Page 51 of Perfect Pairing
“True,” she said with a giggle.
“So how did today go?” I asked when I reclined on my bed and nestled into my mountain of pillows.
Yeah, I’d chosen to get off before we even had a conversation. I’d had a shitty day, and I needed that release. Brie hadn’t complained. I loved how her sparkling emerald eyes darkened to pine green when she was turned on, and I loved her soft, sexy words of encouragement while I worked myself over. She’d been happy to let me, whispered how good she knew my cock would feel inside her. How my hands would feel on her body. How badly she wanted to taste me.
I was spilling all over my bathroom sink in minutes.
But today was a big day for her. She’d been so nervous the past few weeks as the date of her competition with Bryce neared. I had to remind her frequently that she was talented, capable, and was going to wow the judges. If she didn’t come out on top, that was okay. The experience alone, having industry professionals give honest critiques of her work, would only make her a better baker.
But her worth wasn’t tied up in some contest that wouldn’tmean anything in the long run, and I hoped however today had gone, she remembered that.
Secretly, I’d been making it my personal mission to ensure she did.
“Amazing!” she breathed. “I blew everyone away.”
“Gonna need a bit more than ‘amazing,’ honey,” I said.
“Ez…” she trailed off. Then, tone full of awe and wonder, she added, “I won.”
My heart expanded so quickly and widely in my chest, it felt like it was going to burst. With pride. With excitement. With a whole slew of other emotions I wasn’t prepared to name.
“Fuck yeah, you did!” I whisper-yelled. “I’m so fucking proud of you!”
She was practically preening for me now, her head held high, the most satisfied grin I’d ever seen her wear dancing on her lips—which was saying something, given how many times I’d dirty talked her through an orgasm.
“Guess all those nights spent coaching a helpless chef through pastry baking really paid off.”
“Watch it,” I growled, and Brie laughed. “I’m not helpless. My area of expertise is just elsewhere.”
“You have turned me into a much better chef,” she conceded.
“You’re damn right.”
“And…you’ve helped me become more confident too.”
The pride coursing through my veins morphed to something softer and sweeter in an instant. All I wanted in that moment was to hug her.
Kiss her.
Maybe fuck her.
Okay,definitelyfuck her.
But the distance had been good for us. It had given us the opportunity to explore this thing without the stakes being too high. We could seek our pleasure together from over three hundred miles away, and no one would be the wiser. While we texted almost all day, every day between work and other duties, it hadn’t affected our daily lives in any negative way.
In fact, my life was richer for having Brie in it, even if it was unorthodox.
But she was moving home in less than two weeks, and while I knew she’d be busy getting her bakery up and running and I was in the middle of the summer season at the winery, I wondered how we’d navigate that new terrain. Would the pull I felt to her be stronger, knowing she was only a few miles away? Would we be able to resist, or would we damn the consequences and give in?
Six months ago, none of this would’ve bothered me. I had been so focused on settling into our new life and keeping Hansen happy and cared for that I hadn’t balked when Brie pumped the brakes. We had, after all, only spent a handful of hours together. That wasn’t enough to go turning my—and my son’s—entire world upside down.
But that was six months ago.
Now, confronted with Brie’s impending return to Apple Blossom Bay, a date that was no longer some shimmering mirage in the distance but sharply in focus right in front of us, it was time to take a good, hard look at what our relationship would look like going forward.
I wanted her in ways I’d never wanted a woman before, but herdad was my boss, which, according to him, made her off limits. We’d gotten away with it so far because it was easy to keep these nightly phone calls a secret. If her father found out what I was doing with his youngest daughter—and how badly I wanted to move things from cyberspace to a physical one—he wouldn’t hesitate to kick my ass out the winery door. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t piss on my life and set it on fire.
“What’re we going to do, Brie?” I asked quietly.
