by Belle Knight
A few braver souls stepped forward and popped a dime-sized piece of cheese into their mouths.
Ashley smiled at them, waiting expectantly for their reactions. They all exclaimed, turning to husband, wife, or friend with some sort of variation on, “She wasn’t kidding! You’ve got to taste this.”
Others crowded around as Ashley sliced up more pieces. People came back for seconds and thirds and asked where they could buy some.
Ashley beamed and her cheeks flushed. “Oh, nothing is officially for sale.” She glanced at a guy in the back who, of all things, was wearing a full suit on a dairy farm. “Yet.”
Loose tendrils of hair framed Ashley’s proud face and Darius felt the world spin on him. She was gorgeous, smart, strong, capable—everything he had been looking for in a woman for a very long time—and he couldn’t do a thing about it.
One of the aviator-men stepped forward, picking up a piece of The Wonder like it was a pebble of rat poop. He flicked it into his mouth and scrunched up his nose. “This is not anything special.”
Darius stepped forward, about ready to punch this man in the gut for his disrespectfulness, but something about the man’s voice stopped him. Had he heard a faint accent? These two guys had been all but silent on the bus ride over. Tension knotted his stomach. What if Darius wasn’t the only one hired for this job?
He stepped back, on full alert now, and surveyed the room and all its people. Those two, and the banker-looking guy, were the only ones who didn’t seem to fit though they had tried. Jeans, boots, flannel shirts. But there clothes were too new and still wrinkled from the original package folds. And those sunglasses were like something out of a movie. He’d worked alone on every job until now and didn’t recognize the guys as being part of the Italian crew. Something was up.
“Storm Weather Dairy has done a magnificent job,” a short, stocky man said. He wore dark jeans and something styled almost like a chef’s coat. A hat tilted at an angle on his head. “This truly is a wonder. You promised it would sing and it does.”
Ashley’s smile deepened. “Thank you—”
“With your permission, I’m going to feature The Wonder in the food contest tomorrow. We could win first place with what I have in mind!”
Ashley glanced quick at the older woman, the owner of the farm, who nodded.
“What do you say to that?” The chef said.
“Yes,” Ashley said. “I say, yes!”
The room of tourists clapped as if he had proposed and she had accepted. Darius felt a stab of jealously, but this was about her cheese and he was happy for her.
He wanted her as a woman. Let the chef have his cheese.
Darius looked around, found a business card near the opening to the dairy shop, and pocketed it.
Maybe he could do this job and she’d never know it was him. He could give it some time for things to cool down, and then reach out to her again. He knew dairy well enough, maybe he could offer his help, later, once she’d settled down from the blow he was going to give—
The two men with the aviator sunglasses bent their heads together, drawing Darius’ attention. Shit. What was he thinking?
He had to do this job and get out of before these two could mess things up big time. If they were here for the same reasons as him, he wanted it to be him to take care of things. At least he could guarantee Ashley’s safety that way, and make sure his mother and father stayed safe too.
The two men left, dark looks on their faces. They glanced at Darius on the way out, frowning. Through the window, he watched to see if they were headed for King, but they only returned to the bus.
Still, Darius’ gut told him something was up with those two. There was a hard edge to them that made him fearful for Ashley’s safety. Darius was here to take out a ram, that was all he had promised. No one was going to get hurt. Even though those who hired him had hinted for something more.
But what would those two men be willing to do to protect the interests of whoever had hired them?
* * *
That's the end of the sample, but it's definitely only the beginning for Ashley and Darius.
Read for FREE in Kindle Unlimited and find out what happens next.
