Page 6 of Small City Heart
“Huh?” Charlie was wholly unprepared for the dessert judgment and Patrick’s sudden chattiness.
Without warning, Patrick lifted his camera and took a picture of Charlie’s face. “You look so confused right now.” He glanced down at the camera screen and smiled.
“Hey!”
“Why peach?”
“I always get peach. It’s my favorite.”
“Have you tried any of the others?”
Charlie shook his head, still feeling too slow for this conversation.
“Oh God. I get it now. You’re boring. Ice cream or no ice cream?”
“None. I’m not boring.” He couldn’t believe this infuriating man was insulting him and making him smile this wide at the same time. It felt like flirting.
“Prove it.”
Charlie leaned his elbows on the counter, putting their faces closer together. “How?”
“Try the freaking blackberry! Duh.”
“What if I don’t like it?”
“Then we can’t be friends.” Patrick rolled his eyes again. “I’ll eat it if you don’t like it. Try one bite.”
“You already had some. Would you actually want another piece?” Charlie hated for Veronica’s hard work to go to waste.
“My ass doesn’t need another piece, but I’ll love every second of it.”
“Your ass is fine.”
“Yeah, okay, Mr. Suddenly Gay. Peach or blackberry?”
“I’ve always been. Gay, I mean.”
Patrick’s gaze, which had been teasing and full of humor a second before, softened, and his smile was slightly less sharp. “So … peach?”
Charlie groaned. “Blackberry, you monster.God.”
“Yes!” Patrick carefully spooned out a slice of warm blackberry cobbler and placed it on a plate in front of him on the counter. Then he handed Charlie a fork. “Try it.”
Charlie cut himself a bite. As he was lifting it to his lips, he heard aclick.Then another. He glanced up to see Patrick, camera in place, memorializing the event. With a laugh, Charlie shoved the cobbler in his mouth. Gooey tartness burst on his tongue, surprising him. The fruit was juicy and the flaky crust as perfect and buttery as ever. He hummed in his throat and swallowed.
“Okay. You win.” He ate another mouthful, and with a smug grin, Patrick put the peach cobbler back in the display case. “You want a bite?” Charlie asked when he caught Patrick watching him.
“Sure.”
Patrick snatched the fork out of Charlie’s hand. Before Charlie could do more than blink, Patrick had the fork in his mouth and a happy little moan snuck past his lips.
Charlie’s whole body lit up, and it was ridiculous. Knowing both their mouths had touched the same utensil shouldn’t make him so hot. Patrick slowly slid the fork out, the tines pressing into his full, pink lips. The move turned Charlie on so much it might as well have been Charlie’s dick sliding between those lips.
Fuck.
Patrick caught Charlie’s eyes and winked, then he handed the fork back, smiled, and said, “Cobblers are on me. Enjoy.”
With a slight bounce, Patrick turned and slipped through the kitchen doors again. Charlie’s knees were weak, but he managed to get the cobblers, including his half-eaten blackberry, back to the table where his co-workers all applauded.Those jerks.
He ate the rest of his cobbler with a smile.
