Layers of Heat

Layer 22

Winnie stared at the rows of colorful and flaky pastries, contemplating which ones she wanted. Leila and Ken had already paid for their choices and sat in the lounge area, flirting and chatting with each other without a care in the world. Another person might have felt self-conscious about making her friends wait, or standing in the way of all the other customers browsing around, but not Winnie. After all, this was probably the only day she could come here due to her limited free time, and also because this place usually sold out by mid-afternoon.

She didn't even care that Miles was practically hovering over her shoulder, standing awfully close while observing as she was. All that mattered to her was picking the right pastries, since she, unfortunately, couldn't buy them all.

Due to the noise of the crowd around them, Miles leaned down so he could speak into Winnie's ear. "I'm telling you, you'll like the pistachio chocolate croissant."

Her eyes automatically returned to the pastry in question, the one she had eyed the most out of all of them. Winnie didn't know how to feel at the fact he knew her tastes so well.

"If not," he continued, "why not try the curry croquette?"

Again, her eyes moved to her second favored choice.

"Or..." Miles brushed her hair over her shoulder. "You can get both."

Winnie's mouth watered. "But—"

"What about the vanilla bean cronut?" he finished her thoughts. "I was planning to get that. How about I share half?"

She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Really?"

Miles stared at her, taking a moment to answer. "Yes."

And then Winnie...smiled. "Okay."

As she went to collect their choices on her tray, Miles took a deep breath and sighed. When he was sure his legs would move according to his will, he followed after her, snatching a sandwich from the cold foods section. After paying for their own food, they went up to Leila and Ken, where they sat opposite from them. Any other day, Winnie probably would've refused their seating arrangement, but she was too excited about the cronut she would be sharing with Miles, so she didn't put up a fight.

Later, Miles would have to thank Leila personally. She knew her friend well—going to a bakery was the perfect choice. Though it was Miles who wanted to be a pastry chef, he knew Winnie enjoyed baked goods far more than he ever could. Honestly, it was a stroke of fate that he would specialize in her favorite foods.

After using the plastic knife to cut the cronut in half, he slid Winnie's half towards her atop a napkin. She licked her lips and used her fork to take a bite. A bit of the cream stuck to the corner of her mouth, but she immediately lapped it away and swallowed, her small pink tongue catching all the crumbs.

Her bright eyes met his. "It's good! The vanilla bean flavor is really prominent!"

Miles couldn't stop staring at her lips. "That's...um...that's good."

She didn't notice his stunned state and continued to try out the other pastries she bought. For several seconds, all he could do was stare at her, watching the way she ate while she remained oblivious.

Of course, the other two observed them as they themselves ate their food. Leila was clinging to the back of Ken's shirt, as if she were watching a thriller while Ken tried to eat his toasted sandwich as quietly as possible to not disturb the peace.

However, they all twitched when Winnie suddenly noticed Miles was staring at her. For a moment, there was a question of whether she would bring her guard back up, but instead, she was surprisingly calm.

"Do you want to try something of mine? In exchange for the cronut."

Miles said nothing. In fact, he said nothing for so long that Ken had to kick him underneath the table to finally get a response.

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure. Can I try the croquette?"

Because he saw her eating the croquette, it was the first suggestion that exited his mouth, but there was literally one bite left of the thing. Winnie frowned, looking at the piece between her fingers, and it seemed like she would refuse for a second.

"Here."

She held it out. Leila smiled, proud of her friend's amicable offering, but she gasped when Miles did the unexpected.

He lowered his head, opened his mouth, and ate straight from Winnie's hand.

His lips brushed against her fingers, and the softness as well as the heat jolted her like an electric shock. She swiped her hand away and gawked at Miles, but he merely straightened his back and chewed.

After swallowing, he said, "Not bad."

Then he ate his sandwich. As if nothing happened.