by K. M. Waller
He washed his hands at the sink and glanced over his shoulder. “I guess you could say I’m feeling things out right now.”
Amira sucked in a deep breath to banish the inappropriate thoughts his words brought on. She had to do something to break the connection growing between them until she had a chance to spell him out of her life.
∞∞∞
Lex held a frilly pink apron at arm’s length and cringed. This pushed the boundaries of his comfort zone. Baking. Pouring tea. Cutting perfectly good crusts off of bread. All those things he could handle, but uh-uh. He was absolutely not putting on the damn apron. He’d rather have his blood drained by a vamp. “I’m not wearing this.”
Amira grinned and pulled the apron from his hand. Her fingers brushed against his, and her cheeks pinked at the contact—proof his Romeo routine had some effect. His amulet warmed at their touch, a perfect reminder not to get pulled in by the sweetness she radiated. Rarely did he speak of the loss of his parents, and it’d been so easy with her.
She looked down and backed up a few steps. “I didn’t think you’d really go for it, but I wanted to test your commitment.”
Commitment. If she only knew the half of it. He was committed to proving she and her sisters were love spell culprits, and he was committed to getting back to his real life, so yeah, he’d be committed to this whole tea party. More committed than a freaking mad hatter.
Except intuition told him something didn’t connect. Some piece to the puzzle didn’t fit properly. In business, he’d always trust his gut first, but for the assignment he had to trust the amulet. And the amulet connected with Amira.
He plastered on his for-the-camera smile. His cheeks were starting to hurt. “What’s next?”
The oven dinged and Amira clapped her hands. “Now we cool our scones. Baking is my least favorite part of all of this, but I do like the satisfaction of putting my goods on display.”
He blinked hard. Had she made the innuendo on purpose?
She bent over to pull the trays out of the oven, giving Lex full view of her curvy rear. His hand twitched. And it wasn’t the only thing. A bead of sweat formed at his hairline. He wanted to blame the heat coming from the oven.
Focus. He closed his eyes and pictured the old woman from his vision. It helped. Perhaps he’d been a little too good at his flirting, but he needed to remember she wasn’t who she appeared to be. She’d no doubt used the double entendre unwittingly. Unless she planned to use her wiles combined with a spell to bring him in. How long before she’d try something?
“Lex?”
His eyes popped open and he found Amira staring at him with concern lining her features. “Sorry, I think the heat of the oven is making me a little dizzy.” Did those words come out of my mouth?
The concern in her eyes deepened. “Sit down. I’ll get you a glass of iced water.”
He hadn’t planned on it, but he did as he was told and sat in the chair she pulled out for him. Amira placed a glass in front of him and then leaned forward with the pitcher of water. The top of her sweater pulled forward and he was given a glimpse of white lace from her bra. Grabbing the glass, he gulped down the contents.
“Okay.” His voice was tight and even sounded gruff to his own ears.
If his goal had been to Romeo her, he was failing.
“Okay, what?” She backed up.
“Okay, I’ll wear an apron. I want to look the part. But not that pink thing. I’ll take the blue striped one.” Lex snapped his fingers at her, and Amira tossed him the apron. He didn’t stand as he folded the top part down and tied the strips of fabric behind his back. Anything to hide the issue in his jeans. He was relieved he’d sent Jordie out of town. His sidekick would’ve taken picture upon picture and laughed himself into an early grave.
When he stood, he splayed his arms. “How foolish do I look?”
“Not foolish at all. Far from it.” Her gaze traveled the length of him. Twice.
He expected her to say something more, but female voices and children’s laughter drifted through from the front room. They’d lost the moment.
Amira’s demeanor returned to one of professionalism as she handed him a plate of sandwiches. “Show no fear.”
“To which group?”
“Either. They’re both going to eat you alive.”
