by Ashlyn Chase
“Wait on that a minute,” she said. Sidling up to him, she hiked up her skirt and wrapped her leg around him. Glancing at the timer she said, “We have twenty minutes, if you want to, um…”
He grinned. “I’m not sure what you’re referrin’ to, ma’am.”
“Oh, you know what I mean.”
“I’m not sure I do.” Meanwhile, he was unbuckling his belt.
“You just want me to say it.”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Okay…ravage me. Take me on the floor, the table, anywhere but the countertop. I’m pretty sure that’s a health violation.”
Dru grinned and turned her around. Then he yanked one of the little chairs out of the way and bent her over the bistro table. Before she had a chance to help, he flipped up her skirt and slipped off her panties. To his credit, he gave her a reach-around, making sure she had an earth shattering orgasm first, then slipped two fingers in to test her wetness and stretch her before he plunged in.
“Ahhh…” she sighed.
She’d been wishing she’d taken him up on the morning tryst idea ever since she’d decided opening on time was more important.
Something he’d been holding back seemed to unleash. Usually gentle, this time he buried himself to the hilt in one thrust, then rammed in and out of her with wild abandon. Rebecca was surprised, but not displeased. Not in the least. Her clit rubbed the table in the most delicious way. Soon she could feel another climax building.
She grabbed onto the table’s opposite edge and held on, relishing the ride of her life. Before she knew it, she shattered into a million pieces, screaming unintelligibly. Dru jerked hard as they sailed over the edge together.
Rebecca’s whole body quivered. Dru collapsed on top of her, which was actually helpful. Her knees had liquefied, and if she tried to stand, she’d melt onto the floor. He anchored her there until their breathing had returned to normal and her legs were just rubbery enough to hold her.
“Whew!”
“Yeah,” she agreed, breathlessly.
He withdrew and grabbed two dishtowels. “I hope I didn’t hurt you. I figured you’d let me know if I did.” Dru wiped himself off with one of the towels. The other he handed to Rebecca.
“You’re right. I would have.” She cleaned up and tossed the towel on the floor.
Without a word, they met each other’s lips as if they were magnetized. Sharing a long, passionate kiss seemed to punctuate their lovemaking with an exclamation point.
The timer dinged and they broke apart. Rebecca noticed beads of sweat on Dru’s brow and wiped his forehead. Then she licked her fingers. “Mmm…salty.”
He chuckled and said, “I’d better splash some cold water on my face before I accidentally salt the next batch of dough.”
A hard knock on the door alerted both of them, and they snapped their gazes to the clock. It was still fifteen minutes before they were due to open.
Rebecca covered her mouth. “Oh, no. Do you think someone heard me scream and called the police?”
Dru burst out laughing. “Sorry, hon. I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“I’ll go. At least they’ll see I’m alive and well…glowing in fact.” She smiled and strode to the front door.
A gentleman in a suit with a clipboard stood outside.
Damn. Not again. I thought the sigil was supposed to prevent the mob from bothering me. She stood there, arms crossed glaring at the man outside. He stepped up to the door, and waited.
“We’re not open yet,” she yelled through the glass.
He held up a business card and shouted, “Health inspector.”
Oh, fuck!
She scrambled to open the door quickly. Just what I need. A surprise health inspection.
“I’m sorry, sir. Please come in,” she said and took his business card. Yup. The guy was from the state health department.
“What brings the state health inspector here?” she said loud enough for Dru to hear—she hoped.
“Nothing in particular. It’s just a routine spot inspection.”
“Well, I try to keep the place spot free,” she said and aimed her best smile at him.
“Hmmm.” The guy tucked his clipboard under his arm and said, “Let’s begin with the kitchen.”
“Certainly, sir.”
She led the way, hoping beyond hope that the place didn’t reek of sex, and that Dru had hidden the spermy towels that hit the floor, ugh, not to mention her panties!
