Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome. Or at least that was what Sasha called the very attractive Australian gym trainer every time he entered her bakery. Of course, that wasn't actually his name, but in all this time, she had never actually gotten his name and it was far too late to be asking that question now, so that nickname had stuck. Strange how someone could be working so close (the gym was literally two doors down from her bakery) and yet know nothing about them.
She could remember the first time he had walked in and while Sasha would never admit it, she had very nearly swooned at the sight of him. She had seen a lot of attractive people in her time, but none had ever given her that reaction before. And then he had opened his mouth and that damned accent had made her so weak in the knees that she had nearly forgotten where she was. She could only thank the fact her customer service skills had kicked in when they did, otherwise she knew perfectly well she would have made a fool of herself right then and there.
She found herself making small talk with him as she made his coffee, learning he had only recently moved into the area. He had taken a job at the local gym, and Sasha could honestly see why. Having him as a trainer would have made anyone more than willing to sign up to endure that level of torture. Sliding the coffee across the counter, it was in that moment their fingertips connected for the briefest heartbeat. The sizzle of electricity that sparked through her just about stopped her heart and she was grateful she wasn't holding the cup.
He didn't seem all that affected by it, just giving her a grin as he handed over the money. It was only after he left the building that Sasha let herself grip the counter to keep her upright. That had been her first encounter with Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome and it had certainly kept her awake that night. It had gotten to the stage where she had stormed out of bed and straight into a cold shower in order to cool herself down. It didn't really work as she had wanted it to, leaving her with black circles under her eyes in the morning.
He was back the next day, looking impossibly irresistible in a black singlet top and a pair of loose track pants. His hair was mused and she found herself wanting nothing more than to run her hands through it, to see if it was as soft as it looked. Cursing herself inwardly (because really, she had to face the truth. A man that attractive wouldn't have been single), she fixed a bright smile on her face.
"Coffee again?" she asked, attempting to keep a cheerful note in her tone, to treat him as she would any other customer. Unfortunately, he really wasn't like any other customer she'd ever had and all she could think about was her thoughts from the night before. Damn it all to hell.
"Make it two," he told her and Sasha gave a nod, keeping that bright smile firmly fixed in place.
There it was. Well at least now she could stop fantasising about an obviously taken man. Or try to, anyway. It was to be expected, and honestly, she was surprised she had even let herself get this far. She was beginning to think that maybe she just needed to get laid. It certainly would stop all this nonsense. With the coffees in her hand, she turned back around, placing them both in front of him.
"You have a lovely day now," she said, managing to maintain that brilliant, overly cheerful attitude. If anyone was to ask her how she did it, she probably wouldn't have had an answer. Fortunately, no one was ever going to ask.
Keeping herself busy wasn't a challenge and she had turned back around to clean the machine, waiting for the sound of the bell above the door to ring, indicating he had left. She must have missed it, even though she was actively listening, for she never heard the sound.
"It's Sasha, right?" that voice behind her asked and she found herself glancing back over her shoulder to where he was still standing at the counter, one of the coffees in his hand, a momentary flicker of surprise flitting across her face at the realisation on her face. "Sorry, I read the name tag. Here, you looked like you needed this."
And with that, he slid the second coffee back across the counter towards her, flashing her a crooked grin as he did. By the time she'd gathered her senses again (how the hell did he manage to scatter them so easily?), he'd already left, and taken with him the chance to find out what his name had been. But he had left her with a much needed coffee and she couldn't quite prevent the silly little grin forming.
The rest of her day had been uneventful, boring even, and while Sasha loved her bakery, and the people that came with it, she found herself rather wishing that the day would hurry up and end. What she hated most about that thought was she knew exactly why she wanted the afternoon to come. Ugh, forget the cold shower, she was just going to dunk herself in a bucket of ice after today.
As she locked the door after her last customer had left for the afternoon, she found herself sneaking a glance down towards the gym. She'd never gone in there, preferring to do her workouts on her own accord without some drill sergeant type telling her what to do. She had been there, done that, back when she had been in the army. But… no, she wouldn't even step foot in there for Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome. She'd opened her own shop in order to get away from taking orders from others. She gave a snort as she finished locking up, before heading towards her car. Yeah, it didn't really matter how pretty he was. She wasn't interested in getting stuck in that position again.