∞∞∞
Amira did her best, but she just couldn’t shake Lex. She recalled the article in the business magazine. It went on and on about how he was a tough, shrewd businessman. Yet, he walked out to a room full of women in an apron and delivered tea sandwiches like… well, like her dad used to when he’d worked side by side with her mom. If she had a checklist of all the qualities she’d ever want in a guy, he’d checked off nearly all of them in one morning.
Still the tell-tale signs that something was off were still present. There were times during setup she’d caught him staring at her, squinting, and shaking his head. He’d mumble something unintelligible, and then continue on as if nothing had happened. Even if she managed to break or deflect the great-aunts’ spell, it was possible Lex would never go back to his version of normal.
She watched cautiously from the back while he greeted a table of the bridge players. The group of older women “oohed” and “ahhed” over him. She was glad to have the help. He was efficient in the kitchen and their conversation had been light and pleasant after he confessed to losing his parents. Mostly they kept to polite topics of weather and town history. If she were looking—and she definitely was not— this Lex, the one her aunts had created, would be a perfect fit for her. The man of her dreams, even. Too bad he’d have to be the perfect boyfriend for someone else. The unfairness of not being able to enjoy his company prickled the back of her neck.
Maybe she’d just touch up her lip gloss a bit in the restroom before she walked out front. Amira locked the door behind her and reached in the far back of the bathroom’s little closet to find Ris’s emergency makeup kit. Glancing in the mirror, she froze. No wonder he’d been looking at her like she’d grown horns. Dough had caked to the side of her face, her hair stuck out of her bun, and what little makeup she’d thrown on this morning had melted off her face. Goddess of trees, she was a disaster. And Lex hadn’t ruffled a single hair the entire morning.
Amira worked quickly to repair the disarray, this time adding a couple swipes of eyeliner and a deeper shade of blush to her cheeks. All to keep up appearances, she told herself over and over. Not because she wanted to attract any more of Lex’s attention. Not that he needed any effort on her part if he was under a spell by the meddling aunts. The poor guy would want her if she came out dressed in an adult-sized pink bunny suit and black framed glasses.
One last glance, a grunt of approval, and she was ready to get back to business.
She returned to the front room carrying a plate of scones and found all the mothers and bridge players gathered around one table. The unsupervised children ran circles around the tables and chased each other with the silverware. Dread pricked at her stomach in fear someone was having a medical issue. Amira pushed her way through the small gaggle to find Lex’s jean-clad rear end sticking out from under a pink tablecloth. She glanced around and found every female gaze staring longingly at what was currently the finest rear in town. He moved a little to the right and one of the mothers nudged another. One of the Biddies recorded him with her smartphone.
“Mrs. Lorenson, I don’t see your earring.” Lex’s voice came slightly muffled from beneath the table.
“Oh, dear. That’s so upsetting. It’s a family heirloom. I’m sure I saw it drop under there. I’d look for it myself, but my knee has been bothering me. Would you mind looking for just another moment?”
Mrs. Lorenson winked at Amira and opened her palm, displaying the missing diamond stud. Almost stunned into silence—almost—she allowed the scheme to continue for about thirty seconds more before she finally spoke up in a much louder voice than necessary. “Look here, Mrs. Lorenson, I think I’ve found
your earring.”
Approximately twenty angry glares turned their attention toward her as Lex backed out from beneath the table. She’d take the heat. Poor guy wasn’t even here of his own accord —she couldn’t let the local ladies take advantage of him. It wasn’t that she felt possessive. She was his savior of sorts, that was all. He was her responsibility until she broke the spell and sent him on his way.
Speaking of breaking the spell, she’d forgotten all morning about getting a hair. She needed to do it soon.
A yelp from across the room followed by intense wailing cut short any further man-ogling. The preoccupied mothers had forgotten about their children playing chase with the silverware. One of the smallest boys ran forward, and Amira clenched her hands to her stomach. A fork was embedded in his arm and stood at attention. A wave of nausea sped from her stomach to her throat.
The mother screamed, “Call 911, call 911!”
