by Kaylea Cross
“Just about to pull the last of it from the oven,” Caroline called from the kitchen.
Good. She had a large cheeseburger dip ready to go with slices of fresh white bread, pizza rolls, veggies and dip, the main course, and assorted treats for later. But the most important part was the beer and wine she could now serve. That was how she planned to make money tonight, since she was giving them the food for free.
Poppy put the mop away and glanced around the space. She’d moved all but a few small display tables out of the room to clear space for the poker table. She glanced at her watch. Seeing she had only a couple of minutes left, she hurried to the staff room in the back and popped into the bathroom. Normally she didn’t care that much about her appearance, so long as she was clean and presentable, but with Noah about to show up she wanted to look good.
She quickly splashed some cold water on her face, dried off, touched up her eye makeup and lipstick, and swept her hair up in a clip. The moment the air touched her hot nape, she sighed in relief and looked in the mirror. Okay, so she wasn’t going to win any beauty pageants, but she looked all right and wouldn’t scare her customers away.
Back out in the bookstore area, a shaft of doubt hit her as she took in the poker setup. Her shop wasn’t a masculine space by any means. She’d done what she could to give the setup a manly feel, but she was enough of a realist to understand that this might not work out well enough to become a regular thing. In fact, the space was better suited to multiple smaller tables meant for little groups, maybe for paint nights or board games.
Masculine voices reached her from the front, and the sound of Noah’s laugh made tiny butterflies take flight in the pit of her stomach. God, it had been forever since a man had captured her attention and interest so completely.
“He’s your neighbor, Poppy,” she whispered to herself. “And sheriff and customer. That’s it.” Except the thought that she had no chance with him sent a pang of sadness through her, taking her off guard. She shook it off, squared her shoulders and strode out front to greet her special guests.
Noah was there with Beckett, and a well-built man wearing an old-fashioned newsboy flat cap over his light-brown hair. “Hello,” she said with a smile, her heart beating faster at the sight of Noah.
He must have gone home to change after his shift, because he was wearing a pair of dark jeans that hugged his hips and thighs and a blue-striped button-down shirt that emphasized the gorgeous color of his eyes. She forced her gaze to the other two men. “Hi, Beckett. And you must be Jase.”
“That’s right,” Jase said, his aqua eyes lit with a smile that might have made her heart flutter if most of her attention wasn’t already locked on Noah. Jase was a good-looking, built guy, but he wasn’t Noah.
God, stop thinking about him and do your job. She upped the wattage of her smile. “I hope you guys are hungry.”
“Starved,” Noah answered, his gaze doing a quick, discreet sweep of her body. Normally she ignored even that kind of polite perusal because it made her uncomfortable, but from him it stirred undeniable warmth.
“Me too,” Jase said, pointing a thumb at Beckett. “This guy wouldn’t let me eat anything after four because we were coming here.”
She laughed. “Well you won’t be sorry you came hungry. Come on back.” She waved them into the bookstore.
“Wow, you really went all out for this,” Noah said as they entered the back area. “We’ve got three other guys coming, by the way.”
“That’s great, thank you. I wanted to make it feel like you weren’t sitting in the middle of a bookstore.” She shot him a grin. “Even though you are.”
He smiled and walked around the table to take the seat opposite her, his deep blue eyes lingering on her face. “Something smells good. What’ve you got for us?”
“My secret chili recipe with sweet cornbread and honey butter.”
Jase moaned and sat two chairs away from Noah. “Yeah, now I’m glad I’m starving.”
“I’ll start with the appetizers, and of course there’s beer. I’ll start you a tab, but the food’s on me tonight.” She listed the kinds she had, all local varieties. “What can I get you?”
All three of them ordered beers, so she got to work. The steady flow of customers into the café had slowed to a trickle, allowing her plenty of time to look after Noah and his friends. The three other men arrived a few minutes later, so she and her employee served the appetizers as the game got going.
