by Becca Van
She’d also been worried about the people of Passion seeing those Landon brothers courting her, especially after what had happened between the people on the Triple R farm, but other than a few pointedly contemptuous stares from a couple of the older women of the who frequented the shop, the people of Passion hadn’t dared say a word to her. She wondered if Simone’s speech that fateful day when the media had been filming her was the reason no one had had the gall to say anything to her. Even though she didn’t want to be called any pejorative names, Toni really didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought about her.
She pushed her thoughts aside and tried to concentrate on her work but her mind seemed to go off in tangents lately and flitted from one thought to another and one subject to another, and now she was thinking about those policemen.
She’d heard through the grapevine that the two policemen, Sergeants Zachary Beech and Noah D’Angelo, had indeed been hired to keep the small country town of Passion lawful. The two men had arrived only yesterday, settling into the old house across from the local MP’s office, and the sign for the police station had gone up late yesterday afternoon.
There had also been an announcement that the three men from the Triple R farm were in fact funding the building of a club for the local gentlemen of the town. God only knew what they needed that for. Speculation amongst the women of Passion was rife, as they tried to guess the reason behind the club. Some said it was to be a gym with all the necessary equipment, so the men could have a place to work out away from their women so they could all have a little alone time. Others speculated it was a place for men to go and be men whilst drinking alcohol. The latest was it was a place for men to go and learn to use power tools so they could actually get back to the basics of actually being manly rather than being under the thumb of their women. From what she’d seen of the men of this town none of them needed to learn how to be men so she didn’t think the last rumor was true. Most of the men in this town were so damn masculine they sometimes came across as arrogant and dominant.
Sometimes is an understatement, Toni, and you know it. All the men are very authoritarian.
They were going to have to wait to find out what was going on once the club was finished and opened up for the first time. The way things were going they wouldn’t know for at least a few months.
Toni was just serving the two police officers when Jack and Ben sauntered in for their daily dose of caffeine. They waited patiently behind the two men but glared at Toni as she smiled and flirted with the two lawmen. She just continued pretending not to notice the Landon men’s glares until the two officers turned and faced Jack and Ben. She held her breath as the four men sized each other up then watched as the two cops left her shop without a word. Knowing that some sort of agreement had just been made between the four of them, in some unknown male body language, got her hackles rising, but Toni pretended not to have noticed.
‘‘The usual?” Toni asked in clipped tones.
“Sure thing, baby, when do we ever change our order? How about coming over to the store for a private tour when you’re done for the night?” Ben said with a lascivious grin.
“No thanks.”
“Oh come on, sugar, we know you’re just dying to check out the merchandise,” Jack said with a grin, as the innuendo passed his lips. But she had no intention of rising to the bait.
Toni handed the coffee over to them without another word, rang up the sale and slapped the change back onto the counter in front of Jackson. Jackson reached for the two coffees and was about to say something. He’d already opened his mouth but another male voice cut him off.
“Excuse me, ma’am. I’m Sean Gallagher from Gallagher’s Catering Supplies. I have your order out in my truck. If you could sign this invoice I’ll bring your order in.” Sean handed over a clipboard and pen to Toni.
Other deliveries had been made by the Gallagher Catering Supplies company, but Toni hadn’t had a chance to speak to any of the employees because they always seemed to arrive when there was a rush on. Luckily Tasha had been able to deal with the deliveries while she’d continued serving the customers, but she’d wanted to meet the new people, too.
“Nice to meet you, Sean, I didn’t expect you to deliver our goods personally, but I thank you for doing so. I know you’ve met my sister Tasha and I’m Toni. We look forward to doing business with you.” Toni thrust her hand out to the handsome Sean Gallagher in greeting. She sighed when her body didn’t sit up and take notice. He was a very handsome man and she absolutely loved his Irish accent.
She agreed with Tasha. This man was sex on legs. He stood at approximately six foot five with black hair, piercing green eyes and his physique very nearly matched Ben’s. Pity he didn’t do a thing for her. She noticed Jack and Ben eying Sean and herself out of the corner of her eye but continued to ignore them. She handed the signed invoice back to Sean giving him one of her more friendly smiles. She had to bite the inside of her cheek when she noticed from her peripheral vision the scowls Ben and Jack were giving Sean. She finally relaxed and sighed with relief when the Landon men turned and stomped out of her shop.
“Is Tasha around, Toni? I’d like a word with her, if she’s not too busy?” Sean asked.
“Sure, she’s out back loading the dishwasher, go on out,” Toni answered.
Toni got caught up serving more customers but noticed Sean come out of the back kitchen with a huge grin on his face. She shrugged her shoulders with nonchalance as she prepared more orders and watched Sean bring in the order Tasha had placed, taking it into the back. She had the last orders filled by the time Sean brought in the last box of supplies in and watched as she waited for him to come back out again.
She couldn’t believe the change in his demeanor when he exited. He looked downright furious, until she noticed a red handprint on his cheek and her sister following the scowling Sean out of the back room with kiss-swollen red lips and fire shooting from her eyes. Tasha moved behind the counter next to her and they both watched until Sean started his small truck and left.
