For Love and Donuts Read online

  “I think I made that part pretty clear when I asked you out the other day. What is unclear is how you might feel about me.”

  “Are you asking?”

  “No, just telling you it’s unclear to me. Though I think you’re avoiding the chemistry we share.” I took a step toward her.

  Her fingers were tugging at the pockets of her apron, but she didn’t step back as I kept advancing forward. She tilted her head to look up at me as I stood right in front of her.

  “I think you’re afraid of what will happen when I kiss you.”

  “I’m not afraid.” Her voice trembled, but it was lower and a little huskier too.

  “Then what are you feeling?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone has ever made me feel the way you do.”

  “And how is that?”

  She licked her lips. “A little like I might lose control if I kissed you.” And to my surprise, she pushed herself up onto her toes, wrapped her arms around my neck, and hauled me right down to her mouth. She caught me off guard, but I quickly recovered and pressed my mouth against hers. Pressing her body fully against mine, my cock reacted, already semi-hard from her just looking at me with that lustful gaze burning in her eyes.

  Our tongues came together. She tasted sweet, like the chocolate frosting on her Boston Creams, and she smelled like fresh-baked cookies. Everything about her was sweet, but the way she pressed against me was anything but. One hand stayed around my neck, her fingers toying with the hair at the nape of my neck while her other hand slid down the side of my chest, her nails biting a little through the t-shirt.

  I hadn’t imagined kissing her would feel like home. I tightened my arms around her waist, my hands sliding down over the curves of her ass. She was soft and melded to my hardness as if she belonged to it.

  I was tempted to walk her backward to the cot and see exactly where this kiss would lead, but I didn’t want to push things too far and end up kicked out into the storm or banished to the other side of the basement with nothing but my hard cock for company. I gently slowed the kiss and pulled back. Cherry’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were glossy and hooded. I wanted to slide my fingers into the front of her ass-hugging jeans and find out if she was wet. I wanted to know if she wanted me as badly as I wanted her.

  Her hand slid down off my shoulder until her palm was pressed flat against my chest. I wasn’t strong enough to completely step away from her. I didn’t want to stop touching her, and she didn’t seem eager to leave my arms either.

  “Um, wow?” Her voice was low and breathy.

  “I’d say ‘wow’ only starts to cover it.” I swallowed, trying to clear the huskiness out of my throat. The way she was staring at me though, just left me more dry-mouthed. “You taste sweet.”

  She gently thumped my chest. “You’re just saying that.”

  “I’m not. I could probably get a cavity from just kissing you. But it does make me wonder what other parts of you taste sweet.” My eyes flicked down between us, tracing the way her cleavage filled out her apron and shirt. Wishing I could look further down, but not willing to step back to get a better look.

  Cherry blushed. “You’re being ridiculous now.” She pulled out of my arms.

  “I don’t think so. Just honest. Cherry, I like you, and I want you. But I want you to want me.”

  “Okay, Cheap Trick.”

  I chuckled and was tempted to sing the next lines of the song—badly and out of tune. Instead, I opted for, “Hey, for the record, you kissed me.”

  “Honestly, I expected it to fall flat.”

  “That’s the first lie you’ve told me. You don’t kiss someone, thinking it won’t be good.”

  She chewed on her lip.

  “Come on, Cherry. Tell me what’s going on.” I reached out and took her hand, needing some contact. “Is this because, once upon a time, you dated a jackass and now, all men are jackasses?”

  Cherry opened her mouth to respond, but the wind picked up so much, it sounded like a train was coming right through the middle of the bakery.

  Then everything exploded.

  5

  Cherry

  I lurched toward the stairs.

  The storm wasn’t just destroying my shop. It was destroying everything I’d worked so hard for, and I couldn’t just sit idly by and let it happen. I made it up two steps before Damon grabbed me around the waist and held me against him.

  “You’re not going up there.”

