“It is,” he said. “I understand you thought you were doing her a favor, but moving the bakery isn’t a bad thing. In fact, I’ve gone ahead and found a new location for her. There’s better traffic, no competition nearby, and it’s a newer facility with a two-bedroom loft above it. With the money she’ll get from this deal, she’ll be able to afford a state-of-the-art kitchen and design the space to fit her modern tastes instead of simply inhabiting my mother’s old place.”
“Sophie likes her grandmother’s place. That’s what you’re not getting, mate. She doesn’t care about any of that shite. She only wants to keep what she already has, and you’re trying to take that away from her, not to mention everyone else on the block.”
“Yourself included?”
“I’m not concerned about my gym. I like this space; it’s close to where I live and I have a good clientele built up here. But if I had to move it, it’d be nothing more than a mild inconvenience. The only thing I’m concerned about is making sure Sophie is happy.”
“That’s all? Are you sure about that?”
Xander didn’t like the man’s tone or the sneer curling his upper lip. “My wife,” he said deliberately, “is my top priority.”
“And what of your career, Mr. James? The career you’ve worked so hard to get back, quite literally with blood, sweat, and tears. I know about your latest opportunity.”
The hairs on the back of Xan’s neck stood on end, and it took every ounce of restraint not to grab Caldwell by the shirtfront and drag him across his desk. “How the hell do you know about that?” Xander had only just gotten the call from his manager that morning, and the official announcement wouldn’t be scheduled for at least a week.
Richard furrowed his brow as though the implication that he wouldn’t know everything about Xander insulted him. “A good businessman always has his ear to the ground. You never know when you might hear something that gives you an edge during negotiations.”
“You mean that gives you a way to manipulate a situation to your liking.”
Shrugging a thin shoulder, Caldwell said, “In any case, I know that in order to go after your dream, you need sponsorships. I can provide you with those. I have a lot of connections.”
Xan chuckled. “No offense, mate, but walking around with real estate offices on my shorts isn’t exactly what I’m looking for.”
“I may only be in the real estate business, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the kind of connections you’d want. I’ve sold properties to companies like Right Hook Wraps, Warrior Weights, and more. All it would take is one phone call from me and your sponsorship problems would be solved.”
“I don’t have sponsorship problems, and even if I did, I sure as hell wouldn’t come to you to fix them.”
That wasn’t entirely true. Well, the second part was, but the part about not having problems was a stretch. He was in need of sponsors, but it wasn’t easy to convince major corporations to take a chance on an older fighter coming back from a serious injury. Jax had of course told him he’d act as his sponsor, and he and Reid both offered to make a few calls on his behalf, but Xan didn’t want to use his friends’ clout and connections. His pride demanded he get the sponsors on his own merit, just like they had when they were starting out. So he’d refused their help and told his manager to keep working on it. Xan had faith that he’d come through.
Squinting, Caldwell studied Xander like he was analyzing a chessboard, trying to see five moves ahead. Xander crossed his arms over his chest and waited, his expression giving nothing away. Finally, Caldwell gave up with a controlled sigh and took a checkbook out of his briefcase. “All right, James, what’s it going to take to get you to sign those papers and convince my niece to do the same? Name your price.”
Was he fucking serious? The man thought he could buy Xander off just like that. Pushing to his feet, Xander shoved the divorce papers back into the envelope and tossed them into his desk drawer. The last thing he wanted was Richard taking them to Sophie next.
“We have an expression where I come from when dealing with people like you, Caldwell.”
“And what expression is that?”
Xan grabbed his keys and hoisted the strap of his gym bag onto his shoulder as he nailed Richard with a menacing look and said, “Fuck off.” Then he strode out of his office, leaving the man to gather his things and see himself out.
He wanted to sprint all the way to the bakery, but seeing as it was Leg Day, he was lucky enough to be able to walk at all. Reid had pushed him hard until Xan’s entire lower body burned from exhaustion. Now his legs felt like limp spaghetti, so no matter how excited he was, running was bloody well out of the question.
