Sugar Rush (Sensual Romance Series)

by Anna J. McIntyre

  “True. It’s not terrific for the diet, that’s for sure. And it can make a mess in the microwave. The stuff boils over if you try to nuke it in a bowl that’s too small. I learned that mistake the hard way, and really pissed my roommate off.”

  “Oh, there’s the turnoff! We’re almost there. Maybe another ten or fifteen minutes.”

  “Great. We’ll be in Havasu before midnight.”

  Chapter Seven

  Focusing her attention on the items in the baking section of the grocery store, Lexi failed to notice the young man pushing the shopping cart down the aisle. When he stopped next to her and spoke, she turned quickly in his direction. The first thing she noticed was the intense pair of blue eyes, glancing from her face down to her shopping cart and back to her eyes.

  “Looks like a sugar rush. I think I want what you’re having.” He flashed a friendly smile, showing off straight white teeth. Lexi felt herself blushing, then glanced into her shopping cart. It contained a carton of French vanilla ice cream, Hersey’s unsweetened baking cocoa, sugar, butter, milk, and a can of sweetened whipped cream.

  “Hot fudge sundaes,” Lexi blurted out, though she had no idea why she felt compelled to explain her grocery list. It probably had something to do with the fact she was standing so close to an attractive young man, who was obviously flirting with her. It had been a while since someone this hot had cast a line in her direction.

  He was about a half a head taller than her, with broad shoulders and a husky, well-toned frame. Clean-shaven, he looked like someone who’d just visited his hair stylist—not a barber—considering the trendy way the ends of his shortly cropped brown hair spiked along the top of his head. Hunky, was the word that popped into Lexi’s mind as she looked at him.

  “I love hot fudge sundaes. My name is Jeff, by the way.” Jeff held out his right hand in greeting. Without hesitation, Lexi reached out and accepted his gesture. He gave her hand a brief squeeze before releasing it.

  She glanced into his cart. It contained a package of gourmet coffee, carton of whole milk, box of Cheerios, bag of mixed green salad, bottle of ranch dressing, loaf of wheat bread, jar of peanut butter, and a package containing three New York steaks.

  “I’m rather partial to steak,” Lexi countered.

  “Then it’s settled. I’ll make dinner and you bring dessert.”

  Lexi laughed at his invitation, yet immediately felt uncomfortable. The only times she’d ever engaged a stranger in flirty banter had been on her college campus, with a fellow student. In the next moment, another shopping cart rammed hers. Steering the aggressive, grocery-laden cart was Angie.

  “Did you get everything?” Angie asked before glancing at Jeff and looking him up and down. “Or are you picking up something a little extra?” She grinned mischievously.

  “I’ve three steaks; you’re welcome to join us.” He flashed Angie a cheerful grin before giving Lexi a quick wink.

  Angie and Lexi looked at each other; their eyes locked for a moment. Without uttering a word, Angie’s expression seemed to ask, Who is he?

  “Oh, he was just teasing me about giving me one of his steaks in exchange for a hot fudge sundae,” Lexi answered the silent question, sounding somewhat embarrassed.

  “I wasn’t teasing.” Jeff insisted. He looked at Angie and smiled. “Hi, I’m Jeff. I’m new to Lake Havasu.”

  “Hi, I’m Angie. You’ve obviously already met Lexi. We just arrived last night ourselves. You look a little young for a snowbird.”

  “So do you.” Jeff chuckled.

  “I thought guys normally picked up women in the produce section,” Angie teased.

  “I’ve heard that, too. But for some reason, a woman with ice cream, chocolate, and whipped cream in her cart just seemed more interesting than one shopping for vegetables.”

  Angie laughed before asking, “So, what brings you to Havasu? Vacationing or have you moved here fulltime?”

  “A little vacation. How about you?” He glanced from Angie to Lexi, who was silently listening to the exchange.

  “Not sure how long we intend to stay. It all depends on if we can find work.”

  “Really? What do you do?” Jeff asked.

  “I’m a freelance photographer. Lexi is a graphic artist.”

  “It was nice meeting you, Jeff, but we should probably get going. The ice cream’s starting to melt.” Lexi interrupted.

