by Roma, Laurie
That had Kalista shaking her head. “You have such a potty mouth, Zoe. Maybe I should rethink feeding you that soap.”
Zoe shrugged her delicate shoulders as she ate her cupcake. She had a slim figure for her five foot seven frame, but regardless how fragile she looked, she still packed a punch. “I’ve spent too much of my life being proper. Someone was always telling me what to do, what to say … even how to feel. I’m done with that shit. I like being able to say whatever naughty thoughts are in my head.” Her expression brightened. “Speaking of naughty, this cupcake is like sex in my mouth and these cookies are to die for.”
Despite the smile on Zoe’s face, Kalista knew that the memories of the past weighed heavily on her friend and a wave of sympathy swept through her. Since Zoe had moved into town three months ago the two of them had become good friends. Usually, Zoe was pretty tight lipped about her past, but there had been a couple of nights they had shared a few bottles of wine and swapped stories about what haunted them both. Kalista was glad her friend had found sanctuary in Breakers, just like she had.
“I’ll pack a few in a box so you can take it to work with you tonight,” Kalista promised as she got a small box from a rack off to the side and started filling it with cookies. “And no, I didn’t sleep with him, but he did kiss me.”
“Oooh, was it good? He seems like he would be a good kisser.”
“Good is too tame a word for what that man can do. My God, Zoe…I felt like my brains leaked out of my ears. I was so embarrassed I almost had an orgasm right there in front of my building!”
Zoe huffed. “Now you’re just bragging. So, what are you confused about? Hammer is a nice guy. He’s not one of those assholes who comes into the bar and flirts with anything with tits.”
Kalista’s brow rose. “You mean like Dante?”
“Dante is a man-whore,” Zoe groused as she wound her long black hair up in a bun on the top of her head and secured it using two chopsticks.
“But you like him,” Kalista insisted. “And he likes you. I can see it in the way he looks at you.”
Zoe’s feelings for Dante were…complicated, and not something she wanted to delve into at the moment. If ever. “It doesn’t matter. I could never be with a man who sleeps around like that. I don’t care how good looking he is. Plus, he’s my boss. It would totally be wrong to get involved with him. That is to say, if he actually wanted something more than one night. You know how he is. I don’t want to be just another in his string of random hookups.”
Kalista set the box of cookies in front of Zoe, then leaned against the counter and sighed. “You’re probably right since he is your boss, but I don’t think Dante looks at you like those other women he’s been with. I think he really cares about you.”
Zoe waved a hand in the air. “I don’t want to talk about him. Tell me, what are you planning to do about Hammer.”
“I have no idea.” Kalista sighed. “I just don’t know how to handle this with Jared. I mean, I’ve known him for months, but we’ve never really spoken until last night. Then he goes and offers to be my date for my cousin’s wedding and—”
“Really?” Zoe laughed evilly. “David will shit his pants when you show up with Hammer.”
Kalista smiled as she thought about it. “Yesterday, I went over to his gym and asked if he would give me self-defense lessons because I want to lose some weight before the wedding. Jared got mad when I mentioned why I wanted the lessons.”
Zoe glared at her. “You don’t need to lose any weight. What you need to do is stop listening to your asshole ex and your stupid mother. Tell you what, if you talk Hammer into setting up a self-defense class for women, I’ll go with you.”
“You will? But you already know karate, don’t you?”
“I know tai chi not karate, but it’s been a long time since I’ve really practiced. I just signed up at Fight Hard last week to work out on the machines. I wouldn’t mind taking a class to learn some new moves. I bet Becca would go with us, too?”
“Where am I going?” Becca asked as she pushed through the swinging door to the front of the shop. One perfectly sculpted black brow rose above her unusual violet eyes.
“A self-defense class over at Fight Hard.”
“Work out with hot guys? I am so there!” Becca looked over at her boss with a mischievous grin. “Speaking of hot guys, Hammer is up front and he’s asking for you.”