  “I have to see if there’s anything I can do!” I dug my nails into his hands and kicked my feet, anything to get out of his grasp.

  “Perps have done a lot more to me than you can, so give it up, Cherry. You’re not going up there. You can’t stop what’s going on, and you won’t be able to put your bakery back together if you’re hurt. Or worse, dead.”

  I sagged a little in his arms, knowing he was right, but this was killing me. Every crash, every smash felt like a knife ripping through me as the wind ripped through my bakery. How could I just stand back and let it happen?

  A break in the thunder revealed the steady thud of footsteps echoing down the stairwell. I tensed up, but before I could really react, Damon pushed me behind him.

  “Go back to the cot, Cherry,” he growled.

  Like hell, I was going to let him investigate this on his own. Someone broke into my bakery. I stayed right behind him as he moved to block the stairs. Shoes came into view, and I immediately cringed. I didn’t need to see anything more than those black work boots he wore every day to know Michael owned those heavy footsteps.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Damon growled. If it were possible for a man to have hackles, I had no doubt Damon’s would be raised. He looked ready to pounce on my ex... not that I blamed him.

  “I’m here to make sure Cherry is safe.”

  “She is, so why don’t you head right back out?” I swore Damon’s already big form seemed to get bigger, more imposing.

  “Excuse me, but I think I can speak for myself,” I interjected, feeling a little like they were having a pissing contest over me. I moved around Damon and stood between them. “Michael, I appreciate you came out here, but I meant what I said, I don’t want you in my life. Even if you think you’re doing some good deed, I don’t care.” I crossed my arms and stared him down. It didn’t matter he had half a foot on me, he wasn’t going to push me around in my own shop—or my life. “I don’t want you in my life.”

  “You’re going to send me back out in that storm?”

  Damon opened his mouth to say something, but I put my hand on his shoulder.

  “You didn’t seem to have a problem with coming out in the storm in the first place.”

  “That was before the tornado,” he snapped.

  Damon cursed under his breath as he headed into the alcove and grabbed the radio. His eyes never left the two of us as he flicked it on. The emergency broadcast was in the middle of naming counties affected by the storm. Damon carried the radio over, the monotone voice still listing the times of the tornado warning.

  We all waited for it to name Jubilee County.

  When the recording read out we’d be under a tornado warning for at least another two hours, I frowned. I couldn’t send Michael back out into the storm, no matter how little I cared about him anymore.

  “You can stay, but I think you need to stay over there,” I said, pointing to the other half of the basement.

  “Why, so the two of you can fuck some more?”

  “Michael, you have no say in my life,” I glared at him. “And who I see is none of your business.”

  “Obviously, you’ve killed the mood, anyway,” Damon slid in.

  I shot him a glare too. “I will not be fought over like some prize to win. I can kick both of you out right now if I want to, so knock it off.”

  Damon had the decency to look a little shameful, but Michael just looked angrier.

  Well, this was just great. Five minutes ago, my entire life flipped
upside down from one kiss. I’d never felt so turned on or so excited by a man. I’d been burying my feelings for Damon, trying to not let myself enjoy how he made me feel. For a moment, I let go of the restraints and let myself get swept away in the moment.

  And BAM! It was like a revelation.

  Kissing Damon showed me kissing, arousal, and need were something that could go hand-in-hand. My panties had never been wet with Michael or anyone else. Sex was all right, but masturbation was always a lot more explosive for me.

  But one kiss and I couldn’t stop thinking about what being with Damon would be like.

  Would it be that powerful too? Or was the kiss a one-time explosion and everything else would be dull in comparison? I’d wanted to find out—to let his hard body and his calloused hands explore all of me. But despite the fairly obvious bulge that had been growing in his sweats, Damon stopped the kiss.

  What if the kiss hadn’t had the same effect on him? Maybe it didn’t hit him as strongly as it felt for me. Or maybe he felt like this with all the women he’d been with. That struck a chord of jealousy I wasn’t willing to deal with. I couldn’t stomach the thought of Damon with anyone else.

