The Baker

Chapter 47

"You sure you don't want me to stay?" Alice timidly asked, as she watched Cassie slap down some dough and smack it with a roller. "No," she sharply answered. "And remember, we don't open until noon tomorrow."

Alice left as soon as she could because she didn't want to face the wrath of Cassie anymore. Not that much of anything has been directed at her, but the way Cassie's been ranting and going on and on about Ben and his "stupidity" has been making Alice feel a bit uncomfortable.

Cassie aggressively rolled, slapped, floured, and decorated about ten pastries in just over an hour. In two hours, she had twenty-six. In four hours, she had almost fifty. And these were the ones she has been trying to perfect.

She still had to restock for tomorrow.

It's been almost ten hours since her and Ben's fight and it just started to replay in her mind. Ben was trying to be helpful, she knows that, but she would have been home nearly five hours ago, had he not taken the liberty of making her life choices. She hated it when they fought,

It's three in the morning and she is exhausted. Mentally and physically. Despite for sleeping for nearly twelve hours, she was completely and utterly exhausted.

By four o'clock, everything was done. All the pastries were baked and heating in the oven and Cassie...well, she was passed out on one of the counters. She was sitting on a backless stool, hunched over the flour covered counter, and dead asleep.

That's how Ben found her.

He had gotten worried when she didn't come back at around midnight and decided to stay up until she returned. Which, she didn't, so he decided to look for her and now, here he is.

He gently ran his hands up and down her back, eliciting a soft hum of disapproval from her. He rested his hands on her shoulders, then leaned over the length of her back. "Cass, wake up," he whispered in her ear.

She grunted and tried to shrug off his body. "Come on, sweetheart, you have a big day tomorrow." Again she tried to shrug him off, but then finally woke up. "Mmm, 's too early," she mumbled. She absentmindedly pulled over a bag of dough and rested her head on it.

Ben chuckled, "You're not at home, babe." That made her open her eyes just a tad, but enough for her to see where she was at. "Oh shit," she sighed. She painfully sat up, her back cracking and popping in the process, and stretched out.

When she put her arms down, Ben wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her back to his chest. He kissed her shoulder, up her neck, and ended at her cheek. "I'm sorry," he told her. "I thought I was helping you and I ended up screwing you over with all this extra work."

She sighed and turned her head to where she could see him. "I appreciate you looking after me," she said. "I've just been really stressed out this week and I shouldn't have worked myself so hard like that. And...I guess the twelve extra hours of sleep wasn't so bad."

They both laughed. Ben held her tighter against him and breathed in her scent. Cassie tipped her head back to look at him and he just smiled, leaned down, and kissed her. He delved his tongue into her mouth and moaned, while moving his hands down to her breasts and squeezed them through her shirt. She gasped into his mouth.

"I am going to take you against every square inch of this kitchen," Ben growled against her lips. She hummed, then teased, "And how sorry are you?" He chuckled and started unbuttoning her pants. "So, so sorry, baby," he said, while sliding his hand down her pants...

**

Cassie was rushing around the shop, wiping down any speck of dust she saw on the tables and quickly re-sweeping the floor. Everything was set up and ready in the shop. All that was needed was the journalist.