Page 32 of The Alpha and the Baker
Especially when he returned so quickly that he was actually able to help Gary unload the truck. My order was about a third of what it used to be for most things, but flour was still pretty high up there since I used it for pretty much everything. I orderedabout eight bags every two weeks, and usually that was the right amount, give or take a bag.
But I hoped I could bump it up to ten bags during the busy season. That would be a huge sign that I was headed in the right direction.
“You be safe now, Miss Felicia,” Gary said, tipping his head before slamming the rear doors of his van. I would have waved back, but I was holding a case of heavy cream, which was living up to its name even with my baker muscles.
“You too, Gary. Tell Mr. and Mrs. Munoz I said hi.”
“Will do.”
With that, he drove off. I headed back inside, where Cas was just returning from carrying the last two bags. Maybe I was a bittoocaught up in those biceps of his and his strut, because the next thing I knew, I was tripping over my slightly askew welcome mat.
I braced instinctually and squeezed my eyes shut, but while I did reach a sudden stop, there was no pain. Confused, I opened my eyes to find myself face-to-face with Cas yet again.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I murmured, caught up in those intense eyes of his. Honestly, I was impressed I had the capacity to string together a coherent sentence with my body reacting so viscerally to our close proximity.
He’d caught me.
Physically caught me.
Like something out of a Hollywood movie, his arm was around the small of my back as he supported my full weight.
That was so fucking hot.
Shit! The heavy cream!
That was so expensive, and my stomach sank at how costly it would be to replace it. As Cas slowly righted me, I realized our feet weren’t wet. In fact, there wasn’t even a drop of white liquid on the floor, let alone an alabaster flood.
No, he couldn’t have.
But sure enough, when I focused on Cas’s other arm, I saw that he’d caught that too and was balancing it like it was nothing.
Whowasthis guy?
“Are you okay there?” he asked, voice layered with concern, which definitely did things for me. Was that weird? Maybe. I was pretty sure I was past caring.
“AmIokay?” I retorted. “You’re the one who basically stopped two hundred pounds in freefall, give or take.” I actually wasn’t one hundred percent certain how much the box of heavy cream weighed, considering it was categorized by unit as opposed to weight. “You sure you didn’t dislocate your shoulder or something?
He huffed a laugh under his breath and got me the rest of the way to my feet. What was it about the guy that always made me feel like I was living in my own personal rom-com? The things that happened around him were just too perfect for real life.
Or maybe I was just a lot more romantic and lonely than I’d thought.
“Nah, I’m fine. Farm strength, ya know?”
Ah, yeah. I had heard about that. There were certain jobs and lifestyles that had their own special strength to them, and mine was one of them. I had averydeveloped upper body for someone who didn’t go to the gym, and I’d been told by my doctor back when I had insurance that my forearms were overdeveloped. But I was pretty proud of my baker’s biceps, and I preferred them a tad more than my baker’s belly.
Not that I didn’t like my stomach. I used to be self-conscious about it when I was younger, especially considering how hyper-skinny Asian women were “supposed” to be, but I’d grown to love it. I liked being a touch soft, and flaring out from my tummy into some wider hips. Besides, without my extra fluff, my booty would be a lot smaller, and I certainly didn’t want that.
“I gotcha.” I chuckled. What I was laughing at, I didn’t quite know, but I supposed with all the adrenaline and whatnot, everything was a bit amplified. It was beginning to feel like I had a certified crush on a man I’d only just met, which was totally outside the norm for me. I could count the crushes I’d had in life on one hand, and one of them was Keanu Reeves and one was Queen Latifah. “Well, thank you so much for your help. Anything else I can do before you boogie out of here?”
I didn’t know why I asked it that way, but I supposed I was giving him a way to stay longer if he wanted to.
A serious expression settled over his strong features.
Serious as if he was going to ask me out?
Did I evenwantthat? I was currently struggling to save my business, so what kind of time would I have for a relationship? It hadn’t even been on my mind in years, and yet when Cas’s green eyes landed on me, the thought was very much there.
But then the seriousness cleared, and he was grinning at me again.