With the guys occupied, Poppy had plenty of opportunity to look at Noah all she wanted. What was it about him that drew her so strongly? He was hot, sure, but so were Beckett and Jase, and their friends weren’t hard on the eyes either.
But every time Noah smiled or laughed, her heart jumped, and no matter if she was attending to one of the other guests, she was aware of every little thing Noah did. She loved how he’d helped her with the paint without any expectation of compensation, sexual or otherwise. She admired him for being sheriff, and for caring about people.
Jerking out of her thoughts, she brought everyone a fresh round. As she reached past Noah to set his beer down in front of him, her forearm brushed his shoulder. He glanced up at her, and the moment their eyes locked, a tingle shot through her.
Flustered, she yanked her gaze away, her cheeks heating. God, she was acting like a damn teenager, but a sudden spike of alarm took hold. Could he tell how attracted to him she was? Her pulse tripped.
“This dip is incredible,” he told her.
She smiled but wouldn’t allow herself to look at him this close up. “I’m glad. Chili and cornbread will be out in a few minutes.”
As she reached the threshold that delineated the café from the bookstore, she found her employee peeking around the corner. Poppy shooed her out of sight.
Caroline grinned. “That is the best looking table of men I’ve ever seen in my life. And no lie, I could watch Sheriff Buchanan all night.”
Me too.
It was damn unsettling, was what it was. Poppy nudged her. “Go grab the chili while I get all the toppings ready.” Last thing she wanted was for any of the men to notice her employee gawking at them. This was Poppy’s business, and she wanted it run as professionally as possible. Yeah, so that means no staring for you either, missy.
The game was well underway by the time she set a bowl of chili in front of each player. “All right. Toppings are here,” she said, gesturing to the small bowls of cheese, chopped avocado, sour cream and corn chips, “and help yourself to the cornbread. The butter’s really good, made with honey and cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne. Try some with it.”
Jase already had a piece in hand and was busy slathering the compound butter on it. He took a bite and stopped, his eyes snapping to her. “Oh, my God,” he moaned around the mouthful. “This is like… Oh, my God.” He stuffed the remainder in his mouth and reached for another piece, knocking Beckett’s hand away with a scowl.
Poppy laughed. “I’m glad you like it. But no need to fight, I made two pans.”
“Just ignore them,” Noah said. “Actually, no, take their fighting over your food as a giant compliment.”
“Okay, I will.” She really shouldn’t look at him, but it was so hard not to. Her whole body was crazy attuned to him. But when she finally did look, it was as though a velvet fist hit her in the stomach. She swallowed. “Do you need anything else?”
It might have been her imagination, or maybe her suddenly resurrected libido, but she swore heat flickered in his gaze. Due to past experience, she braced herself for a slick line, some kind of cocky response that guys always gave in a situation like this when they were surrounded by their buddies. Why, you offering? Are you on the menu?
But all he did was give her a sexy smile that made her toes curl in her shoes, and she felt bad for grouping him with the males from her past. “No, I think you’ve thought of everything.”
The slight sting of disappointment at his apparent dismissal caught her completely off guard. She was
used to fending off come-ons and men wanting her for her body. She exhaled the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. “Okay. Just let me know if you change your mind.” Jeez, why did everything she said sound so flirtatious around him?
He nodded once, his gaze intense. “I will.”
He was definitely interested, but not acting at all the way other men had in the past. It only made him more appealing.
“Business seems steady,” he added, reaching for his beer.
“It’s picked up this week, yes.”
He met her gaze again, and another velvet shock hit her. His eyes were bluer than the deep ocean, and the way he looked at her, with interest and respect felt…good. Too good. And foreign. She didn’t know what to do with it.
“What other events have you got planned?” he asked.
She struggled to collect her racing thoughts. “Um, I’ve got a Harry Potter theme night scheduled for July 31st. That’s Harry’s birthday, and also the author’s. Anyone who comes in wearing a costume gets a free dessert.”
His lips quirked in a grin. “That almost makes me want to buy a wizard’s robe and a wand.”
