Blaze (Heat #3)(17)

"You're too hot for your own good, Chef." My brows rise. "You must get propositioned all the time."

"I get a few offers from time-to-time," he admits. "I'd pursue them before I met you."

I'm not surprised by his honesty. Tyler has always been straight with me. It's who he is. "I would have chased you too if you wouldn’t have come on to me."

"I came on to you?" He pushes a strand of my hair back behind my ear. "Is that what happened?"

"You came to Skyn with Maribel because you knew I'd be there."

His tongue slicks his bottom lip. "You're right. I came because I didn't want you going home with anyone else."

"I knew it." My chin lifts. "I knew you weren't there just for a drink."

"I came there for one reason and one reason only, Cadence." His tone lowers. "I saw you at Club Aeon the week before. You were dancing and having fun. You were also completely oblivious to how many men were staring at you, their dicks practically in their palms."

I step back but his hands are on my waist before I can move again. "No one was staring at me."

"You're wrong. Half of the men in that place couldn't take their eyes off of you." His grip tightens. "I should know. I was one of them."

***

"I saw you," I admit. "I saw you at Club Aeon that night."

"You did?" he whispers. "When did you see me?"

"I was leaving," I say breathlessly. "You were by the exit. There was a woman with you."

His brows jump. "I was with a woman? I don't remember that."

Why does that fact make my heart leap? She was beautiful. I don't remember every detail but I know that I felt a stab of envy when I saw the two of them together. "She had dark hair. She was leaning against you."

"You noticed all that?" The corner of his mouth rises. "What else did you notice?"

She had perky tits that were practically spilling out of the top of the shirt she was wearing. Her lipstick was a deep shade of red and after I'd gone home I'd closed my eyes thinking about the lipstick rimming his cock. I had to chase that away with thoughts of my own mouth sliding over him, drinking his pleasure.

"It doesn’t matter now."

"She was nobody." He half-shrugs. "I can't tell you anything about her because there's nothing there. She was just a random who saw me on a cooking show and wanted to take me home."

The obvious question is on the tip of my tongue but I don't spit it out.

"I didn't touch her or anyone else. I wanted to f*ck you that night." His finger trails over my collarbone through the sheer material of my blouse. "I thought about taking you from behind in the alley next to the club."

A mental image of that overwhelms me. My dress bunched around my waist, my panties shredded from his eager touch and Tyler, with his jeans lowered just enough to free his cock, pounding himself into me while people walked on the sidewalk only a few feet from where we would have been.

"I would have done it." I feel my cheeks flush. "I would have blown you in that alley too."

His breath hitches. "Blow me now, Cadence. Show me what I missed that night.

My hands are on his jeans before I drop to my knees. I free his cock. I flick my tongue to scoop up the bead of pre-cum and then I wrap my lips around the swollen head. He shudders through a low groan as I show him what could have been his that night.





CHAPTER 19


"I'm so nervous," I mutter to anyone within earshot. "Why did I agree to do this?"

"Because you're a natural?" Barbara, in all her well-intentioned wisdom, thinks that is helpful. It would be if she didn't form it as a question.

I'm set to go live for my first segment in less than ten minutes. I'm wearing a dark green dress that Sophia worked on most of last night so that it would be done in time for the show.

The two of us are the only ones who know that the back of the dress is pinned shut. Sophia was distraught this morning when I put the dress on and it was too big. She grabbed her sewing kit, made me stand in place under the bright light in the bathroom and she literally pinned me into the dress. I can't take it off without her help. If I try, I'll end up with a bloody mess all over my back.

I look fantastic though. The white apron I'm wearing today bears my name and a small logo of the show. I have no one to fall back on once I step on set. This is all me and it's freaking me the hell out right now.

Tyler crouches in front of the chair I'm sitting in. The woman who handled my make-up when I first appeared on Rise and Shine has worked her magic again. I'm relieved that she was able to mask the tired circles under my eyes and brighten up my pale complexion.

"You're going to go out there and cook the way you did at Nova." He taps his fingers on my knee. "If you feel anxious, you look for me. They told me I could stand behind the second camera. If you need to see my face, you find it. I'll have a smile just for you."

"Oh my God," Pamela walks toward us. "I heard that. You're the most romantic man in the world, Chef Monroe."

Tyler grimaces, his jaw visibly clenching. "I'm here for you, Chef. You've got this."