I've been standing in the same spot for the past five minutes. Just standing and gaping. Why, you may ask?

Because Sierra's Sweets is full of customers.

And not in my terms, where three people are equivalent to a crowded Magic Mike live show. I mean there are asses planted in every booth I took the liberty of ordering myself when I first opened this place. There's an empty table at the back but aside from that, I have a full house. My very first since opening day three months ago.

I'm still not quite sure what finally did it. The gala was good for phone orders because some of the athletes wanted seconds and thirds (Travis wanted fourths) but I still wasn't getting walk-in customers. The carnival didn't do much either. All I got out of that was leery men that tracked down my Instagram and send message requests full of colourful language I'd rather not repeat. I haven't had a gig since so I really don't know where this overflow of customers suddenly came from.

"Sierra!"

I snap my mouth shut and turn to the front door when it dings open, raising a brow at Harper and Dani who come barreling in and head straight for me.

"Hi, guys." I blink at them, not expecting their company.

"Have you not been checking your phone?" Harper wheezes, out of breath. "I've been blowing it up, woman."

Right. My phone. I look around for it but can't seem to locate it. "I've had customers in and out for the past hour. I have no idea where it is."

"You're hopeless." Dani throws her hands in the air and turns to Harper. "She's hopeless, Harps."

"So many issues," Harper nods in agreement and I roll my eyes. "Don't you make that face at me. You'd be freaking out with us if you were keeping up online."

Freaking out? I eye her curiously. "What are you talking about?"

"SFPM tagged you on an Instagram post this morning. They're verified, Ser. 11.4 million followers. Your bakery account is blowing up with follows!"

My heart drops out of my ass like a spectacular dump. "Help me find my phone. Now."

Harper quickly rounds the corner and Dani just plain jumps over it like the freakishly bendy ninja she is. The three of us make our way to the back kitchen and split up. It's not a huge space but there are a hundred cabinets and I'm always misplacing my phone in one of them. A couple of minutes later I hear Harper shriek, "Found it!"

Dani and I bolt over to her. I grab the phone and put my thumb on the home button to unlock it. It takes three tries to get the app open because it keeps crashing on me. Harper rationally suggests I delete some files to make space. Dani asks if she can hurl the phone across the room. Luckily I don't need to do either because the app opens and when I go on my homepage, I find that I have 4.2K followers.

Ho-ly cr-ap. I'm well aware crap is only one syllable but this certainly calls for breaking the rules.

"Ohmygod," I breathe. "Do you guys see this? Are we seeing this?"

"Forget that." Dani smacks my hand and forcibly takes the phone from me. I'm still too stunned to ask what she's doing, at least until she shoves it back in my face to show me a picture I've never seen before. "This. This is what you should be freaking out about."

My jaw unhinges. Sweet mercy, she's right.

It's a picture of me. And Holden. I have no idea when it was taken but in the picture we're facing each other. I'm leaning one hip against the counter to my booth and Holden stares down at me with crossed arms and an ever-present scowl. He looks royally pissed off but there's something lighter in his eyes, like reluctant amusement, that makes the picture almost funny. I'm the same, fuming up at him but biting the inside of my cheek as if to stop a smile. It's...I want to say cute but that would be weird, right?

"So adorable," Harper squeals.

Or not.

"Look at those fuck me eyes they're giving each other," Dani hoots in approval. "This is way beyond cute. Have you seen the comments?"

The comments? Cue mini heart attack. My eyes scope out the caption first, These sweets are approved by Holden Rey, and then move down to the comment section.

I see flashes of them like it's not the sweets he approves of and if she was standing in front of me I'd look like that too and can someone tell me who she is and if they're dating?

Each comment is crazier than the previous and I'm definitely panicking but I also see comments like I recognize her! She lives in my hometown and her bakery is awesome as well as tried her cookies at the festival and they were amazing!

Woah. I blow out a breath when I feel the room spin for a moment. Did I mention I keep getting notifications that just won't stop coming? I have to shut my phone off before I pass out.

"That would explain the full house," I finally manage to say.

