Page 123 of Mountain Men Heroes
She stiffened beneath his gaze.
Anger welled inside at whatever put the weary look in her eyes. No one needed to go through life fearing everything or second-guessing when and how someone could hurt them. “If it helps, your sister loves what I am about to show you and...” he glanced at the clock on the microwave above the stove, “we have exactly one hour before we are interrupted.”
Part of her relaxed at the mention of her sister as the tension eased from her eyes and he motioned for her to turn around. Curiosity had her following. “What can we do in an hour?”
He knew the question came out before she fully thought of it but he loved the way her lips parted as she considered her words.
Oh man, he could have fun with that. Hand on the doorknob, he looked over his shoulder and moved away from the door. “Do you want to find out, angel?”
“You are a terrible tease, Mr. Savage.”
The surprise in her eyes at his question was worth the pain stabbing at his insides because every time he thought about her legs parted and him taking her, the drip of pure lava hooked up to his circulatory system intensified a few notches more. “I’m afraid to follow that through,” she admitted.
His expression softened. “Don’t worry—I won’t eat you up with my big teeth.” Just yet. Because he would. He knew it would happen like he knew the sun would rise and set.
She looked away from his mouth long enough to settle her gaze on his eyes. Green eyes like the prettiest field of lush summer grass and pink-tinged lips were his weakness when they were from one Texan girl rapidly stealing his sanity. “Trust me,” he repeated in a whispered plea. “I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”
She wrapped the ends of her jacket around her middle and gave a stiff nod. “I’m assuming it involves something sugary so I’m in.” She reached for his hand. Skin on skin.
He turned to see the trust she extended to him and he took it as a gift that it was.
Two minutes later he led them both down another set of stairs that wound around the backside of the bar and apartments. Like every morning he had to put a little shoulder power into creaking open the old metal door during the harsh winter months as the cold locked the hinges. Snow drifted in as the knob gave and he ushered Ivy out of the cold.
With a loud clunk, the heavy door closed behind.
“Mr. Murdoch will be ticked we messed around in his kitchen before he got here, but if we’re fast, he’ll never know.”
“What?” Ivy froze and dropped to the floor on all fours and tugged at his hand to do the same. He knelt beside her and tried to hold back the laugh that wanted to bust out of his chest.
“What are you doing?” he asked and reached up by the back door to flick the switch on to the overheads. White light flooded the large space.
“Kill the lights. We just broke into a bakery! Are you crazy? I mean, come on!”
He kneeled and stroked the back of his knuckles over her soft cheek and realized the feel of her was becoming more of an addiction the longer he spent time with her.
He flashed a key.
Her attention darted sideways. “Oh.” A red so bright she looked like a Christmas ornament climbed the length of her neck until her entire face glowed.
“The way you busted through that back door I thought...you know.”
He gathered her hands in his and stood pulling her with him.
“Well, I do like donuts and I would probably do whatever it took to get some so you’re not too far off base.”
She rolled her eyes and he laughed. “Welcome to Big Paws Bakery. I own the joint.”
Ivy shot him a look of indifference through narrowed eyes and he wound his fingers around hers. “You could have led with that you know.”
He pulled her forward. “Where’s the fun in that?”
She looked around the spotless workspace where cakes, rolls, and his famous triple-layered chocolate pumpkin pies were prepped for the holidays. “Come on I’ll show you around.”
“I can’t wait.”
He led her in front of him and showed her through a swinging door that separated the customer’s area from the baker’s workstations and various areas of prep work.
She stopped in front of him and pressed a hand to his shoulder. Her warm hand in his was a consolation prize for keeping his dick to himself back in the apartment when he could have easily seduced her into his arms. Into his bed. But when she touched him…skin on skin…God save him.