The Sun in My Eyes

14 I Want to Give You a Brand New Sky

Bobby woke early, hoping to finish the cupcakes before he met Lili on the rooftop terrace. But by the time he'd molded and placed the little marshmallow fondant flowers, the automated blinds had opened in the bedroom, and the other islanders stumbled about, bleary-eyed and cranky.

He'd missed his window. Dammit. Grumbling, he packed all the cupcakes into a container, save for one, and put them in the fridge. The buttercream would turn to liquid if he left it out in the Spanish heat.

Lottie exited the villa, stretching like a snow leopard. "Why does it smell like a bakery out here?"

"I made a treat for dinner tonight," he said.

She rushed over, her face alight. "Show me!"

"No! You'll see it tonight," he said. She pouted, her childish expression at odds with her vampy oxblood lipstick.

"Don't give me that look, or you won't get anything."

She pulled her lip back in. "Oh, they're cupcakes?" She poked a long dark fingernail at the cupcake sitting on a saucer. "Can I have that one?"

"Woman, no."

"It's not for Marisol, I hope. I don't think she likes sweets." Her green eyes lit up. "Oh, are you grafting? Is it for Hannah?"

Marisol wandered out of the villa, followed by Hannah, and Lottie held up a finger. "Shhh. We'll talk later!"

He covered up the cupcake with a napkin and got out of the way as Marisol marched to the fridge at the same time Hannah did and they both grabbed ripe dark avocados.

He made his way to the terrace, but Lili wasn't there. Sighing, he came back inside and found her sitting at the dressing room vanity, her cheeks sucked in, making a fish face at herself in the mirror.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She jumped. Her hands fluttered toward her chest as she laughed. "I was contemplating my life choices."

"By making goldfish faces at yourself?"

"Yes. I contemplate better when I look like a guppy. Don't you?"

"You are a strange girl."

"No I'm not." She made another fish face, pointing it at him as she batted her big brown eyes.

"Oh yeah. Perfectly normal."

"Thank you," she said.

"I have something for you."

She stood up, her red spangled bikini dancing with the movement. "Is it a cupcake?" she whispered.

He nodded and headed for the rooftop terrace, Lili trailing after him.

"The rest are for dinner tonight. It took me a bit longer to finish them than I expected. That's why I missed our dance party. So you get to have one now." He held out the little saucer.

She slowly dragged the napkin off and marveled at it. "Oh, it's gorgeous!" He stood taller as her smile grew wider. The cupcake was perfect as far as he was concerned. The fudge-like, nearly black cake had a piped tower of chocolate buttercream icing, decorated with a bouquet of small, pink fondant flowers.

"It's a tiny work of art." She held it closer to her face and breathed in. Her moan of delight made him tingly all over. She sat on the bench, just looking at it.

He pulled a fork from the pocket of his shorts before sitting beside her. "Here." He couldn't wait to watch her face when she tasted it.

"I can't do it, it's too beautiful to destroy."

"You have to! Time will destroy it if you don't. Or Lottie will. I practically had to throw myself over it to save it for you."

"Well, if it'll make you happy..." she dug the fork into it, giving a fake sob as she broke through it. "Why do we destroy what we love so much?"

"Just eat it, you drama queen."

She grinned and slid the fork into her mouth. Her plush lips wrapped around it and she pulled the tines away clean. She rolled her head back and closed her eyes, a moan escaping her throat. Dear god. The expression of pure bliss on her face was so sexual, he started to get hard.

"Oh Bobby, this is so good," she said as she took another bite.

Fek. Go back to sleep, he shouted internally to his now semi-awake cock. No one wants you here right now.

She licked the back of the fork and he choked back a moan of his own. In desperation, he snatched the nearest throw pillow from the bench and sat it on his lap.

Running her tongue over her lower lip-oh for fuck's sake-she investigated the center of the cupcake. "Are there strawberries inside?"

"Yeah," he said, his voice crackling as if he'd just hit puberty. He cleared his throat. "It's a mixture of chocolate ganache and chopped strawberries. I like to put little surprises inside my baked goods."

"I love it. I've never eaten anything more delicious in my life." She exhaled slowly. "I just realized that everything I've ever wanted in a relationship I've just had with this cupcake. I never need to date again."

His laugh-snort crept up before he could stop it. He reached for the plate and tried pulling it away from her. "My skills are too good. It was supposed to seduce you into my arms, not out of the arms of all men."

She yanked it back. "Nooooo, don't take away my true love!" He let her pull it back watched with increasing arousal as she finished it. She licked every ounce of icing from the fork. "That was truly the best cupcake I've ever had in my life. Thank you so much for making it. God, you're amazing."

His face blazed with heat, his body blazed with lust, his pride blazed like a roaring campfire. Why did she make him feel so... good ?

The way she talked to him, joked with him, flattered him. The way he kept catching her staring at him intently, as if he were something rare and fascinating.

She made him feel special.

Until that moment he'd never really thought about the way a girl made him feel. He'd dated some who were fun, lively, smart, and pretty. He liked the banter they had. He liked the sex. He thought he'd felt something deep for his last girlfriend, but none of them made him feel like this. Like he wanted to live up to the way she looked at him.

He stared down at his hands, unsure what to say. A feeling pushed at his skin from the inside, searching for a weak point so it could burst out and tell her how amazing she was and how, if she could lower herself to be with him, he'd spend every day trying to make her feel as special as she made him feel.

But that was melty and would probably sound stupid. So he didn't. "Thank you. I'm glad you liked it," he said instead.

"Can I—" Lili's stared down at her hands, her eyelashes casting shadows on her cheeks. She frowned and shook her head.

"Can you what?"

She went silent for so long, he thought maybe she wasn't going to answer at all. "Can I have a hug?" She looked at him with worried eyes as she asked, and he choked back the laugh that bubbled in his throat. If she'd have asked to kick him the bawbag and he probably would have said yes.

"Lass, anytime you want to touch me, you go right ahead."

Her face was deadly in its seriousness. "Don't make it dirty."

"I'm not. Come here." He stood up, grateful that his stauner was gone. She sat the plate down and stood. He suddenly felt shy of her, as if the hug were some sort of defining moment. She seemed just as shy, a storm of anxiety swirling in her dark eyes. She wrapped her arms around his middle and he pulled her close. She turned her head and rested it against the crook of her neck sighing softly, her body relaxing into his. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and cradled the back of her head with his hand. She smelled like chocolate and shea butter and like a dream he once had where sunlight smelled like lemon drops. He wanted to keep holding her forever and never let anyone else touch her.

He'd never been more frightened of something that felt so good.