“Can you believe that overbearing, arrogant son of bitch? He told me I belong to him and his brother then grabbed me and tried to kiss me. Of all the nerve, I don’t even know the man,” Tasha snarled.
“Looks to me like he succeeded, sis. Ever heard of the saying thou dost protest too much?” Toni asked as she moved out of her sister’s reach. Tasha had a volatile temper even if she was slow to anger and since she was already riled Toni wasn’t taking any chances at her becoming physical.
“Don’t be such a hypocrite, Toni, I’ve seen the way you drool all over the Landon brothers. At least we know them, but I’ve only just met the man and he was trying to put the moves on me.”
“So, was it worth it?” Toni asked quietly.
“Oh yeah,” Tasha gave a huge smile that lit up her whole face as her eyes glazed over with what she presumed was remembrance.
“Oh, you’re done for, little sis. I can see the shackles on your ankles already,” Toni teased.
“Why, you little…” Tasha didn’t finish what she was going to say as another customer walked through the door, but she didn’t need to. Her eyes were shooting daggers at Toni, letting her know she would get her own back later.
When the afternoon rush was over the sisters took a much needed break as they sat and drank bottled water. They had to be careful they didn’t drink too much coffee during the day otherwise neither of them would be able to sleep peacefully throughout the night.
“Have you remembered I’m leaving early tonight to play netball? We have the early game for a change, and if I don’t leave soon I won’t get time to go home, get my gear, and get to the court on time,” Tasha reminded.
“I had forgotten. Sorry, Tash. It gets so busy I forget other things. Why don’t you head off right now? You know we only get a few stragglers looking for coffee from now until closing. Go on, I’ll see you at home later. Good luck with the game.”
“Thanks, sis, you’re the bes
t.” Tasha kissed her cheek and headed out the back door.
Toni began cleaning the tables which had been used for the afternoon rush and was thankful when the dishwasher had been loaded with the last of the dirty dishes. Her feet were aching and she wanted nothing more than to go home and soak in the tub with a glass of wine to wind down from a busy day. Toni locked the door fifteen minutes early so she could wash the floor in peace without interruptions from potential customers, but since there hadn’t been anyone for over half an hour she didn’t feel guilty about locking up early.
It took her no time at all to haul all the chairs up onto the tables. She then turned the radio up and danced to the music playing while she did the hated chore. Once done, she emptied the bucket down the sink, grabbed her purse and keys and left through the back door, locking it behind her. She let out a squeal of fright as a male voice called her name.
“Toni, hi, I’m glad I caught you. My brother and I were thinking about moving our business to your town since a lot of our business comes from here anyway. I was wondering if you knew of any warehouses available for lease or sale.”
“God, Sean, you scared the crap out of me.” Toni’s hand was on her pounding heart.
“Sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Sean took her hand into his.
“So, do you know of any?”
“What? Oh buildings. Yes. If you turn one hundred and eighty degrees you’ll be looking at a warehouse that has been empty for more than twelve months.”
“The blue one?” Sean asked with a raised eyebrow still holding on to her hand.
Even though Toni had only met Sean earlier that day she felt really comfortable with him. It was like having an affectionate brother, so she didn’t pull her hand from his. “That’s the one.”
“Do you know who owns it? Is it up for lease or sale?”
“Our local Member of Parliament, Mr. Tate, owns the building. His offices are down the main street to your right on the same side as our shop. I don’t know if it’s for sale or not but it can’t hurt to ask.”
“Yeah, I guess not. Well thanks, sweetheart. I’ll give him a call first thing in the morning from work.” Sean leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“No problem. Any particular reason you feel you have to move to our delightful town rather than staying where you are?” Toni asked with a look of innocence although she had a pretty good idea of his answer.
“There are no flies on you are there, sweetheart?” Sean grinned.
“Just make sure you don’t hurt her or you and your brother will be answering to me,” Toni said in a firm voice and gave him her best glare.
“We have no intention of hurting Natasha, Toni. We want the whole nine yards, sweetheart. We just have to convince your sister she wants the same thing.”
“Well, I wish you luck because you and your brother are in for one hell of a ride. I’m going to enjoy watching from the sidelines. As long as she doesn’t get hurt, I’ll keep out of your way, but remember she’s still young. She’ll be turning twenty-two in a few weeks, so go easy on her.”
“We will, I promise. I’d better get going, otherwise I might end up with my brother coming to look for me. And believe me if that happens then Tasha is going to be in big trouble.”
His cryptic statement about his brother worried her and she vowed to keep a close eye on Tasha. Toni watched as Sean got into his truck and took off down the small side street until he was out of sight.
“Well, little sister, things are about to get a lot more interesting.”
“Toni, who the hell was that?” Jack roared across the parking lot behind her store as he stalked toward her.
“Sean Gallagher. I thought you were in the store when he brought my supplies by this afternoon?”
Jack looked around as if he was looking to see if anyone was watching him. She took a step back when he came closer, but he was too fast for her. He snagged an arm around her waist and swooped down quickly taking Toni by surprise and hefted her over his shoulder.