She ended up fumbling the keys to her car, lost in her thoughts, and with a sigh, Sasha found herself crouching down to pick them up. But another set of hands beat her too it, and she jerked backwards, nearly headbutting whoever it was on her way up. Fortunately, their reflexes were quick enough to get them out of the way before her head accidentally connected with anyone's nose, her car keys dangling from their hand.
"Guess I probably shouldn't have done that," came the wry voice and she didn't even need to look up to know who it belonged to. "A force of habit, I suppose."
"It's fine," she replied waving it off as nothing, though she had to consider herself fortunate she hadn't wrecked his pretty face with a broken nose or something. Although, on him, it would probably still look good. "Thanks for the coffee, by the way."
"No worries. It's the least I could have done. I'll see you again tomorrow, yeah?" he asked, giving her a quizzical look and Sasha found herself nodding in response.
"I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," she replied with a hint of a grin and she was rewarded with another one of his crooked smiles. "I'll see you tomorrow."
It was only when he walked back to his car that she realised she had once again failed to get a name. She really wasn't having much luck in that department, she noted to herself with another small sigh. Oh well, she guessed it didn't matter now. At this rate, she figured she was never going to get a name. Maybe it would help her get over her silly little schoolgirl crush anyway. She didn't need another alpha male type in her life after all.
And so that was the extent of their relationship. He would come in every day, order the same coffee, sometimes two (he never ordered the sweets, but Sasha supposed that made sense, considering his line of work. Not that it ever stopped her from pulling a cupcake out of one of the cabinets to nibble on while they chatted) and they'd chat over small things at the counter until he went back to work. It worked, and if that was all she was going to get, then Sasha was going to take it. Diving headfirst into a relationship wasn't a good idea, she knew that, but damn it all to hell if she didn't find herself wanting it. Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome was witty, able to keep up with her sarcasm. And so the days became weeks, and eventually months. And every day, she found herself looking forward to heading into work.
She had his order ready to go before he even walked through the door. The moment he caught sight of it, she could hear him laughing to himself, and her lips curved up in amusement. She liked hearing him laugh, for it was a nice change from his usual dry humour. Don't get her wrong, she didn't mind that either, but to hear him laugh was something else entirely.
"I'm starting to think I come in here way too often if it's resulted in this," he chuckled, gesturing to his coffee mug, before his dark eyes flickered back up to meet her blue ones.
"Can't say it's too hard to memorise the order for one black coffee," she teased in return. "Now when you change your mind and decide to try the food, that's when I'll be surprised."
"Ah, Sasha, you have way too many options here. I don't think I could ever pick and to eat one of everything probably wouldn't be such a great idea, considering I do have to go back to work," he grinned.
It had become a long running joke between the two of them. Just as he often tried to get her to come and work out with him, citing that he needed a better looking sparring partner than his current one. Given his line of work, she never took offence to the fact he didn't eat the pastries or the cakes. Just as he never worried that she never wandered through those doors of the gym. They had reached an understanding without even needing to say the words. She wasn't sure when it had happened, or even how, but it appeared that they had come to understand each other in a way no one else had ever understood her, including the ex boyfriend.
He wasn't just good looking, despite that being the first thing she had noticed about him. He was kind, caring in ways she would have never expected from him. He was funny, and underneath the gruff attitude, he was sweet, someone Sasha could have seen herself falling in love with. It would have never happened, of course, but that never stopped her from thinking about it. And in times like this, he made it even harder for her to keep her distance. All she could do was consider herself fortunate that he had decided to stick around. And honestly, Sasha would have rather kept him as a friend than never see him again.
Her dreams were restless that night. At one stage, she woke herself up, sweat clinging to her body and dampening the sheets. It was only after she fled to the bathroom, hurling into the porcelain bowl that she came to realisation she'd caught some bloody stomach virus. Sinking against the cool tiled walls of her bathroom, she ran her hands through her hair, pushing the sticky mess away from her face. She didn't bother getting up off the floor, didn't bother going back to bed. Instead, she ended up half dozing against the wall, her restless sleep interrupted by bouts of nausea.
