Knox (Chicago Blaze 4)

“No dessert,” he says softly. “Promise.”

“Good. Because I’m very anti-dessert these days.”

Tina laughs sarcastically from her desk. “No, you’re not. You ate a huge piece of that cheesecake you made last week.”

I close my eyes, my cheeks warming with embarrassment.

“See you soon, Reese,” Knox says, smirking as he turns for the door.

“Okay. I mean, hopefully. I’m pretty busy.”

“We’ll make it work.”

He leaves then, and I glare at Tina, who just shrugs.

On my walk back to the kitchen, my overworked heart collapses into a tired heap. It’s not used to cartwheels, not having done a single one since Kauai.

It’s just dinner. One dinner, to catch up and wish each other well.

And no dessert. Dessert only leads to feelings and feelings lead to heartbreak. So even though Knox was the best dessert I’ve ever had, I have to resist. The life I’ve built here in Chicago means too much to me. I won’t risk upsetting it over a man. Even that man.Chapter NineKnoxI can’t take my eyes off Reese as she approaches the table where I’ve been waiting for her, rather anxiously if I’m being honest with myself. The maître d’ laughs heartily over something she said as he escorts her over here. Though I know it’s irrational that I’m jealous over the glow on his face as he looks at her, I’m not gonna deny it—I want him to fuck off.

I haven’t seen Reese in more than a year. I never thought I’d see her again, and that was a huge disappointment after feeling such a powerful connection with her. I think I deserve to have her to myself for a long time. That’s kind of a sobering thought, but she’s a woman you settle down with, and I think I might actually be ready for that.

“Hey,” she says, smiling at me as she sets her bag on an adjacent chair.

“Hi, you look great,” I say as I stand to pull out her chair for her.

“Thanks.”

Once she sits down, I sit back down, too. Our eyes lock across the table and I’m transported back to Kauai.

We’re both a little older—I’ve gotten a few gray hairs growing in at my temples since then and Reese’s hair is a few inches shorter. Neither of us are as bronzed from the sun as we were back then, but the feelings are the same.

If anything, I’m even more attracted to her now, because I know how it feels to lose her. It fucking sucks, and I don’t want to go through it again.

“I wish you would’ve found me,” I say. “If I’d known that you lived here, I would’ve wanted to see you immediately.”

Reese sips from her water goblet, the ice in her glass clinking together. When she sets it down, she gives me a soft smile.

“I thought about it. But I knew I’d just want to jump right back in bed with you.”

I can’t help glaring at her. “And that would have been a bad thing?”

Her smile fades. “For me…yeah. I’m so happy with my life the way it is now. I haven’t been on a single date since we last saw each other, and I have no interest in going on one.”

I grunt in response, unable to hide my disappointment. I guess the magic is only still there for me. But I recover quickly.

“I guess you knew no other man could compare to me,” I quip, winking.

“It’s your modesty that sets you apart, I think.”

I shrug, unable to tear my gaze away from her face. I remember exactly how her lips look when she’s coming, wide open even though she tries to stay as quiet as possible. My cock stiffens in my pants as I think about making her come so hard she cries out my name in ecstasy.

“Knox?” she prods, and I shake myself out of my daze.

“Hmm?”

“I asked what you’ve been up to for the past year.”

I don’t want to bring her down by telling her about my dad, and it’s not something I like to talk about anyway, so I stick to a safer subject.

“Oh. Uh, hockey mostly. We made it to the postseason last year, but didn’t win the cup.”

She smiles. “I saw one of your games on TV one night when I was packing my stuff to move.”

“To Paris?”

“I didn’t end up going to Paris, actually. I got an amazing opportunity to work with a chocolatier in Switzerland for six months, so I did that. And then I found out a chef I went to school with was a partner in Magnolia, and he was looking for a pastry chef, and that’s how I ended up here.”

She pronounces the word “chocolatier” with a perfect French accent, which somehow makes her even sexier.

“Switzerland? That must’ve been exciting.”

Reese’s eyes light with happiness. “It was the most incredible experience I’ve had in any of my baking and cooking schooling. It changed the way I temper my chocolate and make my chocolate fillings. We made huge structures and models out of chocolate. And the truffles…” She sighs happily. “I brought an extra five pounds back to the states on my hips from sampling all that chocolate, but I regret nothing.”