As they rounded the corner, she saw Dru using a paper towel and spray cleaner to wipe the floor where her panties and the dish towels had been.
“Sorry,” he said. “I dropped an egg.”
“Mr…” Rebecca glanced at the business card, “Mr. Cressenger, this is my employee, Dru Tanner. He’s kind of a jack of all trades.”
Dru gave his hand an extra wipe on a fresh paper towel and extended his hand. The health inspector ignored him and began wandering through the kitchen. He turned on the water taps and jotted some notes. He opened refrigerators, checked temperature gauges and jotted down more notes.
Rebecca stood by, wishing she could give Dru a nod of thanks, but she didn’t dare until the health inspector left.
“How many other employees do you have?”
“Um…at the moment, none.”
He whirled on her. “None? It’s just the two of you from now until closing?”
“Well, that’s a temporary situation. I’m hiring another baker soon.” I hope.
“I never knew health inspectors got involved in personnel issues,” Dru said.
Don’t challenge him, Dru. Don’t challenge him…
The guy scrutinized Dru from the top of his tousled hair to the tips of his scuffed cowboy boots. “Only if it affects the quality of the food.” He looked at Dru as if he were a dirty floor.
Rebecca grabbed the guy’s arm. “Here, let me show you my storeroom.” She steered him away and opened every cubby and closet, hoping he’d be satisfied with her clean metal shelving and separate stores of non-refrigerated fruits, decorations and dry ingredients.
When he was finally finished inspecting and recording all there was to see in the kitchen, he proceeded to the storefront.
Dru was wearing non-latex plastic gloves and condensing the various pastries to make room for more. That was something he did every morning. Thankfully, he’d remembered to wear an apron—which he didn’t do regularly.
The inspector recorded the temperature of her wet and dry display cases and inspected the food.
“Would you like to try a pastry?” Rebecca offered.
“Not right now. How often do you wash these trays?” the guy asked Dru.
“Each time they empty out. I’m sure we kill any kind of bacteria known to man,” he said. “We have a very hot dishwasher.” He turned and winked at Rebecca.
Rebecca appreciated his humor, but hoped the inspector didn’t notice and take it the wrong way.
Mr. Cressinger lifted the corner of some wax paper and peaked under it. “It’s unusual to use plastic trays. Most bakers use the same type of metal trays they bake with.”
“I couldn’t afford extras when I started out. I can probably buy enough to keep some out here and still have plenty in the kitchen now.”
He nodded. “So you must be turning a profit.”
“A small one,” Rebecca lied. Very small. It could easily disappear if he found any major violations that needed to be corrected.
At last he seemed satisfied with the paperwork on his clipboard. She imagined all the boxes had been checked, all the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed.
“I’ll send you my report,” he said, finally.
“Can you give me a preliminary idea of how we did?” Rebecca smiled and resisted the urge to bat her lashes.
He shrugged. “Not bad.” Then he took a final critical look at Dru and left.
Rebecca didn’t relax until he trod out of sight. “What was his problem?” she wondered aloud.
Dru snorted. “It don’t t
ake a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.”
“What?”
“It’s just a cowboy sayin’. I don’t belong here. He can tell.”
“That’s ridiculous. You belong anywhere you want to belong.”
“Yeah, well it’s his job to be suspicious. We have another sayin’…”
“Oh goodie, she said in a monotone. “What is it?”
“Always take a good look at what you’re about to eat. It’s not so important to know what it is, but it’s crucial to know what it was.”
She chuckled.
“Finally. That pretty smile is back on your face. You looked like a cowboy about to be throwed off a bronc’s back while he was here.”
“I did?”
“Yeah.” Dru glanced at the clock. “’Bout time to unlock the door. You ready?”
“One more deep breath,” she said. After a hearty inhale, she nodded and began to walk toward the kitchen.
“Well, I’ll be!”
Rebecca whirled around in time to see Dru yank open the door, grasp a young woman and drag her over the threshold. He lifted her off the floor and into a bear hug. “Shasta!”
