by Tawny Weber
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she dismissed.
“You’re a horrible liar.”
“A gentleman would take the hint and change the subject.”
“Sweetie, I’ve never worried about being a gentleman.”
“Obviously.”
Grinning, Caleb decided it was time to change gears. He stood, and with a glance at the still-milling crowd in the store, decided to take his cue from his father and head out the back way.
“Walk me out?” he said, making the demand sound like a request.
“The back? The door’s right there,” she pointed out. But she got to her feet anyway.
Caleb didn’t know why he was pushing it. He’d already declared her off-limits, and while he was a guy who was all about pushing boundaries, he never crossed lines he, himself, drew.
But right now, he didn’t care.
“So is it true?” he asked, heading toward the door, counting on her being trapped by good manners into following.
“Is what true?”
“Do you really serve aphrodisiacs?”
She ground to a halt so fast, she teetered in her flat-heeled boots. “Don’t believe everything you hear,” she said dismissively.
“So, it’s a lie?”
“It’s more of an…exaggeration,” she decided. “After all, who’s to say whether aphrodisiacs are real or whether they’re a figment of the imagination?”
“I have a really good imagination.” He reached out and took her hand, lifting it to his mouth.
“What are you doing?” she asked with a gasp, tugging. But he didn’t let go.
“You have chocolate,” he told her, “just…here.”
He swiped his tongue over her knuckle. Her eyes went heated, her breath shuddered and she leaned against the wall with the cutest little mewling noise.
In an instant, Caleb went from amused to rock-hard. An overwhelming urge to touch her, to taste her, washed over him.
Never a man to ignore his gut, he went with the feeling. Stepping forward, the rich taste of chocolate still on his lips, Caleb pressed her body between his and the chilly glass. One hand on either side of her head, he leaned closer.
“This is crazy,” she breathed, twisting her hands together at her waist. But she didn’t pull away. Instead, she lifted her chin.
That’s all the encouragement he needed.
Holding her gaze captive, he brushed his lips over her soft, sweetly moist mouth. He slid his tongue along her lower lip, then gently nibbled at the cushioned flesh.
Passion throbbed, urging him to take it deeper, to go faster. But he resisted.
For the first time in forever, Caleb felt as if he’d come home. Even as the sexual heat zinged through his body like lightning, he relaxed. Need pounded through him, making him ache. But he was at peace.
It was that confusion more than any desire to stop that had him pulling back. He stared, waiting for Pandora to open her eyes. In them he saw confusion, hunger and a hint of fear.
The same as he was feeling.
“You might want to go easy on that cake,” he suggested, brushing his knuckles over her cheek before forcing himself away. Stepping back from the warm, soft curves of her body was harder than it should have been. Way too freaking hard. Caleb frowned, not sure what the hell was going on here.
Hand on the doorknob, he looked back. She was still leaning against the wall, her breath ragged and her eyes huge.
“Like I said, I’m in room seventeen. Come on by if you want to do something about that interest. Or serve up something a little hotter than cake.”
4
“I’LL HAVE THE PASTA SPECIAL, the house salad with raspberry vinaigrette and the house white,” Kathy ordered over the melodic jingle of crystal and silver.
“And you, madam? What would you like?”
“I’d like what’s in room seventeen,” Pandora muttered, staring blindly at the menu.
“Beg your pardon?”
“What’s in room seventeen?” Kathy prodded with a nudge of her toe under the white linen-covered table.
Playing back what she’d said, Pandora scrunched her nose in a rueful grimace. God, she couldn’t get Caleb Black out of her head. His intense gold eyes, his sexy swagger and oh, baby, those magic lips.
He’d tasted so good. So enticing. Like the most deliciously decadent chocolate éclair. Rich and tempting and mouthwateringly hedonistic. All she had to do was close her eyes and she could relive the sweet slide of his mouth over hers, her body heating instantly at the memory.
“Dory?”