  Now Michael was down in the basement with us, killing the mood. They were both acting like Alpha male assholes, and I didn’t want to put up with any of it. I stomped over to the cot and sat down. At least then, I was out of sight from Michael. Where did he get off thinking he had any right to try to save me?

  Damon moved into my space and sat next to me. From his angle, I was sure he could still see Michael.

  “How did he get in?” Damon asked.

  “I don’t think I locked the back door when I let you in. I was a little distracted with you busting in and trying to save the day. Again.” I knew I sounded harsh and laying it on too thick. Damon didn’t deserve all of my anger, but I figured he would handle it better than Michael.

  “Shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so pushy.” He ran his hand through his still wet hair, slicking back the tousled locks like he was ashamed. “I was worried about you. But that didn’t give me the right…”

  I put my hand over his to still his words.

  “I was being stubborn and stupid. It means the world to me that you stopped to help me. You looked at it way more analytically than I could have.” I sighed and looked down at my feet. “I just don’t know what Michael is trying to accomplish. I don’t know why he’s here.”

  “I’d say it’s pretty obvious what he’s trying to accomplish.” Damon leaned back against the wall.

  “I just wish he hadn’t shown up.”

  “Yeah, me too. It makes it a lot harder for me to get to know you better.”

  I glanced over at him to find him staring at me in a way that made everything inside of me flutter.

  “Damon, have you ever felt like this before?”

  “Like what?”

  “I’ve never had a kiss have such a profound effect on me. I think I’m still shaking.”

  He leaned in toward me and dropped his voice lower. “What other kinds of effects did it have on you?”

  I shivered as his hot breath tickled my ear. “You mean…?”

  “I mean,”—he leaned in even further until I could feel the lightest graze of his lips against my ear—“did it make you wet?”

  My lips parted, and I could feel my heart beating faster. It wasn’t that dirty talk was shocking, it was the way my thighs clenched together at his words. It was how badly I wanted him to find out for himself just how wet he made me.

  I wanted him.

  But we were anything but alone.

  All I could do was chew on my lip and nod slowly, keeping my gaze forward. I didn’t dare look at him. My mind was already filled with all sorts of dirty thoughts, and if I saw even a hint of one on his gorgeous face, I would probably jump on him… and I wouldn’t even care if Michael watched.

  Maybe then it would actually soak into his stupid brain I didn’t want him anymore. I didn’t wish him any harm, but he needed to get out of my life.

  Damon's hand slid along my lower back, toying with the ties of my apron. The simple touch sent shivers down my spine, and when I glanced over at him, he was completely focused on me. Maybe he’d already forgotten Michael was down here with us. Or maybe he just didn’t care. Something in the way he was staring at me made me think he could definitely teach my ex a thing or two about making my thighs quiver.

  “What the fuck are the two of you doing?” Michael’s voice was like ice water as he came into view with an accusatory glare directed at Damon and a more frustrated expression directed my way.

  “Damon was just asking me if I liked the kiss we shared before you so rudely interrupted.” I was done being nice. I didn’t want him in my bakery. “And I think it’s time for you to seek shelter elsewhere.” I pushed off the cot and advanced on him quickly. I could feel Damon right behind me. I herded Michael toward the stairs. When I stopped a few feet away from Michael, Damon pressed against me, and it took everything I had not to lean back into him.

  “Just tell me one thing. Why him?” He looked over my shoulder and sneered at Damon. “He’s an abusive prick. He put me in the hospital. How long do you think it’ll be before he does the same to you? Cops beating their women is a stereotype for a reason.”

  Everything inside of me stilled. I couldn’t even turn to look at Damon. “What are you talking about?”

  Damon let out a gasp behind me. “Fuck. That’s why you look familiar.”

  “Yeah, my face is a little jacked up since you decided to beat it to a blood pulp,” Michael replied.

