The Baker (10 page)

“Shit, this feels good.” Ian turned his head to the side for a somewhat awkward but much needed kiss.

Cameron didn’t care; he loved kissing Ian, and doing it while he was well on the way to another spectacular orgasm made it even better. Ian panted through their lip-lock, Cameron tightened his grip, and Ian came with a scream into Cameron’s mouth.

God, that was sexy. All Cameron needed to do was push a little harder, and he followed Ian into release, sliding even more comfortably against Ian’s warm skin once the first splash of semen eased the way.

“Man.” Cameron closed his eyes and relaxed, Ian shaking a little in his arms.

“Yeah.” Ian pulled Cameron’s arm more tightly around himself and snuggled in. “I need a nap now.”

Cameron laughed but had to agree that was exactly what he wanted as well.

JUST UNDER
an hour later, Ian looked at Cameron making breakfast while sitting at the small kitchen table. It had become his new favorite place while fully dressed. The nap after their deliciously naughty activities had revived him, as had the hot shower once he’d awoken for the second time. Unfortunately they had showered separately because Cameron had insisted they’d starve if they didn’t have something to eat soon, and
soon
wasn’t going to happen with both of them naked and wet. Ian hated that Cameron had been right. On the other hand, it gave them something to work toward.

And wasn’t he being an optimist for thinking there’d be a next time? But why shouldn’t there be? They got along like a house on fire, so to speak, and not only in the bedroom. Dinner and the movie had been great fun last night. Of course, he couldn’t help it if he didn’t remember what it was called or what it had been about because he’d focused on listening to Cameron breathe next to him and feeling the heat from his lover’s body on his skin as they occasionally touched. That was fun too, right?

But in the bedroom, and on the sofa for that matter, the chemistry and energy between them was off the charts. Ian had no idea how he was going to survive actual sex, once they hopefully got to it, but he wasn’t going to worry about that now.

Now his focus was Cameron smoothly moving around the kitchen as he prepared breakfast. Juice and coffee were already on the table, and from the looks of it, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast were about to follow.

“There you go.” Cameron put one plate piled with hot food right in front of Ian and took the other one for himself as he sat down opposite Ian.

“That looks delicious.” Ian sniffed and almost had a bacongasm. His stomach rumbled in greedy agreement. “You have no idea how good it feels to have someone else cook for me.”

“It’s my pleasure.” Cameron smiled and picked up his fork. “I do have to confess that my kitchen skills are sadly limited to breakfast and microwave.”

“Microwave?” Ian laughed, almost spitting out the first bite of egg he’d taken. “You do wield a pretty mean oven as well, if I remember the Chinese food from last night correctly.”

“Oh, right, I guess I do.” Cameron grinned and began to eat. “Remind me to update my resume. But somehow I don’t think I come close to what you can do with an oven.”

“We can talk about that later. Right now I need to focus on eating.” Ian managed to push a little piece of everything into his mouth at the same time. The mixing flavors made him moan, and Cameron smiled. Good, the man deserved to be praised!

Once every single piece of food was gone, his juice drunk, and his coffee topped up, Ian leaned back and rubbed his stomach in quiet appreciation. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!” Cameron finished loading the dishwasher and walked over to sit down with his second cup of coffee.

It was almost Ian’s normal lunchtime, but he had the rest of Saturday ahead of him and intended to make the best of it. He’d have to work on Sunday, when it was Senga’s day off, but for now, he was a free man.

“I’ve been wondering.” Cameron paused as he sipped from his “Trust Me I’m A Detective” mug.

“Yes?”

“Well, with the contest coming up, you probably want to work on your entries, right?” Cameron waited for Ian’s nod, then continued. “And you won’t be able to do that at the bakery, right?”

“Definitely not. My father doesn’t want us to do anything not work related there anyway, not unless we’re on a personal break. He’s adamant that all the equipment is for work only.” As if Ian would do something “personal” with the cake pans or mixers!

“Can you do the preparation in your apartment?” Cameron sipped more coffee.

