Page 32 of Cakewalk

They sat there for a long moment in silence, Gigi sitting on the couch with him kneeling in front of her. The fire behind him crackled as the wood settled a bit, causing a whoosh of heat to hit them. It felt good against his back, like the moment was embracing them.

“I really like you, Gigi,” Holden said, breaking the silence.

“I really like you too, Holden.”

Pushing up from his knees, he moved onto the couch so he was sitting next to her, their legs touching.

“Please forgive me,” he whispered, turning toward her and leaning in so their foreheads were touching.

“I do.”

Her words felt like salve on an open wound that he didn’t know he had. How was it that two simple words could mean so much? Leaning in more, he brought his mouth to hers, until they were just a whisper apart. He could feel his heart start to race at just the thought of kissing her again, wondering if she wanted the same thing he did. When he felt her lean in just a bit more, he wasted no time in capturing her mouth with his. Her lips were soft and tender and felt absolutely perfect. He reached up and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. He needed to feel her body against his. Needed to know if her heart was beating at the same furious pace. When she was seated in his lap, he deepened the kiss. She mewed as his hands caressed her back, moving her own hands into his hair. Fuck, she felt good in his arms. How was it that he could feel so much for her? He could feel his dick starting to get hard as she wiggled in his lap, continuing to kiss him back with the same fervor that he kissed her. But even with a raging hard-on, he was more than content to stay just like this—Gigi curled up in his lap, feeding him her addictive kisses.

Gigi pulled back slowly, a flirty little grin tugging at the corner of her lips. For a brief second, she almost looked drunk, and Holden couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pride at the thought of her getting drunk from his kiss.

“Holden,” she whispered, her eyelids still heavy.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

There was a beat of silence as he waited for her to respond. But instead of using her words, Gigi surprised him by leaning in and kissing him again.

14

Holden

Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” might not be most people’s choice to pound the pavement to, but Holden found that the oldie but goodie served him quite well. At a tempo of a hundred and twenty-three beats per minute, for a full five and a half minutes, it provided just the rhythm he needed to maintain his pace. The guitar riffs also seemed to provide the perfect gateway to lead his mind down whatever road it needed to clear his thoughts.

His thoughts that had really only been filled with one thing since Saturday night—Gigi Hawthorne.

After kissing until both of them couldn’t see straight, they’d rearranged themselves on the couch, pulling out Holden’s laptop to watch a movie. Although if Holden had to guess, they’d maybe only watched about half of the movie, the rest of the time spent cuddling and kissing some more. However, when Holden had woken up the next morning, curled around Gigi, both of them still on the couch, he was left not knowing how to act. Sure, they’d both admitted to each other that they “liked” each other, but what did that even mean? It’s not like they were in junior high and going to hang out with each other at the mall. They were adults, sharing a house.

And then there was everything they had admitted to each other the other night. Both of them had revealed some heavy stuff, and Holden didn’t feel right making a move on her so soon after she let him in on her secret. Not that he didn’t want to. Oh, did he want to. He wanted nothing more than to feel her curves underneath his hands again. He longed to see just how perfect her bare breasts were and to worship her whole body with his tongue.

Slowing down as he turned back up the driveway, he thought for what felt like the millionth time in the last six days that he didn’t know what to do or even what to say to her. While things between them weren’t full-on awkward, they were still…weird. It was as if neither of them wanted to be the one to cross the line but were still hoping the other one would. Not that Holden really had any idea what that line was. All he knew was that he wanted Gigi—on every level imaginable.

“Hello?” he called out, walking into the house.

The sound of the oven timer greeted him, followed shortly by Gigi’s sweet, southern, “Hey!” It made him giggle every time she said it, all drawn out into two syllables, “hay-ay.”

“Whatcha making?” he asked, still trying to catch his breath. He was sticking to the extra distance on his run, which was helping counteract all the amazing things Gigi was baking but was also showing off that he was still not in the shape he once was. Even with his heart still racing from his run, it managed to skip a beat when Gigi flashed him an excited smile, showing off her latest creation.

“Honey sticky buns,” she said, a lightness to her voice that had recently appeared when she was talking about baking. “Hunnie gave me some of her cinnamon infused honey the other day when we had lunch, and it sparked an idea.”

He crossed the kitchen, watching as she bent over to place the baking dish in the oven. Her backside always looked incredible, but when she bent over like that, he had to stop himself from grabbing ahold of her hips. Unable to tear his eyes away from her gorgeous ass, he mentally scolded himself before finally clearing his throat to speak. “I don’t know that I’ve ever had sticky buns with honey.”

“Neither have I, but I thought it would be something fun to try out. It took a little bit to get the consistency right, based off what the recipe said it should be like with the real ingredients, but I think it tasted okay when I tried it before going into the oven.”

“How long until I can have a taste?” he asked, unsure if he was talking about the sticky buns or her buns.

“About thirty minutes or so?” she said with a little shrug. While there still seemed to be a tension between then, it was different now. It was one based on desire, rather than fear. Everything about her seemed so much more at ease now, like she was finally able to relax and not have to worry about what might lurk around the corner. Standing here now, a few feet from him, her stance was easy, and her body language was light, like this was her home—their home—and they were just a normal couple hanging out in the kitchen.

“Perfect, then I’m gonna hit the shower,” he said, starting to lean in but stopping himself. For as much as he wanted to kiss her right now, he had no idea if she wanted that in return. Just because such a gesture felt natural to him didn’t mean anything. Despite it feeling like they were a normal couple, they weren’t actually one, were they? After all, she hadn’t said anything to him about Saturday night either.

With a nod, he walked out of the kitchen and bounded up the stairs, shaking his head and scolding himself for not taking the chance. Maybe she was waiting on him to make the move. Or maybe he should have just manned up and said something to her. But what exactly did one say in this situation? “Hi, I know we’re technically living together, but can I take you on a date?”

Once the water was finally warm enough, Holden stripped down and stepped into the hot shower. The steady stream felt good against his skin, still chilled from the December air. Taking in a deep breath and letting his lungs fill with steam, he let his mind drift back to Gigi. Everything about her seemed to get under his skin, like her very essence was trying to make a home there. And everything about her, from the knot of blonde hair she piled on top of her head while she was baking, to her chic looking “comfy clothes,” to her seemingly never-ending shoe collection, was just so damn adorable.

But it wasn’t just her looks that got to him. It really was everything. Her smile, her laughter. The fact that she had all sorts of strange little expressions she used instead of swearing. It was her drive to better herself and to be her own person. He admired her spirit for starting over after her dick-wad of a husband’s death. The strength required to move someplace new and take on a job she knew nothing about was something that he couldn’t even imagine, and yet she possessed it all in the stunning little body of hers. He had no idea why their paths had crossed, but he wasn’t going to take another second of it for granted.