Not dirty, not dirty, not dirty. She told herself. She had not meant that dirty. He would, literally, give her his piece of pie. The last piece. Of his favorite pie. Because he was a good guy who liked her.

Besides, when people referred to pie in a dirty way it was usually referring to— She cut her own thoughts off there. Didn’t matter. Didn’t need to think about that.

“Thanks.” She took the plate and the fork and started to take a bite.

Aiden did, however, reach out a swipe his finger through the meringue on the top of the pie. He gave her an unapologetic grin as he stuck his finger in his mouth.

She couldn’t smile back. Or even give him a proper “hey!”. Because her gaze was latched on his finger. In his mouth. And how he sucked on it. And how it was wet and glistening when he slid it back out…

“You okay?” he asked.

Zoe squeezed her eyes shut and shook herself mentally. Get a grip! She opened her eyes and gave him a bright smile. “Yep. Of course.”

He looked from her, to the pie, and back to her. “Are you going to eat that or not?”

Right. The pie. She’d asked for it. If she didn’t eat it, he’d want to know why she’d wanted it. Was now the time to say, I was wondering if you’d give me anything I asked for? And what if he said yes? Should she then say, great, then next I’d like an orgasm please?

“Zoe?”

Again she realized she’d zoned out. She picked up the fork and stuffed a piece of pie in her mouth.

Aiden was watching her. Well, he was watching her mouth. She withdrew the fork slowly, pressing her lips around it to be sure to get all the chocolate.

He stepped closer. Had he meant to do that?

She felt her heart rate pick up. She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, then pressed her lips together.

His eyes were on her mouth the entire time.

She felt hot. Very hot. Maybe because he was standing really close now. He was big and it made sense that he’d put off a lot of body heat.

But no. This felt very much like it was coming from inside of her. Her blood was humming through her veins, her stomach was swooping, her skin was tingling.

Holy hell. He hadn’t even touched her yet. Hadn’t even said anything that was sexy or romantic or dirty.

Oh, she wanted Aiden to say something dirty.

Where that thought had come from she had no idea. This was Aiden. She wanted to hear him say… what? She wasn’t even sure. She wondered if it would sound weird if he did say something dirty. Would she laugh? Dammit. Maybe.

See, this was the kind of stuff she needed to with Aiden first. If she did laugh when he talked dirty, she’d rather it be with him that with some guy she was really into and trying to convince she was a sex goddess.

“So…you really like my pie, right?” she asked.

She didn’t cringe. But it was close. That did not sound sexy or seductive. She was not cut out for this.

But one corner of his mouth curled up. “Your pie is the best I’ve ever had,” he told her.

And damn. That did sound sexy. Dirty-ish. Because he said it in a lower, kind of husky tone that she wasn’t sure she’d heard from him before. No, she was sure. She had not heard that tone from him before.

Her suddenly tingly nipples confirmed it.

“Yeah? You’ve had a lot of other pie?” she asked.

Wait, she didn’t want to know that. She did not want to know that. Of course he’d been with other women. Women who would be better at this than she would be. She just really didn’t want to know about that.

As a matter of fact, she didn’t want to know how much other actual pie he’d had either. Because she thought he’d probably had quite a bit and she really liked being the one who made his favorite.

Yes, she rolled her eyes when her mother insisted she make Aiden’s favorite because well, really, did Maggie have to make it that obvious that she felt Aiden should be treated like a prince? But truthfully, Zoe loved the idea that Aiden looked forward to coming home and… eating her pie.

She actually felt her cheeks heat at that thought.

Baking terms as sexual innuendo were going to make her professional life difficult.

“I’ve had my share,” he said with a little nod. “But none like yours.”

Of course, they were talking about pie. Not pie. Because he hadn’t had her pie. Yet. But she still felt warm and a little light-headed.

“I’m glad,” she said honestly. And a little breathlessly.

“So, if you’re not going to eat it, I am.” He took the plate and fork from her and took a huge bite.

“Hey!”

He grinned as he chewed. “You can’t be dainty and slow with pie like yours, Zoe. Your pie inspires enthusiasm. Your pie should be eaten with gusto.”

Her mouth fell open. He didn’t mean it like that but…

There was something in his eyes as he finished the pie off that made her wonder. Maybe he did mean it that way. But maybe he thought she didn’t know what all of that was insinuating and he was just messing around.

She reached out and ran her finger over the plate he held, lifting some chocolate pie filling to her mouth and licking it from her finger as he watched.

His eyes definitely heated a bit. She definitely didn’t mistake that.

Okay, good.

“I’m so glad to hear that,” she told him with a smile. “Do you think about my pie when you’re not here, Aiden?”

His smile was gone and he was watching her with a look that was hot and serious and maybe a little confused.

She liked that. Confusing him a little seemed like a good idea if she was going to have any kind of control here.

“I do,” he said. “A lot, actually.”

Yeah, they were probably talking about actual pie now, but she liked that he thought about that when he wasn’t here too.

She smiled up at him. “Hey, can I borrow a hundred bucks?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Sure.”

See? Not even a what for? Just “sure”. He was definitely willing to do her favors and give her things.

“Thanks. And—” She might have batted her eyelashes a little then. Accidentally, of course. “I have to pick a friend up from the airport in Dubuque tomorrow. Really early. Was wondering if you’d go with me? You know how the roads can be extra slick in the early mornings before the sand trucks have been out.”

For a second, she thought maybe she’d made a mistake. He’d think this was suspect for sure. Zoe would never ask someone to get up early and drive with her to the airport. She was completely capable of driving to Dubuque by herself in her own car at any time of day.

She didn’t have a friend coming in tomorrow. She just wanted to hear him say that of course he’d get up super early and drive her to the airport in the freezing cold on Christmas Day. Because if he’d do that, surely he’d do her the favor of helping her get rid of her virginity too.

This was a test but she couldn’t let Aiden know that.

“What friend?”

Fair question. Aiden knew all of her friends. All of her friends were from Appleby and it was reasonable to expect that the two who didn’t live here now would already be home for the holidays.

She really should have planned out these test questions ahead of time. But she was absolutely winging all of this.