“Not really. I can do the thinking about recipes and the research, sure. But any actual work? The kitchen space is far too small and ill-equipped.” Ian sighed. It was only one of the problems that were popping up now that he’d decided to enter the competition on his own. How to pay for the ingredients he’d need to experiment a little was another issue.

“Would you be willing to use my kitchen?” Cameron leaned forward. “I know it probably isn’t perfect, since I don’t use it all that much, but if there’s anything you need, I can get it for you.”

“You….” Ian swallowed as the meaning of Cameron’s words sank in. “You would do that for me?”

“Of course I would!” Cameron straightened his spine as if his pride had been hurt. Maybe it had been, who knew.

“But you hardly know me.” Ian’s eyes were suddenly burning, and he had trouble suppressing his tears.

“First of all, how long we’ve know each other doesn’t matter. I like you, and I want to help.” Cameron looked straight at Ian with an intensity that made Ian realize he was really, really serious. “Second of all, and I’m sorry to say this since I am not normally very vindictive, but I think your father deserves to be taken down a peg or two for the way he has treated, and is still treating, you and your sisters.”

Ian nodded, the first tear fighting its way down his cheek. Yeah, as much as he hated confrontation, it was the only way to make his father understand that Ian was no longer willing to be treated like dirt. He was twenty-nine and supposed to be his own man, and it was time he stood up for himself.

“And third of all, and this reason is a very selfish reason”—Cameron grinned and winked—“I imagine I’ll be getting some pretty spectacular cakes and stuff out of the deal. Which is also the reason, by the way, that I’ll be sharing the cost of any ingredients you may need.”

Ian couldn’t have stopped his tears of joy if he’d tried.

“Oh shit, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Cameron jumped up and came around to Ian’s side of the table. He pulled Ian up and into his arms. “I’m sorry, whatever it was I s—”

“Not what you said.” Ian put his forehead on Cameron’s shoulder and let go while Cameron rubbed his back.
God, this is embarrassing.

“No? Well, I’m glad. But why are you crying, then?” Cameron sounded more than a little lost.

Ian took a deep breath and wiped his eyes. Cameron quietly handed him some tissues from somewhere, and Ian wiped his face and blew his nose.
Way to impress Cameron!
Not!

“Come here. Let’s sit down.” Cameron sat and pulled Ian into his lap. “Can you tell me now?”

“I’m just so happy and relieved. I had no idea how to do all the work with no space to work in. My own father has given me nothing but grief, and here you are, practically a total stranger, and you’re offering me everything.” Ian swallowed and slid his arms around Cameron’s shoulders so he could hold on. “Thank you!”

“Anytime, sweetheart.” Cameron smiled and caressed Ian’s back. “Anytime at all.”

I’m so going to keep him!

“IAN, HAVE
you got a moment?” Senga’s voice from the sales room interrupted Ian’s work, and not for the first time that Monday morning.

“Just a second.” Ian pulled the current batch of donuts out of the oil and set them on the sugared tray so they could cool a little. He’d started the process right after finishing the early, early work on the bread, in an attempt to make enough donuts for the weekly order Cameron had told him to expect each Monday. And that was just the one Cameron planned to pick up personally. Ian turned down the heat a little, then wiped his hands and walked out front.

“Good morning.” Cameron stood there with the biggest grin on his face. “I know I’m a little early, but I wanted to thank you personally for taking such good care of my colleagues when they come in here. The entire station is abuzz with enthusiasm about your baked goods.”

“Good morning, Mr. Lewis.” Ian grinned back. They had to be careful so his father didn’t notice how close they were, but it was actually fun to address Cameron formally. It felt a little like role-play. “I’m glad our products meet with your approval.”

“They do.” Cameron nodded. “In fact I’d like to buy an extra cake or pie today. My partner reminded me one of our colleagues has a birthday, and it would be nice to have something special.”

“Oh. Well, we don’t have any premade birthday cakes. We usually customize those.” Ian glanced at the cake display. There were two types of chocolate cake, an angel food cake, and some apple pie on the lower level, and their best-selling Scottish variants—oatcakes, shortbread, scones, Dundee cake, and some gingerbread—on the upper level. “But I guess I could take one of the chocolate cakes and add some birthday candles, maybe a short inscription?”

