Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)(48)

Watching the candid reaction swirl across her face as she bit into the shell of the rounded chocolate with a snap and savored the liquid burst of flavor inside, Luke found yet again that his favorite part of seeing someone experience his chocolates was infinitely more incredible when it was Dani doing the tasting. He bent down to steal a kiss, wanting—needing—to capture the moment with as many senses as he could. In a bolt of awareness, his eyes dilated so fast he went dizzy when the touch of her tongue shared the flavors with him. Even through the chocolate, he could still taste Dani. The combination was sweeter than anything he could have imagined.

This was undeniably now his new favorite thing.





CHAPTER SEVEN


LUKE WAS AN EVIL, evil fibber, Dani decided as she tiredly rubbed her eyes and tried to wrap her brain around the fact that she was sitting in Desert Confections, attempting to do paperwork for Ocotillos at four in the morning. Four! Somehow, Luke had pulled the brain out of her head, via her lips, and got her to agree to this demented idea of working before dawn like he did after tricking her by changing the clock in her bedroom three hours back.

She huffed. If she’d been more awake—and not kissed senseless—she’d have planted her butt right back in bed when the realization that it was still dark out had seeped into her brain.

But then he’d kissed her again.

Now here she was.

Yawning again, she tried in vain to focus on the paperwork laid out before her but it was no use. She was simply too tired to function at this ungodly hour.

Luke on the other hand was not. Like a freakin’ early bird machine, he’d been working intently on his chocolates for the last twenty minutes straight, pausing only to look up every so often to make sure she was still awake, giving her a supportive smile if she’d catch him doing it.

Okay, so it was kind of nice.

Plus, to be fair, he’d only been doing what she’d asked since the supervillainously boring insurance paperwork she was trying to get through did need to be done before ten am today. She glanced down at the forms again. Yup. Still as mind numbing as they’d been two minutes ago.

Stretching, she got up, wanting a break after her fifteen minutes of strenuously avoiding work. Not wanting to disturb him, she tiptoed over to sneak a peek at the extravagant chocolates Luke was preparing for some swanky party. As she approached, not as whisper-quietly as she’d intended, he grinned and stepped aside to let her peruse the entire collection of chocolates.

She was awestruck. He’d done an intricate art deco design with crystallized fruit peels, metallic flakes, and bright airbrushed color. “You’re an artist,” she breathed, taking it all in. Pointing at the set that looked like crackled ice, she marveled, “I can’t believe you actually piped those in. They look like they came out of a mold.”

“I wanted something more striking and haphazard. Plus, these are modified truffles—softer, so a hard shell mold exterior wouldn’t work.” Wiping his hands on his apron, Luke rolled his neck and shoulders, wincing as he tried to stretch the bunched tension out of his muscles.

Dani shuffled behind him and gently kneaded his shoulders for him. His blissful groan pulsed through the air in the silent shop. She grinned. He let her spoil him for another minute before pulling her around to thank her properly on the lips. Arms circling her waist, he tilted his head sympathetically. “Need a snack to stay awake?”

She shamelessly popped open her mouth, not needing to be asked twice. Chuckling, he surveyed his premium chocolates in the display cases thoughtfully before selecting two complementary pieces. He reached over to tuck the first in her mouth.

Dani’s lashes dropped partway as the two inner layers of loquat cream and saskatoon berry mousse hit her taste buds, mingling with the bittersweet chocolate shell. “Sooo good,” she groaned as the flavors swirled around her mouth in a hidden dance, intensifying and changing, like all of Luke’s gorgeously complex specialty chocolates did.

One more lusty moan later, Luke teased the seam of her lips with the second morsel he’d chosen. She took the salted caramel rosehip truffle in her mouth and then on a whim, licked his fingers as well, just to see what chocolate-coated Luke would taste like.

“Holy Hefeweizen,” she purred, shivering just a bit.

The flavors continued to tease her taste buds even as it melted away on her tongue. With one last breathy sigh, she opened her eyes...and found herself looking into a gaze so sultry, it made her skin tingle. Luke’s soft brown eyes darkened even more when he saw her blush.

“You do know this work date doesn’t count as one of our five dates, right?” she teased deflectively, though even to her own ears, she sounded like she wanted him to disagree.

“Sure. I know that,” he teased back with a taunting grin, an eyebrow lifted knowingly.

She studied him warily, willing herself not to take the bait. Then he began whistling and cleaning up his workplace as if completely and singularly unaffected. Okay, now it was on. Smiling deviously, and knowing she was mostly just trying to delay working on the insurance forms, she approached him with a slither. “Guess I was just trying to remind myself then.” She traced a finger lightly down his spine and just barely slid her lips over his ear as she whispered, “Although I’m not sure I was successful...”

“Foul!” Luke contested with a heated laugh, ducking away. “Illegal use of wiles.”