hot pies. Mikel ordered another beer before she left.
“This smells so good.” Remy inhaled the cheesy tomato pizza.