A shiver of pleasure rippled through Kalista as she thought about seeing him again. She’d had a hard time falling asleep the night before since he had left her aching and wanting him. If not for her trusty vibrator, she would have never gotten to sleep. Still, it was a poor substitute for the real thing. Pulling off her pink apron, she smoothed down her hair and glared at her two friends who were grinning at her. “What?”
“Oh, nothing. You look perfect. Now, go get’em, tiger,” Zoe said with a wink, happy to see her friend looking so flustered. “I’ll just finish up my cupcake and show myself out the backdoor. Thanks for the cookies…now go get your man.”
“Stop it,” Kalista hissed good-naturedly, then pushed through the swinging door. The nervous smile of greeting froze on Kalista’s face as she saw Jared sitting at a table with a beautiful woman with long sunny-blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
Kalista recognized the other woman as Evelyn Beaumont, a local heiress with a large mansion at the far edge of town right by the water. She had seen the woman often enough when she came into the bakery, but Kalista didn’t know much about her except that she ran some sort of dog training facility at her home and had converted the huge stables in the back to a working kennel. She had also owned the plot of land next to hers with a large plantation-style building that she had just started running as a sort of boarding house for the numerous former-military men that seemed to pass through town.
Becca came through the door and bumped into her from behind, causing Jared to look over at them when she yelped. His dark eyes heated as he saw her and a smile spread across his face, making him even more impossibly good looking. Damn her hormones!
“There you are, Kali,” he said in his deep voice that seemed to vibrate straight to her clit. It was practically sinful what the man could do to her with one look.
Confused as to why he was he was there with another woman, she came out from behind the front counter and slowly walked toward his table. Self-doubt plagued her, but she tried to push it back. Jared was nothing like her ex, and he certainly wasn’t the type of man who would bring a date into her own shop to rub her nose in it. It was difficult though. Evelyn was so beautiful that Kalista found herself lacking in comparison.
As if sensing what she was thinking, he frowned and stood up, holding a hand out to her. When she was close enough, she placed her hand in his and was startled when he pulled her to him and pressed his lips lightly on hers. He gave a hum of pleasure, then kissed her again a little harder before he pulled back and smiled down at her.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” she answered breathlessly. Her heart was doing a happy dance in her chest at his public display of affection, and it eased some of the worry she’d been feeling.
“Kali, this is Evelyn Beaumont. Evie, this is Kali. Do you have some time to sit with us?”
Kalista looked over at Becca who was back manning the register and saw she and one of their part-time workers had everything in hand. “I’d love to join you. It’s nice to meet you, Evelyn.” It was almost unfair how beautiful the other woman was, Kalista thought with an internal sigh. To take her mind off of that she looked down at the table at their coffee and sweets and smiled. “I see you two went for sweets today.”
“Please, call me Evie,” she said with a laugh. “And I can’t seem to help myself. Every time I come in here I have to have one of your brownies. They’re like my crack. Me and my thighs hate you.”
Kalista laughter was cut off as Jared leaned closer to her. “I was in the mood for something vanilla and—” he took a little sniff of her neck and
smiled. “Lavender. But I guess I’ll make do with my cinnamon roll.”
Kalista could feel the blush heating her cheeks and ducked her head a little. “I’ve been trying some new recipes using white chocolate and lavender.”
“You’ll have to let me try it later,” he murmured softly before he cleared his throat and raised his voice to a normal speaking level. “We just got done with our meeting over at the gym when Evie mentioned wanting to speak to you about something. She kept nagging, so I thought I would just bring her over so she could meet you.”
Evie winked. “It’s true. I can be relentless when I want something, but he has to put up with me.”
Kalista felt a funny pang in her belly hearing that. Jared and Evie were obviously close. It was in the way they interacted with a casual affection that could only be established through a close relationship. Had they dated? Were they still together? No, he wouldn’t have kissed her if he was with Evie.
He cut a big piece of his cinnamon roll with his fork, glowering at the blonde across the table. “Yeah, you’re a pain in the—”
“Jared!” Kalista chided before she could stop herself.
