Page 18 of Sweet Spot

Chapter Thirteen

Macy

Of course, the last thing I needed at the start of my new business was to be located out front of Chase's apartment complex. Yesterday, the work day had dragged on, mostly because I'd spent time between customers waiting to see Chase walk out of the building. If I'd had a tiny click counter in my hand to squeeze every time my gaze landed on the giant glass doors of the building, I would have moved the number five digits. And that was being conservative. But I'd been in the plaza, peddling my goods, for four hours, and I never saw him come outside.

Naturally, my mind went right to the idea that he had gone on to a party or another date after he'd dropped me off at home. Then the wretched scenario of him walking out of the building with a woman, or even two, on his arm turned my disappointment at not seeing him into relief.

After his kisses, which I could still feel on my lips, I'd had an impossible time getting him out of my head. It was as if Chase had turned on a switch, a switch that had been turned off for four years. Which brought me back to the conclusion that Chase was the last thing I needed right now. But I didn't have enough willpower against his charms to cut things off. I had never been one to shy away from something new and this was definitely new.

The fragrance of almonds and brown sugar filled my small house. The oven timer rang. I clicked out of my spread sheets and closed my laptop. I walked to the oven and pulled out the tray of bear claws.

After the breakup, Trevor had hinted at me giving back the very expensive engagement ring he'd bought me. It was a ring that I had always had mixed feelings about. There was no way not to admire the massive sparkling diamond in the middle of it, but big diamonds had never been my thing. Neither had impractical jewelry, and an oversized rock on the ring finger of a baker was highly impractical. I couldn't count the number of times I'd nearly lost the thing when I had taken it off to knead dough. Trevor knew I wasn't all that keen on wearing it. But when he had asked for it back, I flatly told him that I had earned the fucking thing. And then I promptly took it to a jewelry consignment store and sold it. I'd gotten enough for the stupid thing to buy myself a professional stove and convection oven. They were far more practical than a sparkling diamond.

I tried to ignore the fact that it was past four o'clock. It was silly to think that someone like Chase would have time on his weekend calendar to hang out in a tiny house sampling baked goods. Just as I pushed away the depressing image of Chase sitting in a swanky club with a girl on his lap and another at his side sipping expensive drinks and forgetting entirely about the girl in the linen apron leaned over a rolling pin and hot stove, a knock on the door startled me. The bear claw I'd been transferring to the cooling rack took a quick exit from the spatula and landed upside down on the wire rack. At least we had our tasting sample.

I'd imagined myself streaked with flour, only to discover, as I looked at my reflection in the oven, that I actually had one streak across my cheek. I lifted the bottom edge of my apron and wiped it off and then remembered that I was wearing the darn apron, complete with buttery grease and strawberry stains.

I untied it and dropped it on the hook in the kitchen. It had been a warm day outside, and my tiny house, with its professional, super powered oven, was hot, so I had dressed in shorts and a tank shirt. Shoes had never been my thing, especially when I baked. I pulled the band out of my hair, and it fell around my shoulders. I couldn't remember a time when I wasn't wearing a ponytail around Chase. It seemed that somehow during my years with Trevor, I'd forgotten how to be sexy. Thinking back, I was far better at flirting and acting sexy when I was in high school. God, was there anything in my life the man hadn't destroyed?

Chase had just lifted his fist to knock again as I swung the door open. I was relieved to see him in shorts and a t-shirt. And he looked incredible no matter what he was wearing.

He pointed behind him. "With the mouthwatering aroma circling your front yard, I'm surprised you don't have a crowd of people standing on the sidewalk trying to get a glimpse or a taste of the sweets inside."

"Actually, you missed the crowd and the parade that followed, where they had me hoisted on a float made of bread dough that was shaped like a brioche." I motioned him in with my head. "You're in luck though. I just made a complete mess of a bear claw. So if you don't mind a less than pretty pastry, I can still guarantee the flavor."

"I can look past the flaws." He followed me to the kitchen. I scooped the broken pastry onto a plate. "Milk?"

"Naturally."

I poured him a glass of milk and led him out to the front room. He sat on the couch, my shabby secondhand find, and looked comically spectacular in the middle of my very unspectacular apartment.

I sat on my knees and faced him as he tasted the bear claw.

"I tried a new ratio of butter, brown sugar and almond paste. I think they are moister now."

Chase was even appealing when he ate. I was going to have to find some irksome habits and traits soon, or I was going to find myself irrevocably smitten. Actually, I worried that that was already the case.

"I assumed a guy who grew up the youngest of four brothers and one with no mom to correct bad habits at the table would eat like a slob. I've seen so many men gobble food like drunken medieval knights just back from a long war, licking their fingers, smacking their lips and barely taking a breath in between. But you savor each bite."

"That's because each bite is worth savoring. But catch me after a long day of rock climbing with a double cheeseburger in front of me, and I would probably live up to those medieval standards just fine."

"You like rock climbing?"

"I do. I find it a nice escape from everyday life. And it's a great way to stay in shape."

"A scary way, you mean. Of course, I'm afraid of heights, so I might be biased in my opinion."

"Believe it or not, I was too."

He finished the bear claw and milk. "I think it had to do with an incident with my older brother. Tommy dangled me off the roof by my ankles. Thought I was a goner for sure. That time, Tommy took the punishment. Not me. When some friends started rock climbing, I decided to take the challenge and face my fear. My fear of heights is gone. Unless Tommy is near, then the whole nightmarish scenario comes right back to me."

I spun around to my bottom and stretched my legs out to rest my feet on the coffee table. Chase drew his gaze along my legs, and I found myself imagining what it would feel like if his hands smoothed over my bare skin.

"How the heck do you stay so thin with all these goodies around you all the time?"

His words popped me out of my temporary sensual daydream.

"I think I'm around the stuff all day, so it's easy not to eat it. It's like when I was little and I watched my mom take just a tiny portion of food on Thanksgiving. She used to say that after spending all darn day with her hand up a turkey, she just didn't feel much like eating it. I think it's the same way with me. My hands are always covered with sticky dough and sugar. It's easy not to eat too much of it."

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