“Shhh! Don’t be a child!” I hiss back at my sister. She looks like she’s positively gloating. My eyes dart out the window and my heart skips a beat to see Brooks looking back at me from the outside lot. He grins and winks at me, and I grin back.
Lilah just looks smug. “So, are you guys, like, together now?”
“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. I think so? We didn’t actually talk much.” My face is blazing now. “He asked if I would eat dinner at his house tonight though.” I bite my lip, suddenly unsure. We really didn’t talk about this beyond “I want you.”
Lilah grins at me. “Maybe you should try talking to him during dinner then. Wait to jump his bones until after you have a conversation.”
***
I work through lunch and by the time four o’clock rolls around I’m basically stewing in my own nerves and anxiety. The only thing saving me from going absolutely insane is the mountain of work I need to finish. Inventory, prep lists, placing orders, and payroll keep me running all day.
Lilah says I should stop worrying and just talk to Brooks. She’s right, of course, but it doesn’t stop my mind from running wild.
I know he said he would never regret “this” and then kissed me, but we had like zero conversation beyond that. We just went from zero to sixty in the hook up department. To me, it felt like we were getting together, but what if that’s not what Brooks meant? In my experience, men don’t stick around. I want to believe that Brooks is better than that. I do believe it. But it’s still a hard thing for me to wrap my head around.
“Stop stewing!” Lilah scolds as she walks by carrying a tray of hot chocolate chip cookies. I huff at her, but she’s right. I’ve been nervously chewing my lip so much that I need to find some chapstick. I quickly finish cleaning up my station and check in with my prep staff.
Everything is running smoothly, even with all the extra Christmas orders, so I run upstairs to shower and get cleaned up for dinner with Brooks. I manage to shave my legs, blow dry my hair and throw on some mascara and chapstick in record time, but standing in front of my closet, I’m stumped.
What exactly does a girl wear for a first date with a man she’s already slept with? Considering that I really need to talk to Brooks before anything else happens, maybe I should wear Granny panties and a bunch of layers? I wonder if that would keep things PG? Pfft. I doubt it.
I’m still in my towel when my phone rings. Davidson Construction is calling. Maybe I should change the ID in my phone, I laugh to myself before answering.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Brooks replies. I can hear the grin in his voice. “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
I do a double take and look at the clock. “You’re early!” I accuse. “It’s only 4:40 and I’m not ready yet.”
“Well then, you better hurry your cute butt up then.”
“I’m still in a towel!”
“Oh good, I’ll come up.”
“No you will not! I haven’t eaten all day and if you come up here, I won’t get to eat for hours.”
Brooks laughs. “I do plan on feeding you…”
“Good. I’ll be down in five,” I say before hanging up.
Taking a deep breath, I grab a black wrap dress and my sexiest set of black mesh lingerie. I dress at warp speed and toss on my favorite black booties before checking myself in a mirror. My boobs look awesome in this dress so I’m going with it, but I double knot the bow just in case.
By the time I get my coat on and run downstairs, Brooks is out of his truck and leaning on the back end of the bed. He’s got one hand in his pocket and is typing something on his phone with the other. He looks up when I walk out the door, gives me a big grin, and pockets his phone. He’s wearing gray pants that accentuate his muscular thighs and his pale blue dress shirt fits like a sexy as hell glove. He dressed up, I realize. For me. It’s a panty dropping look.
As soon as I get within arms reach of Brooks, he pulls me into him, wrapping me up in his arms. I should be worried our employees are going to see us, but I just can’t find it in myself to care. His woodsy scent warms me all the way through.
“You look good enough to eat,” I tell him, running my fingers along the buttons of his shirt.
Brooks cups my cheek in his hand, kissing me sweetly before running his mouth along my jaw and murmuring, “So do you.” My eyes close at his touch. I love that this is all it takes to make me completely melt into him. Forget talking, all I want in the world is to wrap myself around his body and see how many times we can make each other come.
Thank god Brooks is more responsible than me. He pulls back and walks me to the passenger seat with his hand on my lower back. I feel like a child scrambling up into his monster of a truck, but I make it into the seat with my dignity relatively intact. “Maybe you can buy me a step stool or something,” I tease Brooks.
“I could, but I have to admit I like watching your little butt hop up there,” he replies with a cocky grin. God, everything he does is sexy. I purse my lips and pretend to look annoyed, but I’m not fooling anyone.
I was going to try to wait until after dinner to talk to Brooks, but I’m so twisted up inside. My nerves have me fidgeting as we drive down the road away from my bakery. I know he can tell something is up because he gently presses down on my bouncing knee. A minute later he takes my tapping fingers in his hand.
I try to relax but my anxiety is still spilling over the level that I can physically contain. I can’t help fidgeting. I just need an outlet for my nerves. When I still can’t hold still, Brooks pulls his truck off the road and parks it in the empty lot of a shuttered farm stand. He gives me a worried look, his eyes piercing.