When the sun finally broke in the morning, she felt like a genuine wreck. There was little chance of even dragging herself up to shower, let alone go to work. With a groan, she forced herself onto her feet, gritting her teeth the entire time as she staggered back to her bedroom, searching for the phone on her nightstand. She fired off a text to a friend to open the bakery, before tossing the device back onto her bed. For a moment or two, she contemplated crawling back into bed, and trying to take the chance of falling back asleep but she decided against it. Instead, she dragged herself back to the bathroom.
Stripping her sweat stained clothes off, she stepped into the shower, switching the water onto a dangerously hot level, eyes closing as she merely stood there under the cascading water. It was soothing on her aching muscles, though it didn't do much to revive her the way she had been hoping. She could have stood there forever, but years of training and discipline forced her to do otherwise. So she washed her hair and washed the fever sweat from her body. She brushed her teeth, and washed her face before finally shutting the water off.
She had just gotten a towel wrapped around her when the doorbell rang and she was swearing under her breath at the inconvenience of it all. More than likely it would have been Kara or Danny checking up on her (whoever wasn't running the shop in her stead. Probably Kara, considering Danny never missed out on an opportunity for free cakes, even if it meant he had to make them, and he would have been more interested in staying at the bakery). It was tempting not to answer but knowing either of them, they would have kept pressing that buzzer until she answered. Or at least Danny would have anyway and she didn't need that this morning. Stumbling out and tucking her towel firmly around, she made her way to the front door, twisting the handle until it opened. Before promptly slamming it shut the moment she had.
She had to give him credit. He didn't react to her rather rude behaviour, though considering how brief his appearance had been before she slammed the door, it was rather hard to say. But she couldn't deal with that, not today. Not after the night she'd had.
"Go away," she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut, wishing against all hope that when she opened them again, he'd be gone and this would be nothing more than another fever dream.
"Sasha? Your friend at the bakery told me you weren't well. She asked me to check on you. Do you want me to come back at a later time?" His voice was muffled on the other side of the door, but even then, Sasha could hear the concern laced through his tone.
Pulling back from the door, she opened it again, stepping to a side, one hand gripping the top of her towel. It was one thing answering the door in such a thing when it came to her friends. She'd known Danny from her days in the army, and she'd known Kara from her days back in college. This, however, was not on her list of things to do. But he kept his eyes on her face the entire time.
"You look terrible," he greeted her cheerfully, as if that was the most normal thing to say, and despite everything, she found herself letting out a hoarse laugh. It was the normality of it, rather than treading lightly so as not to offend her, that she found to be a relief.
"Yeah, I feel worse," she admitted, gesturing for him to come in. He stepped through the door and she closed it after him. If she had been in complete control of herself, she probably wouldn't have invited him in. Aside from the brief encounters at the bakery, she didn't really know him. Hell, she didn't even know his name yet. However, she was sleep deprived and at that stage, she really couldn't give a shit if he was some axe murderer or something. "I just need to get dressed. The kitchen's that way. Help yourself to whatever."
It was only as she was starting up the stairs that his voice stopped her. "It's Wolf. My name, I mean. Only fair you get to know it, considering I already know yours."
Wolf. She finally had a name to the face. It suited him, and she couldn't quite explain why. Maybe it was because of the whole alpha male thing. Maybe it was because underneath it all, there was something dangerous. Oddly enough, that thought didn't scare her like it should have. Instead, she smiled to herself and trundled up the stairs.
When she came back downstairs, she found him in the kitchen with a cup of coffee on the table in front of him and a cup of… was that soup?... in the place of the opposite seat. As she made her way in, he glanced up, giving her a warm smile and even in her current state, Sasha found her heart melting again. He looked like he belonged there, at her kitchen table. Then again, he probably looked like he could belong anywhere, regardless of where it was. Shaking the thought off, she slid into the seat opposite him, closing her hands around the mug of soup in front of her, giving him a questioning look.
"They say soup fixes anything when you're not feeling well," he explained. "I didn't mean to drop in unannounced, by the way. But you weren't there this morning and then when your friend told me you weren't feeling too good, I guess I just wanted to check on you. I'll apologise if I overstepped any boundaries."
