“You’re the boss,” she said, nervously coughing into her hand when Calvin walked by. He blushed furiously, then walked back behind the desk.
“Huh,” I said, moving the sponge down her cheekbones, lightly covering her skin. “How ya doin’, champ? Is there anything you need to tell me about your night?”
Lucia sat still as a stone as I worked. “Nope,” she said, fighting, and failing, to keep from smiling. “I mean, I’ll tell you when we take our break.”
I pinched her, and she squealed. “You’re fucking feisty today.”
I grabbed a flat eyeliner brush, leaning close to layer on a thick strip of black across the top of Lucia’s lashes. Gliding the black ink in a perfectly curved line was soothing. I did it again and again, flaring the line. I moved to her right lid and did the same thing, curling the eyeliner into that famous cat-eye shape.
“Open,” I said, and Lu fluttered her eyes open, smiling up at me.
“Gorgeous,” I said, and she was, her dark-blue eyes deepening beneath the black of the liner. I knocked some brightening powder into the palm of my hand, rolled a brush through it, and started dabbing along the inside of her eye. “And I guess that party last night was interesting for both of us.”
“It was an excellent opportunity to… get to know some people. Better.”
I thought of Gabe, our night of teasing, silly conversation. I hadn’t felt that… buoyant in a long time. Or that compelled to talk to a man I was just planning to fuck. Fuck and then leave.
Grabbing blush, I filled the palm of my hand with it, swirling the color. Held it up to Lucia’s cheek. Another thing I used to calm myself after Clarke: blending. Something so subtle and almost magical about the quest for perfection. Right after the almost-wedding, I’d booked a now-famous model who was known for the patches of discoloration on her face and arms, and it became my ultimate goal to blend the perfect colors for her beautiful skin. Not hiding the differentiation but honoring it, bringing it to light.
She’d cried when she’d seen herself before her first runway show, and that moment had been the first tiny, jarring step I’d taken towards healing.
“Josie?” Lucia asked, reaching out to touch my wrist. I looked up, realizing I’d been lost in thought as I swirled pink powder obsessively.
And that’s when Peter showed up with a bouquet of pale peonies, eyes wide and staring at Lucia in utter awe.
I exhaled loudly since Lu was never going to let this go. “I’m guessing those are for me?”
“Um… um… um,” he said.
Lucia winked at him. He almost dropped the bouquet, but I caught it.
“Slow down, Romeo,” I said, setting them on the table. Lucia reached forward to read the card, but I slapped her hand away. “You’ve got two more, right?”
He nodded, gulping.
“I’ll see you in thirty,” I said, nodding toward the door, and he walked backward toward it before tripping over a cord on the floor.
“Cute,” Lucia said, giving me the kind of best-friend-look that said ‘you are so full of bullshit.’
“Coffee break?” I asked since it would be better to just get it over with.
“Please,” she replied.
* * *
Outside, it had gotten colder. Rain was steadily dripping through the trees. We huddled together beneath the overhang, shivering and wrapped in a blanket.
“So… the bouquets.”
“They’re going to keep coming,” I said, wincing at the note of excitement in my voice. “Five total. One every half hour.” I was desperate to see the note on the peonies.
“Josie,” Lucia squealed, shoving my shoulder. “He’s a total sweetheart. And he’s got the hots for you, for sure. Did you go home with him last night?” She leaned in closer. “Did you go to the bone zone?”
I laughed, took a long sip of coffee. “Actually, I did not.”
“Wait… what?”
“We just talked for most of the night. Flirted. It was… really sexy actually,” I admitted. Delay, he’d said. Wouldn’t that make it sweeter?
“So you didn’t have sex. And he sent you flowers?” Lucia was incredulous.
“I believe his exact words were ‘let me chase you.’”
Lucia stared at me, eyes wide and slightly comical. “And…”
She waited.
“And… we’re seeing each other tonight. For like a… a date.” I grimaced at the word.