The little boy, who she remembered being called Tommy, wailed louder. The other children started a chorus of whimpers and cries, each running to their mothers’ arms. Amira fished her cell out of her apron. With hands moist from panic, she dropped the phone on the floor, picked it up again, and dialed the emergency number. While giving the information to the dispatcher on the other end, she watched Lex grab two linen napkins from the nearest table, snatch the fork from the boy’s arm in one swift pull, and place the napkins against the holes now trickling blood from his arm to the floor.
Mrs. Lorenson fainted.
Lex leaned close to the boy and whispered in his ear. The boy immediately stopped crying. Amazingly, the other children followed Tommy’s example. Lex turned and locked gazes with her. He winked but not in a flirty way. It was an “I got this” wink.
His calm reassurance engulfed her. Feet now able to move, she rushed to the kitchen for a wet cloth for the fainted woman’s head. The screeching sirens of the ambulance grew closer and came to sudden stop outside the shop.
Amira continued on to the group hovering over Mrs. Lorenson, letting Lex handle the fork situation. She heard a tsk-tsk come from the small audience of older women, followed by a whispered, “Such a drama queen, that one.” She placed the cool cloth on the woman’s head and Mrs. Lorenson opened one eye.
“No. Not you, I want to be rescued by one of the men.”
Amira sat back in a huff on the floor and placed the cool cloth on her own head. She watched through a haze of confusion and admiration as Lex spoke with the paramedic and Tommy’s mother. He pointed toward her and Mrs. Lorenson, and the second paramedic— thankfully, a man—rushed to help the older woman off the floor.
She couldn’t remember ever having a more disastrous day.
Lex had to go.
Chapter Five
Did anything ruffle this man’s feathers? The fork in Tommy’s arm was just icing on the cake, and still there he stood at the sink washing dishes, completely relaxed.
“How did you stay so calm during all the chaos?” Amira dried a tea cup and placed it in the cupboard. “Your fast thinking was pretty impressive.”
“Commercial real estate can be a brutal business. Bloodshed at the closing table. It didn’t seem like the mom was going to sue, though.” Lex turned toward her with an unguarded smile and she noted the difference between the smile he put on for display and the sincere one. This smile made little crinkles at the corner of his eyes. It was dreamy and made her goofy.
Amira grabbed a sponge and scrubbed hard at an imaginary stain on the counter. “So, you’ll be leaving tomorrow, then? Now that you’ve seen how the Tea Haven operates.”
She heard him clear his throat. “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t feel like I got a real taste of what a normal day is like.”
“No, this was a strange one, to be sure.” She could have mentioned that his butt triggered the event in the main room, but then she’d have to admit to him, and herself, she’d been looking too.
He dried the last of the dessert plates and stacked them on the counter. “You’re really great at managing and running this place. I don’t mean to be intrusive, but why again are you selling?”
She paused her scrubbing and leaned a hip against the counter. She enjoyed his sincere compliment, but how could someone like Lex understand? “How many countries have you visited in the last year?”
He shrugged. “It’s hard to keep count.”
“I’ve never been out of state for more than a few days.” Amira wasn’t looking for pity, but his gaze suggested she was about to get some. “After my parents died, I made sure my sisters were a top priority, and I don’t regret that decision. We Walker women stick together. But now it’s time, I hope, to try something I’m not so good at. Something with twists, turns, and excitement.”
The pity in his expression phased into a half-smile, but it didn’t last long. A deep frown took its place. Lex drained the water in the sink and wiped his hands with a dish towel. “What’s next?”
“What do you mean?” Amira needed to escape now that she’d bared her soul. The rest of the afternoon had passed without further incidents, but Amira had turned the “closed” sign an hour earlier than usual anyway. “Cleanup is pretty much the end.”
“Can I take you to dinner?”
The offer shouldn’t have surprised her. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I have plans with friends tonight. We do a game night once a month.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “I love game night. Dominoes? Poker? I kill it at poker.”