When he could see the large pink sign of Sophie’s Sweet Spot, he kept his focus just there, afraid if he looked away he’d find himself several blocks back still. Because of that, it took him by surprise when he finally dragged his eyes away and saw the buzz of activity in the shop.
A line of people jutted from the front counter, waiting to order, and all three small tables were filled with customers enjoying Sophie’s cake truffles while chatting with friends. He almost double-checked the sign out front to make sure he’d found the right place, but it wasn’t necessary when his gaze lit on his wife hustling behind the counter and looking as stunning as ever. Xan wondered how long it would take before he didn’t have such a strong reaction to seeing her. Before his gut didn’t clench and his cock didn’t stir. Surely it would happen eventually, but it was hard to imagine.
Pulling open the glass door, he barely heard the tinkling of the bell announcing his arrival over the sounds of the customers. He stood off to the side, anxious to speak with Sophie, yet content to watch her in her element. She moved back and forth behind the counter, retrieving the cupcakes to place them in a bag or line them up in a box while Kristin took care of any drink orders and worked the register. Sophie’s face was flushed, likely from the constant movement, and her dark eyes sparkled as she accepted praise from her patrons with grace and a wide smile with that sexy mouth painted red.
Fuck him, but that lipstick was like a waving cape to his inner bull. Seeing it automatically made him want to attack her until he’d kissed every last bit of it from those juicy lips that taunted him. Except he never succeeded. Her lipstick had to be military grade because it didn’t come off no matter what they did. He didn’t have a clue how she took it off, either. Probably needed turpentine.
Sophie waved at him, making him forget all thoughts of her makeup regimen, then held up one finger signaling him she’d be only a minute. He sauntered over to the counter as she finished up with a customer. The bloke next in line gave him a smarmy look.
“Don’t worry, mate, I’m not here for the sweets,” he said with a wink. “I’m here for the one who makes them.”
After pointing a threatening finger in his direction that clearly ordered him to behave—where was the fun in that?—Sophie handed a lady her change. “Kristin, can you cover me for five?”
Kristin glanced over at Xan briefly before turning her attention back to the fancy coffee she was making with her trademark wicked grin. “Five minutes? You think it’s a good idea to indulge in three minutes of cuddling when we’re so busy?”
Sophie smacked her friend’s arm, almost causing her to spill as she handed the coffee to the man next to Xander snickering at the low blow to his stamina. Good thing Xan had a sense of humor. “Kristin, love, you flatter me with an extra whole minute. Careful, or you’ll have my beautiful wife thinking I can keep that sort of performance up indefinitely.”
Both women laughed and Kristin shooed her friend away, claiming she was more than capable of “holding down the fort” while Sophie dealt with Xander. Unable to wait another minute, Xan grabbed Sophie’s hand and dragged her through the kitchen and out the back door.
“What is it? You never leave the gym this early.” She gave him a thorough once over. “You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No, but Reid worked m
e hard and let me off early. I know I should have waited for you to get home, but I couldn’t help it. I feel like I’ll explode if I don’t tell you soon.”
She smiled. “From the look on your face I’m guessing you have some good news?”
“Mmm, you’re so sexy when you’re right,” he teased before pulling her in and pretending to attack her neck with his teeth.
She gave a wee squeal and laughed as she pushed him away. “Your beard tickles when you do that. Back off, or I won’t tell you my good news.”
Xan quit his playing and looked down at her. “Tell me your news, sweetheart.”
“I don’t want you exploding, so tell me yours and then I’ll go.”
He shook his head and gave her a squeeze with his hands where they rested at her hips. “Ladies first, I insist. Tell me.”
“Okay. So there’s good news, but also some bad. The good news is that ever since you made that crazy-ass announcement at the end of your fight, we’ve gotten busier every week. Half of what we make every day now is the healthier cupcakes, but our sales for the traditional ones have gone up as well.”