  “Did you get everything?” Angie asked.

  “Oh, the vanilla!” Lexi turned around and scanned the shelf until she found what she was looking for. Snatching the package of vanilla extract, she tossed it in her cart.

  “I still think dinner and a dessert is a good idea,” Jeff told them.

  “Wow, you’re ambitious, picking up two women at once.” Angie laughed.

  Jeff smiled and Lexi shuffled nervously.

  “Eating alone my first night in Havasu didn’t sound appealing. And a hot fudge sundae for dessert sounded good.” He gave Lexi a little wink. She studied his expression and couldn’t decide if he was teasing or serious. The handsome stranger didn’t seem threatening, but she knew looks could be deceiving.

  “We’ll have to take a rain check,” Lexi finally answered with a smile. “You finished, Angie?”

  “I’m done,” Angie told her.

  “Then rain check it is. It was nice to meet you ladies. Hope we run into each other again. Enjoy your stay in Havasu.” Jeff gave them each a little nod and pushed his cart down the aisle, until he turned the corner out of the baking section and out of their sight.

  “Wow, he was cute. He was sure checking you out,” Angie told Lexi. They both looked down the aisle in the direction he had walked.

  “He was kinda hot. Shamefully flirty.” They both laughed at Lexi’s appraisal.

  “We really should’ve taken him up on that steak dinner.” Angie teased as they started walking down the aisle, each pushing a shopping cart.

  “With my luck he’d turn out to be some serial killer.”

  “Nah, he looked harmless. I have to say, Havasu has some great grocery stores!”

  * * *

  Jeff looked in his grocery cart, trying to figure out what else he needed to buy. It was hard to concentrate. He’d been watching Lexi and Angie for over a week, but until the encounter in the baking aisle, he’d never looked in their eyes. It was what he saw in Lexi’s eyes that surprised him. Angie was an attractive young woman, but it was Lexi who gave him pause.

  He had felt the same way when he’d first seen her portrait hanging in her grandfather’s office, almost two years earlier. Something about the girl in the painting drew him in. At first, he fantasized about her, lingering by the portrait a few minutes each time he entered the room. He began asking questions, curious about the real-life woman. Unfortunately, the descriptions offered up by the grandfather shattered his fantasy, and lust for a woman he’d never met turned into mild curiosity.

  Initially, he regretted asking about her. It was like having a favorite pinup girl and then watching her interviewed on David Letterman, only to discover she severely lacked intelligence. Maybe some men found physically attractive airheads hot, he didn’t.

  Since watching Angie and Lexi, he’d begun to realize Beaumont had misrepresented the granddaughter. The conversations Jeff had overheard didn’t match Beaumont’s assessment. He wondered why his employer would depict Lexi in such a negative light.

  Upon meeting Lexi in person, Jeff realized the situation was now more complicated. This Lexi, the one he’d met in the grocery store, was even more appealing than the girl in the portrait. While he wasn’t in the position to start a relationship with any woman, considering his current job situation, he couldn’t deny the attraction he felt for Ethan Beaumont’s granddaughter.

  A part of him resented Beaumont for putting him in this situation. There would be some poetic justice if I got sexy Lexi in my bed on Beaumont’s dime, Jeff told himself.

  Jeff checked out at the register and pushed his cart, now fil
led with bags of groceries, out to the borrowed car. While loading the sacks into the back of the vehicle, he noticed the red Volkswagen on the other side of the parking lot. The girls were getting into the car.

  Smiling to himself, he wondered what Angie and Lexi would think when they realized he was staying just two doors away from their house. When Beaumont contacted the rental office requesting a specific area, he was told there were no available rentals in that neighborhood. After Beaumont explained what he was willing to pay, the real estate agent contacted a homeowner on that street, who lived fulltime in California and only used the house on weekends and during the summer. Considering what Beaumont was willing to pay, the homeowner had agreed to rent out the property.

  Jeff hastily pushed his empty grocery cart to the cart corral and hurried back to his car. If he timed it right, he would get back to the house Beaumont had rented before Angie and Lexi returned home.

  * * *

  “Angie, look. Is that the guy from the grocery store?”

