He stroked back and forth between her legs, finally letting his two fingers lag behind.

She moaned. His fingers teased and tortured her swollen lips. "I think..." Her hands fisted against the tile and her thigh muscles tensed. "I think I'm still dirty."

"I think you're right." He kissed the inside of one thigh. "You're going to need some special attention."

"Will you give it to me?" Please give it to me!

"I'm up for the job." He gripped her knees. He ran his tongue up one thigh then back down the other. "That is..." he nipped at her sensitive skin "...if you want the attention."

Like the very breath she needed to live, she wanted this man. Wanted his hands on her body, every part of her body. He got her heated up, turned inside out, and she would beg, do anything for release.

"Do you want to be clean, Liv?" Jake slid two fingers inside.

"Yes! Oh, G.o.d! Yes!"

Throwing the loofa over his shoulder, Jake took position between her legs.

"Jake!" She braced herself against the gray tile, her hands flattening against the cool surface as Jake feasted on her.

So much for her action plan. It seemed s.e.x had taken precedence over business. He'd won.

"Almost there, gorgeous?"

"Don't take your mouth away," she blurted, in fear of him not following through with his task. "Put it...yes!"

Jake brought Liv to the edge of climax, and with one final stroke of his tongue, she exploded.

"Jake!" Her screams echoed within the walls of the shower. She shivered and convulsed, the spray of the water beating hard against her neck and back.

She stared down at her lover with more emotion than she could handle. When her eyes welled up, she looked away quickly, unwilling to give any more of her feelings away. She grabbed at his shoulders and pulled him up, bringing their mouths together. As their tongues danced, she melted into his body.

He lifted her, backing them into the cold gray tile away from the spray. Her nipples hardened at the sudden change in temperature. She wrapped her legs around his waist. Still holding his face in her hands, she broke their lip lock. Looking in his eyes, she could see his desire, and she felt s.e.xy, worthy.

Between heavy breaths, she said, "I want you inside me."

He rested his head on her shoulder. "No condom."

"I'm clean and on the pill," she panted. "It's okay."

He raised his head and spoke with sincerity. "I never-"

Liv placed a finger on his lips. She didn't need an explanation. "I trust you."

Within seconds, he plunged into her, pumping fast and furious, giving her everything he had. The steam from the hot water enveloped them. Their slick bodies rubbed against one another. The coa.r.s.e ripple in the tile scratched the smooth skin of her back.

"Liv." He lowered her against the wall, changing their angle. "Liv."

She could feel the pressure building, building, building. "Oh, yes." Liv broke into a million pieces. White starbursts filled the darkness behind her eyelids.

"Liv." Jake convulsed against her.

They held each other for a minute, basking in the tingly sensation. But just as soon as he released her from his grip, silence fell between them.

Emotions weighed heavily inside the shower stall. Words replayed in her mind. Words she could never take back. They huddled under the spray and washed, stealing quick glances at one another.

But the fog in Liv's brain had nothing to do with the steam from the shower. This thing with Jake, this relationship, was taking its toll. She wanted him to take her body in ways no man ever had. She wanted him to leave his mark on her, but he took more than just her pleasure. In the midst of pa.s.sion, she crossed an invisible line and somehow, someway, he branded more than her body.

He had branded her heart.

Jake felt the distance between them even though they were standing only a foot apart. Her muscles tensed and clenched as she rinsed under the spray, the water slicing across her skin. Her face wore the same tension. Because she had opened up.

You make me feel unglued. Her words echoed in his head. For the first time, she had been honest about her feelings, but it wasn't the feeling he had hoped for. Despite the weekend they'd just spent together, she was still trying to convince herself they were only in it for the s.e.x. Bitterness stung, leaving him in the exact spot that he had feared.

"Jake? Are you okay?" She had turned off the water and was wrapped in a towel, holding one out for him.

"Fine." He cleared his throat. "Just thinking about a couple of things I have to do today."

"Me, too. I've got to get a move on." She lifted onto her toes and kissed his cheek before she raced out of the bathroom as if fleeing the scene of a crime.

