Sweet Heart (The Hearts of Sawyers Bend #2) - Ivy Layne Page 0,20

so much. He filled the kitchen with his maleness, with that dark hair and strong jaw, his broad shoulders and blue, blue eyes.

Maybe it was his pheromones. That was it, he was using his body chemistry to make me crazy. It wasn't my fault. Any woman would be attracted to him.

“Am I interrupting?”

“No—I, um, I just finished a wedding cake, and I was thinking about lunch, actually, and how I really didn't want to eat the casserole upstairs, so this is very much appreciated. But, um, why are you here?”

Royal leaned his hip against one of my worktables and shoved a hand in his pocket. He shrugged one shoulder. “To be honest, I don't really know. I had a crap morning and I'm headed to Heartstone for what will hopefully be a better afternoon. I tried to tell myself I didn't have time to see you, but here I am. Because I really wanted to see you.”

“But why?” A dumb question, I know, but really, I didn't get it. What was there to see? It was just me and my apron, my hair sticking out in every direction, streaked with flour. Why me?

Royal straightened and closed the distance between us, his blue eyes focused on my face. Plucking the sandwich bag from my hand, he raised his own and extended one finger to trace over the curve of my cheekbone.

Leaning down, he murmured, “Because you’re you, and seeing you feels good. I could try listing all your good qualities. I did that on Friday, but it doesn't seem to have sunk in. So, I'm going to go with the easy answer. Being near you makes me feel good. And I can't stop thinking about doing this.”

Royal set the sandwich bag on the table behind him and turned, cupping my face in his hands. I knew what he was going to do. I could feel it coming.

I should have stepped back. I should have told him not to.

I should have told him I had a boyfriend.

I didn't do any of that.

I didn't want to step back.

And I didn't really have a boyfriend.

But I did want Royal to kiss me.

I might as well see what it was like, I reasoned. Royal would lose interest and move on eventually, so I should kiss him while I had the chance.

At that moment—my heart beating a fast rhythm in my chest, his hands warm on my face, his mouth dropping to mine—kissing Royal made complete sense.

His lips brushed mine, soft and warm. Gentle but coaxing. He wasn’t all tongue and saliva like the last guy I’d kissed. He'd been enough to put me off kissing for—had it been a year? Maybe J.T. was right. It had been too long.

My thoughts faded as Royal tilted his head to the side and deepened his kiss, his lips nudging mine apart, his tongue dipping in to taste.

Chocolate. Royal Sawyer tasted like bittersweet chocolate. Like chocolate and heat and man.

I rose to my toes, winding my arms around his neck, and pressed my body to his. So much strength. And big, bigger than me. His arms closed around my back and my toes left the floor. Before I had a chance to panic, Royal turned and set me on the worktable, making space between my spread knees, his mouth still on mine, his kiss hungrier.

Demanding.

I did the only thing I could—I tilted my head back and gave him more. Who knew Royal Sawyer could kiss like this?

Royal’s mouth tore from mine, his breath coming in harsh pants. “Daisy,” he breathed, “I knew it would be this good.” His mouth skimmed along my jaw, settling beneath my ear with a light suck that sent another wave of heat shimmering through my body.

“You taste like dessert.” His lips were back on mine, his tongue stroking until my head spun so hard I thought it would roll right off my body.

I could have kissed Royal all day. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought about dragging him up the stairs to my little apartment and stripping off his suit. I wanted my hands on all those hard muscles. I wanted to taste him all over. I wanted…

A thud against the swinging door to the shop broke through my haze of lust. Royal was already moving. By the time Grams walked into the kitchen, we were standing five feet apart, Royal unpacking the lunch he'd brought me.

Flustered, I tried to cover like I hadn’t just been about to strip him naked