Why did he have to be so freaking attractive? He wasn’t a prospective boyfriend. He was the owner of her building. He was humoring her. Or more likely making sure she was taking care of her rented space properly.
When he rounded the counter, he stopped, his gaze roaming up and down her body from head to toe and back again. Slowly.
Her face heated when his easy smile turned into more of a smirk, and she glanced down to remind herself what she was wearing.
Shit. She sucked in a breath. She had on a white tank top, her favorite flannel pants covered in colorful cupcakes, and cupcake slippers. The huge, bulky, fluffy kind. Good grief.
“Cute,” he stated. She couldn’t read into that one word. Was he making fun of her?
She straightened her spine again and set her hands on her hips, undoubtedly pushing her ample chest outward. She wasn’t a tiny gal. She had curves. She made cupcakes for a living. And she enjoyed them. With curves came boobs. At least she was wearing a bra tonight. Sometimes she got tired of the underwires and took them off while she was working.
He held up both hands. “Don’t get defensive. I didn’t mean to offend you. I genuinely like your style. Carefree. Fun. Especially the slippers.” He winked at her.
She narrowed her gaze. “If you’re making fun of me…”
He shook his head. “Nope. Never.” He stepped closer until only inches separated them. And then he reached up and swiped at her cheek. “You have flour on your face.” He grinned and then brought his finger to his mouth and sucked it. “Or maybe it’s powdered sugar.”
Her breath hitched. He had her completely flustered. The only times she felt this unsettled were when she was at the club meeting a Daddy Dom for the first time.
Ellie grabbed a cloth from the counter and swiped at her face, probably making it worse.
Garrett pointed at her phone, the corner of his mouth tipping up yet again. “What was that you were singing when I came in?”
She flushed a deep shade of red she could feel all the way to her bones. “Nothing. I made it up,” she mumbled.
He chuckled. “It was cute. Something about cupcakes and frosting.”
“I was just being silly.”
“But you like youthful musical tunes.”
She shrugged, not meeting his gaze as she busied herself, uselessly trying to wipe off the far end of the counter. “They make me happy.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” After an awkward moment of silence, he continued. “Do you always work in the middle of the night like this?”
“Not always. Only when I’m too hyped up to sleep. Might as well be working.” She kept wiping the counter, though she was only managing to push flour around.
“It’s not safe for you to be here alone like this,” he pointed out.
She lifted her head and rolled her eyes, blurting out the first thing that popped into her mind without thinking. “Okay, Daddy.” She even added an enormous amount of snark and less than a second later gasped, her eyes going wide.
His eyes were wide, too.
She gulped, racing to fix her faux pas. “Shit. Sorry. That came out wrong.”
He chuckled. “Did it?”
“Yes, of course,” she rushed to add. “Thank you for the advice. I’m a grown woman. I think I can take care of myself.” Once again, she forced herself to stand taller, realizing it had to be impossible to take her seriously as said grown woman while wearing silly slippers and bright flannel pants.
He reached for her chin and tipped her head back, his brows furrowed. “I’m serious, Ellie. You shouldn’t be working alone in the dark like this. Do you have someone who can be here with you? A boyfriend? Husband?”
She swallowed. Was he fishing for information about her marital and dating status? Surely not. “Don’t need a man. I’m capable of taking care of myself.”
He held her chin and her gaze for a moment before releasing her to reach into his back pocket and pulling out a business card, setting it on the island. “If you must be here at night, and you don’t have anyone to ensure your safety, call me. Will you do that?”
Not a chance. “Thanks for the offer. That’s very kind of you.” Her knees were shaking.
“Ellie… Even if I thought you had ten years of self-defense classes, you’re still just a slip of a woman. Anyone could overpower you in seconds.”
She took a step back and crossed her arms. She was hardly a slip of a woman. How ridiculous.
“You’re not going to call, are you?”
“Probably not,” she admitted.
“Then I’ll just have to drive by here every night to make sure you’re safe.”
She dropped her shoulders. “Gah. Fine. I’ll call. Happy?” She had no idea where this bratty side was coming from. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She could be bratty. That wasn’t a problem. But she didn’t usually let any aspect of her Little peek out in inappropriate situations.
This situation was definitely inappropriate. She needed to get rid of Garrett. She’d already made several blunders, including casually calling him Daddy. She shuddered.
His face returned to that slightly jovial look. “Aren’t you snarky?” He narrowed his gaze. “Have I seen you somewhere before?”
“Not that I know of.” She prayed he wasn’t a member of Blaze, her favorite local fetish club. She would absolutely die if he was. But it wasn’t likely because she wouldn’t have missed him if she’d seen him at the club. He was tall, dark, and handsome. Perfect Daddy material. He would have made her do a doubletake.
“Hmm. Well, are you almost done? Can I walk you to your car?”
“I walked here. I just live a few blocks away.”
She shouldn’t have said that. Ugh.
“You were planning to walk home in the middle of the night?” Yep. His expression was back to full-on Daddy face, and she had the sudden vision of him taking her over his knee and spanking her for endangering her life. Wouldn’t that make her swoon? The image alone was doing crazy things to her libido.
“Uhh… Maybe?”
He shook his head. “Not a chance. How much longer will you be? I’ll wait for you.”
“You don’t have to do that, Sir.” She winced inwardly after calling him Sir.
He lifted one brow. “Oh, I definitely do.”
She sighed. “Fine. I’ll wrap things up.” She reached for the dry ingredients she’d been putting in the mixer and snapped a lid over the top. It would be fine until tomorrow. Next, she put all the cupcakes she’d made so far in the refrigerator.
When she turned around, Garrett was cleaning off the counter.
“You don’t have to do that either, S—” She sucked in a breath, coming far too close to calling him Sir again. What was wrong with her? Why was she getting such strong Daddy vibes from this man who was the owner of her building?
It wouldn’t even matter if he was a Daddy. It would be extremely inappropriate for her to start a relationship with the owner of the strip mall. Besides, she had to be reading too much into his words and actions.
“I know I don’t. But I’m not going to just stand here and watch you clean.” Garrett washed out the cloth and started again. There really was a lot of flour and sugar on the counter. Tidy wasn’t her middle name.