Yet, this adorable guy with the dark eyes and cute blush had his libido sitting up and taking notice.
Baer paused near the rear of his Jeep, watching the guy walk into the bakery. There was something…familiar about him. Comfortable. Baer mentally prodded at the errant feeling in his chest, trying to get it to cough up more details, but nothing was forthcoming. It wasn’t quite the same feeling he’d gotten when he first met Clay or Grey. Then it had been like he’d known them his whole life.
Of course, he’d met Clay and Grey when all hell was breaking loose around them.
This guy…well, Baer just wasn’t sure. But it was simply odd that he’d gotten a feeling at all.
With a shake of his head, he brushed it aside. It could be that he hadn’t gotten laid in a long time, and those plush lips were a sinful invitation for so many fun and naughty visions.
Not that he’d pursue Blondie.
The guy was cute enough, but random hookups had largely lost their appeal since Clay had found Dane. His soul mate. They’d been sweet together before the bonding ceremony, but now that they were permanently linked, their cuteness had reached nauseating levels.
And Baer was jealous.
He wanted that. He wanted someone who knew him, accepted him, loved him—flaws and all—as completely as Dane loved Clay.
It made thoughts of a fun and dirty quickie seem cheap when he could have so much more.
Grunting at his bleak thoughts, Baer resumed his trek toward the bakery. Brooding wasn’t getting him any closer to pumpkin doughnuts and a fresh cup of coffee. He’d obviously not had enough caffeine that morning. It was time to remedy that.
Of course, putting aside thoughts of Blondie wasn’t gonna happen.
Stepping into the bakery, Baer quickly glanced around the place with its white walls and framed pictures of fancy wedding cakes. There were about a dozen tables and chairs spread on either side of the aisle along with a few booths. Some of the customers probably liked hanging out with their coffee and sweets.
There were about five people ahead of Baer in line—all of them staring at their phones or the shiny glass case protecting a tantalizing rainbow of doughnuts and pastries. Including the sexy blond Mini Cooper owner who was right in front of Baer in line. While Baer was a relatively average height of five ten, the blond was at least a delicate five seven or maybe five eight. The guy looked up from his phone as Baer stepped up behind him, and he flashed a nervous smile.
“Hey,” he greeted in a slightly husky voice and then flushed some more.
Yeah, this guy was all kinds of adorable.
“Mornin’,” Baer replied. “You ever been here before?”
The man shook his head, shoving his phone into his pocket. “No. It was recommended to me recently. When I woke up this morning, I just had to have doughnuts.” He gave a nervous little laugh. “I guess that’s the result of nonstop marketing at its best. It’s fall, so we’ve all gotta eat pumpkin-flavored everything for the next month.”
Blondie had the sexiest southern drawl. It wasn’t too thick. Probably a local, but he’d spent some time out of the area. Just enough to lose some of its natural thickness, but those lilting drawls still mesmerized Baer when he spoke, leaving him wondering how his lips and tongue wrapped around each vowel and consonant.
Good grief. He really did need to grab Grey for a boys’ night out in Savannah if he was going to start fantasizing about a nerdy twink’s mouth. Soul mates and forever sounded great, but it was clear that he needed to get laid. And what better time was there? Things were quiet. They weren’t running and fighting for their lives.
Pumpkin doughnuts and sex could do a growing boy good.
The bell hanging from the front door announced the arrival of another customer. Baer was about to ask the man’s name when the heavy scent of rotting flesh rolled through the room, overpowering the delicious miasma of frosting and fried dough.
Fuck.
He didn’t even need to turn around to know that behind him, pestilents had stepped into the bakery. It wasn’t enough that the alien race was attempting to steal the power of the earth to save their own dying planet while killing all Weavers in the process, but they had to interrupt his attempts at flirting as well? Just not cool.
Silently, Baer cursed himself and his luck. They’d all grown a little complacent over the past couple of months. They’d even started venturing away from the protection of the plantation without backup because the pestilents had stopped attacking.
Apparently they’d gathered enough numbers to make another go at the Weavers, and he’d not been paying attention to his surroundings to check to make sure there were no pestilents close. Instead of checking in with the animals in the area that there were no pestilents around, he’d let himself get distracted by big chestnut-brown eyes and a sweet smile.