Page 13 of Tempting the Tiger

CHAPTER THREE

The next few days were busy for Grace. Besides her regular baking, she had several special orders which included making a birthday cake shaped like an elephant. While she considered cookies and cupcakes and other pastries her specialty, she did enjoy the challenge of cake making. And, she was surprisingly good at it.

It was almost like creating art, something that soothed her soul. Especially when her soul was restless.

It had been three days since she had seen Keair. She had made her regular deliveries to the two hotels and hadn’t seen him once. Sally had come by to see her and discuss a few other details of the shower, but Keair had not accompanied her. She’d heard nothing from the man. No calls, no visits, not even a text. She’d given her number to Sally, so she knew the big man could have figured out how to contact her.

If he wanted to.

She smoothed the gray-colored fondant over the rice cereal that formed the elephant’s trunk, slowly working it so the seam was invisible. She had already covered the body and legs which were made of cake. She just had to put on the final touches. She had a dozen flowers to add around the bottom along with some butterflies and frogs.

“That’s beautiful, Grace.”

The sound of the deep voice behind her made her jump and almost dropped the fondant frog she was holding. “Keair! You scared me.”

A huge smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I am sorry. I did not mean too. Your assistant told me I could come back here.”

“Mary. Her name is Mary.” Grace took a deep, steadying breath, trying to control the fast beat of her heart. Yes, he had startled her, but her heart was racing because he was near. It had only been a few days since she had seen him, but she’d already convinced herself she wouldn’t see him again.

“Have dinner with me.”

“I, uh.” She stammered again. Why did she lose her ability to form coherent sentences around this man? And exactly what was she supposed to say? Do? This gorgeous man was standing in front of her asking her out—again. What in the heck was going on with the universe? Men like him were so not supposed to be attracted to girls like her. A picture of Sally flashed in her mind. She was a curvy girl just like Grace who was now mated to a hunk of a man. But, Grace reasoned with herself, that had to have been a fluke. Right?

“Grace, I really want to go out with you.” Keair moved slowly closer as if to give her time to back away. “And I really, really want to kiss you again.”

“Keair.”

“The way you say my name. It makes me hard, Grace.”

Grace gasped at his words. No man had ever spoken to her like that before. It was seductive. It was dirty. At least for her, it was.

“Keair.” This time his name was whispered. And this time he didn’t resist. He urged her backward with his big body until hers hit the cool plaster of the wall.

He rubbed his jaw along hers, the soft subtle somehow soothing to her. Her hand lifted and her fingers wove their way through his thick black hair.

The feel of Grace’s fingers in his hair made Keair hard as a rock. He wanted to be inside her, now. She smelled so good. He pressed his mouth against her throat, licking the place where he would mark her. He shuddered trying to control the flood of desire that rolled through him. He wanted her and he wanted her now.

But he couldn’t. Hell, she had yet to agree to go out with him. Yeah, he’d stolen a couple of kisses, but that was all. He pulled back slightly. She looked bewildered and annoyed at the same time. His cat purred in satisfaction. He liked the thought of a sassy mate. So did Keair.

“Go out with me, Grace. Tonight.”

Grace felt herself start to tremble. Being this close to him made her insides melt. Made her sanity fade away. Why not? What harm could it do to go out with him? Just once. He’d kissed her. He found her attractive. She didn’t think it was some kind of game. He could have any woman that he wanted. Maybe he did find her attractive on some level. Maybe he wanted a lifetime discount at her bakery. Did it really matter at this point in time? She wanted to go out with him.

“Okay.”

“Grace, I—” He frowned down at her. “Did you just say yes?”

“I did.” She smiled at him, stroking the soft silky strands of his hair one last time before moving her hand to his shoulder. He still had her pinned against the wall, his big body barely touching hers. She wanted to move closer, to press all of her curves against him, but resisted. Just barely. “What’s wrong, cat got your tongue?”

Keair let out a low growl that made Grace’s pussy wet with wanting. “No, but this cat is about to have yours.”

He smashed his mouth against hers, thrusting his tongue between her lips, not giving her a chance to resist. Not that the thought crossed Grace’s mind. Still, because she was inexperienced, she touched his tongue tentatively. He must have understood because some of the fire left him. He stroked hers slowly, building the tension. He teased, taunted her to follow his lead. And she did until they were both breathless.

He pulled back slowly, his eyes a dark amber. His voice was rough and gritty when he spoke. “Tonight, Grace. I’ll be here to pick you up at six.”

With another hard, determined kiss, he turned and left. Grace, no longer held up by his arms, wobbled to the stainless steel counter and took a seat on the wooden stool she sometimes used when decorating.

What, she wondered, had she just gotten herself into?