Free Wilde Forever (Wilde Women Book 1) by Suzanne Halliday Page B

game.
    As he headed for the kitchen she called after him, “Yeah, I am. And don’t you forget it.”

    It didn’t take long for Jax to get a pretty decent frittata in the oven from the meager ingredients he’d discovered in Brynn’s kitchen. She wasn’t kidding when she said she didn’t exactly like to cook at home. Mostly, the pantry, fridge, and freezer were well stocked with unhealthy, processed crap. The kind of stuff that made Jax shudder.
    His family had been avid campers while he was growing up and from those experiences he’d learned from an early age that even without a fancy stove and every modern convenience known to man, it was possible to pull together a healthy satisfying meal. The skills his mother had imparted to him and his brother had served him well over the years even when a good meal was hard to come by during the harsh reality of his wartime stint. Give him some matches to build a fire, a tin can to cook in plus three simple ingredients, and he could create almost anything.
    While he waited for the frittata to finish, he cleaned up and let his mind wander all over the place. With the sounds of the sexy baker playing a surprisingly shocking video game in the background, he’d found himself expanding on the laundry list of the lady’s quirky but delightful attributes.
    In just a few short hours he’d learned a lot about Brynn Baron-Wilde, starting with the fact that she was nothing like he’d expected. First of all, she wasn’t a dude. Why he thought the person he’d been sent to help out was a guy showed how one-dimensional his thoughts sometimes ran. When she’d handed him his ass for the sexist assumption, he’d deserved her scorn.
    From what he could tell, she was an impressive entrepreneur with a thriving business. He had to admire the grit and determination she had in spades—to take on a remodel for the bakery and tearoom and to survive a start-up and make it succeed.
    When he’d left the shop earlier and returned to his room at a nearby bed and breakfast, he’d taken a ride on the Internet and done some research. She’d made quite a name for herself in just a few short years, earning her the attention of some heavy-hitting food critics and the notoriety that comes with being well regarded in the world of TV and online cooking shows. The lady was the genuine article.
    She was also sexy as fuck with a balls-to-the-wall attitude and a clear need for control that frankly made his cock hungry. Their kiss, the one she had instigated, not only surprised the shit out of him, but it opened a floodgate of desire and lust that he hadn’t been all that aware was lurking inside him.
    The way she tried so hard to keep control of her power intrigued him. The lady was no pushover, that was for sure. He also found it mildly amusing that she thought for even a second that she could call the shots with a man like him. He’d let her have that first encounter only because it gave him the inside curve on what made her tick. She wanted to be the one in charge—the aggressor—if he read her right.
    Pffft. Yeah, whatever. He saw right through her on that score. By taking control she imagined it was on her terms. He suspected there was a man in her past responsible for creating that need. Probably some selfish asshole who took what she gave and made her feel like shit about it later.
    Breaking down that wall and subduing her hot as hell ass was oddly tempting. He imagined taming Brynn Wilde, a thought that had him adjusting his jeans to accommodate the thickening of his sex. It had been a long time since he had those kinds of thoughts. Uncomplicated, hook-up sex was easy to find, but Brynn had his thoughts veering off into unchartered territory.
    He’d never encountered a woman who could make bad pop culture references the way she had and also play video games that appealed to teenage boys. She really was priceless and her don’t-fuck-with-me vibe fired up his libido.
    Calling into the den he gave