Some Kind of Wonderful: A Holiday Novella (The Cupcake Lovers) by Beth Ciotta

bombed on the third. “In other words, I don’t light your fire.”
    Without a word, Zach pressed against her, contradicting her assumption. Her brain glitched with the knowledge that Zach was hard.
    For me.
    “So, um, what’s the problem?’ she asked, cursing the hitch in her voice.
    Zach snatched her coat off the ground, shook out the snow, dirt, and straw, then wrapped it around her shoulders. “It’s twenty degrees, if that. You ditched your coat, scarf, and gloves. Your hat. You might as well be naked.”
    “That’s what I was shooting for.”
    His mouth crooked with the hint of a smile. “You thought we were going to do the nasty in a barn?”
    “Can’t say I was thinking at all. I was acting on impulse. As for the cold, I didn’t notice.” She wiggled against his erection and shimmed onto an emotional limb. “I’m hot for you, too.”
    “Since when?”
    “I couldn’t say, specifically.”
    “Generally.”
    She blushed, shrugged.
    “Around the time you started reading my letters to Giselle?”
    “Somewhere around there.”
    “Maya.”
    “What?”
    “Giselle’s not partial to marmalade. You are.” He grasped her chin when she tried to look away. “Considering Giselle and I hit it off long-distance, I was puzzled by the total disconnect in person. Something tells me that’s because it wasn’t Giselle who captured my interest in the first place.”
    Maya squirmed, feeling trapped and jealous and all kinds of awkward. “G sent you several sexy photos of herself. She definitely captured your interest. I believe you penned the words ‘smoking hot’ and ‘stunning.’”
    “I’m not looking at Giselle right now. I’m looking at you. ‘Smoking hot’ and ‘stunning’ still apply—even in a reindeer sweater. Add to that ‘sweet and engaging’ and top it off with ‘enigmatic.’
    “It wasn’t Giselle who explored my fascination with astronomy and fast cars,” he went on. “It was you. Giselle didn’t tell me about her dream trip to Hawaii. She didn’t tease me with a fantasy that involved us licking marmalade from each other’s bodies. That was you.” He tucked her hair behind her ear, searching her face and making her flesh prickle with unease. “Why the pretense, Maya?”
    Busted and embarrassed, she swung away. “I was going through my scrapbook. Giselle saw a picture of you. Instant infatuation,” she blurted. “She wanted to strike up a flirtatious exchange and I thought, what the heck? I mean I knew you’d be physically attracted to her. All men are. She’s a knockout. Only she had trouble penning conversational notes and asked for my help. I thought … That is, I wanted to provide you with a romantic distraction. Something fun and exciting, something to dwell on other than the danger and horrific situations you faced on a daily basis. At first I just embellished some of her thoughts, but then, well, I got sort of inspired by your responses.”
    “You mean turned-on?”
    “I’ve always liked you, Zach. A lot. As a person. A friend. But then I got a glimpse of your sexy side and I got caught up and carried away with the fantasy. As if that wasn’t enough, you charmed me with a few tender tales. It was that story about the dog you rescued, that picture, that did me in. I don’t think I was fully aware of the impact it had on me until I saw you in person last night.”
    Leaning against a wooden pole, he massaged the back of his neck.
    Fighting a chill now, Maya shoved her arms in her coat. “Are you angry?”
    “Intrigued.”
    She fumbled a buttonhole and risked his gaze. “So we might still do it? You know. Fool around?”
    “Make love?” Zach chuckled under his breath, shook his head. “How could I know you for so long and not know you at all?”
    “You know me. Mostly. Just not my sensuous side.”
    “Speaking of … Where do you stand with Charlie?”
    Talk about a buzzkill. She continued to button her coat. “At an impasse.” Was Zach trying to