“That’s a good thing,” she said.
“It’s against the rules,” I shot back.
“Rules-schmules. Just have some fun. We’re leaving tomorrow anyway,” she said.
I attempted to understand her rational thinking, but it was like listening to music underwater.
“What happened with you last night?”
Lucia shrugged, tossing her half-braided hair. “Oh, you know… got a little drunk and left Cal a poem by Mary Oliver at his bedroom door.”
I spit my coffee across the deck.
“What is this, The Three Stooges?” Lucia teased.
“You have a crush on Cal,” I exclaimed, forgetting that he was just inside.
“I sure don’t,” she lied.
The two of us looked away for a moment, both lost in thought.
“We’ve known these guys for three days. Shit, I’ve only known Gabe for one day. I’m really not sure what we’re freaking out about.”
“I’m not freaking out,” Lucia said, and I half-shoved her out of the blanket. She was laughing, but as I stared out at the rain, anxiety rushed over me like a river. And with that—frustration. That even two years later, I couldn’t allow myself to do normal things, like a casual date. A date without consequences. With a man I’d never see again.
It was safe. Gabe was safe.
I inhaled, and like a nasty weed, Clarke’s voice appeared.
What would Gabe think if he knew? If he knew you weren’t good enough for me to marry?
“I love you, Lu,” I said, wrapping her in a hug. I needed my best friend.
“I love you too. And are you okay?” She asked against my hair. “Those flowers really upset you, huh?”
I pulled back, her gaze searching mine.
“I don’t know,” I said in a small voice, embarrassed when a stray tear slid down my cheek.
“Josie,” Lu said, squeezing my shoulders and smiling kindly. “I think Gabe is a really nice guy. And I think he has a crush on you, even after one night, because you are brilliant and beautiful. I think it’s okay to let yourself have fun with him tonight. Because, well, what are your chances of ever seeing him again?”
I lifted my chin. “Minimal,” I said firmly. “And he’s sexy as fuck.”
“Thatta girl,” Lucia said with a wink. “You deserve to get laid.” I nodded, my walkie sputtering with Ray’s voice, demanding to know our location.
“And you deserve a guy like Cal,” I reminded her.
* * *
I didn’t look at the cards on the remaining bouquets until later, as I was getting ready to head to The Bar.
The third one read: make me wait.
The fourth one: give me everything.
And the final card, clinging to a bouquet of black dahlias: I’ll beg for it.
Chapter 15
Gabe
I was entering the twelfth hour of the Longest Day Of My Life and wondering, for the hundredth time, why I’d suggested Josie and I delay.
I’d been on the verge of orgasm ever since Josie had wrapped those cool fingers around my shaft and squeezed. Every time I’d think I’d found relief—zoning out, in the middle of drying glasses, or sweeping the floor—I’d start to fantasize about Josie’s pierced nipples.
How good they would taste.
The metal, knocking against my teeth.
The sounds she’d make.
And then the vicious cycle would begin again.
I checked my watch—for the fiftieth time—as I stared out the window at the nasty storm. The weather had been
terrible all day, the news predicting a big storm, and the locals were hunkered down against the rain, drinking and gossiping.
There was a clap of thunder, and the lights briefly flickered off then back on again.
A tendril of nerves curled up my spine. Big Sur was no stranger to frightening storms, and The Bar had survived every one. But Big Sur was still a small, isolated town perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean.
Things could get bad.
“You think it’ll get worse?” Ruth asked me as she pulled on her rain jacket to leave. She gave me a look passed between locals, a look that brought back other storms. The fear, the waiting, the town a helpless victim against the force of Mother Nature. The Bar had been an evacuation spot countless times, and as a child I remembered the moments, curled up on the floor with my neighbors, like a giant town sleepover.
“I’ll admit I’ve been distracted all day. But this looks worse than I expected.”
Ruth looked uneasy. “I agree.”