When he entered her bedroom, she rummaged through her drawers for clothing. The creamy skin of her shoulders glistened with droplets of water. His desire mounted inside him again, but his stupidity squashed any feelings of want that simmered below the surface. He let her slide right under his skin and set up camp, tugging at all of his feelings of l.u.s.t and desire, love and longing. She was worth it, wasn't she? It was time he found out.

"I guess it's finally time for me to leave."

"I guess so." She stopped and turned to face him, pulling back her shoulders as she spoke. "I had a really great time."

"Maybe next time you can sleep over at my house?"

She let out a hard exhale as she thought of how to respond. "This week is going to be really hectic with the opening."

"I can help." G.o.d, he was pathetic. He heard the desperation in his own voice. She agreed to go to the book launch. That was mission number one. That's all he needed. So why did he want more? "I am a master of PR."

"I can't focus with you around." She grinned and patted her wet shoulders with her towel. "But I'll see you for the book party." She clasped her bra around her torso, then spun it around to push her arms under the straps.

He took that as an invitation and stalked closer, enveloping her against his naked body. "I'm more excited for the after party." He wiggled his eyebrows, hoping she'd get the point, maybe even lighten up a bit.

She tensed and fisted her hands against his chest. "Jake, I don't have time for this. Put on your clothes." She waved her hand to his clothes that sat on her bed. "I'm already late."

He released his grip, backed away with caution, and followed her direction. After dressing, he hooked his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans. "I'm sorry."

Liv was busy running a brush through her long, dark hair, but she acknowledged him when their eyes met.

He shrugged. "I just can't keep my hands off you."

A quiet chuckle filled the room, and just like that all was right with the world.

When the brush had been pulled through every strand of her hair, she tied it up. "This is really important. This is my livelihood."

He nodded. She was right. Today was a big day for her, and the last thing she needed right now, no matter how much fun they had, was his paws all over her.

He stepped forward with his palms out. His version of waving the white flag.

She smiled and lowered her arms. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Good luck today. Call me if you need anything, or...if you just want to say hi."

Jake headed for the doorway, but paused before he stepped over the threshold and looked back. "I will see you later."

Despite knowing that he risked losing her once she found out about Shelton, he just couldn't give up on her. He would give her the time and s.p.a.ce she needed. But she was right. They both had other things going on in their lives, and making an appearance at his own job was probably a good idea.

But Liv would never be far from his mind.

Chapter Seventeen.

This was supposed to be a great day. An exciting day. Instead, Liv spent the morning wiping tears from her cheeks. She'd showed up to a dark bakery. Not one watt of power, and a whole h.e.l.l of a lot of water on the floor.

She immediately called Mr. Luko, who didn't appreciate the early morning wake-up call. But after flicking around with the breakers, she had no choice. Building maintenance wasn't on her list of skills.

It took Mr. Luko two minutes to figure out the problem. All he did was flick a switch. He mumbled something under his breath that she couldn't understand, but when he asked her if she had been playing around with the breakers, she got nervous. He said someone would've had to come into the bakery and turn the breaker off on purpose.

On top of that, the hand-washing station had leaked, and water seeped from the pipe under the sink across the floor. Luckily, the water had contained itself and didn't travel to the kitchen or the front door. Unfortunately, it did enough damage to ruin the boxes of advertising material she had forgotten to pick up from the floor on her way out of the bakery yesterday morning. Jake had been just too d.a.m.n distracting.

It was only three hours into her opening day and already Liv was hundreds of dollars in the hole. And not one business card to give out to make up for it. The events of this morning had initiated the conspiracy-theory wheel. She might have been a little stern working at the bar, but she didn't have any enemies. She had supportive family and friends who bent over backwards to help her. Like Nancy, who...

Suddenly the pieces began to fit. She had been around quite a bit. Showing up out of the blue. Liv shook off the thought. No, Nancy would never resort to sabotage. That thought scared her. Could it be sabotage? It was a possibility she should consider, because something deep in her gut told her this was more than just bad luck.

With the pipe fixed and the floors dry, Liv set out for the twenty-four hour grocery store. Who knew how long the power had been out? She didn't want to risk getting anyone sick, so she replaced the eggs, b.u.t.ter, and milk in her fridge.

