“No, that one’s a white mocha. Here, this one’s chocolate.”

She came up short as she came to the end of the hall where everyone gathered for their quick morning meeting around the time clocks.

Dax was already there. And in the middle of the cluster of people, seemingly holding court.

He saw her immediately. “Hey, Jane.” He plucked a wrapped square from the cardboard cupholder, Jim, one of her coworkers, was holding and passed it to her. “I was going to get you coffee, too, but Josie told me not to bother, that this was what got you going in the morning.”

Jane knew immediately what it was as she took it from him. A strawberry cream cheese bar. Her second favorite thing in the Buttered Up bakery.

Josie had given Dax ammunition. He thought she’d do anything for a dozen cake pops. That wasn’t true. There were some restrictions.

There were no such limitations on what she would do for one of Zoe’s strawberry-cream cheese bars.

She thought, for about a second and a half, about thrusting it back at him and refusing it. But she was simply not strong enough for that even on a good day. This was really not an especially good day.

“Thanks.” She even said it sincerely. Because so what if he knew she loved these damn things and kept bringing them to her? How could that possibly be a bad thing?

She immediately unwrapped and bit into it. Why would she wait? She closed her eyes as the first bit of creamy strawberry goodness caressed her taste buds like a long-lost lover intent on bringing her to orgasm. And honestly? As far as she remembered, the wave of pleasure that went through her and the moan she couldn’t hold back were very close to that.

It had been a while.

She opened her eyes as she swallowed. Dax was staring at her.

She licked her bottom lip and watched as his gaze followed her tongue.

“I want one of those tomorrow,” Sarah, one of her favorite coworkers, said. Sarah looked around the little crowd. “Seriously. Someone bring me one of those.”

“I’ve totally got you covered,” Bryan, one of their main bakers—or one of the Master Bakers as they liked to refer to themselves—said with a nod. He looked from Jane to Sarah. “Just promise I get to watch you eat it.”

Sarah and Bryan had been sleeping together on and off for about two years. Everyone knew it and everyone was completely cool with it. Including Sarah and Bryan. They were truly the poster children for friends with benefits. It was pretty awesome.

Jane’s gaze went back to Dax. Who was still watching her. She took another bite. As unapologetic as she’d been at the cake-pop table the first night they’d met.

So what if he thought bringing her these bars would lead to her taking her panties off? He could think that.

And hell, it might be true. Taking her panties off with Dax might not be the worst idea she’d ever had. As long as his beanbags and gummy bears stayed in his office across town, he could be in her bedroom a couple of times.

She chewed and watched Dax and wondered what he thought about friends-with-benefits casual sex.

“Well, Boss, you ready for this today?” Max asked Dax.

Jane almost swallowed her bite of strawberry bar down the wrong pipe. She coughed hard and swore silently. First of all, sucking that thing into her lungs would have been a huge waste of Zoe’s magic. Jane’s stomach needed every bite. Second of all—and this probably should have been first of all—Dax was her boss. Dammit. How had she forgotten that? She shouldn’t take her panties off with him. Regardless of his beanbag and gummy candy situation.

Wow, she could not forget that. And honestly, that probably meant not having him bring her any more strawberry cream bars. Those things made her stupid. Clearly.

She finished hers off—no sense letting this one go to waste—and brushed her hands off on her pants. “Yeah, let’s get things going,” she said as if she hadn’t just been thinking about getting naked with Dax and a strawberry cream bar.

Seriously, she’d really want that bar there too.

Everyone, besides Dax, Max, and Jane, moved off, getting ready for their day, heading to their stations.

“I’m ready.” Dax tucked the cardboard coffee tray he’d been holding into the recycling bin behind him.

It occurred to Jane that he’d apparently brought coffee in this morning. For everyone on this shift. That was nearly eighty people.

Then she decided she did not want to know how he’d pulled that off. Dax gave off a vibe of just making things happen, and while that could be a very admirable trait, she suspected some of the things he pulled off were, well, ridiculous.

“And for what it’s worth,” Dax said to Max, turning around and rubbing his hands together, “Jane’s the boss today. Totally in charge of me.”

“Is that right?” Max shot her a look with one arched brow.

She didn’t give him any kind of reaction. Max didn’t need a reaction. He already knew about the cake pops from Dax. Giving him anything more would be a very bad idea. Plus it wasn’t true that she was the boss. Exactly. Dax was the boss. Dax was the boss. That was her mantra for the day. Hell, probably for the whole time he was here.

“Here’s your shirt. I’ll get you a couple more for the rest of the week, but I assume you can do laundry so you don’t need five?”

She tossed Dax the Hot Cakes shirt she’d grabbed for him. Everyone wore the black shirts with the pink and white Hot Cakes logo on them. There were also polos, but no one on the floor wore those. In fact, most of the employees in this area—where the treats were all mixed and baked—wore aprons, hair nets, gloves, and covers over their shoes, so it didn’t much matter what they wore. But the company supplied the t-shirts, so most employees wore them to work under their outer protective gear.

“Hey, thanks.” He actually looked thrilled by the shirt. “Are you asking if I can do laundry as in, do I have facilities available or as in, am I capable?” He shot her a grin.

She tipped her head. “I guess… both.”

He chuckled. “Well, the answer is yes. To both.”

He loosened the tie he was wearing—it featured Rosie the Riveter and said “We Can Do It” which, she had to admit, was kind of funny considering this was his first day in a factory—and pulled it from his collar. He rolled it up and tucked it in his pocket. Then he started to unbutton the shirt he was wearing. It was a pale-blue button-down he’d rolled up to his elbows, and for a second, Jane was mesmerized by his fingers working the buttons and the slow reveal of skin and dark chest hair.

It wasn’t until it was completely unbuttoned and he started to shrug it off, his pec, shoulder, and ab muscles flexing tantalizingly with the movements, that she snapped out of it.

Actually, it wasn’t until Max shifted to the side, clearly to get a better view himself, that she snapped out of it.

What the hell? He was just undressing right here like that?

“There’s a locker room literally five steps away,” she said.

“Shh… honey…” Max said, waving a hand in her direction.

She frowned at her friend. But he had just stuck his hand out with a, “Here, let me hold that.”

“Thanks.” Dax handed his button-down shirt to Max then shook out the t-shirt and held it up to study the front.