She then cast her critical eye to the gleaming hardwood floors, shiny brass sconces adorning the rich, cherry-wood paneled walls, the simple yet elegant silver bud vases filled with long-stem red roses. Everything was perfect.
She felt Marcus nod against her temple. “Place looks beautiful, Ellie. Even better than the last store in the last town. Too bad we’ll only be here for such a short time. You’ve outdone yourself.”
“We’ve outdone ourselves,” she corrected. “But still, I’m worried. This location…we’re not on a main street as we usually are. I know our market research showed that Austell fit our target town profile perfectly-within two hours’ drive of a major city, growing population and low chocolate sales-but what if the potential consumers don’t find us? What if-?”
“Ellie.” He cut off her question by turning her until they faced each other. Resting her hands against his chest, she absorbed the comforting beat of his heart against her palms, looked up into his steady, dark eyes, and felt her concerns slowly dissipate.
“They’ll find us,” he said softly. “Who could resist a store named Sinfully Sweet?”
“A name you weren’t originally crazy about, if you’ll recall. What had you wanted to call the shop when we first started our research? Oh, yes. Marcus’s Candy Store.” She made a face and looked toward the ceiling.
“So I’m not creative with store names.” He waggled his brows in a very suggestive way and nudged his pelvis against hers. “I make up for it in other ways.”
She nudged him back and smiled. “No argument here.”
“And the ingenious Valentine’s Day contest you thought up is sure to entice and intrigue the fine residents of Austell.”
“I certainly hope so.”
A frown burrowed between his brows. “I only hope it doesn’t end up costing us a mint, which it might if we have multiple winners.”
Waving away his concern, she said, “It’s a business expense. Besides, even if the contest doesn’t end up aiding our research, it promises to bring about very entertaining-and interesting-results.” A grin curved her lips at the prospect. Each single, unattached Sinfully Sweet customer would receive one of the oversized chocolate hearts that had been cut in half-a pink-wrapped half for the women, a blue-wrapped half for the men-with each half containing a hidden message. Every man and woman who, before Valentine’s Day, found the other person whose message matched theirs would receive a romantic dinner for two at The Winery, the five-star restaurant at the nearby Delaford Resort, and one hundred chocolate hearts.
Marcus touched a single fingertip to her bottom lip, yanking her from her thoughts. “That grin of yours looks positively wicked.”
She lightly nibbled his finger then looped her arms around his neck. “I was just thinking about the prize of one hundred chocolate hearts. As I well know-thanks to personal experience as well as our research-an evening that involves chocolate is just so much more exciting.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Now all we need is more proof for the scientific community. And if all goes as anticipated at Sinfully Sweet and with the contest, another step will be taken in that direction.” His gaze dropped to her mouth. “Speaking of chocolate, being surrounded by all this deliciousness is releasing an influx of endorphins-”
“That you’ll need to save for later,” she said, smothering a laugh and trying her best to look stern. “Besides, you have to actually eat the chocolate for the endorphins to be released.”
“Not necessarily, and I hope to prove it with my new hypothesis-can the mere smell of chocolate trigger the release of endorphins? Our research so far indicates that eating chocolate leads to amorous behavior in a majority of subjects. Adding scent to the mix isn’t a far stretch.”
“I can’t deny that every time I smell chocolate, I think of you.”
“That’s because it’s what brought us together in the first place.”
“Right. I probably wouldn’t have noticed you at all if it hadn’t been for the bag of chocolate kisses you always kept on your desk in the lab,” she teased.
“Smartest thing I’ve ever done. I caught me quite a prize with that bag of chocolate. Finding data to support a scientific correlation between consuming chocolate and amorous behavior is the least I can do to repay the scientific community for bringing you into my life.”
“Ditto. Besides, the research aspect is-”
“Delicious.” He lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers.
“Mmm. In more ways than one. You know, you’re pretty romantic for a scientist.”
“Back at ya, darlin’.”
