Page 48 of Cupcake of the Month
Anthon’s gaze took in Josh’s tightened muscles and took a few steps back. “My fingers slipped. Sorry. Will you please cut some fruit?”
The kitchen at breakfast was Josh’s terrain, his battleground, even if Anthon had given Jordan a reason to stay. She held her breath and raised an eyebrow in question.
Josh responded with a lift of one shoulder. She’d take it.
When she approached the refrigerator, she ran her palm lightly across Josh’s shoulders. Just a touch, to let him know she wasn’t done with him yet.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice low and controlled.
“What do you mean?” She blinked. “I’m getting the fruit.”
She rinsed the berries, standing with her hip pressed against his. She felt an answering push before he stepped away.
Since peaches were sacred at Fountenoy Hall, she left them out of the common fruit salad. In went the strawberries and bananas, blackberries, and cantaloupe. Anthon placed grapefruits next to her cutting board.
Josh picked them back up and moved them to the counter. Good. She hated grapefruit. Their flavor always took over.
After she peeled, washed, and cut the fruit, she placed everything in a clear glass bowl. She threw away the tops and stems, and timed putting the salad away to coincide with Josh getting milk.
“Oops,” she said. “Excuse me.”
He stared into her eyes for a moment, the blue growing darker with wanting. He leaned forward, his lips caressing hers all too briefly, sending sparks in her blood. She gave a hum of approval.
Now it was time to make her strategic exit and leave him wanting more.
The unseen banana peel on the floor, however, had other ideas.
Her feet defied gravity while she flailed her arms, trying to find purchase on the island as her body embraced the laws of physics. She landed on the unforgiving floor, pain radiating in her left wrist as it made impact.
“Oouuuuuuuuuuuch.” She couldn’t stifle the groan that developed from inside her chest.
“Jordan!” Josh was beside her in an instant, his hands hovering while his eyes scanned her body.
Of all the tripping hazards in all the world, she was felled by her own banana peel. And she couldn’t have done it without witnesses. No, that wouldn’t have been nearly humiliating enough.
Anthon stood above her, a bag of bread in his hand. “Are you all right?”
What the hell did he think? Heat suffused her cheeks and she avoided any eye contact as she tried to breathe through the pain. She was about as all right as a two-foot yard stick.
Josh shoved the stools out of the way and gently eased her into a sitting position with her back against the island. “Let me see.”
“I’m okay,” she grunted, clutching her wrist to her chest. Besides, she’d been hurt worse playing ball.
He picked up the offending fruit peel and chucked it into the trash. “Let me get you some ice.”
“Wow, good looking and capable of first aid.” She gritted her teeth and gave a harsh exhale to keep from groaning. “How did I get so lucky?”
“You can’t stay there,” Anthon said. “You’re in the way.”
Jordan ignored him and focused on her breathing. Slow inhale. The pain in her wrist would go away. Slow exhale. Hopefully before her party tonight.
Josh placed the baggie of ice and a towel on the island. “Let’s get you off the floor.”
“I can do it,” she said. She pivoted to her knees and gasped at the shooting, knifelike agony rippling up her arm. Her slow inhale lodged in her chest.
“Let me help you, Jay.” His velvet voice caressed her.
“She said she’s fine,” Anthon said to Josh.