Pandora blinked. Damn, she’d done it again. Spaced off into Caleb fantasyland. She’d been taking that trip over and over and over for the past two days. She’d just bet his body was a wild amusement park, too. One she was in desperate danger of knocking on the door of room seventeen to beg to ride.
“Pandora!”
Pandora winced and gave the waiter an apologetic smile and said, “Sorry, I’ll have the same thing.”
Not that she had any idea what Kathy had ordered.
Clearly clued in to big news by Pandora’s dinginess, Kathy leaned forward on both elbows and demanded with her usual rapid-fire pace, “What’s going on? You’ve got news, don’t you? How’s the store doing? Have you put your stamp on it? Do you love the café angle? Are people doing the deed on the tables thanks to that menu we came up with?”
Pandora’s fingers tapped a rhythm on the table as she pondered.
“Well?” Kathy used one perfectly manicured finger to poke Pandora in the arm.
“I was waiting to see if you had more questions,” she replied with a wicked grin.
“Cute. Now spill.”
She’d called Kathy to meet her for lunch for just this reason, to spill the dirty deets about Caleb Black and his hot lips. Her friend was the only person she could tell, because not only was Kathy a great sounding board, she was sane. She’d be the voice of reason and keep Pandora from doing something insanely stupid, like chasing a man who was totally wrong for her. But she’d also keep Pandora from chickening out if her idea-and Caleb-were actually doable.
But now that the moment of truth was here, she couldn’t quite share. Wasn’t sure she was ready for this kind of risk. So she sidestepped.
“The store is actually doing well. There’s a ton of business. The new café is bringing in lots of customers. They’re shopping in the store, heck, even the online storefront is getting a lot more traffic. Sales are up forty percent over this time last year and I’ve banked almost enough to cover the quarterly tax payment.”
Pressing her lips tight to stop the bragging, Pandora waited for a reaction. She was a little embarrassed at how proud she was of the store. Even more embarrassed at how much she wanted people, any people-but especially people in Black Oak-to know she was kicking butt. To know that she wasn’t a failure.
“Wow,” Kathy said with a huge grin, clapping her hands together in delight. “I told you it would work. You’re totally rocking the businesswoman gig. I’m excited for you.”
“I wouldn’t say rocking it,” Pandora said, blushing a little. “But it is going so much better than I’d expected. I thought I was going to have to work a lot harder to convince people that oysters, strawberries and asparagus would make their love lives more exciting. But I barely had to advertise. Just opened the café, showed the menu and once word got out, it’s been packed.”
“Beats little blue pills, right?”
Pandora laughed, leaning back in her chair and letting the soothing elegance of the restaurant wash over her.
“Oh, yeah, I have it on good authority that I’m way ahead of the little blue pill,” she agreed with a grin. “Do you know how much I now know about sexual aids for the elderly? I mean, yes, the customers are all ages, but it’s the elderly that want to share.”
Pandora paused while the waiter set a basket of sourdough bread and a dish of roasted garlic and olive tapenade on the table. As soon as he left, s
he continued.
“They are so grateful and excited about the aphrodisiacs-and to give them credit, about a place to get killer desserts-that they seem to have a need to fill me in on their newfound vigor, enthusiasm, length…?. It’s TMI run amok.”
Kathy choked on her wine. “Length?”
Pandora’s brow quirked, then as she realized what Kathy must be thinking, she giggled. “Eww, no. I meant how long their little trysts are lasting now. Apparently chocolate cake is accredited with an extra twenty minutes of good lovin’.”
“And they never discovered the power of chocolate before?”
“Not naked.”
This time it was Kathy who wrinkled her nose.
“It sounds like you’ve had plenty of entertainment. Leave it to Black Oak to stay lively.”
“Yep, the town is chock-full of characters.” Pandora hesitated, then took another fortifying sip of wine. “Including Tobias Black’s kids. Do you remember them?”
“Ooooh, baby,” Kathy said with a low-throated growl. “I had one memorable night with Gabriel right after graduation, remember? I still consider that my introduction to real pleasure, if you know what I mean.”