“You should see me when I’m not wearing this apron.”
“I live for the moment.”
With a laugh, Ellie stepped out of his embrace. Her gaze moved to the door and her heart quickened at the sight of a car parking in front of the store. “Looks like we might have our first customer,” she said.
Marcus gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Excellent. Let the games begin.”
1
DANIEL MONTGOMERY TOSSED the large bag filled with moving supplies he’d just purchased into the back of his SUV, then closed the trunk with a satisfying thump. “That’s one more thing I can cross off my to-do list.”
“What’s next?” asked his brother Kevin, not even attempting to stifle his yawn. “Hopefully something that involves a cup of coffee. If I’d known my offer to help you pack required waking up at the crack of dawn, I wouldn’t have volunteered.”
“It’s almost ten a.m. That’s hardly the crack of dawn.”
“It is when you didn’t go to bed until 5 a.m.”
Daniel forced himself not to chuckle at Kevin’s grumpy tone. “Maybe you should have gone to bed earlier.”
“No can do. This is my last semester of college. It’s my duty to stay out late.”
Recalling that he’d pretty much felt the same way eight years ago during his last college semester, Daniel didn’t argue. Instead he resettled his glasses on his nose, leaned against the SUV’s bumper and slid his to-do list and pencil from the back pocket of his jeans.
After crossing off packing tape and bubble wrap, he said, “Still need to stop at the grocery store-”
“Yeah, where you need to get coffee-”
“-and beer and hot dogs. While we’re there we’ll pick up more empty boxes. Another dozen or so should do it. Besides my computer equipment, all that’s left to pack are my books, CDs, DVDs, some kitchen stuff and my clothes.” He blew out a long breath. “Another two weeks and I’ll be leaving Austell behind.”
Kevin’s brows rose. “And that’s good…right?”
Daniel hesitated then said, “Sure. Why do you ask?”
“Because you sounded weird. Like unhappy or unsure or something.”
“Nah, it’s all good. Taking the new job, moving to a new city, it’s the right thing to do.”
Wasn’t it?
He frowned at the scuffed toes of his well-worn Nikes, his stomach tight with the same odd feeling that gripped him every time he questioned his decision to move. Which was crazy. Of course leaving Austell was the right thing to do.
In recent months it had seemed that his life had fallen into a boring, predictable rut. Something was missing-something he couldn’t quite put a name to other than to know it filled him with an unsettling sensation of discontent. His recent thirtieth birthday had proven a turning point, jolting him to reassess his life. Make some changes. Try something new. Surely, it was just the anticipation of moving to Boston and starting a new job that caused the momentary stomach jitters.
Not only would the managerial position with prestigious Allied Computers’ information technology department be a feather in his cap, being in a corporate office would get him out more. Give him more opportunities for a social life. Force him out of his well-worn rut.
“I think leaving this small town will be good for you, man.” Kevin said as if reading Daniel’s thoughts. “How you can have a social life here,” he waved his a
rm to encompass all of Main Street, “is beyond me.”
“It’s a challenge,” Daniel agreed. It didn’t help that his current job of designing websites didn’t require him to leave his home office. In the last two months especially, ever since he’d broken up with Nina-or rather, she’d broken up with him-it seemed as if he’d turned into an all work, no play recluse. But thanks to his life reassessment, all that was about to change.
He looked up and his gaze wandered over the old-fashioned storefronts cast in golden rays of sunshine. He could understand why at twenty-one Kevin couldn’t see Austell’s quiet appeal, but then he and Kevin were pretty much opposites when it came to living arrangements. Daniel had always preferred low key while Kevin thrived in his frat house surroundings.
Yeah, it would be hard to leave this quaint, picturesque town with its historic downtown, quiet streets, well-kept park and friendly residents where he’d lived for the past eight years, ever since discovering the town while attending the nearby college. Austell had given him a sense of belonging that he’d missed after leaving home. But hey, bigger and better things awaited him.