She grinned back, charmed. “Well, if that’s not your thing, maybe I could interest you in a paint night or author signing.”
“I think I prefer poker and Harry Potter.”
“You sure? I’ve seen you with a paintbrush. Bet you’d be great with an artist brush too.” Oh my God, was she flirting with him? She wasn’t even sure at this point.
Darting a glance at Beckett, she winced inside to see him biting back a grin. Shit. “Anyway, I’m trying to organize some other events to see what works.” She looked at Noah again. “How do you feel about board games?”
“Apart from the odd poker night, I’m not into playing games,” he answered, his eyes solemn now.
His meaning couldn’t have been clearer. And what was more, she believed him. It made her more curious. Had he ever been married? She couldn’t understand why a man like him was single, unless he liked it that way.
She nodded, respecting that he was a straight shooter. She had no time for games either, or manipulation and all that other shit. “Me neither.” She cleared her throat and steered the conversation back to the original topic. “I’d love to bring in a popular author at some point to do a reading and signing.” That would sure pull in business if she advertised it right.
“Beck, don’t you know a guy who’s married to some famous romance author?” Jase said, stuffing another hunk of buttered cornbread into his mouth.
Poppy snapped her head to the side to stare at Beckett. “You do?”
He shrugged and set his beer down. “I don’t know him well, I only met him a couple times over the past couple years at training events, but he’s a good guy. Former SEAL, now on one of the FBI’s HRTs. I know his team leader pretty well. Tuck’s a great guy.”
Poppy blinked at him. She knew what a SEAL was, but the second name meant nothing to her. “HRTs?”
Beckett smirked, and even that hint of a smile transformed his entire face from harsh to ruggedly masculine. She could completely understand why Noah’s sister had fallen for him. “Hostage Rescue Team. It’s their tier one unit, they train with us, SEALs, Delta. Special Forces are the best, of course,” he said to Jase and held out a fist. Jase fist bumped him with his free hand while eating more cornbread with the other.
“And you know the FBI agent’s wife?”
Beckett’s expression turned thoughtful. “Only met her once, but that was enough because she’s damn hard to forget. She’s really into the whole Goth thing. Writes under a pen name, I think. Hang on.” He pulled out his phone, looked up someone in his contacts list and shot off a text. “Bauer will let me know who she writes as.”
Poppy didn’t know who Bauer was, but she was guessing the author’s FBI husband. “Okay, thanks. Well, if—”
His phone screen lit up and he glanced at it. “Bauer says she writes romantic horror.” He looked up at Poppy, confused. “What is that?”
“It’s a subgenre of romance.”
He frowned. “It’s romance?”
“Yes, as long as it has a happy ending, or a happy for now ending.”
He lost the frown and glanced at his phone. “Huh. Anyway, her pen name’s Zoe Renard.”
Poppy’s eyes widened. No way. “You know Zoe Renard?”
Beckett met her gaze, phone in hand. “Yeah. Is she a big deal?”
“Is she a… Yes, she’s a huge deal! Are you kidding? I have all her books, and I’ve already preordered the next two. I’d preorder the next twenty of her titles right now if I could.” She put a hand to her chest, so excited she could hardly breathe. “Does she live on the West Coast?” Oregon. Please say she lives in Oregon. Or even northern California or southern Washington.
“No, Virginia. I could ask him if she’d be interested in doing a signing or whatever, and get her to contact you. Although they have a little girl now, so not sure they travel much these days. What’s your email?”
Poppy’s head spun. This was so surreal. She was getting a personal introduction to one of her favorite authors of all time. She gave Beckett her email, unable to wipe the ridiculous grin from her face.
“Well that worked out nicely, huh?” Noah remarked, a sexy grin on his lips as he lifted his beer to his mouth. He reached over and clapped a hand on Beckett’s shoulder. “Look at you, just full of surprises.” He looked at Poppy. “Aren’t you glad I brought him?”
“I really am,” Poppy said, her cheeks aching from all the smiling. “Are you guys ready for dessert now?”
