Groggily, I adjusted my laptop bag on my shoulder while carefully balancing the snickers cheesecake and three dozen bourbon-glazed cookies. While I absolutely love baking, I hated having to stay up late cleaning my kitchen. 

Cursing my mom for giving me her short genes, I stood in front of the elevator defeated after failing miserably at trying to push the button with my hip. Mom was five two and I got her exact height, while Chels got closer to dad’s height at five seven. 

I started to head back to the front desk to ask Ruby for help, when I heard footsteps approaching. Swiveling my head, I saw it was Theo. My god he looked devilishly handsome in a navy suit with a white dress shirt. The top two buttons were still undone and I couldn’t take my eyes off his chest as he got closed.

Feeling lightheaded, I sucked in a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Let me get that for you,” he stated as he pressed the elevator button and grabbed the cake holder with the cheesecake inside. 

Mumbling a “Thanks”, I slid in the elevator as he followed behind, eyeing the cheesecake in his hands. “What’s all this? It smells freaking delicious!” he exclaimed, as he sniffed the cake holder. I snickered. He looked like a kid all excited about the desserts. He looked at me with a raised brow.

“Well I’m glad it smells great, it's actually all for you. Congratulations on your first day. You’ll soon realize that Jesse uses any excuse for us to bring in food and desserts,” I smiled proudly. For some odd reason, I was really hoping he enjoyed my baking. I’ve been baking for a long time and was really proud of my desserts. I even won a couple neighborhood competitions for my pies and cupcakes. 

“Ouch!” Theo had thumped my forehead while I was distracted, lost in thought. “Mel you zoned out. Did you stay up all night baking?” Theo frowned as he examined my face. Self-consciously, I flattened my hair, “N-no. I like baking and sometimes get carried away. It's the cleaning afterwards that takes forever.”

He smiled relieved, “Ok. Well what did you bake?” Stepping out of the elevator, I replied “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” I grabbed the cake holder and rushed to my office. As I closed the door, I saw Theo gazing at me amused. 

I tried to focus on replying to emails in my office, but was too eager to have Theo try my desserts. A few of my coworkers poked their heads through the door to inquire about which desserts I’d brought. When noon finally arrived, I took my treats to the conference room. 

Jesse gave the usual “Welcome to Fairways University” speech, before we started to mingle. Theo made a beeline towards me and the heat rose in my face. A few people gave quizzical glances our way before taking in the spread.

“So, what did you bring? I see a couple cakes and baked goods,” Theo observed the options. “Hmmmm. Take a guess.” All of the food was labeled. Ruby was a stickler for organization and had made her rounds earlier in the day getting a list of all the offerings. 

“Well, let's see. You’re not boring enough to bring just regular brownies, you stayed up baking, so it has to be something unique maybe? I remember seeing all the baking gadgets in your kitchen.” I leaned back against an empty table as Theo studied all of the dishes. 

Pointing he looked at me, “This?” It was a pineapple upside down cake made by Shelly in operations. Smiling, I shook my head. He pointed at a few more dishes, successfully picking out the bourbon-glazed cookies. Grabbing three cookies, he sauntered over shrugging his shoulders, “I give up. What was in the box?” He bit a cookie and froze before I could reply, “Are you shitting me?” he questioned. “I’m gonna need the whole tray of these! How did you make this?”

A few people turned around and my face heated with embarrassment, “Shhh! Why are you so loud?” I smiled shyly at some familiar faces as I moved closer to Theo. “It's an old family recipe. My Gigi made all kinds of cookies, but this one is my favorite. It’s Jesse’s too, so she requested I bring some today.” I walked over to the table and cut a slice of the diminishing snickers cheesecake. Sliding it over to Theo I added, “This is what was in the box. It’s a snickers cheesecake. One of very few recipes I came up with myself a few years ago.”

He admired the cheesecake for a few seconds before digging in hungrily. “Mel this is amazing. Can you be in love with food? Because I’m in love with this cheesecake. It tastes exactly like a snickers bar.” I beamed at the compliments. I was pleased that Theo enjoyed my desserts. 

We were shortly joined by some of the marketing team at our table. The welcome lunch was great. Everyone was relaxing and updating us on their lives. It was kind of sad to go back to the office and get back to the work day. 

I heard a soft knocking at my door and looked up from my monitors stretching. “Hey Theo. You can come in.” I felt awkward as he gazed around my office. It was decorated with a few hanging plants, a fluffy rug, pillows, a throw blanket, and a snack corner with an electric kettle. I liked feeling comfortable and at home in my office. 

Taking a seat on the couch he declared, “That’s it. I’ve chosen you to decorate my office. It feels so comfortable here. Like a miniature version of your apartment.” I giggled and rolled my eyes, “No thank you.” 

“Fine,” he said, taking off his suit jacket. “Then I’ll just sneak in here and take naps whenever I want.” I swallowed, staring at him as he rolled up his shirt sleeves and laid back on the couch. 

Licking my lips I rubbed my throat, trying to regain some moisture in my mouth. Geez this guy is stunning. He opened his eyes and the smirk from his face was wiped clean. I watched as his chest rose and fell and his eyes grew dark, “Fuck Mel. You can’t look up at me that way.”