“So what’s next on the list?” Kevin asked. “Tell me quick. Before I fall asleep standing here.”
Daniel’s gaze fell back to his list and his jaw tightened as he focused on the next two items. “Sod and some top soil.”
“Yippee. What’s that for?”
“I guess you didn’t see my backyard.”
“Nope.”
“Consider yourself lucky. Another plus about moving is that I’ll have new neighbors. No more dealing with Carlie Pratt, aka The Scatterbrain With the Unruly Dogs That Routinely Dig Up My Yard and Wake Me Up At Ungodly Hours With Their Barking, or Miss Headache and the Crazy Canine Crew, for short.”
Kevin grimaced. “Bummer. Maybe you should get earplugs.”
“I’m better off with the top soil. I’d need a hell of a lot of earplugs to fill up those holes in my backyard.”
Daniel pressed his lips together so as not to burst out laughing at Kevin’s blank expression. Humor that wasn’t Three Stooges slapstick or didn’t involve bodily functions more often than not sailed right over his younger brother’s head. “Dude, I meant for your ears,” Kevin said slowly, as if explaining it to a first grader, “so the barking wouldn’t wake you up.”
“Oh,” Daniel said, very seriously. “Good idea.”
Actually, he’d tried earplugs but they didn’t help much as they always seemed to fall out. Not much fun waking up with a wad of wax stuck in your hair. But in two weeks, he wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.
Nope, he sure wouldn’t miss the chaos that had lived on the other side of his backyard fence since Carlie and The Hole Diggers had moved in three months ago. He wouldn’t mind so much if she’d just keep her chaos on her side of the wooden fence that separated their backyards, but her dogs-two rambunctious puppies, both of whom showed promise of growing to be horse-like in size-managed to escape almost on a daily basis. And they somehow always ended up in his yard, much to the detriment of his lawn. His Realtor had taken one look at the crater-like muddy holes marking his grass and then decreed in an ominous tone that reeked of plummeting property value, “That mess must be fixed immediately.”
Well, he’d fixed it, but it wasn’t long before Peanut Butter and Jelly, P.B. and J. for short-and sheesh, who named their dogs after food anyway?-had returned and wreaked havoc on his yard again. Since when did dogs like to dig holes so much? It was as if those crazy canines thought freakin’ pirate booty was buried in his backyard. Yeah, Carlie had profusely apologized each time, and he couldn’t deny she looked pretty cute while doing so, but, c’mon, enough was enough. Probably he wouldn’t have minded so much if he weren’t selling the house. Probably. But according to his Realtor, many potential buyers harbored aversions to backyards that looked as if explosives had detonated in them.
“Can’t say I’m turning cartwheels at the prospect of going to the nursery for sod and dirt,” Kevin said. “What else ya got?”
Daniel once again consulted his list. “Stamps at the post office.”
“That doesn’t sound the least bit like ‘coffee at Starbucks.’ What else?”
“Spackle and caulk at the hardware store.”
“You’re killing me.”
“Birthday gift for Mom.”
Kevin’s eyes widened. “Whoa, I’d totally forgotten.”
“So you owe me big time.”
“Oh, boy. That doesn’t sound good. I’m going to end up filling doggie-dug holes with dirt, aren’t I?”
“’Fraid so.”
“But her birthday’s on Valentine’s Day. That’s, like, two weeks away.”
“I want to buy her present today and get it mailed off before I get buried under with moving.”
Kevin’s expression turned hopeful. “Since we always get Mom chocolate for her birthday, I foresee something sweet to eat in my immediate future. And where there’s chocolate, coffee can’t be far away.” He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s go.”
Since he couldn’t disagree that buying chocolate sounded a lot better than buying sod and dirt, Daniel pushed off the bumper and slipped his to-do list and pencil back into his jeans’ pocket.
“There’s a new candy place opening today that I read about in the newspaper.” He headed toward the corner and Kevin fell into step beside him. “It’s called Sinfully Sweet and it specializes in chocolates.” He grinned. “I think Mom has met her match.”