“You okay to get home? Do you want me to drive you?” I asked. Ruth lived less than five miles away, but five miles down the winding curves of Highway 1 in this storm could be treacherous.
She reached up, patting my cheek. “Gabriel Shaw, I’ve been driving myself through Big Sur storms my entire life. Not going to stop now. And yes, I’m more than fine to drive.”
I nodded as I held the door open for her. A blast of chilly air swept through, and just as Ruth left, another car pulled in. The door opened, and out stepped Josie.
And I suddenly remembered why I’d wanted to wait.
Because the world stopped.
The wind whipped her black-and-lavender hair around her face. As she walked toward me, she arched an eyebrow suggestively. In her ripped jeans and leather jacket, she looked like a hipster-biker-babe, way too cool for me.
Yet here she was.
“Gabriel,” she said.
“Josefine,” I replied, watching as she stalked past me confidently. Slowly slid her jacket down, revealing her bare back. My fingers tightened on the doorknob, my eyes trailing up her gorgeous skin, the text and flowers inked there. When she got to the barstool, she half-turned her head—just a little—as if giving me a cue to follow her.
I obeyed.
I strode back behind the bar, grabbed a bottle of Jameson, and poured her a shot. Slid it toward her. Josie brought it to her lips, sipping.
Savoring.
Her eyes never left mine.
“I wasn’t entirely sure you were going to come,” I admitted.
“Well… the bouquets were a bold move,” she said lightly. Behind me, Mrs. Manahan called my name, but I ignored her. Josie’s finger traced the rim of the glass. “And your messenger didn’t stray from his script.”
I grinned. “I’ve known his family for years.”
“He spoke highly of you,” she said. “He said you were, and I quote, the nicest motherfucker I know.”
I threw my head back and laughed.
“You are nice. He told me all about how nice everyone in your family is. Gave me lots of specific examples.”
I leaned across the bar, closer to Josie. Her dark eyes danced.
“So you were asking about me?” I said.
Her cheeks flushed—lightly, but it was there. “Please. I was just curious,” she said. “No one’s ever sent me flowers like that before.”
“Too much?” I said, trying to respect the hard boundary she’d put up last night. I don’t date, Gabriel. I fuck, and then I leave.
“I think you have customers,” she pointed out. I could hear a handful of them grumbling to my left.
“And I don’t care. Tell me: was it too much?”
“And I’m pretty sure you don’t give the orders around here,” she smirked, and my cock pressed against my jeans. Fuck, I wanted her orders.
We had a momentary stand-off.
“No,” she finally said, “It wasn’t too much. It was… just right.”
Josie leaned a little closer, our faces just a few inches apart. Her eyes never left mine.
“I meant every word,” I rasped. “Every fucking word.”
Her breathing hitched. “Good.”
“Gabriel Shaw, it’s not like you to ignore your fifth grade math teacher.” Mrs. Manahan banged her empty glass on the bar, and I rolled my eyes. Reached under for a bottle of red wine as Josie laughed.
“Please don’t leave,” I begged. “Stay right here?”
“I’ll think about it,” she said, biting her lip.
I walked backward, holding her gaze, until I got to the end of the bar.
“Sorry, are we interrupting a romantic moment in the middle of your business establishment?” Kevin asked as I topped off his wine as well.
“Oh, relax,” I chided, grabbing two beers for Geoff and Fritz, whose eyes were glued to the television. “This round is on me, okay?”
Kevin and Mrs. Manahan exchanged a glance. “Two rounds,” he said.
“Not a negotiation,” I replied, then walked back toward Josie.
“Just to be clear: you’re okay with the fact that half of Big Sur is watching us right now?”
“I am,” she said, pulling her hair over one shoulder. “Plus, they can’t hear what we’re saying, right?”
We exchanged smiles.
I reached down and turned up the music. “Now they can’t.”
She nodded, tilting her head in recognition. “Is this Beyoncé?”
I shrugged and started drying glasses. “Maybe.”