“Sorry,” he muttered as his massive shoulders hunched, then he stuffed the cinnamon roll bite his mouth.
“Oh, this is too funny!” Evie burst out with laughter. “I can’t wait to tell the boys that she can put you in your place with just a word.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I don’t mind. I can be a total pain in the ass, but that’s because we’re related,” Evie explained. She could see that Kali was uncomfortable, and wanted to put her at ease. “Hammer’s mother, Madeline, is married to my uncle, Tony, so that makes us family. He has to put up with me and my other cousins, Francesca, Beckett, and Hunter.”
“You’re a brat, but I still love you,” he said warmly.
Evie rolled her eyes. “Stop. Your flattery is going to make me blush.”
He snorted, then turned to focus his dark eyes on Kalista. “I’ve been planning with Evie to use her boarding house as a location for any visitors we may have coming here for extended rehabilitation. It’s close enough to town that we can transport them to Fight Hard for their appointments, but secluded enough for the individuals that don’t want to be around a crowd.”
Kalista had a difficult time concentrating on what he was saying as he took her hand and pulled it onto his hard thigh below the table. Feeling the large muscle flex under her palm had her body heating between her own thighs.
“It’s a wonderful idea,” Evie said after chewing a bite of her brownie. “I didn’t open the place to make money. I mainly wanted to give the men and women who were transitioning back to civilian life somewhere safe to stay while they decided what they wanted to do with their lives. Setting up rooms for your rehab patients will be no hardship at all.”
“That sounds like it will be perfect.” Kalista couldn’t help but admire that Evie had done something so generous to help so many. Curiosity had her asking, “What did you want to speak to me about?”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I run a canine rescue on my property. The Beaumont Rescue Center is a non-profit organization that takes in stray dogs and cares for them until we can find them new homes. I’m also a part of a search and rescue team that operates in the surrounding area. We are planning an adoption event on Valentine’s Day from ten to four, and I was wondering if you would be willing to donate some cookies or something for the visitors that come to the event. I know it’s a lot to ask and it’s short notice, but—”
“I would love to,” Kalista said, cutting Evie off. In her element now, her nerves faded away. “My friend Becca has a little Yorkie named Thor that we make treats for. They’re really cute. We sometimes make them shaped like bones or little paw prints. We could make treats for both the human and the doggie guests at your event.”
Jared gave her a look that almost bordered on horror. “Thor? Really?”
Kalista tilted her chin up. “Thor is very protective of Becca.”
“I’m sure he is,” he said, although the look on his face said otherwise.
Evie beamed at her. “That sounds wonderful! If you have a line of dog treats that you would be willing to make regularly, I would love to place an ongoing order with you every week.”
“Why don’t I stop by your place with some samples in a few days, and we can see if your dogs like the treats? That way we can see which flavors they like best. I can also see how many dogs you have and we can estimate how many you would need for a weekly order. I could come by on Sunday afternoon if it works for you since we close at noon.”
“Sounds perfect!” Evie declared, pleased that Kali had agreed to volunteer so quickly. They talked a little more about the auction event while she finished her brownie. Jared had already devoured his cinnamon roll and was sitting back with his arm casually draped over the back of Kalista’s chair while they spoke.
Kalista was surprised how much she liked Evie Beaumont, then instantly felt bad for doubting that she would. The wealthy woman was nothing like she had first imagined. Evie was smart and funny, but she was also easy to talk to and very down to earth. She had to admit it was a relief to hear that she was related to Jared. Kalista liked the dedication Evie had for her work and was looking forward to participating in the adoption event. The only down side was that Kalista was pretty sure she was going to have a hard time walking away without bringing a pet home with her.
After she finished her brownie, Evie got up and hurried off after thanking her one last time. When she was gone, Kalista turned to Jared and found him watching her with an intensity that made her blink in surprise.
“Thank you for bringing Evie by. I really would love to participate in the adoption event.”