Pandora winced. Maybe she really did have a sex-confessional sign floating over her head. Before Kathy could share details, she changed the subject. “Did you know the rest of his family?”
“Not so much. Maya is a little younger than we are, Caleb a few years older than Gabriel. Their mom died when they were really little and I think their aunt tried to get custody but Tobias wouldn’t let them go. I remember my mom saying he might not have done them any favors since the boys ran pretty wild. He used to travel a lot, and sometimes he took the kids, but mostly they stayed home on their own.” She frowned, sopping up oil with her bread before picking it apart in tiny little bites. “They had a few minor brushes with the law, teenage things, but nothing major. I remember they were scary smart in school, though. Like they didn’t even have to study to ruin the curve, you know?”
Mulling this over, Pandora nodded.
“Why? Are you selling bed-y-bye snacks to old man Black? Now, that’s a guy who’s aged well. Talk about a hottie. I’d think he’d have little need for a chocolate-coated pick-me-up.”
Mr. Black? A hottie? Pandora wasn’t sure what to say to that. It wasn’t that she didn’t agree with Kathy, because Tobias Black was definitely a good-looking man. But it was kinda creepy thinking about him that way when she was nursing a serious case of the hots for his son.
“If he’s as good a kisser as his son, I’m sure he doesn’t,” Pandora agreed, nibbling at her own piece of bread and nervously waiting for the reaction. Once upon a time, she’d have relied on her own ability to read a person, to gauge their body language, and had trusted her own judgment. But now? Now all she was sure of was that she couldn’t be trusted.
The question was, did that mean she shouldn’t trust her lust for Caleb? Or her fear of him?
Kathy gave a gratifying gasp, tossed what was left of her bread on her plate and leaned forward to grasp Pandora’s arm. “Spill. All the details. Which brother, how was it, where’d you do it and were you naked?”
Pandora giggled.
“Caleb. It was amazing. In the café, and oh, my God, of course not.”
“But you wanted to be?”
“Absolutely,” she admitted with a sigh. Her smile softened as she remembered his lips again. The taste of him, male, hot and just a little chocolaty. Their bodies hadn’t even touched, yet she’d been more turned on than the last time she’d had full-on, two-naked-bodies and real-live-orgasm sex.
More turned on than she’d ever been in her life, actually.
“In the café?” Kathy said, a naughty look dancing in her green eyes. “Had you shared one of those sexy treats?”
Pandora opened her mouth to say no, then closed it.
She hadn’t put much thought into it, but he’d had a few big bites of the Foreplay cake. So had she, for that matter. But their lust had been the real deal. At least, hers had.
Doubt, always lurking somewhere but now painfully close to the surface thanks to Sean, reared its ugly head.
“A couple bites is all,” she admitted with a frown. “But a lot of the power of an aphrodisiac is in the mind, isn’t it? My grammy always said that most magics require belief to work. The power of suggestion and all that.”
“Kinda like a low-cut dress, huh?”
Pandora grinned, acknowledging Kathy’s point with a wave of her fork. “A little.”
Then her smile fell away. “Do you think that’s why he kissed me? Of course it is,” she answered herself. “I mean, he just got to town, he’s so gorgeous he probably has women throwing themselves at him. Why else would he kiss a perfect stranger?”
Why had she thought he’d found her special? That was crazy. She wasn’t the type to inspire uncontrollable lust. Heck, she rarely inspired a second look.
Seeing where her mind was going, Kathy shook her head and gave Pandora’s forearm a chiding tap. “Stop that. You’re counting yourself out before you even consider the situation.”
“What’s to consider?”
“The details, of course. Start at the beginning.”
Pandora arched one brow. “When the dinosaurs roamed? Or back further than that?”
“Smart-ass. When did you first meet Caleb Black?”
Pandora picked at her slice of bread again, wishing she’d never brought the subject up. For just a while there she’d been riding high on the idea that a man so sexy he made her toes curl had been attracted enough for a kiss at first sight. But now? Now she figured she should raise the prices in the café, since her aphrodisiacs were that strong.