"No, it's fine," she said slowly, shaking her head, fingers tightening around the handle of her mug, and trying to ignore the flutter in her stomach. "I'm glad you came."
He seemed to relax at that, and idly, she wondered if perhaps he had been just as nervous as she had been. She dismissed the notion as soon as it appeared, though, jotting it down as nothing more than her mind playing tricks on her from the lack of sleep. After all, what the hell could he have to be nervous about?
"Sasha," he began, low and gravelly, and her toes curled at the way her name sounded coming from his mouth. Despite the fact she clearly felt like, and looked like, shit, her body clearly didn't care all that much. He paused, as if to gather his thoughts, before he shook his head.
Not that he got a chance to go any further, even if he had wanted to, because her stomach turned again, and this time not from the butterflies that he so easily set free within her. She didn't even have a chance to excuse her before she was hastily fleeing through the house, back to the bathroom. Of all the times to catch a stomach virus, it had to be now. She supposed the one perk of it would be that he would no doubt be disgusted by her and she wouldn't have to see him again, which would only be good in the long run.
She only just made it to the bathroom, scrambling to the toilet, body heaving as she threw up once again. The sound of footsteps behind her had gone unnoticed, but the fingers that swept back her hair didn't. She stilled, and it didn't seem to escape him.
"Hey, you're alright, it's okay, Sasha," he murmured, fingers stroking through her hair, and she nearly could have cried at the complete and utter reassurance she felt in his touch. "You're alright. I've got you."
The last boyfriend would have never been this considerate. He never did well when she was ill. He much preferred to leave her alone until it was all over. She never had expected a stranger to even bat an eyelid at her condition, save to run the other way, but Wolf… he hadn't left like she had expected. He hadn't run, even though he owed her nothing at all. She sank backwards then and he caught a hold of her, those strong, steady arms wrapped around her, keeping her grounded.
"Sorry," she finally said once she had found her voice again. "I didn't mean for you to see that."
"What was I supposed to let? Leave you here to suffer by yourself? I'm afraid that's not happening. I haven't even tried the food, so I can't let you die on me yet," he teased and she couldn't help but smile at his casual nonchalance.
It would have been better if he hadn't gotten too close. The last thing she needed was to make him sick as well. But mustering the strength to send him away sounded nearly impossible at the moment, and somehow, she doubted he would have listened. It was starting to seem that Wolf was almost as stubborn as she was.
She wasn't sure how long they sat there for on that cold bathroom floor, with his arms still locked around her. The nausea had faded, just leaving her feeling drained from the sleepless night. She was going to have to get up eventually, and Wolf was going to have to go back to the gym, because she couldn't keep him here all day, as much as she might have liked that idea.
"You should probably go," she said, the reluctance no doubt obvious in her voice. "I'll be fine. But thank you, for being here. You have no idea how much that means. I don't think anyone's ever…"
She trailed off, but somehow, she figured he would understand what she was trying to say. It meant more than he would have ever realised, to know that someone was willing to sit with her even when she was at her worst.
"Are you sure you're alright? I don't want to leave if you're not," he replied. "It's not a big deal, I'm sure they can manage a few hours without me."
"I'm going to pass out on the couch. Trust me, I don't think that's going to be much fun for you," she stated dryly, shifting in his arms so that she could see his face. She'd already memorised every line, every detail, but that never stopped her from looking. He had an eyebrow half raised, as if he wasn't too sure whether or not to believe her, though in the end, he gave a slow nod.
"Okay. If you need me in the meantime, call me. I'll leave my number on the kitchen table. I'll be back tomorrow to see how you're going, Sasha."
His thumb brushed against her cheek then, and she swore she nearly ignited from the sheer heat of it. Heart pounding ridiculously loudly in her chest, she just gave a nod, letting him pull her to her feet. They stayed like that for a minute, her hands in his, before he pulled them away, and she let hers fall back to her side, watching as he backed out of the room. Groaning, she found herself raising her eyes heavenward, running her hands through her hair. Oh, she was so screwed.