When he set her down, he pressed a kiss on her bangs. “Where the hell have you been?”
The expression on the young woman’s face betrayed a mixture of emotions. She looked surprised, nervous, and yet, something else. Hopeful?
“I—uh…I guess you know me?”
Dru’s jaw dropped. “Know you? Of course I know you. You’re my little sister. I helped our mama change your diapers.”
Rebecca approached cautiously. “Is your name Shasta?”
“I don’t know. It might be. I’ve had amnesia for three months.”
She checked Dru’s expression. His eyes rounded and his mouth hung open. At last, he blinked.
“Have a seat,” Rebecca offered. “Can I get you some coffee and a pastry?”
“Uh, sure. I loved that apple pie I had here the other day.” April sat at one of the customer’s tables.
Dru’s brows shot up. “You were here?” He pulled up a chair beside her as if she might escape. “Recently?”
“Yeah. But my b…my friend went up to the counter and ordered. I sat at this table and looked out the window.”
“What were you about to say?”
“What do you mean?”
“You started to say something else. Something that began with a b.”
Rebecca rested her hands on Dru’s shoulders. “Why don’t you let her ask the questions for a while, Dru. She probably has a lot more than you do.”
“Good point.”
April offered a cautious smile. “Your name is Dru?”
“Yeah. Dru Tanner. And you’re Shasta Tanner. You should have a birthmark in the shape of a heart on your thigh.”
Her fingers went to her right thigh as if she could feel it through her shorts. “How did you know?”
He chuckled. “Because I’ve known you since birth. Like I said…dirty diapers.”
Rebecca excused herself and strolled behind the counter, presumably to cut two pieces of apple pie. It also gave them some privacy.
He continued nostalgically, “That heart reminded me I was helpin’ momma, because I loved both of you.”
“Momma? I have a mother somewhere?”
Oh, shit. She doesn’t remember losin’ momma. Dru hung his head. “Yeah. In heaven.”
“Oh.”
They shared a long silence, then he cleared his throat. “So, what else do you want to know?”
She pointed to Rebecca and whispered, “Is that your wife?”
“No. She’s my g—friend.” He hoped Rebecca didn’t hear his hesitation.
“So you have a girlfriend the same way I have a boyfriend? Just gettin’ to know each other?”
Dru smiled over his shoulder at Rebecca. “Yeah, but it’s a little more than that.”
“Like what?” his sister asked.
Dru hesitated, then lowered his voice and said, “More like love at first sight.”
Shasta tipped her head. “Awww…That’s sweet. So do you live together?”
“Yeah. Right upstairs. Where’ve you been stayin’?”
“The homeless shelter.”
“Homeless—” Dru forced himself to be calm. “But I checked that place.”
“Yeah, they don’t tell on people who’re stayin’ there. I heard them at the desk saying the same rehearsed speech. ‘I’m sorry. We can neither confirm nor deny that we have a resident by that name here’.”
Dru sighed. “Yeah. I got that speech. I called the day after I arrived. Never mind. There’s a guest room upstairs you can use for the night.”
Her brow wrinkled. “One night?”
“Well, yeah. Now that I’ve found you, I need to take you back home. You’re goin’ to the University of Texas. You missed graduation. You can stay at the ranch until next semester and then go back and finish up.”
“What?” She waved a halt to his plan. “Wait just a gosh darn minute. I don’t know you, and I certainly don’t know anyone in Texas. I’m not goin’ anywhere.”
Rebecca returned with their pie, and none too soon. She set a piece in front of Shasta and as she put the other one in front of Dru, she bent down and whispered in his ear. “Can I speak to you privately?”
He paused, then said. “Yeah,” and rose. He pointed a finger at Shasta. “Don’t you go anywhere. Hear?”
She rolled her eyes. “I won’t.” Then she aimed an impish grin his way. “I’d miss my pie if I did.”