“It’s for a good cause and she usually pulls in tons of people. She has a lot of dogs that deserve good homes.”
Kalista eyed his shirt and track pants that both sported a stylized design with the words “Rough & Tough” spelled out in white along one leg of his black pants and down one long sleeve of his shirt. The scripted font was fancy, yet somehow masculine, as was the scrolling red dragon design behind the words. Without thinking, she reached out to trace the letters on his arm and felt him tense. “I see you wearing things that say this a lot.”
“It’s…” He cleared his throat. “I have an endorsement deal with Rough and Tough sports apparel. It’s a company that specializes in making clothes for MMA fighters, snowboarders, surfers…basically all of the extreme sports. They have been approached by some of the main-stream sports teams, but I’m not sure if they are willing to branch out into those markets.”
“Wow, so you take pictures and stuff for them?” She tried to hide her smile as he seemed to squirm in his chair.
“Yeah. Sure…sometimes. Basically, all I have to do is wear the stuff.”
She smiled at him. “That seems like a pretty sweet deal. If someone sent me free clothes I’d wear it, too.”
He got a funny gleam in his eyes as he watched her. “They are always trying to send me women’s clothes to help advertise that line. I’ll let Rever know to tell them to send me some for you.”
Her heart fluttered before settling back into a steady rhythm. “Thanks. I would definitely wear them, especially since I’m going to be working out more from now on.” She paused before asking, “Who is Rever?”
Hammer once again relaxed in his chair, content to spend time with his little fairy. He normally didn’t like talking about his endorsement deal, but he’d answer any question Kali wanted. He had been thinking about her all damn day. Hell, he had also thought about all night…particularly when he had jerked off in the shower before going to bed.
Shit. Just thinking about his cock and Kali together had blood flowing down to his groin.
Focus, dickhead…
“I guess you could say that my friend Adam Rever is my manager. We knew each other from when we were in the Army. He’s also my business part
ner with another friend of ours, Daryk Nyght. Both of them wanted to join with me to create Fight Hard after I hurt my knee.”
Her eyes clouded with sympathy and she placed her hand on his arm as if to comfort him. “Do you mind if I ask how you got injured?”
His body went tight like some pathetic schoolboy when she placed her hand on him. Christ, she was stroking his arm now. He wanted to fucking whimper as he imagined her soft hand and gentle fingers wrapped his cock and ruthlessly fought back the urge to grab her and carry her out of her bakery like some marauding Neanderthal.
He shifted in his seat before answering. “It was a training accident. Knee injuries are pretty common for professional MMA fighters. Because we twist a lot and do a bunch of ground work, it’s easy to get hurt when you are grappling with someone who is trying to get you in a lock. I knew it was always a risk since I had previously hurt my knee when I was a Ranger.” He saw her wide eyes and hurried to assure her. “It wasn’t bad, and it held up long enough for me to have a pretty good career as a fighter in the ring. I had reconstructive surgery on my knee, and now it’s almost good as new.”
“But you can’t fight anymore? Professionally, I mean.”
“I guess I could now, but I accomplished what I wanted to already, so it was as good a time as any to retire.” She wrinkled her nose at him. He wanted to lean down and kiss it because she was so damn cute when she did it, but he refrained.
“It’s funny to think of you as retired. You’re only what, thirty? I like to think thirty is young, and not just because I will be hitting the big three-oh in six months.”
He chuckled. “I’m thirty-three. Gonna be thirty-four in April, though.”
“Thank God you’re older than me. I feel better now.”
“Glad I could help,” he said with a chuckle.
She smiled. “I’ll have to make you a cake for your birthday.”
That had him pausing. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a birthday cake. Sure, after he and his mother escaped his father’s craziness she had always made sure to celebrate his birthday with him, but since then it hadn’t even occurred to him. While he had been in the Army his birthday had just been another day to be grateful he was still alive. When he had come back home and started fighting professionally, he had always been on a strict training program and would never have thought of eating something as sinful as cake.