“Deets,” Kathy prodded. “Has he been in town long? When was the kiss?”
“Two days ago,” she finally confessed. “He came into the store. There was this big confrontation between him and his dad, then I gave him a piece of cake and he kissed me.”
Just remembering gave her shivers. It’d been so incredible. For a guy who came across as a total hard-ass, his lips had been so, so soft.
She took a shaky breath and brushed the bread crumbs off her fingers.
Maybe the why didn’t matter. She’d had an incredible kiss. Wasn’t that what counted?
“Wow, talk about a lot going on. I’ll want the details of all the rest later. But for now, how was the kiss?” Kathy asked, her eyes huge. “Was it amazing?”
“It was…special,” she decided with a soft smile.
“Uh-oh.”
“What uh-oh?” Pandora saw the concerned look in Kathy’s eyes and shook her head. “No. No uh-oh. I’m not getting romantic ideas. That’d be crazy, considering he only kissed me because of the cake. I’m just saying, it was a hot kiss that didn’t follow the standard moves, you know?”
“Standard moves?”
“Yeah. You know how usually the first kiss with a guy is more about the anticipation and, well, introduction to his style?”
Kathy nodded.
“There was no anticipation because, I mean, who the hell kisses a complete stranger in a café while sneaking out the back door?” Kathy’s brows creased, but before she could ask, Pandora continued, “And he wasn’t so much introducing his style as he was…”
“Was…what?”
“Making me melt?” Pandora admitted with a helpless little laugh. “Honestly, I have no idea why he kissed me. I just know that it was amazing.”
“Once again, uh-oh,” Kathy worried, apprehension clear in her eyes.
“What?”
“Be careful. Those Black men are heartbreakers. They went through girls like crazy. They always left them smiling, sure. But they never stuck around. Still, you don’t need that,” Kathy warned.
“I know he’s off-limits,” Pandora said with a bad-tempered shrug. “I didn’t say I was crazy enough to think one flirty little kiss-especially one that didn’t include tongue-means I’m in for some hot and wild bad-boy sex.”
/>
“He’s not off-limits. He’s just trouble. But if all you’re thinking about is getting naked and doing the horizontal tango, then maybe you should. Just as long as you’re clear from the start that it’s just sex. Nothing more.”
Caleb Black. Naked. Oh, man, she’d bet he was deliciously built. Those wide shoulders would have the kind of muscles she could cling to as he moved in her, his long torso and slender hips arched over her straining body. She knew he had a sweet little hiney, but it’d look even better bare than it had covered in denim. She’d bet it was firm, so hard she’d barely make a dent if her fingers gripped it. Heat washed over Pandora so fast she had to take a sip of her wine before she combusted.
“That is all you’re thinking about, isn’t it?” Kathy prodded.
“Well, now I’m thinking about Caleb naked and can’t remember your question,” Pandora said with a pout.
“You’re only looking for sex, right? Not a relationship? Not a wild time that might turn into something special once he realizes how great you are?”
“No,” she protested vehemently. This was a stupid conversation. All she’d wanted was to share her little bit of sexy news and suddenly she was defending a fling with a guy who probably kissed every woman he met. That didn’t mean he had any interest in actually getting naked and slippery. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I’d have to be crazy to fall for a guy like Caleb Black. I’m not his type and that kiss was probably the last contact we’ll ever have.”
Kathy leaned back in the booth and gave her a long, searching look. After a few seconds, Pandora squirmed. She didn’t like people looking that close, or that deep.
“Okay, I’ve changed my mind. I think you should go for it.”
“Go for what? It wasn’t like an invitation to a relationship. It was more like a hit-and-run.”
“Maybe. But maybe not. I’m just saying if he hits again, you should take him up on a little ride. I’ll bet he’s the kind of guy who’ll make you see stars.”
Stars. Pandora wasn’t a virginal prude. She liked sex. Especially if it was good sex. She read the how-to articles in women’s magazines and erotic books, she knew her body and wasn’t shy about giving directions when necessary.