I look out there again and feel my heart double in size. I was just about knocked on my ass when a group of teenagers walked in the bakery this morning, half of them strolling up to the counter to place an order and the other half grabbing a booth like it was the most casual thing in the world. I'd barely been able to pick my jaw off the ground long enough to serve them but I did. Then I didn't even have time to freak out because a couple of new customers walked in and again, with that same casualness, ordered breakfast Danishes like it was just another, like they had no idea they were single-handedly responsible for making this the best day of my life.

And that's how the day went on. Customer after customer have walked in since I opened and this is the first time since Sierra's Sweet came to life that I've had to bake a second batch of everything because the first ran out. I actually ran out of baked goods to serve. Tears well up in my eyes unexpectedly. I guess, without even realizing it, I'd made my peace with being a failure. I'd silently accepted that I was probably going to have to shut this place down and find something else to do. I threw in the towel because I figured I had no other option. And then I woke up this morning, completely unsuspecting of how greatly my life would change today, and damn, I can't seem to stop the tears of relief.

"Shit," I hear Dani sigh. I prepare myself for a comforting hug or rub on the back but she holds up her phone and snaps a photo of my puffy and wet face. O-kay. When I wipe my nose and blink at her, she waves a hand. "Iris and I made a bet. She said you'd cry when you finally got a hold of your phone and I said you weren't that soft. She won."

My mouth tugs down and I'm briefly distracted. "Gee, thanks."

"Kind of mean," Harper agrees. "But kind of cool how good her intuition is."

"You mean hot," Dani deadpans and types away on her phone. I assume she's sending the picture. "She gets her victory sex and I get...well, sex."

"Happy to contribute." I mumble. I grab a tissue and blow the snot out of my nose before washing my hands. I can see a small line starting to form by the counter. I'm so not used to not being able to take a break because of how busy it is. I never thought I'd be so grateful to be overworked but I am. God, I really am.

"Boss-man!" I hear Harper exclaim.

I look up and sure enough, Holden is rounding the counter and heading straight for the kitchen. All eyes in the bakery are on him and some people call out his name but he ignores them. It's hard to tell if it's intentional or if he genuinely doesn't care so he doesn't even hear them.

"Your lunch break is almost up," He reminds Harper when he closes the kitchen door behind him. "I need you to renew Gordon's contract with us as soon as you're back at the agency."

"The guy who swam in the fountain naked?"

"He's sober and doing well. I'm giving him a second chance."

Harper brows go up in obvious impress. "That's uncharacteristically nice of you."

Holden remains passive. "Harper."

"I'm going, I'm going. Come on, Dani."

"Holden," Dani smirks. He simply nods back.

I wait for the hot surge of jealousy or self-doubt at the reminder that they had sex, and had an obviously great time, but it doesn't come. Maybe because Dani looks back to her phone, biting her lip and obviously in the middle of sexting her girlfriend, or maybe because Holden is looking right at me as if there isn't anyone else here. Either way, I'm struggling to contain my smile when Harper and Dani leave, leaving just us.

"Hey," I grin, giving up. Whatever. I'm happy to see him and I don't care if he knows it.

"Hey." He doesn't exactly smile back but his mouth does kick up from the edge, his face a little softer than usual. It makes me feel less dumb about my inability to keep a poker face. "You got quite a crowd out there."

I wrap my arms around myself, feeling way flattered that for once he's seeing the successful side of me and not the walking disaster. I know now that he doesn't think less of me but he's such a successful guy, so good at everything that he does and so talented, that I really want to meet him halfway. He inspires me.

"Thank you." I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Holden watches. "Um...it was probably because your agency posted that photo and tagged me."

"I saw."

Right. I feel a rush of nerves. "Didn't realize we weren't totally at each other's throat that day."

He lifts a shoulder. "That's just how we are. Not that there's anything wrong with the occasional throat-grab."

I cough into my shoulder, suddenly choking on thin air, and refuse to acknowledge Holden's smug little smirk. "Uh-huh. Shouldn't you be at work, Christian Grey?"

"I much rather prefer Satan," He responds evenly. He uncrosses his arms and stalks over to me until my back is pinned to the steel counter and he has me cornered. I'm starting to think he has a thing for this. "And I need something."

"Okay?" I eye him warily.

After my epic and disastrous fall on the weekend, Holden's mood had soured down once he talked to his parents. Gone were all the sexy vibes and replaces with his barely restrained frustration. He's never had a good relationship with either of his parents. They just don't see eye-to-eye, even though they're nice people if you can overlook them saddling their son with the responsibility of watching his little brother and taking off to who knows where. But it's something Holden was never able to overlook and neither was I.

