“I tell you what, Rory. If you're ready in an hour, I'll buy you an extra-large cup of cocoa before we go out, one before we come home and as many as you want in between." As many as she wanted?Dear God, she was in heaven, she thought with a content little sigh before something occurred to her and when it did, her eyes narrowed dangerously on him."This isn't some sort of sick joke, is it?" she demanded, because really, this was hot cocoa and she didn't screw around when it came to her cocoa.”

“When she felt the hot creamy chocolate go down her throat and into her stomach some of the tension in her body disappeared. Three long sips later and she felt close to being able to face the day. Bythe time half the cocoa was gone she was in her special place, the place where everything was fine and she could face anything including Connor and a visit from her dad. By the time she finished the rest of the cocoa she'd be able to keep this calm going for the rest of the day, but of course she needed a second cup.”

“What if I promise to make you a batch of brownies tomorrow?" she asked, decidingto use his love of baked goods against him.He snorted in disbelief as he got to his feet. "I'm not some whore you can buy with apan of yummy baked goods, woman. How dare you insult me?" he said on a sniff ashe folded his arms over his chest and did his best to look put out."Fine," Haley said with a sigh. "What if I promise to make a big bowl of frosting tomorrow and let you lick it off me?"She had to bite back a smile as Jason shifted anxiously while he licked his lips and ran his eyes hungrily down her body. "Buttercream?" he croaked out."Mmmmhmm," she said, walking over to him. She cupped the back of his head andgently tugged him down for a quick kiss. "And if you're good I might lick some off you," she said, loving the idea."Get your own bowl of frosting. I don't share," he simply said, giving her one last kiss before walking out the door, whistling happily, no doubt thinking about the large bowl of frosting he was going to devour tomorrow.”

“His eyes narrowed on her and the bag. "Why?" he asked cautiously, afraid she was trying to steal his treats.Just what kind of sick game was she playing?”

“You knew? How the hell did you know?" he demanded,wondering which bastard in his family had ratted his assout."It wasn't too hard to figure out, Trevor," she murmured, looking totally enthralled with what she was doing."What the hell does that mean?" He'd been careful, very careful. He'd neverread anything in front of her, neverwrote anything more than his name or a word or two in her presence. There wasno way she could have found out withoutone of his interfering relatives clueing her in."Who the hell told you?" Zoe rolled her eyes even as she leaned over to press a quick kiss on his lips, which made him slightly happy, but not enough to forget that he needed to kill one of his relatives."You never read anything around me. Youthink you tricked me into reading for you. Then there was the time we ran out of condoms and you flipped out because you thought there was supposed to be 42 condoms in the box of 24.""Would it have killed them to put a few extra condoms in the box so that you could have seen to my needs?" he asked, remembering that damn night and trying not to wince. Okay, so maybe he gave himself away...just a little.”

“How dare you touch my cookies, you bastard!” Jason said in utter disgust before popping the cookie into his mouth and heading back to his house. “Damn those looked good, too,” Brad grumbled. Haley sighed. “Don’t worry I have a second plate on my counter.” The words were barely out of her mouth when Jason abruptly changed course and headed towards her house. “Well, there was,” she said, watching Jason walk into her house like he owned it. A minute later he walked out of her house, carrying both plates and the gallon of milk she had in her fridge. He headed back to his house, but not before he glared at Brad. “You cookie thieving bastard,” they heard him mutter. Brad rolled his eyes, chuckling. “And people wonder how I lost weight rooming with him in college.”

“She gave his hand a small squeeze. "Jason, if we're going to try this then I'd like totake things slow." He frowned. "What I mean is nothing beyond the level we were atlast night." She worried her lip between her teeth. "What I mean is no actual sex."He narrowed his eyes on her. "But, you'll still sleep with me naked and let me do ahundred other naughty things to you?" he asked in a serious tone."Yes."He brushed his lips against hers again and moved back a few inches to look into hereyes. "And you'll still cook for me and call me Master?"Her lips twitched. "Yes to the cooking and not a chance in hell for the other."He sighed wearily. "Fine, how about Lord and Master?""Uh...no.""God?""Nope.""My liege?""Wait.....no."He gave her one of his lopsided smiles. "I'll wear you down eventually.”