the commercials to see what happened—and then they bought the coffee because they liked the story. If people watch you and make the connection between what you do and romance, that’s stronger than just seeing how hard you work.”
Gideon could feel her tension, and turned her around and massaged her tight shoulders as he leaned in closer and kissed her neck.
“Gideon,” she moaned in half pleasure, half protest, but she didn’t move away. “I have to finish the cake.”
“You need to learn to relax a little, Calla.”
“There’s no time. And we relaxed a lot, all last night.”
He laughed against the back of her neck.
“Listen, why don’t you leave this to me? Let me try a few things, and let’s see what works?”
“Oh, I don’t know...”
Gideon nibbled on her ear, loving her taste. Sweet like the sugar she used on the cakes.
“Trust me, Calla. What can it hurt?”
She groaned as he sucked the tender skin under her ear, and Gideon was starting to lose focus, as well.
“I have to get to work,” she protested lamely, but didn’t pull away.
“In a minute.”
Gideon had a taste of her and he wanted more before he had to let her go back into her world. He left her only to lock the door before returning, wrapping his arms around her from behind, undoing the buttons of her chef’s coat, sliding his hands underneath.
Good thing she’d pulled the shades.
She arched back against him, catching her breath as his hands closed over her breasts, teasing.
“Sex produces endorphins, you know...it will help with your energy levels,” he whispered in her ear before biting the lobe lightly.
“I can’t have sex in here. It’s against health codes.”
“Right, we’ll be careful about that,” he said gruffly as he worked his hands up under her blouse, loving the warm silk of her skin.
She chuckled softly against his mouth as he kissed her again. Gideon walked her back to the small office. Inside, he eyed the desk.
“No health-code violations in here, right?”
“That’s true,” she admitted, letting him draw her inside.
Gideon couldn’t wait another second to kiss her—to really kiss her—and he loved how she deftly undid his belt, running her fingers over his stomach.
When her hands slipped inside his jeans to touch him, he caught his breath, his head falling forward to her shoulder. He was hard as a rock already, and she murmured her approval in his ear as she nipped his earlobe and stroked him gently.
Gideon was sure he’d never felt so much with anyone before in his life. Calla’s touch turned him inside out.
He darted his tongue out to taste the smooth skin of her shoulder and raised a hand to cover her breast, stroking her there in the same rhythm she did for him. She trembled as her nipple hardened under his fingers, and she sought a kiss that he was more than willing to give.
Gideon thought about taking her on the desk, which was still a possibility, but he didn’t want to break the intimacy of the kiss or the touches they were sharing, even though he was increasingly close to embarrassing himself.
Calla seemed to know, backing away from the kiss, breathless, her cheeks flushed, eyes bright.
“Touch me, too,” she said, before fusing her mouth to his again.
Her wish was his command. Bringing her a little closer, he slid his hand up the firm muscle of her thigh under her skirt. She’d worn tights in the winter cold, but he got them out of the way and eased his fingers inside the scrap of lace she wore under them.
“Oh, yes.” She sighed as his fingers stroked her sex, her slick skin telling him how ready she was.
It had been a lot of years since he’d done anything like this, kissing and getting off with a woman just by touching. It was wildly hot.
“You’re so soft,” he murmured against her cheek as he felt his body tighten, close to release. He wanted to last, but she was a devil with those hands, not letting him escape the rising tide.
He captured the hard tip of her breast with his lips through her blouse as he moved one finger inside her, then two, thrusting into her heat and drawing a long moan from her.
“Oh, Gideon, yes...”
The way she said his name and surged against him was all he could take. Pleasure rushed from him, the orgasm stealing his breath as his body moved against her of its own volition. He gladly let it steal his sanity for the next few moments.
She cried out, too, seconds later, her head dropping back, her face a study in sheer pleasure as she rode out her release. Gideon kissed her throat, tried to catch his breath as he brought her closer, holding her against him for several long minutes.
Calla snuggled into him, warm and relaxed as she sighed in contentment against his shoulder. Gideon was a bit shaken, for reasons he couldn’t understand. He’d intended on having some fun, doing something spontaneous. What had just passed between them was, instead, unbearably intimate—more so than he would have expected for a quick office interlude.
Maybe it was the residual afterglow, but he felt closer to Calla than he had to anyone he could remember in recent memory. The fact was that he was feeling things he’d never expected to feel—or maybe he’d known all along. Maybe he’d known when he first kissed her back at the barn, and that was why he’d walked away.
Because Calla could never be casual. She was so much more than that.
He wasn’t so sure that she felt the same way about him.
“I—I should wash up and get back to work,” she said, almost apologetically, straightening her clothing.
“You do that. I’m going to go do a few things. It won’t take long. Call me if you need me,” he said, leaning in for a long, soft kiss.
“As if there’s any question.”
Surprise flickered in his brain at her response, and he wasn’t sure what to say, so he didn’t say anything. With a smile, he left the office, checking to make sure everything was secure before he left.
Now he had to set a plan in motion, to romance Calla in her bakery window and hope that it not only saved her shop, but convinced her that maybe they were more than a holiday fling, as well.
* * *
IT STARTED WITH the Christmas lights.
Gideon had returned to the shop with his arms chock-full of Christmas lights. He’d insisted that she needed to decorate her shop and her window and door.
Calla found it impossible to work with him crawling all over the place hanging lights and decorations, so she’d done the inevitable—she’d given in and helped.
Surprisingly, many of the people walking home from work or out strolling with their dogs had stopped to watch, applauding with oohs and ahhs when Gideon turned the lights on.
Then he pulled a piece of mistletoe out of his pocket and held it over her head for a kiss.
This one she granted him happily. The shop did look more in the holiday spirit, and it made Calla feel so, as well.
“Thank you, Gideon. This is lovely. I didn’t have time to decorate, but so many people are stopping to look at the lights.”
He nodded, clearly excited. He was so sweet, she thought, her heart warm.
“And did you notice what I put over in this window? They’re noticing that right along with it.”
She’d