  Driving down their street, Angie slowed the car when Lexi pointed out the man in the driveway, two doors down from their house. The back hatch to his vehicle was up, and it appeared as if he was preparing to take something out of his car. She recognized him. He was indeed the man from the grocery store, who’d flirted with Lexi.

  Without conscious thought, she stopped the car in front of his driveway. Jeff turned in their direction and smiled. He gave them a little wave, then started walking toward the Volkswagen. Angie had thought there was something familiar about him when they met in the grocery store, and wondered if this was why. Had she seen him in the neighborhood before?

  “Did you ladies change your mind about the steak dinner, or are you just stalking me?” Jeff asked with a laugh when he reached the end of his driveway.

  “We live over there,” Lexi said quickly, feeling suddenly embarrassed at the idea he would think they were following him.

  “I was just teasing. I recognize your car; I saw it in your driveway earlier this morning. I just didn’t realize it belonged to you,” he lied. “So I guess this means we’re neighbors.”

  “Wow, small world,” Lexi commented, though she thought it seemed peculiar.

  “I wasn’t teasing about the invitation for a barbeque. Since we’re neighbors, why don’t you two come over tonight? There are three steaks in the package I bought. Of course, you’ll have to bring dessert.”

  Lexi and Angie exchanged glances, as if silently eliciting the other’s opinion. Smiling at each other, they both nodded before turning in Jeff’s direction.

  “Sure. Why not? When do you want us to come over?” Lexi asked.

  “Around four-thirty. I’ll get the barbecue started, and we can eat around five. But you have to bring hot fudge sundaes, or you don’t make it past the door.” He grinned mischievously. Both girls laughed.

  “Deal, but I’ll need to use your stove to make the hot fudge.” Lexi told him.

  “I think that can be arranged. See you at four-thirty.”

  “Do you want us to bring anything else?” Angie asked.

  “No, I think I have everything.”

  “We’ll see you then.” Lexi called out. Jeff gave them a nod and a flirty wink, then turned and walked back to his car to unload his groceries. Angie pressed her foot against the gas pedal and drove a short distance down the street before turning in their driveway.

  “Can you believe he practically lives next door?” Lexi asked.

  Angie reached up and pushed the button on the remote control hanging on the visor. The garage door rolled open. She drove into the garage a few seconds later, parked the car, and turned off the engine, then closed the garage door behind her.

  “Sort of strange. I guess it really is a small world. But you know, there’s something familiar about that guy. I must have seen him around this neighborhood before.”

  “I doubt that, Angie. Didn’t he say he was new to Havasu?”

  “I know, but maybe that was just some pickup line.”

  “Funny thing, he seems a little familiar to me, too. But I can’t place him. And this is my first time in Havasu.”

  Chapter Eight

  Lexi filled a sack with all the necessary ingredients to make hot fudge sundaes. Not wanting to rummage through Jeff’s kitchen, she added a pan, wooden spoon, measuring cup and measuring spoons to the sack. The last items to add were the ice cream and whipped cream.

  An hour earlier, Lexi had showered and shampooed. Using the hair dryer, she’d tamed her naturally curly brunette hair. It fell into a smooth, slight flip over her shoulders. She slipped on a fresh pair of denims, which fit snuggly because they hadn’t been worn since coming out of the dryer. For a top, she wore a cute pink cotton blouse she’d picked up at the thrift store. On her feet were a pair of flip-flops she’d purchased on their way to Havasu. Glancing down at her feet she wiggled her toes and admired her pedicure and blood-red nail polish.

  Angie was dressed similarly. She wore her blond hair pulled up into a high ponytail. Instead of red polish, a garish shade of purple covered her toenails. Her denims were artfully shredded, exposing hints of skin along her legs. While the blouse she wore wasn’t purchased at the thrift store, it looked as if she had dragged it out of the rag bin. Angie never ironed her clothes, and Lexi resisted the temptation to suggest this might be one time her friend brings out the iron.

  Jeff was pleased how fast things were progressing. It was sheer coincidence that he happened to spy the red Volkswagen parked in front of Albertson’s when he went downtown earlier that day.