“That would be amazing!” Cameron beamed at him. “The guy’s name is Steve, and a simple ‘Happy Birthday’ with, oh, ten candles or so would be great.”

“No problem. Just give me a few minutes.” Ian put on some gloves, opened the display case, and carefully lifted the glass cake platter before pulling it out. “Can Senga get you anything while you’re waiting?”

Senga looked at him, eyes wider than normal.

Oops, we don’t normally do that!
And he had just basically treated her like a waitress.

“Oh, that’s okay. I’m the one inconveniencing you, so you don’t have to do anything special.” Cameron was looking back and forth between Senga and Ian, clearly picking up on the fact that this was not normal.

Senga looked at Cameron, then back at Ian and suddenly began to smile. With eyes now twinkling with mischief, she turned toward Cameron.

Uh-oh.
What was his little sister going to do?

“It’s no trouble. I’ll get you something to eat while you wait. Is there anything you see that you’d like?” Senga turned back to Ian while Cameron was considering his choices and made a little shooing motion toward the kitchen. “Go on, don’t let the nice detective wait more than necessary.”

“I…. You….” Ian closed his mouth. Not really knowing how to respond, he decided retreat was the best option and hurried through the double doors, heading straight for the decorating area in the back.

“Anything wrong with that cake?” His father looked over from where he was working on preparing the bread and rolls they’d need for the lunch crowd in a few hours.

“No, nothing’s wrong with it. A customer wanted a last-minute birthday cake, and I offered to customize this one as a compromise.” Ian set down the platter and began to pull out the birthday candles, followed by the mocha and vanilla icing he was planning to use. Oh, yes, some blue coloring as well, to make it more masculine.

“Harrumph.” Ian’s father cleared his throat.

He only did that when he wanted to attract attention, so Ian put everything on the work surface, hid his sigh, and looked up to let his father know he was listening. He figured he knew what was coming.

“You did explain to him that we do customized birthday cakes? Which, I might add, are more expensive?” His father’s eyebrows were already halfway up his forehead.

“Of course I told him.” Well not about the extra cost. That was just too embarrassing. “But he wants it right away since the birthday is today. So I can either sell him this one, at a slightly increased price, or we don’t make a sale. Which would you prefer, Father?”

“Well, it’s not optimal, but I guess selling the whole cake is better than having it sit there and get old.” His father nodded quickly, once, as if it pained him to show a higher level of agreement. “Carry on, then.”

And with that, the insufferable control freak turned back to his own work. Ian shook his head and focused on what he had to do. Getting angry served no purpose at all. A few minutes later, he had a nice birthday cake and rushed back into the sales area to get Cameron’s approval before packing it for him.

“That looks great, thank you.” Cameron smiled, then took another bite of the slice of Dundee cake he’d apparently decided to try. “And I love this cake too.”

“I’m glad. Let me put this in a box for you so we can deal with the donut order.” Ian pulled one of the flat boxes from under the counter, folded it, and put the cake inside. He glanced over at Senga, who was thankfully busy with some other customers. Who knew what trouble she might have gotten them in if she hadn’t been distracted like this?

“I’ll need three dozen donuts today.” Cameron grinned. “Other teams have figured out we’ve got the good stuff, and if I don’t get enough, my guys will not be happy.”

“It must be some sort of a contagious condition.” Ian laughed as he started layering donuts into a second carton box.

“I know. It’s very worrying.” Then Cameron leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I think Senga suspects something. Are we in trouble?”

“Nah, Senga finding out will be okay. I think.” Ian swallowed. What if she had a problem? “I’ll send her to talk to Aileen if there are any issues. Remember, she was very supportive the other day.”

“Oh.” Cameron nodded. “I thought you told her about us.”

“No!” Although he wished he had the courage. And the sound of “us” had never been so appealing. “I wouldn’t do that without your agreement. It’s your closet too, you know?”

“Did I mention that I like her already?” Cameron winked and pulled back a little, checking for anyone noticing what they’d talked about. But the other customers’ noise and chatter must have covered their conversation pretty well, and nobody was looking their way.

Ian chuckled and finished packing the donuts.