His grin widened at the thought of their mom, a teacher at the same high school he and Kevin had graduated from. Those teenagers didn’t stand a chance against Norma Montgomery. With thirty years of teaching under her belt, not to mention raising two kids of her own-three if you included Dad as she laughingly insisted you should-she knew every trick in the book. Since her birthday was on Valentine’s Day, no one in the family ever had a problem figuring out what to buy her for a gift. Ever since he’d been a kid it was the same thing: chocolate. Over the years it had become something of a joke among them all, with Mom trying to guess what sort of chocolate concoctions she’d receive, and he, Dad and Kevin trying to come up with something unusual she’d never guess. Only she always seemed to guess-had to be that “eyes in the back of her head” mom thing.
Well, Mom might be hard to catch off guard, but this year he had an advantage, or so he hoped, in the form of Sinfully Sweet. According to the ad in the newspaper, the shop promised an amazing array of extraordinary chocolate confections.
While he and Kevin walked the short distance to Larchmont Street where the store was located, Daniel enjoyed the contrast of the warm northern California sun tempered by the cool breeze. They’d no sooner turned the corner, however, when the sight of a familiar figure walking toward them slowed his footsteps. Then he halted abruptly. As if he’d walked into a wall, and stared.
Kevin, who’d fallen a few steps behind him, bumped into his back and grunted at the impact. When Daniel remained frozen in place, Kevin moved to stand beside him and asked, “I thought you said the store was this way. What’s the problem, bro?”
His powers of speech freakishly suspended, Daniel continued to stare. At Carlie Pratt, sans P.B. and J.-which meant the devilish duo was probably at this very moment joyfully digging more holes in his yard. Carlie Pratt, who, with the golden sunshine gleaming on her tousled, shoulder-length reddish brown curls, appeared to be surrounded by a gilt halo.
But that was the only angelic looking thing about her.
She moved forward with a slow, wickedly seductive stroll that brought to mind cool satin sheets, and hot, sweaty sex. Damn, what a walk the woman had. Like steamy sin in motion. How was it that he’d never noticed it before? Probably because every time he saw her she was rushing around after her dogs. Or driving her car. Or had her arms filled with grocery bags. Or was carrying the large, portable padded table she brought to her massage therapy clients’homes. Or was sitting on a lawn chair in her backyard, where t
he grass, to be fair, was marred with even more holes than his.
Well, she wasn’t rushing or driving or sitting now, and the sinuous sway of her curvy hips as she leisurely walked, her attention focused on the store windows, rooted him to the spot as if he’d turned into a pillar of cement. Normally she was dressed in either a bulky sweater or loose-fitting clothes that resembled hospital scrubs. But not today. No, today she was dressed in a pair of snug faded jeans that hugged every gorgeous curve-and damn, she had more curves than a roller coaster-and a V-neck sweater the color of a ripe, juicy peach. She all but made his mouth water.
Kevin clapped a hand on Daniel’s shoulder then said in an undertone, “Whoa, dude. I see what put you in this trance. She. Is. Fine.”
Yes. She. Was. He’d thought her attractive from the day she’d moved in, but had ignored the observation as he’d been with Nina at the time. Then, even after Nina was out of the picture, with both him and Carlie working, they’d seen little of each other-except for the puppy incidents.
Well, he was seeing plenty of her now.
And liked everything he saw.
For a guy who prided himself on being practical, logical and sensible, he experienced a rush of heated lust that all but incinerated and stupefied him where he stood. A reaction that could be described as neither practical, logical nor sensible.
And apparently he wasn’t the only one who liked what he saw.
“If that’s what the girls in Austell are like,” Kevin said, “I’m thinking you’re crazy to move. And the way you’re looking at her, man, you’re a goner.” He tapped Daniel non-too-gently under the chin. “You might want to lose the slack-jawed, bug-eyed look before you introduce yourself.”
Sinfully Sweet Page 8
