They walked together as she led him out of the kitchen to the door. Jessica tried to downplay the flutter in her stomach but couldn’t, since she knew there was a good chance…a really good chance…that he would kiss her good-night. She hated admitting it but she was looking forward to his kiss.
“Breakfast in the morning?” he asked when they reached her door.
She shrugged. “Maybe. But the game is a definite.”
“All right, I’ll pick you up at eleven.”
He leaned forward, his lips just inches from hers. “We’re going to have to do something special next Wednesday,” he said softly with his gaze totally transfixed on her mouth.
“Why?”
“We’ll have known each other a week then.” A corner of his mouth curved into a smile. “I can tell you’re beginning to like me. For a while there I was worried.”
They were standing so close that Jessica could feel the warmth of his breath across her face and the manly scent of him had settled firmly in her nostrils. “You want me to like you?” she asked, voluntarily scooting closer to him as he placed his hands at her waist.
“Yeah, I want you to like me. I’m a likable guy, but I can have my bad days just like anyone else.”
“I’ll try and remember that.”
“Please do.”
And then he lowered his mouth to hers. She had a pair of incredible lips and he would never get tired of kissing her. And her taste was so damn good. He wouldn’t get much sleep tonight. He already knew that. So he figured he needed to remember every moment of this, every lick, every nibble, to get him through the night.
He liked the sound of her moaning. He liked the way her tongue was mating with his, and he liked the way she was sliding her hands up his shoulders. But more than anything, he loved her hot taste. He knew if he didn’t stop now and pull back he would be tempted to sweep her into his arms and take her upstairs.
Moments later he broke off the kiss and whispered. “You are one hell of a woman.” Jessica watched as he opened the door and walked out.
Closing and locking the door behind him, she inhaled deeply. Chase Westmoreland was as delicious as the chocolate treats she loved, but she couldn’t allow herself to give into the craving.
“You were missed at breakfast.”
Jessica smiled as she stepped back to let Chase inside. As he walked into the middle of the shop with a cup of coffee in his hand, the morning sun that flowed through the display window highlighted his features and she immediately felt a sense of longing and desire.
“I decided to use my time doing something else besides eating,” she said. “Win or lose I believe Chase’s Crusaders deserve a treat so I spent the morning baking cookies.”
Evidently surprised, he cocked his head and stared at her. “You did?”
She grinned. “Yes, I did. I figured it was the least I could do to contribute to such a worthy cause. I think it’s wonderful that you’re taking the time to spend with them.”
Chase shrugged. “It’s no big deal. They are a wonderful group of kids. Besides, I love basketball. It was my dream to play in the pros but an injury stopped me. So I finished college and came back here.”
She nodded. “That’s when you decided to open your restaurant?”
He smiled and leaned against the counter. “No, that idea didn’t come until three years later. Like you, I got a job in corporate America, working as a financial adviser. It didn’t take me long to get fed up with office politics and make a career change.”
He laughed. “Believe it or not, the idea for opening a restaurant came from my brothers. I’m the one who spent the most time with my grandfather when he was in business. I worked at his restaurant after school and on weekends. So I was the one who he passed all the family recipe secrets to. And since I loved to cook, my brothers—who were all single at the time—usually ended up at my place for dinner, so they suggested I go into business for myself.”
He took a sip of his coffee, then added, “I had some money saved, my brothers chipped in and we found the building I’m in now. At first it was a family affair where everyone pitched in and worked, even my parents. But when I started seeing a profit I figured that I could afford to hire paid help.”
“And now Chase’s Place is a popular hot spot known for its mouth-wateringly delicious soul food,” Jessica said, remembering something Mrs. Stewart had told her earlier in the week.
His smile widened. “Yes, and I’m very proud of that.”
“You should be. Have you given any thought to franchising?”
“Yes, especially lately. But I have to be certain that the warm, friendly, family atmosphere I’ve worked so hard to achieve won’t get lost.”
He glanced at his watch. “Are you ready?”
She smiled. “Yes, I just need help getting the box of cookies out to your car.”
She moved across the room to go into the kitchen, and he placed his cup on the counter and intercepted her. She glanced up at him and immediately felt a flutter in her stomach. Warning flags went up—as they had last night—signaling her that they were moving too fast; it was too soon and that she shouldn’t get involved with him. He was a Westmoreland—the enemy. But whenever he looked at her the way he was doing now, the last thing she wanted to dwell on was bad blood between their families.
“Let’s make plans for next week,” he whispered, as one corner of his mouth tilted into a smile.
“What kind of plans?” she found herself asking.
“Dinner at my place Wednesday night around eight.”
She lifted a brow. “But I thought you closed early on Wednesday. At six.”
His mouth curved even more. “I do. A lot of people around here go to prayer meetings at their church which usually include dinner. But I just happen to know the owner of Chase’s Place and he’s given me permission to bring a special guest after hours.”
She chuckled. “Oh, he did, did he?”
“Yes, he did.”
Again, warning flags were flapping around in her head, but at that moment she chose to ignore them and said, “I’d love to have dinner with you Wednesday night.”
