Perfect

Damn, that new cowboy was hot!

Sinewy muscles gleamed in the summer sun as he worked. Cody Tyler was quite possibly the most perfect specimen of manhood Cassandra Drake had ever seen. And he was all hers.

Well, he worked for her. Technically. Though in reality it was her foreman, Rich Billings, who’d hired him.

Cassandra had always dreamed of living in the Wild West—or at least its modern equivalent. That dream had become reality when she sold her bakery business the year before. With the windfall, she moved out West and bought a big ranch, finding local people to run it for her while she fixed up the house.

A career woman, she’d never married, concentrating instead on building her business from the ground up. She had a few regrets, but overall, she was happy with the way things turned out…except when she got a look at some of the young studs wandering around her property, taking care of the animals and lands.

The new hand was a perfect example. Cody had chiseled features that put Cary Grant to shame. He was the epitome of the strong, silent type, doing his work each day in his calm way, while she watched from the kitchen window. Salivating. Especially when he took off his shirt. Which wasn’t often enough in her opinion.

Today he was fixing some of the fencing in an effort to bring the old farm up to snuff. The foreman, Rich, and his wife, Emma, were more than employees. Cassandra was happy to let Rich not only run her ranch, but also a small horse training business from her extensive barns. Rich had brought Cody in, and together, the men were turning the old barns back into the showplace they once were. Which meant Cody and the other hands did their share of the cowboying and odd jobs as well. She knew Rich had cut Cody in for a share of the training business and respected his ability with horses.

Cassandra didn’t know much about horses, but Cody sure looked good on one. He was an excellent rider, and watching him made her think of an altogether different kind of ride she’d like to give him. Even the thought made her blush, but damned if he didn’t star in her late-night fantasies, though they didn’t interact much during the day at all. Only once in a while did she see his slow smile close up, and it never failed to stop her heart for a beat in genuine feminine appreciation.

Cassandra loved baking. She had a full-time cook now, of course, who served meals for the hands, but she’d had a professional kitchen installed in the big house for her own use. When she’d sold her business, it was part of the deal that she’d stay on as an advisor and inventor of new products. That was the part of the business she loved best anyway, and she could do it in the privacy of her own home and still get paid.

Plus, she had a built-in group of taste testers in the small community of people who lived on her ranch. The men loved sweets and never failed to give her an honest opinion of which of her creations they liked best.

The oven timer buzzed, alerting her to the delicious possibilities awaiting her. She’d soon have a new batch of edibles to test on the hands, and no time like the present, when Cody Tyler, the bronze god, was out there gleaming in the sun. Her mouth watered and it had little to do with the delectable aroma coming from the oven. Cassandra took the new pastries out of the oven, let them cool a bit, then arranged them on a platter and headed outside.

“Ma’am.” Cody shrugged into his shirt, much to Cassandra’s disappointment, as he approached. He stepped up and took one of the pastries with a nod, that slow smile making her heartbeat hitch.

Rich and a few of the other men were already partaking of the pastries, standing in a loose semi-circle around her. They’d seen her with the platter and had come out of the woodwork. Most of them had confectioner’s sugar on their chins already as they gobbled down the pastries, and Cassandra couldn’t help but be amused by them. It amazed her how grown men could turn into little boys when tempted with a sweet treat.

“So, what do you think?” she asked when Rich reached for a second pastry.

“Fantastic, Cassandra, as always.” He bit off a large chunk and smiled.

“Come on, you know by now, I need specifics.” She rolled her eyes as they all grinned.

Cody stepped closer and took another pastry, though he didn’t eat it right away. Instead, he held her gaze as he licked his lips, and her blood seemed to catch fire.

“I like the mixture of fruit. Apple and pear, right? With maybe a hint of citrus? Was it lemon?” His smile sent strange signals to the muscles in her womb, though his words were innocuous.

“Lime, actually.” Was that her voice? She sounded hoarse all of a sudden. Cassandra cleared her throat, trying to project calm as the men looked at her strangely.

Rich took the platter from her hands. “Come on, boys. We still have work to do.”

The hands followed the platter back into the barn, right behind Rich. She barely noticed their departure as Cody stayed behind, watching her. He took a slow, sensuous bite out of the pastry in his hand, holding her gaze all the while. Cassandra’s mouth went dry. He even chewed and swallowed sexily. The man was far too potent and altogether hot.

“The pastry is perfect, Miz Cassandra, as usual. Light, flaky and sweet. Tastes good with the filling, but there’s something missing, I think.” Her brows drew together at those words, bringing her attention back to her work. “Here, try it.” He held out the pastry to her, holding it as if he expected her to eat from his hand. She hesitated and he grinned. “I promise, I don’t have any communicable diseases. And besides, this is the only one left. You need to taste it to see what I mean.”

Raising one brow skeptically, she leaned in and took a small bite of his pastry, jarred by the intimacy of the act. She’d never been this close to Cody, though she’d dreamed of being close to him many a night in her lonely bed.

Flavor exploded on her tongue. She tasted the pastry, the sugar, the tart apple and pear with the hint of lime. It was good. But Cody was right. Something was missing.

“Darn it, you’re right.” She looked up at him. “What do you think it is?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Strawberry? Just a touch, maybe. You’re the chef.”

“Strawberry.” A grin spread over her face. “I’m going to try that. Thanks, Cody.”

He nodded as the silence stretched. Tension rose between them as he seemed to study her in detail.

“You have powdered sugar on your face,” he said. She licked her lips, brought up short when Cody moved even closer. “No, let me.” He bent, shocking her into immobility as his tongue brushed over her cheek near the corner of her lips. When she didn’t move, he grew bolder, running his tongue over the seam of her lips with heart-stopping slowness until she yielded, opening her mouth to him.