“Did you just move into town?” she asked.
My nerves tightened in my stomach at the line of questioning that was approaching. The salmon in my mouth suddenly felt flat and tasteless. I didn’t feel good at all about the responses I was going to have to give her. “I did.”
“Where did you come from if you don’t mind me asking.”
“New York,” I replied, “and no, I don’t mind you asking. I wanted a change of pace.”
“Well, if a change of pace is what you wanted, then you’ve made a 180° tilt. Things move at a snail’s pace here in Folsom compared to New York.”
I watched as she lifted a small piece of fish to her lips and slipped the tiny morsel between her lips. Lust uncoiled like a serpent in my belly. It had slept for many, many years, but it was well and truly awake now. “You don’t like it here?”
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said. “New York sounds like an exciting holiday, but I love it here. I have the flower shop and my parents. I could never live far away from them. I owe them everything.”
She put her fork down.
“My mom is a breast cancer survivor. We thought it was over and done with, but she had it return. After her last round of chemo, she became a shadow of herself. My dad took her to Florida for a holiday.”
“I’m sorry about your mom.”
“She’s getting better. What about you?” she asked. “‘What will you be doing here in Folsom?”
I swallowed my drink of water, and used the napkin to wipe the corners of my lips. “I run a brokerage firm so I’m going to bring that down here to see how it can perform.”
“That’s great. I wish you all the best here in Folsom. I should have brought a congratulatory bouquet with me.”
I shrugged. “You weren’t to know. How about you? How long have you been in Folsom?”
Her eyes moved away from me. I needed to know what she remembered about her past. Up till now, most of it had been hearsay so it was best to confirm it from her very lips.
“I moved here from a small town called Bitter Creek. It’s about an hour and a half away. That’s where my uncle used to live until he was murdered and his house burnt down by a kid with social problems. Apparently, it was just a random act of evil. No one knows why he did it. He never told anyone.”
She shuddered. I was gripping the fork so hard I was afraid I would bend it. I forced the words out. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“It’s okay. I have almost no memory of him or that night.” She gives an awkward laugh and picks up her glass of wine. “It would seem I probably saw the killer and ran away from the murder scene. Unfortunately, they say I must have tripped along the way and fell, hitting my head. When I woke up I had lost two years of memory. Those two years have never come back.”
Little glasses of lemon sorbet were served. I let the cold sweet ice melt on my tongue. Ah, how much I had missed locked away in prison. I stared at Willow and felt like the luckiest man alive.
The evening continued on with light, pleasant conversation. She smiled easily, and the conversation flowed. It was during our third course of steak au poivre with scalloped potatoes that she asked me a question I wasn’t ready to answer.
“Why did you ask me out to dinner?”
I took my time patting the corners of my mouth with my napkin as my brain scrambled to search for a response. I couldn’t tell her the truth, but I didn’t want to be nonchalant in my response either.
“I felt a deep attraction to you, and I wanted to get to know you better.”
She blushed. “Oh.” She lifted her glass to her lips. I detected a hint of disappointment in her tone and it near drove me crazy.
Soon, the dinner began to wind to a close, and the time came for dessert. I knew that she would especially enjoy the cherry clafoutis baked with chocolate pieces. Back then, she’d loved everything that had chocolate in it.
I watched as she enjoyed the sweet, the deliciousness of it all made her eyes close and her shoulders roll up to her ears.
And I. I just sat there and savored the wonderful warmth that filled my heart at the sight.
16
Willow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcOxhH8N3Bo
I had parked my van one street away because I didn’t want to use valet parking. After dinner ended, he insisted on giving me a ride to my car in his. When his car was brought around he opened the passenger door for me and I slipped in.
His dark green, top of the line sports Mercedes was like him. Lean and dangerously luxurious. From the gleaming exterior to the pristine interior. It even smelled of a sophisticated, rich blend of spices. Once again, I was reminded that I was a struggling entrepreneur working her butt off in a flower shop in a tiny town, while he was a wealthy, shining bachelor from New York. He could literally have anyone he wanted. Why was he pursuing me? Was it something to while away the time, or did he see me as a quick and easy conquest?
We soon arrived at my van, and instead of waiting in the car while I got out he jumped out of the car and in a flash, was around my side to open it. Honestly, I never had anyone behave in such an old-fashioned, courtly way to me before, and I had to admit that I actually liked being treated as if I was something so precious and important.
After I thanked him, we walked to my van in silence. I tried not to feel embarrassed about the sad state of my van as I climbed into it. I thought that he’d be on his way then, but he insisted on following me back home. Maybe he did just want me for sex. But I realized that somehow strangely I was okay with even that.
The man was irresistible.
Actually, from the moment I spotted him waiting outside the restaurant, I’d been immediately floored by just how breathtakingly handsome he was. He wore a dark gray suit, with a simple, fitted, black T-shirt.