The smell of freshly baked goods wafted through her house that morning. She had taken the day off again, under orders from Kara to rest before coming back in. Sitting still and idle just wasn't something she was comfortable doing, and so Sasha had been up with the light of dawn, turning her house into her own personal bakery for the morning. She had no idea what she was going to do with all this food, but damned if she was going to sit down and remain bored for the rest of the day.
She had just pulled the cinnamon rolls from the oven when the doorbell rang. Setting them onto the counter, she pulled off the over mitts as she made her way to the door. It was a casually dressed Wolf that greeted her, making her realise it was the first time she had ever seen him wearing something other than gym clothes. She had to admit, she liked this look on him as well.
"You're early," she commented, moving to a side to let him through the door.
"And you're covered in flour," he retorted, amusement flashing across his features, before he paused in the doorway, seeming to inhale the scent of the cinnamon rolls she had just taken out. "I'm going to regret coming here, aren't I?"
She gave a small shrug, the edges of her lips tilting up slightly. "Maybe. Though I think you can afford one cheat day. I mean, have you seen yourself in the mirror lately?"
It was only after the words slipped out that she realised what she said, and a dark pink blush crept up her cheeks. It would have been impossible to miss, both her comment and the blush. Maybe she could have blamed it on not being completely recovered from yesterday. Maybe he did miss it, as small of a hope that would have been. He hadn't missed it though, if that smug look on his face was anything to go by.
"Are you flirting with me?" he asked, a slow smirk forming and she had never wished for the floor to open up more than she had in that moment.
""We're going to pretend this conversation never happened," she groaned, slapping a hand over her face, trying to ignore the fact she had just gone several shades darker.
There was the sound of footsteps, drawing closer, and she split her fingers just wide enough apart to peek through. It would have been better if she hadn't, because now he was too close. Much too close and her hand fell from her face with a startled squeak, which she would have been absolutely ashamed of, if she hadn't been so surprised.
"I'd rather we didn't," he responded, voice low, those dark eyes of his more serious than she had ever seen them before. Her back was pressed up against the door, with nowhere to run, but she found herself unable to move anyway, trapped by his gaze. "The first day I met you… you know I had no plans on coming back so often. But you were there, and I couldn't stay away. I kept telling myself it was crazy, you're way out of my league after all, but I couldn't help myself."
His hand had come to rest on the doorframe beside her head, but she no longer felt trapped. She doubted she had ever really felt trapped by him in the first place. It was the sheer surprise of things that had caught her off guard. She hadn't expected him to act, and now her entire body was screaming at the close proximity. He was exactly where she had wanted him all these months, and all she could do was stare at him. Perhaps he sensed her hesitation, because he went to move back, to give her space but Sasha's hands had grabbed a hold of his dark blue shirt, yanking him closer.
He stumbled forward, and she kissed him hard, arms snaking around his neck. There was no hesitation now, all those months of pent up frustration of being able to look but never touch. Her fingers knotted in his hair, that soft hair she had spent so much time resisting the urge to touch. His teeth nipped at her bottom lip and her mouth parted slightly. His fingers gripped her hips, before sliding down to her arse, hoisting her up as her legs wrapped around his waist. They never made it past the living room couch, her baking completely forgotten.
Their legs remained tangled up together, her head resting on his shoulder, those delightfully skilled fingers of his stroking her arm. She let her own fingers trail along his chest, tracing scars that littered his skin in places. The first time she had done it, Wolf had gone completely still, until Sasha had pressed her lips against them, kissing each and every one with delicate care.
"I was in the Navy back in Australia," he murmured then, drawing her from her thoughts, as if he had known exactly what she had been thinking.
"And you don't want to talk about it," she finished his unspoken sentence for him, watching as he raised his eyebrows in surprise. Right, she had never mentioned that either, causing her to elaborate. "I was in the Army before I got into the baking industry. I know what it's like to want to keep the past exactly where it should be."
"You're one hell of a sheila, Sasha Cooper" he replied, shaking his head in slight awe. "What the hell did I ever do to deserve finding someone like you?"
It was a soft laugh that left her lips then, fingertips touching his cheek lightly. "You walked into a bakery." And straight into her heart the moment he had. The thing was, Sasha wouldn't have changed it for the world. And somehow, curled up in Wolf's arms, she doubted he would have either.