Dru wanted to shake her, but how could she possibly know what he’d gone through to find her. He’d be sure to tell her at some point. Rebecca grasped his hand and practically dragged him to the kitchen. Even so, he refused to go further than the door so he could keep an eye on Shasta. I’m not lettin’ her out of my sight.
“She can have the guest room for as long as she wants, Dru.”
“But you have bad guys comin’ after ya, Rebecca. I don’t want to put her in danger. I have to get her home.” And I should take you with me.
Rebecca took a deep breath and looked like she was wording her thoughts carefully. “The sigil magic will protect her here, and I can make another sigil to protect her anywhere.”
“Think you can make one to restore her memory?”
She paused. “Not a sigil, but maybe there’s a spell. It would be better if I take a little time to research it with Myranda or Hanna. Spells on the mind are very tricky.” She stroked his brow as if ironing out some wrinkles. “It doesn’t sound like there’s any rush to get her home. What’s another few days?”
Dru searched her eyes silently for any sign of ulterior motives. Nah. She wasn’t like that. At last, he said. “Yeah. Sounds like it might go over better with Shasta too.”
Rebecca let out a deep breath. “Okay. When you’re ready, go get her things from the shelter and move her into the guest room. If you know where she is, you’ll be able to relax and figure things out with her.” She gave him an apologetic smile and whispered, “Try not to be bossy. Trust takes time.”
Shasta Tanner. The name still seemed foreign. She felt more like an April, but that’s probably because she couldn’t remember being called anything else. Why was she in this part of the country? How did she get here? And how much longer would it take to recover her memory?
Mike said his came back gradually with the help of other people filling him in. Was this guy really her brother? How could he know about her birthmark if he wasn’t? Maybe she was wearing a bathing suit around him at some point. She hadn’t bought a bathing suit yet though. She didn’t know if she could swim and suspected her fair skin would burn in the sun.
Yeah, he’s probably my brother. And he has a girlfriend, so what would he want me for? Maybe he has no other family.
Dru sat down with her again. “Any more questions?”
“Only about a million.”
He chuckled. “Shoot.”
“How old am I
?”
“You were twenty-two on May fifth.”
“Darn. I missed my birthday.”
Dru chuckled. “We’ll have a belated party for ya.”
“Am I married or engaged or anything?”
“Not that I know of.”
Whew. “Where do I live?”
“Well, you were goin’ to school in Austin. You lived in the dorm there.”
“What was I studyin’?”
“Your major was Liberal Arts.”
“Hmmm…so I guess I’m a liberal.”
Dru laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised, but that’s not what the degree is about. Basically, it’s a little of this and a little of that. You didn’t really know what you wanted to be when you grew up, so you figured you’d find it along the way.”
“Did I?”
He shrugged. “Not sure. I spoke to your roommate, but I forgot to ask about that. She told me you were into Wicca, and the other wiccans on campus were all worried about you when you didn’t come back on time. They did a spell for you in case you were in trouble. At the time, I thought it was horse-hockey.”
She chuckled. “How did I get here from Texas—and why?”
“From what I gathered from your academic advisor, you were flunkin’ out of school—probably because you spent so much time with momma near the end. Your English and history professors let you do an extra credit assignment over spring break. It had to do with our roots here in New England.”
She rolled that around in her brain for a moment. “Geez. Losing my mother and flunkin’ out of school. Sounds like I had a tough year.”
Dru looked serious. “You did. There’s one other thing that happened, but I don’t want to burden you with more than you can handle. Not right off the bat like this. Rebecca wants to invite you to stay in her guest room—for as long as you like. There’s no rush. We can talk things out a little slower that way.”
She smiled. “Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”
“Okay. So after we finish our pie, we can go get your things from the homeless shelter. Oh. If that’s okay with you?”
“I should probably talk to my caseworker first. She’s been tryin’ to locate my next of kin. Do we have any other close relatives?”
“No. When momma died in February, that left just you and me.”
