Page 31 of Sterling Heat

Sebastian shrugs. “When I was a kid, my best friend’s mom taught me to bake. Said idle hands would get me in trouble.” He bitterly chuckles. “She was wrong. Like butter adheres to bread, trouble always found me.”

I smile. “And you’ve been baking ever since?”

He shifts as if he’s uncomfortable with the question. “Actually, I’ve only owned the place for three years.”

Puzzled by the sudden unease in his tone, I don’t press for more. “Well, your lemon baby-Bundt cakes are the best I’ve ever had. They became a craving during my pregnancy.”

He snorts. “Too bad it took you like seven months to come in to buy another one.”

“Oh, I didn’t wait seven months.”

His head sharply turns. “What do you mean?” Then his eyes narrow as he focuses forward again. “Were you cheating on my lemon cakes?”

I laugh. “Cheating?”

“Buying them from another bakery.”

I laugh harder. “No. When I came to town, various clients knew how much I liked your baby-Bundt cakes, and they’d always have one or two available for me.”

“What various clients?”

“Okay, only one client.”

His mouth falls open. “Are you saying my brother was feeding your lemon cake obsession?”

I bite my lower lip. Again, his irritation is so cute. Like he wishes he’d been the one feeding me his delicacy.

“I might have seen your bakery bag at Sylver Seed and Soil once or twice. And happened to mention how much I enjoyed the lemon dream.” Glossing over how I’d kissed the baker and enjoyed him as well. “And then one or two magically appeared every time I visited.”

“Clay is such a fucking brown-noser,” Sebastian grumbles.

“Actually, Judd bought them. He’s very sweet.”

“Yeah, sweet.” His hand flexes on the steering wheel again but his sarcasm relaxes his shoulders.

On that note, we pull into the hospital parking lot.

Chapter 10

[Sebastian]

After a few hours at the hospital, Enya needs to breast pump, and God forgive me, but every time she says breast the twelve-year-old inside me fights the urge to envision her supple breasts. Are her nipples rosy and bright or dark and husky like her eyes?

She asks for privacy, which I respect by stepping out of Adara’s pod. I make a quick call to check in on my part-time employee Barnett. He’s a good kid and I wish I could have given him the raise he asked for last summer. Instead, I hired Rena because I needed a full-time employee.

When I return to Adara’s pod, there are tears in Enya’s eyes and frustration on her brow.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“I think I just need some time alone here. The pumping. And Adara.”

The updates on Adara’s progress have been good but she’ll be here until she’s considered full-term. Enya’s stressed by the nurses’ talk about milliliters of milk and grams of weight gain for Adara, plus sleeping patterns and how to hold her premature baby.

“How will you get back home?” Home. My place.

“I’ll just call an Uber.”

“Not certain you’ll find many of those around here.” This area is remote, and not for the first time do I wonder if the Sterling Falls community will make Enya happy. Her apartment was sleek while a bit cold with floor to ceiling windows, stark white tiled floors, and modern flat paneled cabinetry in her kitchen. She didn’t have any art on the walls, and she didn’t have much food in her fridge, which led me to believe she doesn’t cook for herself. Her bedroom wasn’t more than a bed and a nightstand. She lived like a minimalist.