“Only if that second pan of cornbread comes with it,” Jase said, helping himself to another hunk of butter to slather on his next piece.
“You bet.”
The rest of the night passed quickly. The guys demolished all the cornbread and treats, and she helped her employee do all the dishes while the poker game carried on. She smiled at the sound of the male banter and laughter coming from the back as she worked.
Caroline nudged Poppy with an elbow as they stood at the sink together. “I saw the way he looked at you.”
“What? Who?”
“The sheriff. And I’m so jealous I could die, but I like you, so I’m gonna just deal.”
Poppy was so surprised she didn’t know what to say for a moment, carefully avoiding the girl’s eyes as she washed up the second cornbread pan. “There’s nothing going on. We’re just neighbors.”
“Maybe, but I know what I saw. And since you’re new here, I’m gonna give you a tip. I think you’d be straight up crazy not to give him a chance.” She swept out of the kitchen to clear the last of the plates from the table.
Poppy mulled Caroline’s words over as she tidied the kitchen, a sinking sensation taking hold in her chest. It really was too bad she wasn’t looking for a guy. Because that was one incredible hunk of delicious and good-hearted man she had living next door.
Chapter Six
“This is the third time we’ve been here in the past week,” Jase said to Noah as they walked into Poppy’s shop the following Monday. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had a thing for the owner.”
Noah shrugged, playing it down. “I just want to see her succeed, that’s all. I’m gonna buy coffee and whatever somewhere in town. Might as well get it here, right?”
Jase’s expression said he didn’t believe a word. “Uh huh.”
“You guys are late,” Beckett said from the table he’d chosen for them. “And you owe me nine bucks each. No, make it ten for my trouble.” He pushed coffees and pastries over to them.
“Thanks, you’re a real pal,” Noah said, digging in his pocket for a Hamilton. While Jase sat beside him he scanned for Poppy, but didn’t see her anywhere. Maybe she was in the back. It was just after eight, and she always came in in the mornings. He came in around that time whenever he could, just as an excuse to see her, talk with her.
Yeah, he was in danger of completely lo
sing his cynical edge where she was concerned.
“Well if that isn’t the sorriest sight I’ve seen in a damn long time.”
At the accented voice Beckett’s and Jase’s heads whipped around, big grins spreading across their faces as the newcomer strode into the shop. “Christ, you’re even uglier than I remembered,” Jase said, standing.
“Eh, your mind’s goin’.” The newcomer with dark auburn hair grinned back and walked over to give Beckett a back-slapping man hug. “Awright, big man?”
“Yeah. Glad to have you here.” Beckett gripped his hand, shook it and turned to Noah. “This is Noah Buchanan, sheriff around here. He comes out to the range with us, so you’ll see him a lot. I taught him everything he knows.” Noah shot him a narrow-eyed look as Beckett continued. “And this sorry excuse is Aidan MacIntyre, formerly of her majesty’s Royal Marines.”
Aidan nodded at Noah and offered his hand. “Call me Mac. Good to meet you.” His Scottish accent shortened the you to “ye”.
“Likewise.” Noah shook with him and they all sat. “So, you’re willing to work with these two, huh?” he said, gesturing to Jase and Beckett. “That takes some serious balls, man. I know what a handful they are, especially this guy.” He clapped a hand on Beckett’s back, which was roughly like patting a brick wall.
“I’ll admit, I had to think long and hard about it,” Aidan joked, his warm brown eyes twinkling with unmistakable mischief.
“I’ll bet.” He nudged Beckett, grinning. “I can already tell him and Weaver together are gonna spell trouble.”
“Damn straight,” Jase said proudly, holding out a fist for Aidan to bump. “Got to keep Captain Hardass on his toes, don’t we?”
“No,” Beckett said in response to the put down, “you really don’t. I brought him on board to make my life easier, not harder.”
“I can do both,” Aidan said, leaning back in his chair to make himself more comfortable. He glanced around the table. “Where’s my coffee?”