No way. Even if it provided more opportunities to grab a hair, she’d had enough drama for one day. “Lex, I don’t mean to be rude, but everyone will start asking a lot of questions, and I still haven’t told my sisters that I’m selling the tea room.”
He folded the dishtowel into a perfect square. “I won’t say a word. I’ll just be the new neighbor who you felt sorry for and you didn’t want to leave all alone with no one to fend for him since he’s new in town.”
Amira stared hard. She doubted Lex ever had a hard time “fending” for himself. She sucked in her bottom lip and chewed it for a few seconds. What could it really hurt? He was charming, social, handsome, and it was her fault by association that he was there. “Okay, fine. I’ll write down the address.”
“Why don’t I just ride with you?”
“I need to stop by the house and change and check on my pet menagerie first. You shouldn’t have to wait for me.”
“I don’t mind at all. Your house seems very charming. I’d love to see the inside. I’ll follow you in my car.”
Boy, he didn’t let up. Like he didn’t want to be separated for even a half hour. Her anger at her great-aunts built with each passing moment. His behavior was a little too pushy. Not that he’d given her any reason to fear for her safety, and it wasn’t his fault. Knowing he’d most likely follow her anyway, she gave in. “Come on, let’s go.”
Amira and Lex stepped out the front door and were immediately accosted by a trio of women—Mayor Henry, her future daughter-in-law, and the mayor’s daughter.
“Oh, good, Amira. I hoped to catch you and Mr. Dimas.” Mayor Henry quickly moved to give her hand to Lex, and she tittered when he grasped it in one of those old-timey, limp handshakes.
She almost expected the mayor to curtsy, and for Lex to lean forward and kiss her knuckles.
Amira didn’t have to wonder how the mayor knew about Lex. The older woman with a full head of curly grey hair was a member of the Biddies Bridge group. Even though she hadn’t been at the Tea Haven with the group earlier, they would’ve filled her in the minute they walked out the door.
This evening she had a sparkly, pointy black hat perched on her head and dangly broom earrings. The mayor often dressed for the town’s monthly theme.
Lex released her hand. “Please, call me Lex, Madam Mayor.”
“Of course, Lex.” Mayor Henry practically purred his name. “And you must call me Patricia. Forget all that Madam Mayor stuff. I must admit that I’ve looked you up, and we’re honored to have such
a celebrity vacationing in our little town.”
Lex backed up a step, as if the mayor’s comment made him uncomfortable. “I wouldn’t call myself a celebrity.”
Dara, a curvy brunette with a good amount of exposed cleavage, stepped in front of the mayor. Her voice dripped heavy with a southern drawl. “I’m Dara Littleton, soon to be Dara Henry in two weeks.”
Amira moved to the side to watch Lex’s expression, curious to see if he’d show any male appreciation for Dara’s attributes.
Lex grasped Dara’s hand and maintained eye contact the entire time, even when Dara leaned forward and practically tugged her neckline farther down.
Not the slightest bit of interest.
Mayor Henry cleared her throat and pointed behind her. “The young lady hiding in the back is my daughter Shelby.”
Shelby, a thin girl about twenty-years-old, kept her gaze locked on her cell phone. When Lex said hello, the girl flickered her eyes in his direction and tucked a long strand of black hair behind her ear. After a two-second perusal, she went back to texting.
It was too bad that Shelby and Ris weren’t as friendly as they’d once been when Ris had dated the mayor’s son. The girl obviously needed someone outside of the mayor and Dara to talk to.
Mayor Henry frowned at her daughter. “I’ll never understand the social media and internet famous generation. Anyway, I wanted to extend a formal invitation to a few of the town’s functions as my personal guest. We’re celebrating our town’s anniversary this month with a movie in the park tomorrow night. Monday, we’re officially opening the Burberry Historical Museum on the second floor of the library. We have antiques from all of the founding families. Shelby has worked with the head librarian on the display for a few months, haven’t you?”