“That’s fantastic, Soph. I’m so proud of you.”
“But that’s not even the best part,” she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet a few times. “This morning I served a woman who came in before she went to work, and she loved her Sophie’s Lite cupcake so much that she plans on proposing to her company—which is just down the street—that I provide a selection of them in their café as a healthier alternative in support of their corporate-wide mission to live fit.”
“You’re kidding. That’s amazing,” he said, beaming. “An account like that would be huge for you. For profits and marketing, as well. Soon everyone in a ten-mile radius will have accounts with you.”
“No, that’s the bad news. As it is right now, I’ll barely be able to fill the kind of order they’ll require on a daily basis. I’ll need to stay longer hours to make the cakes the night before, and I’ll have to get them frosted, decorated, and out the door first thing in the morning before I can even start on my front case inventory for that day.”
Xan hated how her brilliant smile had turned to worry creasing her brow and tightening her mouth. “Could you get another employee? Someone part-time to help out enough to get you through the busy times?”
She chewed on the inside of her cheek in consideration. “I was wondering the same thing. I guess it depends on how much I’ll make in the deal. But I also have to replace George soon or it won’t matter how many people I have to make the cupcakes because I won’t have a mixer to make them in, and I don’t think I can afford both.”
“Come here,” he said, folding her into his arms. He loved the way her softness melted against him and her body fit with his. Rubbing her back, he inhaled her sweet scent and held it in his lungs until he was forced to exhale. “We’ll figure out a way to make it work until you get the money from your trust in a couple months. Maybe you can find an apprentice, someone who will work for little or no pay for the chance to learn from you. Then you can take the money and use it for a few new Georges.”
Pulling back to arm’s length, Sophie smiled up at him. “That’s actually a good idea.”
“You say that like you’re surprised.”
Laughing, she said, “Aw, baby, you know I think you’re brilliant.” Then she gave him a big smack on the lips. “What’s your good news? But if there’s bad news with it, I want that first. Then we can end on a happy note with the good.”
“I don’t know if it’s bad news, but it’s definitely a downside. I’ll be spending more time at the gym, getting home later.” He frowned, not liking this part a bit. “We’ll see less of each other than we already do, and I can’t promise I won’t be a gelatinous zombie at the end of the day.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I mean, I don’t like that I won’t see you as much, but I know that you need to do this. I love how dedicated you are to your passion and goals. And even if you’re a Jell-O zombie, I’d bet the bakery there’s a part of you that will always get plenty firm. You can just lie there and I’ll do all the moving for both of us.”
“Bloody hell, Soph,” he rasped at her ear. “Have I told you lately how perfect you are?”
She chuckled. “A girl can never hear it too many times. Okay, now the good news. Come on, out with it.”
Xan took a deep breath and blew it out. “My manager called Reid at the gym this morning. A UFC fighter scheduled on the September 26th card injured himself in training.”
Her dramatically long lashes nearly touched her eyebrows when her eyes grew wide. “And?”
“And they asked if I wanted to fight in his place.”
Sophie’s hands flew up to cover her gasp, then curled her fingers into fists so she could talk. “This is it, right? The chance you’ve been working so hard for?”
Xander’s smile spread so wide he thought his cheeks might cramp, but there was no help for it. “Yeah, gorgeous, this is it.”
Her squeals of excitement rent the air and nearly his eardrums along with it, then she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He laughed, catching her against him and thinking how everything about this moment felt so bloody right.
As soon as he’d gotten the call, the first thing he’d wanted to do was tell Soph. It killed him to have to wait this long, but Reid had promised to let Xan out early so he could celebrate with her. Her reaction was perfect. More than perfect, he amended, when she grabbed the sides of his face and pressed her lips to his.
