3. Anna

It's been days and I still feel that guy's body pressed up against mine. Still feel his lips, warm and soft and demanding on mine.

Still want the damn asshole so much that my fingers tingle with it.

I slam the pans around in my commercial kitchen and growl under my breath.

A throat clears behind me. "Hey, Anna! How are you?"

I turn my head and laugh when I see the wary look on Tally's face. "What's that look for?"

"Depends. Why are you slamming pans like you'd like to beat someone to death with them?"

I flush. "No reason. I'm just tired and nothing's cooperating today."

She nods her head but the look on her face makes me think that she doesn't believe a word of it. "Okay. Well, I hate to bug you but Foster and I want to surprise Harley with a party to celebrate our new life. It's like an engagement party but with kids thrown in for her."

"So along with the cake and stuff for your engagement party you want to have a specialty cake for Harley?"

She nods her head and shoves a piece of red hair behind her ear. "That's not going to be a problem, is it? I mean, are you too busy?"

"When do you need it?"

She taps a painted fingernail on her chin and smiles. "How about next month? The beginning of next month. School's over and I want to make sure that we do something special for her at the wedding. This is gonna set the stage for our life together and I don't want to leave her out."

I shake my head and come over to hug her. "You are too sweet for your own good, girl. I'm sure that Harley knows how lucky she is to get you for a stepmom."

Tally scrunches up her little nose, glaring at me. "I really hate that title."

I giggle, asking, "What exactly would you like her to call you?"

"She calls me Mom."

"That is adorably sweet. I'm glad that you guys have found each other and you've got Foster. Although I swear at first I thought y'all were gonna kill each other."

"Nope. We just had to work through a few things."

Snorting, I pick up the order form and ask, "Okay. Let's say that's what y'all did. Now. What kind of cake would you like for your little princess?"

"Ugh. She hates being called that. I think the girl is gonna be a fighter. She's scrappy."

"Okay. So what do you want to get on her cake?"

"I think she's a superhero so let's look at at…Wonder Woman. I think she'll like her. She beats up guys. Which is ironic, isn't it?"

Snickering, I mark down what she wants. "Yeah, considering how y'all met, I definitely think that falls under ironic."

"We have an interesting story to tell," she says, smiling and ducking her head like she's shy. Newsflash. She's not.

"Yeah, yeah. How's it been at school this year?"

"Good. The new principal is pretty cool. They've done a complete revamp of the school system."

"That's great! I'm glad things are working out."

She nods and then glances at her fitness watch. She sighs. "I've got to get going. I'm going to be late getting to class if I don't hurry."

"I'll take care of this." I nod towards the order pad and smile. "I hope that Harley loves it."

"She will. She's the sweetest kid."

A pang of envy hits me and I push it down. Tally had to wait for quite awhile to find her perfect fit. I shouldn't begrudge her her new life.

But I want it. If I didn't have to find a man to get it anyway. I'm still not that interested in finding a man to share my life with. I'm a simple woman and I have a hard time fitting in. Sharing my life with someone else would probably be difficult for me.

But my sleepless nights are really starting to catch up with me. I sigh and close my eyes, my body vibrating with desire so strong that it ripples over me and pools in my lower belly like liquid heat.

I need to get my head straight before I do something crazy like find the damn asshole who kissed me and now keeps showing up in my dreams, stripping me bare and fucking me endlessly and every way he can until I'm a boneless mess of sated lust.

"What on earth are you thinking, sweetheart?"

No! There's no way!

But when I pry one eye open he's standing in front of me, his sparkling blue gaze locked on my quivering body like a laser beam right to my pussy.

I groan and close my eye again. "You are not here right now. You are not here right now."

"I'm standing right in front of you. You can say that as many times as you want but I'm still standing right here in front of you."

Sighing, I open both eyes and glare at the sexy asshole who's haunting my dreams with his nighttime antics.

"What do you want?"

"Ryan."

My brow lifts. "What?"

"Ryan. My name is Ryan."

"I know that. I was warned before that mess of a wedding that you were catering and you were an asshole who hates women."

"I don't hate women," he huffs and his eyes sparkle even more as his eyes run down my body. "As a matter of fact…."

I hold up my hand. "Don't finish that thought. I don't know why you're here but if you don't want to order something maybe you should go home."

"I'm not gonna do that." He shakes his golden head and my heart skips a beat when he moves closer. My breath comes faster when he stalks closer, his eyes focused so hard on me that it feels like he's trying to crawl into my soul.

He smells so good. Like citrus and leather. Masculine and sexy and earthy.

What the hell am I thinking?

"Why are you here? Did you just come here to mess with my head again? Want to growl at me some more about your space? I'm not in your space. You're in mine." Damn, I think I'd like it if he growled at me again. My pussy clenches when he grunts under his breaths still stalking me even as I back up until I hit the counter in the back of my kitchen.

He stalks right up to me. His head comes down and he runs his nose along my throat and I know I should slap him. I should tell him to move back. I should shove him off me.

I don't do any of that though. My head tilts like he's a puppeteer controlling every one of my motions. I moan and he growls under his breath, the warm puff of air coming from his soft lips makes my bones turn liquid. My knees twitch, my whole body sagging. My fingers move up to grasp his hair and my fingers slip into his hair, wrapping around the silky strands and tugging hard.

"Ryan?" My voice is whispery-soft but he hears me and his eyes open, the blue flames in them hypnotizing me. My whole body lights up like fireworks on the Fourth.

"I missed you, sweetheart."

"You don't know me. How the hell can you miss me? And you hate me."

He shakes his head and leans forward, his teeth nipping at my lower lip, his body tight against me. Warmth seeps into me and my pussy clenches hard.

"I don't hate you. I can't stop thinking about you. What have you done to me, woman?"

I'm not sure but I think he's done the same thing to me because I pull his head down and slam my lips on his, my tongue surging inside his mouth, tangling with his slick muscle and savoring his soft growl.

God, I love that sound.