Josie’s eyes narrowed. “You remembered.”
There was a long pause while her eyes roamed up and down my body. I tried to appear nonchalant, but what I really wanted to do was sweep the glasses off the bar and let Josie have her way with me right on top of it. Right now.
There was another crack of thunder and an answering flash of lightning, but Josie didn’t flinch.
“So what we’re going to do tonight, you’ve never done with anyone?” she asked.
“No. Have you?”
She shook her head. “My sex life consists entirely of one-night stands. It doesn’t leave a lot of time to feel comfortable enough with someone to… to explore something like that.”
“When I was with Sasha, I actually never told her. Which is strange, saying it out loud now.” I wanted to know why Josie wasn’t dating seriously, but I didn’t ask.
“Never felt like you could?”
“I guess… I guess not,” I finally said, trying to make sense of why I’d so easily shared an erotic fantasy with Josie. But not with a woman I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with.
“Why does it excite you?” she asked.
I glanced down the bar toward the other customers. Turned the music up just a little louder. “Why does it excite you?” I shot back.
But Josie only sat forward on her elbows, crooked her finger at me. I leaned closer.
“You keep trying to tell me what to do, Vikingo, but it’s not going to work that way.”
She let the strap of her shirt fall down her shoulder, exposing the swell of her breasts.
“Josie,” I growled.
“Why does it excite you?” she repeated with a sharp edge to her voice.
“Because…” I cleared my throat. I could see the outline of Josie’s piercings through the thin material of her shirt. “Because I’m obsessed with making women come. I’m obsessed with the sounds women make when they orgasm. The way their breathing changes. The way they pant and moan…”
“Keep going,” she said.
“Women deserve to be worshiped. You deserve to be worshiped, Josie. I want to worship you with my mouth. My tongue. My fingers. My cock, if you’ll let me.”
“If you earn it.”
“If I… fuck, if I earn it,” I continued, clearing my throat. I looked around, leaned closer to Josie. “And for the longest time, whenever I had sex, these ideas would come up. Images. Desires for them to take charge. Tell me exactly how to get them off. But
I never… I never said a thing.”
“Do you know where it comes from?” she asked.
“I think it’s just… who I am. There’s no source, just pure instinct.” I swallowed roughly, looked down for a second. And when I looked back up, Josie’s eyes were blazing.
“I feel the same,” she said, fingers stroking along her collarbone. “I enjoy all different kinds of sex. I like giving and receiving. I would even let you dominate me if you really wanted to.”
I saw Josie on her hands and knees. Purple and black strands of hair, twisted between my fingers.
“But if I’m being perfectly honest,” she continued. “I think I’m going to get off on controlling a man of your size. Because even though you’re massive, you’re going to let me do whatever I want to you tonight.”
“Yes,” I groaned. “Yes, I am.”
Josie smirked and bit her lip.
There was another long stand-off between us, the din of the bar fading away to the hush of stillness. Like I was back on the trail in the middle of the wilderness, that same quiet peace. And even though this moment pulsed with erotic energy, being around Josie made me feel at ease.
Behind us, the storm raged, branches scraping against the window.
“When are these people going to leave?” Josie asked, sitting back on her barstool and tossing her hair. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was still early, and this would be all over the Big Sur Channel tomorrow, but I didn’t give a fuck.
“I have been known, on occasion, to close The Bar early if there’s an emergency.”
“Storm’s pretty bad,” she shrugged.
“It really is,” I agreed, reaching down to turn off the music. Turned to our audience at the end of the bar.
“I’m closing up early tonight. As in now.” I turned the lights half up, and the customers hissed angrily.
“It’s barely midnight,” Kevin said.
“And it’s a Wednesday,” I replied calmly, crossing my arms across my chest. “I’ll cover all of your open tabs. Don’t worry about payment. But you all should really leave. The storm is getting worse.”
Fall in Love Book Bundle: Small Town Romance Box Set Page 205
