His Tasty Cherry Pie: A Double Virgin Valentine

A lot of those men tried to get with me over the years, but I was never interested. Not even tempted a little bit.

I was never sure why.

But with Malcolm it’s different. I don’t know… Working with him like this—up close and personal—I’m feeling something. Maybe it was because he didn’t judge me about my family and instead helped me feel better about it. Maybe it’s those sexy tattoos. Maybe it’s his stunning eyes. I don’t know…

But it is something. I want to know everything about him. I want to hire a team of personal investigators to find out what he’s into, where he goes, if he has a girlfriend…

That last thought makes my stomach drop. I thought life couldn’t get any worse, but what’s worse than meeting your dream guy and finding out he has a beautiful, non-scandalized girlfriend?

I don’t know if I could go on after that…

“We’ll be professional, Mom,” he says with a nod. “Isn’t that right, Charlotte?”

There’s something playful in those eyes as he grins at me.

They’re inviting me in, urging me to play with him.

“We’ll be totally professional,” I add.

As long as your gorgeous son keeps his shirt on. If he flashes those sexy abs again though, all bets are off…

CHAPTER THREE

Malcolm

* * *

It’s so hard to concentrate on work when Charlotte is within view. She’s both elegantly beautiful and drop-dead sexy at the same time. I can’t stop looking at her. I can’t stop thinking about her.

She’s taken over my mind. I’m already obsessed with this enchantress.

I’ve been trying to play it cool all day, but it’s fucking hard and getting even harder.

She bends down to grab an empty tray on the lowest rack and I let out a groan when I see her round ass in those tight black pants. She’s killing me over here.

“Sir,” the lady in front of me says, sounding annoyed that I’m not paying enough attention to her. “My card!”

She’s holding out her card, glaring at me impatiently.

“Right,” I say, shaking my head out of the daze it’s in before I grab it. Shit. The machine timed out.

I glance at Charlotte one more time before I reenter the price. The lady lets out an angry huff.

“Thank you for shopping at the Pie In The Sky Bakery,” I tell her as I hand over her bag once the transaction is completed.

“Stare at girls on your own time, you creep,” she says as she snatches the bag out of my hand with a hard stare. “Some of us have things to do!”

I hold in my surprised laugh as she glares at me one last time before storming out with her head shaking.

My friend from high school, Todd, walks in after her. He’s one of those Bridgeworth Pines folk who has never left the town and never plans to either. Todd works at the gas station down the street and is always trying to score free coffee and baked goods. It’s been six years and I’ve never given him a freebie, but he still asks every single time.

“What up, M?” he says as he struts in and drums his hands on the counter. “Whoa, who’s that?”

I nearly let out a growl when I see him staring at Charlotte. She’s working on some heart-shaped Valentine’s Day cookies like I taught her, looking gorgeous as usual. She has a bit of flour on her cheek and it takes everything I have not to walk over there and wipe it off with my thumb. My heart hurts as I watch her.

“Is she single?” Todd asks as he leans on the counter, ogling her.

I grit my teeth as I glare at him in warning. He’s clueless.

“She’s mine.”

His eyebrows raise as he looks at me in shock. “That’s your girl?”

“Yes.”

“Since when do you have a girl?” he asks with a laugh. “I thought you were gay.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know,” he says with a shrug. “The muscles…”

“I like to work out.”

“And you turned down Aanya in high school,” he says with a nod. “No straight guy would be crazy enough to turn down Aanya.”

Aanya was beautiful and she had a big crush on me for years, but I knew she wasn’t the one for me. No girl has been. In truth, I’ve been waiting for the one all my life and I think I’ve finally found her.

“I’m not the kind of guy to shop around, if that makes sense.”

He grabs a cookie off the counter and bites into it as he shakes his head. “No. That doesn’t make sense at all.”

“I know what I want when I see it,” I say as I glance at Charlotte. “And I want her.”

“So, you haven’t asked her out yet?” he asks with a scrunched-up forehead. “So, she is available!”

“She’s not,” I snap. My hands are clenched into fists under the counter as I struggle to hold back my temper. “Like I said, she’s mine. And you’re paying for that cookie!”