  When he had first arrived at the rental, he’d spied Angie’s car parked in front of the house two doors down. After taking his luggage in the house, he’d noticed the car was no longer there. Since the girls had obviously gone somewhere, he’d seen no reason to stick around, and had figured it was a good time to stock up on groceries. According to the real estate agent who had given him keys to the house, there were three grocery stores within close proximity to each other, all located on Lake Havasu City’s main street.

  The first grocery store he came to was Smith’s, but he decided to head down McCulloch Boulevard and see more of the town before shopping. As he made his way down the street, he’d noticed the red Volkswagen in the Albertson’s parking lot.

  He thought his opening line to Lexi was lame, but that was the first thing that popped into his head and out of his mouth. While he cringed at the memory of his inane contribution to the conversation in the baking aisle, the end result was far better than he expected, so he decided that sometimes lame worked.

  Surprised that he was actually a little anxious about the impending dinner, he channeled his nervous energy into preparing for his guests. Not sure if they would be eating on the patio or in the dining room, he placed a stack of three dinner plates, three napkins, and silverware on the breakfast bar. He’d rinsed the salad greens and put them in a bowl in the refrigerator to crisp.

  Annoyed that he hadn’t picked up some bread from the bakery section of Albertson’s, he wondered if the girls would find the simple meal of steak and salad lacking. Rummaging through the pantry, he found a box of rice pilaf. It hadn’t been opened, and according to the date on the package it was still within code. It called for butter, which he’d also forgotten to purchase, but he had noticed some in the refrigerator, left there by the home’s owner. He figured he would go ahead and use the items and replace them later.

  By the time Lexi and Angie arrived, steaks were marinating in a pan on the counter, the salad was crisping in the refrigerator and a pan of rice pilaf was simmering on the stove. Next to the dinner plates, he’d set three forks, three steak knives, the bottle of ranch dressing, and a pair of salt and pepper shakers he’d found in a kitchen cupboard. Lexi was carrying a sack, while Angie carried a bottle of wine.

  “This place is nice,” Lexi commented after Jeff opened the front door and welcomed her and Angie inside. The house boasted an open floor plan, tile floors, high ceiling
s, and pot shelves. Artificial cacti and clay pots decorated the high-placed shelves, and the home’s overall décor was southwest, in shades of outdated mauve and sea-foam green.

  “A little larger than I need,” Jeff remarked, after shutting the front door and leading the girls into the kitchen, “but renting this late in the season, I was lucky to find it.”

  Curious, Angie walked out the backslider off the dining area to investigate the patio after handing Jeff the bottle of wine.

  “I need to put the ice cream in the freezer and some of the other stuff in your refrigerator,” Lexi explained, setting her sack on the kitchen counter.

  “Certainly. Make yourself at home.” Jeff watched her unpack the sack.

  “I didn’t bring bowls and spoons. I assume you have some.”

  “Sure. I noticed some bowls in the cupboard. That hot fudge looks like a lot of work. I’m starting to feel guilty.”

  “Hey, I’ll gladly make hot fudge in exchange for steak,” Lexi said cheerfully. She placed the ice cream in the freezer, then set the milk and butter in the refrigerator.

  “Do you want to make it now?”

  “No, we can make it after dinner. That way the fudge will be warm.” Glancing around she added, “Do you mind if I look around?”

  “Here, I’ll give you a tour.”

  “Why did you decide to come to Havasu on such short notice?” Lexi asked a few minutes later while Jeff gave her a private tour of the house. Angie was still outside on the back patio.

  “I had some other plans that didn’t work out. Havasu is known for great weather this time of year, so I called a couple of real estate agents to see if anything was available, and here I am,” he lied. “How about you?”

  “I graduated from college right before Christmas, and I’m still up in the air about my future. Angie’s folks own the house we’re staying at, and their renters cancelled at the last minute—so here we are.”

  “What about your family?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, when I got out of college, my parents nagged me to come back to Portland—that’s where I’m from. They didn’t understand that I needed to go where the jobs are. I wondered if your parents were pressuring you to come home. I don’t imagine Havasu has lots of jobs for someone in your field.”