That's why, as we both quietly headed back to the complex, I suggested he go back to work. It was his day off but he loves his job and I know that when I'm upset, only baking gives me peace. I understand why he's the workaholic he is. So he went to the agency and we've come to a sort of stand-still since.

That was yesterday and this is now and right now Holden is taking hold of the dips in my waist, fingers tightening before he lifts me up and sitting me on the counter. He does it so fast I don't even register what happened until the coolness of the steel counter top touches my thighs through the material of my thin skirt, jolting me.

"What—" I barely manage before he grabs my ponytail to tug my head back, and then his mouth comes down on mine.

Oh.

My.

God.

My first instinct is to freeze in shock. Somehow I'd went from searching his heated eyes and wondering what he was up to, to gripping his shoulders and grounding myself when I found myself pulled into him. I'm still wide-eyed and trying to process what just happened, but then he does the thing. His thing. The hand wrapped around my hair tugs my head back even farther and his other hand cups the back of my neck, large palm spanning the entire width and easily holding me in place.

And I melt.

I kiss him back and he groans, pushing his tongue past my lips when I part them for him. It slides against mine in the dirtiest way, the most skilled and controlled way, and I can't stop my answering moan. It's as soft as I can manage because I know I have customers out there, but there's no way I can stay quiet when he's kissing me like this. Like I'm the most valuable thing he's ever held. Like I'm his to take care of.

He tilts his head, makes our kiss deeper, claims me further. I lean into him when he sucks my bottom lip and draws it out before taking my mouth again. Something about the way he cradles my head in his firm grip, and the way he guides our kiss with total precision, makes me give up all control to him. Holden is a perfectionist to a fault and this kiss is no exception. It's flawless, like I knew it would be.

My hands find the surface of his hard chest and I slide them up until I have his tie in my fists. I pull him closer, wrap my legs around his torso, wanting him to lose his control just a little bit. He growls low in his throat and I think it might be working.

He's so close I can feel the pace of his breaths picking up in my mouth, can feel the scruff on his chin scratch mine and his nose pressing into my face, can smell his overwhelming cologne and the way they invade my senses. His mouth is soft, tongue even softer, but the rest of him is solid and it feels like I'm being held by a wall. A wall of flesh and blood and warmth. I kiss him harder, desperately.

There's an impatient ding of the bell I put on the counter earlier today because of all the customers, and now I'm regretting it completely because Holden pulls away from me. It's like he takes all my air with him and I gasp, as if I was underwater and finally came to shore.

Holden is breathing just as hard, his breaths washing over me as he stares down at me with hooded his eyes. His lids are heavy, lips swollen, hair unkempt, and I realize now I'd been tugging at it. I've never seen him look so out of sorts but like this, he's beautiful. He doesn't look perfect but he does look real and that's all I want. To remember that this is real.

"That," He rasps. He's still heaving and staring at me like I might disappear at any moment. "That's what I needed."

"Glad you stopped by for it," I manage my breathless response.

That ding goes off again and I resist the urge to grab and chuck it at whoever won't stop banging it like a dirty mistress. But customers are customers and I guess Holden reads my mind, straightening his jacket that I'd pushed halfway off his body.

"We should get going." His thumb presses into my bottom lip, moving it back and forth slowly. Whether he's teasing me or himself is anyone's guess. "I have to work late today so I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," I agree on a whisper. I think I need some time to digest all of this anyway.

He nods, moves his thumb down to lift my chin up and drop one last kiss on my mouth, and then he lets go. I have to grip the edge of the counter so I don't fall off. Not that it does much good because when he leaves the kitchen and is finally out of sight, I fall back against the counter with every part of me trembling.

Sixteen-year-old Sierra is definitely not kicking my ass for that kiss.

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A/N

THEY FINALLY KISSED!! AND WOW, DID YOU FEEL IT IN YOUR GUT LIKE ME?!

Who saw the kiss coming? I know I teased you guys a lot so it shook me when the kiss ACTUALLY happened. I mean I threw my phone so here's to hoping I wasn't the only one.

Please VOTE, comment and share if you liked this chapter!

Happy Reading :)