“Oomph.” Toni was so surprised by his action it took her a moment to find her voice. “What the hell do you think you are doing, Landon?” She pummeled her fists on his back. It didn’t seem to make any difference, he kept right on going. Toni lifted her head slightly and saw he was headed down another small walkway between her shop and the hardware store. He walked across the road with her still perched over his shoulder, toward his own store.
“If you don’t put me down, buster, I’ll never make you another cup of coffee.” She heard the beep announcing their entrance to the adult store and began to struggle in earnest as she didn’t want him or his brother to know how much his caveman tactic was turning her on.
“I see you’ve caught a live one, bro.” Ben’s deep cadence caused her to shiver. “You’d better let her down before she hurts herself.”
Toni felt her world tip as she was hefted from Jack’s shoulder and she swayed precariously as the blood rushed out of her head. Jack held her steady by the arms until she was able to stand by herself. She glanced from Jack to Ben and back again, and noticed that Ben was standing in front of the door.
“What the fuck did you do that for, you arsehole?”
“Watch that mouth, sugar. Who was that guy holding your hand and kissing you?” Jack asked through narrowed eyes.
“Someone was kissing her?” Ben asked in an angry voice.
“Oh, for goodness sake. Sean Gallagher is our new catering supplier and he was only being friendly. He was asking me about warehouse space for hire or sale because he and his brother want to move their catering business to Passion. Not that it’s any of your business, anyway.”
“You made it our business when you let us kiss you.” Ben crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her.
Toni couldn’t hold his gaze because she had let him and his brother kiss her, and more than once. How did she go about getting out of here without them seeing how turned on she was and their pride still intact? The last thing she wanted to do was damage their egos. That was one of the things she really liked about these two men, their arrogance and dominance. No matter how some women may think she was crazy, especially in today’s society with all that political correctness and equal opportunity, she loved that these men weren’t afraid to show that they could be masculine, confident, and sometimes downright overbearing. It made her feel soft and feminine and she liked it, although she would never tell them that.
Jack shifted on his feet, drawing her attention. “Do you really think we don’t know how we affect you, sugar? Do you think we don’t see the way you eat us up with your eyes every time we come into your shop? When are you going to admit to yourself that you want us, Toni?”
“I don’t…”
“Bullshit.” Ben uncrossed his arms, pushed himself up off the door and began walking toward her. “You wouldn’t have let us kiss you if you didn’t have feelings for us, Antonia. Do you think we don’t know you aren’t the type of woman to kiss a man unless you care in some way?”
“What has you so scared, sugar?” Jack asked.
Shit! How the hell did he know I was scared? How the hell had these two men pegged me so quickly?
That frightened her even more than their physical advances but she wasn’t about to let either one of them see that they had her rattled. Toni turned her back on them and hugged her waist protectively. There was no way she was going to answer any of those questions.
She didn’t hear Ben move but knew he had when he spoke again. He was so close that his breath wafted against the back of her neck and caused her to shiver.
“We want you, Toni. We want a relationship with you. As far as I am concerned you are ours.”
Toni spun around to face him and took a couple of steps back so she could look him in the eye without tilting her neck too far and glared at him.
“You are delusional, you big jerk. I am not your girl and I’ll thank you very much to keep out of my personal life.” Toni skirted Ben and
walked toward the door but Ben moved quickly and once more put his body between her and the exit. “Please get out of my way, Ben?”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, baby.”
“What? You can’t keep me in here against my will, you dumbass. It’s against the law and if I’m not home soon my sister will begin to worry.” Toni watched as Ben turned his back to her at the door. She stood in a dumbfounded stupor as she heard him lock the door with the key, pocketing it and turning back to her.
“We’ve been trying to talk with you for weeks but you keep thwarting us. I’ve had enough of your avoidance, Toni. You are going to sit quietly and listen to us then we’ll let you out.” Ben stared down at her with implacable resolve.
He was right. She’d done everything she could to keep away from them. What could it hurt to hear them out? “All right, lead the way.”
Jackson led Toni to a room off the back of the store and was surprised to see a neat kitchen with a table and chairs set up. She gasped in shock when she saw a state-of-the-art coffee machine sitting in the corner of the bench.
“What the hell are two wasting your money every day buying coffee from me when you have that?” She pointed fiercely at the coffee machine.
“I would have thought you could work that out for yourself, sugar. I know you’re not stupid.” Jack sat down and pointed to the chair beside him. “Sit.”
“I’m not a dog, you arsehole.” Toni would have kept standing if it wasn’t for the way her feet were aching. In fact they were absolutely killing her. She sighed with relief when she sat down.
“Don’t be a smartarse, Toni. Do you want a drink?” Ben asked.
“No, thank you. Just hurry up with whatever you have to say so I can go home, my feet are sore.”
Ben sat down in the chair next to hers and reached down until he had one of her ankles in his hand. He hauled her leg up onto his lap and slipped her flat black shoe from her foot and began to massage it.