But the way the suit framed his shoulders, or was it his shoulders framed his suit, was absolutely mesmerizing. All through the night, I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off him, his arms, those tattooed fingers touching my skin. I had relished the sultry way he had focused on me through the night, as though he wanted to know everything there possibly was to know about me.
However, at the parking lot, he hadn’t even leaned in for a kiss. Instead, his face had turned serious as he looked around at the surroundings before insisting on escorting me home. Well, in front of my father’s house nothing could happen, but in front of Sandra’s apartment, the possibilities were endless. I chose to head back to Sandra’s apartment.
When we arrived, I parked in front of her apartment building and got out, wishing I had taken Sandra’s advice to use an Uber. Getting down from the van in three-inch high sandals was not very ladylike I imagined.
He got out of his car and he walked over to me, his gaze on the building.
“It’s Sandra’s place,” I explained when he reached me. “I’ll be spending the night with her.”
It suddenly occurred to me that the statement sounded quite provocative, as though I was extending an invitation for some sex and for a moment I panicked. However, he only regarded me coolly, his ocean blue eyes, sharp and attentive.
“Goodnight, Willow,” he murmured. “I had a great time tonight.”
I was stunned. Wasn’t he going to make a move at all? “Me too. But I’m not happy you didn’t let me split the bill with you.”
He smiled, his perfect teeth flashing brightly in the dark. “Maybe next time.”
My heart jumped in my chest. Next time?
“I’ll wait here until you get in,” he drawled in that sexy voice of his.
“Ok,” I whispered, and to my surprise, my voice was hoarse.
Instantly, his gaze went to my lips and remained there. The look in his eyes was incredibly similar to what I imagined was in mine. Longing ... potent desire. Something that charred our insides.
But with it seemed as if with great effort he dragged his gaze away from my trembling mouth and started walking away.
The question slipped out of me
before I could stop it. “Why won’t you kiss me?”
He froze, then turned around slowly.
I felt horror grow inside me at just how brazen I sounded. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to say that at all. Must be that one glass of wine I drank. It was really potent,” I babbled. I was so mortified I would have carried on humiliating myself too if he hadn’t taken a step towards me. The words dried in my throat. I could only stare up at him
He took another step closer. “Don’t you know?”
My brain was glitching. “Um ... uh ... don’t I know what?”
“Why I didn’t kiss you?”
He took another step closer to me, and it forced a response out of me. “No, I mean, isn’t that how a date is supposed to end? The boy takes the girl home and kisses her good night?” I was trying my best to turn it all into a joke, but no one was laughing.
He took the final step that closed the distance between us, and I felt like I was going to pass out. Now, he was deliberately and wholly teasing me, and I relished every second of it.
“I wanted to be careful,” he said, his low, deep voice washing over me. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with me for even a second.”
I smiled in response and opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, he curled his big, strong hands around my waist. He pulled my unresisting body forward, till I was pressed against him. My face tilted up to stare into his eyes.
Dang, he was beautiful.
I couldn’t help but reach out to touch him. My fingers lightly stroked the supple skin of his cheek, and then for some reason my finger moved over to stroke the bridge of his nose. I should have been more nervous with him ... more guarded, but I wasn’t. I wanted to ask him why he felt so familiar to me, but before I could even string a single sentence together in my head, he leaned forward and sucked my bottom lip into his mouth.
No one had ever done that to me. I had expected something light and simple, but the moment we touched, it was as though we had been created specifically and solely to kiss the other. I closed my eyes with pleasure. This, oh God, this. I had been waiting for this my whole life. Slowly his mouth worked my bottom lip. My whole body responded. I felt as if my bones were melting. I was being one with him.
His taste still had a slight hint of whiskey and the dessert we had shared. It melded magically with the taste on my own tongue. Heady. I felt his arms tighten around me as he moved on to capture both my lips. The kiss ... was searing.
I felt as if I was falling. My hands fisted around the front of his shirt to keep me stable, and I gave back as much as he took, slanting my head in sync with his, as he took the kiss even deeper.
Tremors coursed through my body as his tongue slipped into my mouth and began a sensual dance with mine. He stroked and sucked and teased me, and by the time we parted for a breath, I couldn’t believe the ride he had taken me on.
I stood boneless in his arms. For what seemed to be a lifetime, all I could do was stare into his stunning eyes.
In the distance, a dog barked.
It startled me and brought me back to reality. Instantly, I pulled away from his embrace. I felt shocked and disorientated. My knees wobbled with the sudden movement, and I would have gone sprawling backwards on my ass if he hadn’t reached out and caught me. Only when he was sure that the strength had returned to my legs, did he let go of me.
