Page 91 of Almost Love

“It sounds pretty. But will you be able to say it the right way every time?”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ve been practicing.”

“I appreciate it. I appreciateyou.”

And I fucking love you.

With another kiss, she stepped out of his arms and pottered around the kitchen. He stayed where he was, watching her gather things and smiled to himself. Taking a page out of Clementine’s book, he’d done tons of research to find a term of endearment that she would like. Whilebabyrolled out of his mouth easily, he knew that she didn’t like it. Then he stumbled across a list of non-English words and melor appeared. He knew, in that instant, he’d found the right one.

When she looked at him over her shoulder, a small smile on her lips, his heart did a happy dance. Did she even know the power she had over him? With something as simple as that, this woman was going to destroy him.

“So, uh, what are we making?” he asked and stood beside her.

“What do you wanna do, experiments or donuts?”

“Experiments for wedding cake?” he whispered, sure that his eyes were as wide as saucers. “Think we’d have time for both?”

“Maybe. Depends on how quickly we experiment.”

“Put me to work, chef.”

She set a well-loved notebook on the counter, flipping through the pages. He peered over her shoulder and smiled at the sketches along the edges. They looked similar to the drawings he’d done not too long ago—donuts, cupcakes, slices of cake and other pastries.

“I usually scribble down what might work together, then narrow it down with one of my staff. We bake small cakes to see if everything works and the final ones become tasters.”

“That’s a lot of work for a few bites.”

“Helps me find new things to put into cake, though.” She set the notebook in front of him and said, “Mix and match from the list.”

“You want me to decide?” At her nod, he smoothed the pages down. He traced her drawings with a finger, then read through her neat handwriting. “Red velvet and coffee, chai and blueberry, honey and lavender and…maybe chocolate and carrot?”

She popped up beside him, holding baking utensils. “Good choices.”

“You’re a good choice,” he whispered, eyes meeting hers and seeing something unfamiliar reflected back at him.

“Thank you for everything yesterday.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

Nodding, she set everything down and reached for his hands. “I do. It was unexpected, but made me really happy. Especially the Reuben.”

“That’s all I want, to make you happy.”

Because they were standing so close, he heard the hitch in her breath, but chose not to read into it. Instead, he leaned in and pressed his mouth to her throat where he’d left a few hickeys not too long ago. She giggled, a sound he loved more than her moans, and put her hands on his biceps. Snaking an arm around her waist, he pulled her closer and she tilted her head to give him better access. Her fingers curled into his arms, short nails digging into his skin as he nibbled his way up to that spot behind her ear. He knew what that would do, so he kissed her there. She whimpered, quivering in his arms. The scent of vanilla and sugar was stronger there, so he nuzzled into her.

“If you keep doing that, we’ll never get anything done,” she whispered, pressing closer to him. Smiling against her skin, he peppered the length of her neck with kisses, then pulled away. “You’re dangerous.”

“That’s what I said about you.”

“I don’t seduce you with kisses in your weak spot.”

He smirked. “You seduce me with your everything, melor.”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes as she moved away, not before he caught her small smile. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter as she opened the large industrial fridge and fiddled around in there. His eyes dragged over her sneakered feet, legs and delicious ass encased in leggings until she turned with jars in her arms.

He helped her bring everything to the counter, frowning at the colorful containers. “What’s all this?”

“Flavored buttercream.” She tilted each one back to look at the labels. “I store leftovers from the previous day for this very reason. We’ve got chai, lavender and carrot. I think red velvet and coffee would work out pretty well, so we don’t have to make that one.”

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