She ended the kiss, but he wasn’t having any of that. Not now that she’d teased him with that dream of a mouth and he had her centered over his hardening cock, which was where he’d like to fuse her permanently thankyouverymuch. Growling his argument, Xander slid one hand into her hair and stepped forward until her back hit the bricks of the building.
He pegged her with eyes he knew lit up with his insatiable hunger for her. “You shouldn’t start something you don’t intend to finish, babe.”
“You’re projecting,” she argued, her voice a touch breathy. “I didn’t even use tongue.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he rumbled, his face skirting around the edges of hers as he spoke, teasing her with everything he wasn’t doing. “I only need to see your glossy ruby-painted mouth, and all manner of wonderfully filthy images assault me. Me licking and eating at it; my cock fucking it as I hold you by your hair, memorizing the way your lips stretch around me and how my balls tighten every time the head hits the back of your throat.”
“Jesus, that’s so unfair,” she said. “You’re going to make me a hot mess and then go home while I have to work for two more hours with soaked panties.”
He groaned. “You had to bring up your knickers, didn’t you? Just put my dick in a vise, why don’t you. I’m going to be painfully hard until you get home.”
“You started it.”
Grinding her hips in a tight circle over his steel length shocked his spine with a bolt of fiery pleasure that made the edges of his vision dance with darkness. “Fucking hell,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “Little minx. I ought to take you right here in broad daylight.”
Sophie kissed down his neck. “I dare you.”
Xan paused, wondering if he heard her right. “What?”
She pulled back to give him her naughty grin that never failed to tighten his balls. “I double-dog dare you.”
Talk about a backfire. No way was he taking her where anyone could see her. Xan carefully set her down, but stayed so close to her that even with her wicked high heels she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. “Though I have no issues with being starkers in public, and I appreciate your sense of adventure, you’re forgetting one thing.”
“What’s that?”
Setting his jaw, he spoke low and slow to make sure she understood that he was no longer jesting. He braced his left hand on the brick wall above her and cupped the back of her nec
k, adding enough pressure with his fingers to keep her aware of his hold.
“I don’t share what’s mine,” he said. “No one else gets to experience you the way I do. To see the pleasure wash over your flawless face or hear the euphoric sounds you make as I drive us both to the edge of madness and beyond.” Xan felt the muscle in his jaw tic in agitation. “No one.”
Sophie sucked in a sharp breath, shock registering on her face and in the way her body froze with tension. Jesus, what the hell was wrong with him? He’d just audibly pissed all over a woman who refused to be owned by any man ever, like a common beast marking his territory. But it was bound to come out sooner or later. He’d never felt so damn proprietary over a female before in his life.
Ever since they made love after his fight, Xan knew he needed to tell her how his feelings for her had blown past a mutually agreed upon fun sexual fling for the duration of their marriage. But he planned on doing it over a nice homemade dinner with some wine and a whole lot of finesse, not like a Neanderthal dragging her to his cave.
Long moments passed with Sophie staring at him, her head slightly canted as though studying a strange bug trapped under a glass while deciding what to do with it. An apt metaphor as he waited for her to either let his bold statement pass or let him go.
Finally, she reacted…by dropping her gaze to where her fingers curled into loose fists over the center of his chest. His stomach dropped. She couldn’t even look him in the eyes. Fuck! Xander was furious with himself. He wanted to punch the craggy bricks, opening wounds on his knuckles to release the mounting pressure through the letting of his blood.
He could try to backpedal, tell her it was a joke, something to salvage the last five minutes. But he didn’t want to. He’d rather she know the score than continue to downplay his feelings for her.
“When we started this fake marriage thing, I was pretty clear that I didn’t want this turning into anything serious. I was comfortable with our arrangement because when it came to women, you were all about having a good time and moving on. So to hear you say those things now, it surprises me…” Sophie peered up at him through her lashes and finished so quiet he almost didn’t hear her. “It surprises me to realize that I kind of like it.”