  “What are you talking about?” The words didn’t make any sense. He looked like the same old Michael. Whatever incident they were talking about wasn’t recent. It couldn’t have been. Right?

  “We went to high school together. Michael and I got into a fight. We both ended up in the hospital.”

  “You fucking started it,” Michael snarled. “She doesn’t want to be with me because she thinks I could hurt her. But what about you? You’re no better than I am.”

  “Really? Because I haven’t done anything to anyone recently. Weren’t you just hauled in a couple of months ago for domestic violence? It’s a shame the charges didn’t stick. Maybe because she felt threatened?”

  “You keeping track of me?”

  “My partner saw you come out of the bakery and ran your plates. She wanted to make sure Cherry was safe. With you lingering around, clearly, she’s not.”

  “You’re one to talk. You got off scot-free for beating the crap out of me.”

  “You really think that?”

  “I’m the one who went to juvie!”

  “You’re the one who was trying to rape a girl. When I pulled you off her, you started ripping into me like I’d insulted your mother.”

  I moved away from both men. This was all too much to take in. They knew each other. They’d been in this position before? How did this keep happening to me?

  I needed a minute to think. At that moment, I wished the storm would clear up so I could send them both home. Or the floor could’ve opened up and swallowed me whole. Anything to get away from the raging storm outside and in my head.

  Another crash came from upstairs, and I couldn’t stand it anymore. I pushed past both of them and ran upstairs. I could hear the thunder of heavy footfalls behind me, but I didn’t care. I pushed open the basement door and immediately gasped as the wind sucked the air out of my lungs. It felt like there was a tornado in my bakery. It was so loud, the pressure immediately making my head ache. Anything lighter than furniture was flying around.

  I knew it was dangerous. Damon had been right, it was stupid to come up here, but I didn’t care. I needed out of that basement, and I needed to save my bakery.

  The fact I wasn’t immediately yanked back into the basement by either man surprised me. Maybe they didn’t care as much as they pretended to. But when I turned around, I saw Michael had Damon pressed against the wall
, his hands around his throat. Damon’s face was bright red, on its way to purple, and his hands clawed at Michael’s wrists, trying to break free.

  I didn’t have time to think. I grabbed a knife off the magnetic strip on the wall and ran back toward the stairwell.

  “Let him go!” I shouted, jabbing Michael just under the armpit, hard enough with the pointy end of the knife to let him know I had a weapon, and I wasn’t afraid to use it.

  Michael glanced back at me, his eyes a little crazed.

  Then I realized I was too close to him.

  He lifted his leg, tucked his foot behind my ankle and jerked it forward, knocking me clean off my feet before I could even react. I hit the wall, just shy of the stairs. A few inches to the left or several inches less on my hips and ass, and I could’ve tumbled down them and broken my neck.

  The knife popped out of my hand and rolled right between Michael and Damon’s legs.

  I must’ve been just enough of a distraction for Damon to break loose.

  They scuffled, then I felt the reverberation of someone falling down the stairs.

  I couldn’t look. Even after everything Michael had said, I didn’t want Damon to get hurt.

  I didn’t need to open my eyes to know the strong arms that scooped me up like I weighed nothing weren’t Michael’s. He’d never even tried to pick me up, claiming I was too heavy.

  These arms were Damon’s, and I felt surprisingly safe in them. I watched him as he carried me down the stairs, gingerly stepping over Michael’s body to take me back to the safety of the cot.

  “Is he dead?” I cried.

  “No, he’s not dead.” He set me down and kissed my forehead. “Just stay here. I’m going to lock him in the storage room.” He frowned as he turned toward Michael’s limp form. “He’ll be safe from the storm in there, but he won’t be able to hurt you anymore.”

  Damon grabbed Michael’s wrists and pulled him up, draping his arms over his shoulders as a fireman would, and tugged Michael’s deadweight all the way upstairs.