“Thank you.”
And then he leaned down and kissed her.
“We were totally surprised when Chase mentioned he had invited someone to today’s game,” Tara Westmoreland, the wife of Chase’s brother Thorn, said smiling. “And we think it’s wonderful.”
Jessica was confused. “Why would you think that?” she asked. When she and Chase had arrived at the community center he had taken her to a group of four women. Three he had introduced as his sisters-in-laws—Shelly, Madison and Tara; the other was his cousin Jared’s wife, Dana.
It was Shelly, Dare’s wife, who answered. “Because Chase is a very private person and he’s never brought a date to any of the games before.”
Jessica shrugged as she leaned back on one of the bleachers. The game would be starting in less than ten minutes. “I’m not really his date. We met this week when I opened a confectionery a few doors down from his restaurant. I moved here from California, and since I don’t know anyone in town he was kind enough to invite me along today.”
Madison, who was married to Stone, grinned as she patted Jessica’s hand. “Trust me, he never would have brought you over to us if you weren’t his date. Chase guards his privacy like a hawk.” The other three women agreed and nodded knowingly.
Jessica blinked, not sure what to think. She didn’t want anyone assuming that she and Chase were involved. They weren’t. She glanced down at the basketball court and saw Chase talking to his brothers and cousins. Anyone who saw the group of men would know they were related. She had met the Westmoreland men earlier and found them to be nice, likeable people, al though she hadn’t wanted them to be.
On the car ride over, Chase had surprised her by inviting her to his nieces’ christening as well as the dinner party he planned to host afterwards at his restaurant tomorrow. To include her in such an important family af
fair was a bit too much and she had declined. Besides, she had made plans to meet with Donald Schuster tomorrow. She had called him yesterday and he had agreed to meet with her at his home.
“Chase’s looking this way again,” Tara said grinning. “Smile for Chase, Jessica, so he’ll know you’re okay and aren’t suffering from our company.”
Jessica couldn’t help but smile. These Westmoreland women were too much. She really liked them. She met Chase’s gaze and smiled. He smiled back before directing his attention back to the group of youngsters on his team.
“Don’t look now but here come the guys,” Dana said, smiling, seeing her husband and his cousins climbing the bleachers toward them.
“They will be as curious about you as we were,” Shelly whispered to Jessica grinning.
Jessica shot the women a nervous look. “Surely they aren’t going to ask me anything about my relationship with Chase?”
Tara chuckled. “No, they’re depending on us to pump you for information and later they’ll corner us and expect us to come clean and divulge everything that we know.”
“But don’t be surprised if Dare asks you questions,” Shelly added, grinning. “It’s the cop in him so don’t take it personally. Besides, he’s the oldest of his brothers and is somewhat protective, although he’ll never admit it.” She leaned back in the bleachers and shook her head and chuckled. “And now that he sees how taken Chase is with you, he’s bound to get downright nosy.”
Jessica stared at the women, not sure if they were serious. It didn’t take long for her to realize they were. She swallowed, thinking the last thing she needed was Sheriff Dare Westmoreland asking her a lot of questions.
By the time the Westmoreland men had reached them she had tried to contain her nervousness.
“So, where are you from, Jessica?” Dare asked, not missing a beat as he eased into the spot next to Shelly.
Jessica forced a smile. “Sacramento. Have you ever been there?”
“Yes, for a law enforcement convention a few years back. It’s a nice area,” he responded.
“Yes, it is a nice area,” she agreed.
“Why did you leave?”
Jessica knew everyone was waiting for her answer. She wasn’t one to get rattled easily, but Dare Westmoreland was doing a good job of shaking her composure. It wasn’t that he was outright rude in his questioning, but she hated being placed in a situation where she had to explain herself to anyone. But in this case she would. It was obvious that the Westmorelands were a close-knit group and a part of her envied the care and concern that they had for each other.
“Job stress,” she finally said, leaning back on the bleacher and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I was an attorney in a—”
“You’re an attorney?” Jared cut her off by asking.
Her gaze moved from Dare to Jared who she knew was the attorney in the Westmoreland family. She smiled when everyone fell silent. “Yes. I went to law school at UCLA and then went to work for a large corporation. Starting off I loved my job but over the years I discovered just how much the company lacked integrity and more than once I found myself defending practices that I knew were wrong.”
“So you walked away?”
Her gaze moved from Jared to Tara and felt a sense of relief at the look of admiration in her the other woman’s eyes. “Yes, but not before I had what I considered a workable plan. My grandmother passed and left me an inheritance, so I decided to use it to fulfill my dream of opening my own business. I’ve always enjoyed baking with chocolate and I decided a change in areas and careers was what I needed.”
“Why Atlanta?”
Breath held, Jessica shifted her gaze from Tara back to Dare. There was something in his dark-brown eyes that made her wonder if he suspected that there was a lot more than what she was sharing with them. She forced herself to hold his gaze while saying, “I knew someone who used to live here and remembered her saying how nice it was. Besides, everyone knows this is a city on the move. There’s something for everyone.”
