He rushed out of the room, taking the notebook he’d been writing in with him. The poor guy was writing down every safety concern possible for the festival tomorrow.
“I’m taking the oven first,” I declared as I perfected the lattice then laid the cute apple dough cutout I’d paid on top, using a scoring razor to cut details into the leaves coming from the tiny stem.
“Okay, I’m starting to get worried,” he muttered playfully as he looked over my shoulder at the finished product. I was making at least four of them, backups just in case something went wrong. “Why four again?”
“In case one fails, one drops, someone bumps me and screws it up, and one to spare that will be perfect after all that,” I said. “Too much can go wrong and this is my first real impression in town.”
“You’re overthinking, pumpkin,” he said gently as he hugged me from behind. “I usually make two, just in case.”
“You don’t have a whole legacy to live up to, they know you’re good,” I countered, letting a bit more of my vulnerability slip.
“They’ll all be impressed. The cider was amazing and so is everything else you made,” he said, forcing me to turn around and kissing me softly. “You’re perfect, and now the whole town will see it too.”
“I can’t believe it’s tomorrow. I’m a mixture of insane excitement and too many nerves to handle,” I admitted. “Plus, I still have to make caramel apples tonight. Maybe next year I’ll team up with Claire and sell pies, or hand pies, something different.”
“We’ll need a bigger kitchen for next year,” Jack joked. Our eyes met and I couldn’t help but smile, some of my tension draining. He was right, I was definitely overthinking all of this. We’d spent so long talking about it, preparing for it, that I didn’t want anything to go wrong.
“Are the guys gone tonight?” I asked as I stepped out of his hold and grabbed my finished pies to slide into the oven, setting the timer.
Jack went back to pouring his pumpkin mixture into his empty pie crusts before answering. “Yes. Boone and mom are going over his extensive list of safety suggestions, which half of she’ll talk him out of. And Hunter’s on duty. He switched shifts so he was off tomorrow to spend with us.”
“Perks of being the sheriff,” I joked. “Holy hell we created a mess.”
“That’s alright, I’ll wash, you dry,” he offered as he finished filling them and sat his bowl among the rest next to the poor sink.
“Sold,” I agreed easily as I grabbed a fresh dish towel to start drying as he filled the sink.
“Did you ever go to the festival as a kid?” he asked as he scrubbed.
“Not all of them. We all know Holiday Hollow has a never ending list of festivals,” I laughed. “But there was one year that grandma insisted we come down because two of my grandpas were participating in the talent show.”
“Oh my god, I remember that one,” he laughed. “Didn’t they singI’ve got you babe?”
“Yes, and they tried to do dance moves and ended up falling all over each other. Everyone thought it was a comedy skit so they played it up after that,” I said, cracking up at the memory. “I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.”
“Those two were hilarious every time they came over. They were the lighthearted to your other grandfather’s seriousness. A good mix,” he said as he handed over a clean mixing bowl. I dried it and set it back on the stand. “They’d be proud of you, Autumn.”
“I like to think so too. I’m a good mix of all of them and with Riley and the farmhands he found, we’ve got the perfect team. I’m glad Cedarwick Orchard isn’t just a thing of the past anymore.”
The timer went off and I hurried over to pull my pies from the oven, pleased to see they were the perfect golden brown. I set them on the cooling racks and Jack adjusted the temperature and got his pies ready to go while getting them in the oven.
“Can I confess something to you?” Jack said as he watched me wiping off the counter, bent over.
“Of course,” I said, not catching the innuendo in his tone at all. Until I looked back and saw his eyes trained on my ass.
“I’ve always wanted to fuck you right on this island,” he admitted. All thoughts of cleaning were gone and I tossed the rag at the sink so I could focus on him.
“This very island?” I teased as I climbed on. His eyes were hooded as he watched me stand up and slowly peel off my apron, tossing it aside. Every piece of clothing I slowly slid off for him as I put on a show.
Unlike the impatient alphas he leaned against the counter and watched until I was naked and finally laid myself down on the surface.
“What now, Jack?” I challenged. That had him moving forward and grabbing my ankles, mercilessly tugging me to the edge and spreading my legs.
“Now, I’m going to have a little feast,” he teased, bending down and licking a stripe over my pussy. Just the strip tease alone had me turned on but as he teased and sucked at me expertly I was practically feral for my beta.
The cool counter felt amazing under my heated skin as Jack took me to the edge of my control and tore right past it, tongue fucking me until I was calling out his name and covering his face in my slick. He hummed appreciatively as he meticulously cleaned every ounce of slick I gave him.
His face glistened as he pulled back and the adorable grin on his face had my chest warming. This man was perfect. A mix of sweet and caring and playful. He was the levity of our pack and in that moment I couldn’t stop the words from falling from my lips if I wanted to.