When she had finally settled down to start baking it was after eight, which didn't give her as much time as she would have liked. She even had to put the plain cupcakes in the fridge to cool them down enough to frost them. Her cupcakes were by no means perfect when she finished, but at least she had cupcakes.

By ten, things had settled down and she had a couple of batches ready for the showcase just in time to open the door to the public. It was also exactly the same time Mr. Cross decided to grace her with his presence.

"h.e.l.lo, Mr. Cross." Liv greeted him with a smile, despite the sour taste rising in her throat. "I think you'll find all of the changes made to your liking."

"Not my liking Ms. Crawford, the City of Toronto's liking."

She sneered because she could. He had already walked past her into the kitchen.

Instead of following on his heels, Liv let Cross do his thing. She puttered in the front of the store, doing her best to avoid annoying the man. She had better things to do, like serve her very first customer.

The cold winter air swirled around the bakery when an attractive woman stepped through the door and looked up when the bell jingled above her head. She pulled her red coat tighter against her body and inhaled deeply, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.

"Good morning and welcome," Liv said. Maybe she should tone it down a bit. She didn't want to seem too eager.

"h.e.l.lo." The woman glided to the counter and extended her hand. "I'm Valerie. Your neighbor. I own the dry cleaner down the street."

Liv gripped her hand. "Great to meet you."

"I'm so happy you're finally open." She smiled brightly, her teeth an abnormal shade of white. "I've been hungry for a cupcake ever since I saw your sign go up." She peered inside the showcase. "I'll try one Chocolate Explosion, please."

"Excellent choice." Liv slipped on a plastic glove and grabbed the cupcake from the showcase. She reached for the single pink box but the woman stopped her.

"No need to waste a box. It's pretty, but it will be gone before I even get back to my store."

Liv laughed. "Fair enough. That'll be $2.50."

Valerie pulled out her change purse and rummaged around. She placed two dollars and fifty cents in coins on the counter.

Her very first sale. Liv's stomach danced with excitement. She was going to have to figure out how to frame two dollars in change.

Grabbing the cupcake from the counter, Valerie licked her lips and her eyes focused on Liv. "Fair warning, you might have to ban me from the premises if I start to eat too many cupcakes."

Liv smiled at the woman's loud chuckle. "No such thing as too many cupcakes." She dropped the money in the register. "Thank you so much, and it was nice meeting you."

Valerie raised the cupcake and said, "I'll see you soon."

Liv hoped every customer was as nice and excited as Valerie. She hoped she had fifty more just like her by the end of the day. She stared out the window into the busy street and sighed. In her dreams. But this was her dream, wasn't it.

Two minutes later, Mr. Cross interrupted her good mood when he asked, "What happened to those boxes in the sink?"

Oh, c.r.a.p! "A little water damage. We had a power outage this weekend, but as you can see, everything is up and running."

"As it seems."

This time when he ripped the paper from his clipboard, the green color settled her nerves.

"You've fixed all of the necessary changes, Ms. Crawford."

Liv had to stop herself from jumping up and down. She even had to stop herself from shouting a "take that" at Mr. Cross. But she was ever the picture of professionalism. "Thank you, Mr. Cross. I'll see you again in six months?"

"Give or take." Why did it seem like he was angry at the fact she pa.s.sed? Did he enjoy finding problems, messing with people's livelihoods? Maybe he was just a bitter city worker.

With the chaos finally behind her, and the green pa.s.sing notice in her window, Liv's brain finally had the chance to remember the other reason why she was so upset this morning.

Jake.

Maybe she needed someone to walk the journey with. Maybe she wanted someone to come home to, to be there to listen to her ramble about her day. To notice the charm in her expression when she talked about the things she loved most in the world. Austin and Patti were supportive, but they had their own lives to live. She needed more.

But she couldn't put that into words.

Shaking her head, Liv pushed away thoughts of Jake. She had other things to concentrate on. Like getting a quote to reprint her publications. Liv had just checked on her latest batch of cupcakes when the jingle of the front door alerted her to a new customer.