Dare opened his mouth to ask her another question but before he could get the words out, the buzzer sounded, indicating the start of the game. Everyone’s attention shifted from her to the activities on the court below. Jessica let out a silent sigh and started to relax somewhat, but then she noticed Dare was still studying her curiously and knew she would have to stay on her guard around him.
“You have to be proud that your team won,” Jessica said hours later as she and Chase walked out to his car. After the game the parents had served refreshments. Her delicious baked treats had been a big hit.
“Yes, I am. I think the guys did a good job. They showed good teamwork and that’s what’s most important, the team and not individual egos. If we can instill that mindset into them now, they’ll be better athletes if and when they make it to the pros.”
He glanced at his watch. “My sister Delaney and her family should have arrived by now and everyone will be over at my parents’ place. Would you like to go over there with me for a while?”
Jessica inhaled deeply. She had enjoyed herself with the Westmorelands at the game today but the last thing she wanted was to continue to give them the impression that she and Chase were an item. “Thanks for the invite, but I think I’m going to turn in early tonight. This has been one busy week for me. The grand opening was great but tiring, and I want to spend the rest of today and tomorrow relaxing.”
“All right.” He looped an arm around her shoulders as they continued walking toward his car. Chase, Jessica was discovering, was a very nice person and she didn’t want to think about what his reaction would be when he found out she hadn’t told him everything about herself. But for now, she couldn’t. Until she could come to him with proof of her grandfather’s innocence, the less he knew the better.
Five
As Jessica drove through the security gate that led to the Schuster estates, she was glad Donald Schuster had agreed to see her. After telling her that he had remembered her grandfather, no doubt he was curious about what she wanted.
As she approached the huge ranch-style home set on what had to be at least four acres of land, she couldn’t help but think how quickly she could prove her grandfather’s innocence if Mr. Schuster were to tell her who had given him the Westmoreland secret recipes. Then she could present her findings to the Westmorelands and proceed with her life as she had planned. If nothing else, this week had shown her that people wanted a pastry shop in the area and more than once she had been approached with the idea of supplying pastries for neighboring businesses.
Moments later Jessica found herself knocking on a huge wooden door and blinked when a butler dressed in a starched uniform answered. “May I help you, Miss?”
She smiled. “Yes, I’m Jessica Claiborne and I’m here to see Mr. Schuster.”
The butler nodded. “He’s expecting you.”
The butler led the way, and Jessica followed, glancing around at the extravagant surroundings. Everything she saw said money, but there was something about the place that reminded her of a museum more than a home.
She stopped when the butler paused and opened a door that led out onto a glassed, enclosed patio. An older man, who would have been close to her grandfather’s age had he lived, was sitting in a wheelchair looking out over a huge lake.
“Mr. Schuster, your guest has arrived,” the butler announced.
The man immediately turned the wheelchair around to look at her. A smile touched his aged face. “Come in,” he said in a strong voice. He offered her a chair across from him. “You said you wanted to ask me questions about your grandfather and that episode with the Westmoreland secret recipes.”
Jessica nodded. “Everyone thinks my grandfather is the one who gave them to you.”
The man waved a frail hand in the air. “No one gave me anything. Although some of my entrées may have tasted like Westmorelands’ they weren’t. I tried to tell Scott Westmoreland that, but he was too bullheaded to listen, and I
guess it didn’t help matters that he knew I’d been trying to convince your grandfather to become my partner. But there was this friendship thing between him and Westmoreland and nothing would shake that.”
Jessica was saved from saying anything when the butler brought in a tray of iced tea. When she found herself alone with Mr. Schuster again, she said, “Evidently something did shake their friendship, since he stopped working with Scott Westmoreland.”
“Yes, but he would have eventually gone back. The two got into it all the time but they would always resolve their disagreements and get back together. They made a hell of a team. Your grandfather was a great cook and Scott, bless his stubborn hide, was one hell of an entrepreneur. And I understand his grandson Chase Westmoreland is just like him. He’s a fantastic chef and has a good head for business when it comes to running a restaurant.”
Jessica smiled, thinking that the older man had paid Chase a nice compliment. “And you’re sure there’s no way you were using any of the Westmoreland recipes?”
The older man chuckled. “At my age I wouldn’t bet my life on anything, but my cook at the time said they were was his own recipes, and I had no reason not to believe him.”
Jessica nodded again. “Could you tell me his name?”
“Theodore Henry. But we called him Teddy for short.”
“Does he still work for you?”
“Heavens no, he stopped working for me years ago. But I understand Teddy owns a catering company in town.”
Jessica took a huge sip of her tea then set the glass down and smiled. “Thanks, Mr. Schuster, you’ve been a big help and I appreciate you taking the time to see me. I intend to find Mr. Henry and talk to him.”
“Hey, Chase, will you quit looking out that window? Jessica hasn’t returned yet. If I didn’t know better I’d think you were really smitten with her.”
Chase turned and frowned at his brother. “I just met her a few days ago, Thorn.”
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