Some Kind of Wonderful: A Holiday Novella (The Cupcake Lovers) by Beth Ciotta Read Free Book Online Page A

that the sexual awareness was two-sided.
    “Roscoe Marx.”
    “Oh. Right. I … I’ll, um, get my GPS.”
    “I’ll get Dan’s map.”
    Together, maybe she and Zach could find their way to wherever this new kink in their relationship was heading.

Chapter Seven
    Maya was burning up.
    In addition to thermal leggings and a matching thermal top, she was wearing jeans, her reindeer cardigan, thick socks, insulated boots, a knee-length down coat, a fleece-lined Santa hat (compliments of the Cupcake Lovers), and a matching wool scarf and gloves.
    The Hummer’s leather seats were heated, and multiple vents blew hot air. She could shed a few layers and she’d be more than comfortable, but she had this insane worry that if she as much as peeled off one glove she’d lose control and strip down to nothing. Ever since Zach had kissed her she’d had one predominant desire.
    To get naked.
    With him.
    “Are you mad about the kiss?” Zach asked.
    Startled by his voice, Maya glanced left. “What?”
    “We’ve been on the road for half an hour. Aside from the exchange we had while picking up the care basket from Ethel Larsen, you haven’t said a word. Not that I mind Christmas music,” Zach said while dialing down the volume she’d kicked up, “but I mind the tension.”
    “I’m not mad about the kiss.”
    “Ticked because you’re missing the sleigh ride?”
    “No.”
    “Because Giselle’s spending the afternoon with Adam?”
    “No. Yes.” She shrugged. “A little.”
    Zach looked over the rims of his aviator sunglasses, catching her gaze before focusing back on the icy road. “Nash mentioned something about Adam going through a bad breakup a few months back. Hit him hard. Maybe you should be happy he hooked up with Giselle. Especially given the holiday. Beats cryin’ in his eggnog.”
    “I guess.”
    “What’s wrong, Maya?”
    “Nothing. I just … I have a lot on my mind.” She kept obsessing on that mistletoe kiss. The way she and Zach had cuddled on the sofa the night before. The fact that whatever had burned between him and Giselle because of those letters had since gone up in smoke. Face-to-face, they’d fizzled.
    And the marmalade fiasco … Maya would bet her Disney Princess collection that Zach suspected the truth about who owned that particular fantasy. If she didn’t know better, and she didn’t, she’d think Giselle had slipped up on purpose.
    “Giselle mentioned you’ve had an off year,” Zach said while navigating the sparsely traveled back road. “And you’ve been on edge the whole time you’ve been in Sugar Creek. I know your party business is booming. So what’s got you down? Charlie?”
    Maya whipped around so fast, she nearly strangled herself with the seat harness. “G told you about Charlie, too? Jeez, did she give you a tally of my financial assets? A rundown of my social calendar?”
    “Don’t get bent.”
    “I’m not … Okay. I’m bent. Why would she blab about Charlie?”
    “I asked if you were seeing anyone.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I was curious. Damn, Maya. Do I have to spell it out?”
    Her heart pounded up into her throat, choking her silent. She stared at Zach’s hard profile. Saw him work his jaw as if searching for words himself. She swiped off her merrymaking cap as her temperature shot through the roof. “That mistletoe kiss,” she ventured.
    “Wasn’t half the kiss I wanted it to be,” Zach finished. “I needed to know if my recent yearnings had merit. If I kissed you would I feel a spark?”
    “Did you?”
    He slid off his shades and glanced over, his gaze injected with a heady dose of lust. “I don’t know what to do with this … attraction, Maya. Scratch the itch? Ignore it? You tell me.”
    “Pull over.”
    “What?”
    She wretched off her gloves. Were her fingers smoking? “Pull over, Zach!” Her body burned as though thoroughly torched. She whipped off her scarf and was working the buttons of her coat when he peeled into an