At one point, Sophia's bakery became an impenetrable sanctuary that she had created for herself. No one could bother her while she was there. Any drama in her life seemed petty compared to what happened within the four walls of Prince's Pastries.
Considering she had already strayed so far from the path she had predetermined for herself, she thought it shouldn't be such a surprise that she was behaving in a way that would risk her bakery being her oasis.
Whenever they were dealing with customers, Luca tamed himself down. His moods Sophia felt she could start predicting became nonexistent. He was simply charming eye candy passing out sweets and making customers drinks.
She noticed that more women than normal were flocking to her bakery and she had a good idea as to why.
Sophia had made the mistake of buying Luca a button-up shirt. When he came out in the morning with his sleeves rolled up, the material squeezing his muscular forearms and two buttons undone on the top, she knew she was in trouble. Without a doubt, he was going to have his best tip day yet.
Sophia thought she could handle it.
Never before had she experienced such alarming jealousy but watching so many women fawn over someone she had her eye on was driving her crazy.
She kept her demeanor sweet as usual until there weren't customers in the bakery then she went to the kitchen and called Luca back with her.
He came to her suspecting nothing until he was pulled out of view of the front by the front of his grey apron. When he looked down at Sophia who had her back against the wall, a small smirk appeared on his lips.
Whatever she was about to do would be worth the pain later.
Her green eyes bore into him and her expression showed evident confusion as she wondered why he was getting under her skin so badly. She seemed to be silently asking him for answers but he was just as confused as she was.
"I need you to kiss me right now," she whispered.
Her fingers were still hanging onto the straps of his apron on the top of his chest. She looked like she wanted to push him away but pull him closer all at the same time.
How his lips deftly captured hers and his tongue slid into her open mouth caused her insecurities to vanish. Despite all of the women openly throwing themselves at him, his sights were still set on her.
However, she bit off more than she could chew when she felt his arms go around her and he lifted her, taking her to one of the counters and placing her down on top of it.
With her on the counter, she was as tall as he was and it gave him easier access to what he wanted from her. His mouth pulled away from hers and went to her neck.
The desire to bite her ripped through him but all he knew was resist, resist, resist.
He pulled away from her and she remained unscathed and none the wiser to his internal struggle. He looked up at her and bit the inside of his lip.
"Is this what you wanted?" he asked in a low voice.
There was an invisible thread between them that caused Sophia to act in unexpected ways. All the time she spent figuring out how to be someone with composure went out the window because of the man within her reach.
She didn't want to be finished and her eyes dropped to his lips which were pressed against hers only moments before. She was so terrified but she wanted to kiss him again. It wasn't fair to him but it felt like if she got used to him enough then maybe if the world decided to be kind to her, she could give him a little more of herself.
His touch, taste, and smell made her want to trust him.
The way she gazed down at him with such fervent hunger made Luca's heart race. Immediately, he knew the pain was going to come earlier than it usually did. He might have to pretend to go to sleep abnormally early simply so he didn't have to face her.
When he stared at her face for too long all he could think about sometimes was how his insides were begging him to dominate her.
The front door's bell jingled and the two of them broke apart. Sophia slipped off the counter and adjusted her hair and apron. She glanced at Luca with wide eyes. Her face was flushed and she wasn't ready to see someone else.
It was the first time she would ever admit to herself that he truly turned her on.
The only consolation Luca had was Sophia stumbling on the way to the front of the store. She seemed distracted and out of sorts, even though she was trying so hard to pull herself together. It gave him hope that she wasn't quite finished with him despite the interruption that befell them.
Sophia was further flustered when she saw Rosa walking into the front door. Sophia could have sworn she still had an hour until her shift but her jealousy seemed to cut time in half. It caused her to further wonder just how long she was kissing Luca. When had she ever been someone to give into desire like that?
Trying to keep her head above water, she greeted Rosa as normal. She thought she would be able to keep away from Luca with her part-timer there but their behavior only got worse as secret touches began.
Whenever Rosa went into the back to catch up on orders, Luca would make drinks for customers by Sophia's side. The first few times his elbow or foot ran into hers, she thought it was an accident but it was clear that something else was going on.
When there weren't any customers left in the store, Luca leaned into Sophia and she felt his nose brush against the part of her neck uncovered since she wore her hair up while she was working.
Her heart raced and fight or flight didn't exist. She was pinned to the ground and didn't even notice her hand raise and brush through his hair, pulling him even closer to her neck.
Except as he felt himself start reacting to her as her scent seeped into his nose and made him feel a little less in control, he had to back away.
"Not here," he said, causing an electrifying surge of pain to strike him at his very core.
He grimaced.
"If I ask for just a little bit more…" Sophia trailed off and put a hand over her mouth, unable to contain the shock of what she had just said.
Luckily, Rosa chose that time to make her presence known and the pair had to push things off until later.
They were like a slow-reacting chemical experiment. Would it explode in the end or were they on the verge of a breakthrough?