I almost couldn’t look at him. I was that shaken. I bent my head and pretended to straighten out the imaginary wrinkles in my dress. When it was clear he was not simply going to walk away and I wasn’t going to be able to carry on straightening out wrinkles that weren’t there, I lifted my gaze to his. He was waiting. There was patience in his eyes, as if he would have stood there all night waiting for me to get myself in order. He made me feel like his attention was solely for me, and that he had all the time in the world for me.
The light evening breeze blew at his hair, dropping it down on his forehead. He pushed it back impatiently and I realized then I was truly at the risk of falling madly in love with the unreal man before me. It was crazy because I knew nothing about him. He could be a serial killer for all I knew.
“I … uh ... I should get going,” I mumbled.
He nodded and slipped his hands into his pockets as he waited for me to make my next move.
“Thank you for dinner,” I said, and clutching my purse in hand, I started to walk away, my palm pressed flat against the body of my van until it could no longer support me. I did not look back even though I was dying to. As I got into the building and closed the door, I heard his car start up and roar away into the night. I leaned against the door and took deep calming breaths. By the time I arrived at Sandra’s door, I felt almost normal again.
I had my own key, so I let myself in, walked over to her couch and collapsed on it.
From the next couch Sandra said, “Wow, that must have been some date you were on.”
“It was,” I whispered.
“I’ll go get some wine. Start talking.”
17
Caleb
There was someone on our tail.
I had noticed the car as we turned at the first set of traffic lights after we left the restaurant.
My fists were clenched at my sides as I watched Willow go into the building, and when I was certain that she was safe inside, I got into my car and drove away.
I took a longer route home. The seconds morphed into minutes as I discreetly watched the rearview mirror, and soon enough the cream Honda that had been following us since we left the restaurant came back into my line of vision.
I had tried to see its plate number, but it was too dark to make out, so I decided to lead him down a quiet street. A few minutes later I put on my seatbelt and began to speed up, and the driver did the same so that he wouldn’t lose me. As we got to a lonely stretch of road I accelerated even more so that I had him on a dangerous enough momentum. Grabbing my steering wheel tightly, I slammed on my brakes, and my car screeched to a sudden stop.
Behind me, I heard the violent screeching of his vehicle as he slammed on his breaks to avoid the crash, but he hadn’t a hope in hell of stopping the collision. My halt had been too abrupt. His sedan crashed into the back of my car. The impact was brutal, my airbag burst into action as the sound of metal crunching with metal reverberated around me. I didn’t have time to dwell on the state of my car or myself.
I kicked my door open and ran towards his car. I could see the smoke emanating from the engine of the car behind me, and his windshield was shattered. I could hear his agonized moans from within the car, but when he looked up and saw me advancing, he scrambled around pathetically as he tried to get out of the car from the passenger side.
Just as he managed to wriggle out, I grabbed him by the back of his collar like he was a dog, pulled him out, and threw him against his car. His body hit the metal hard and his scream of pain pierced the night.
“Fucking hell,” he cursed as he slid to the ground.
I pulled him up, slammed his body back against the car, and grabbed him by the shirt, forcing him to stare at me. He was a thug with an unkempt stubble covering his face.
“Who sent you?” I snarled.
“You know who did,” he muttered. “I'm just meant to send the message that they have their eyes on you. They want you to let them know when you are set up so they can send their man over to your office for the … apprenticeship.”
I felt black rage grip my insides. I was so furious I wanted to kill him. How fucking dare they? How dare they ruin my life?
“You hurt me and you’re dead,” he said.
I let the anger go. He was just the messenger boy. Even so, I just couldn’t leave without taking my anger out on him. He had to pay for the damage he did to my car. I threw my fist and it rammed into his jaw.
He collapsed to the ground with a howl.
I looked down on his sprawled body and sent my own message. “Tell them this,” I said. “I am yet to
make my decision, so they should wait to hear from me. However, if before then, I find out that I or anyone around me is being followed, then there will be no fucking deal. And no fucking apprenticeships. I will see this thing through to its fucking end. Let’s see who will be left alive after the dust settles.”
He moaned and I kicked him in the gut and he curled his body into a ball. “Did you get that?”
“I got it! I got it!” he sobbed.
I returned to my damaged car. I turned on the ignition and it roared into life. That was the beauty of German engineering. I sped away into the night.
18
Willow
Two days later
“That phone is going to melt if you keep staring at it like that,” Sandra mocked.
I lifted my head from the screen I had been peering at, and slipped it moodily back into my pocket. I was ashamed I had once again been caught staring at it, but it had become my very annoying habit over the last two days. I picked up a broom and began to sweep away the soil and bits of stem from under the table where Sandra had just repotted three plants.
Sandra came over with a bowl of cereal in her hand, and sat on the table I had been sweeping under. ‘’Since he hasn’t contacted you, then why don’t you contact him?” she asked, as she deliberately and noisily slurped the cereal off her spoon.
“Will you stop slapping your lips like that?” I scolded.
She laughed. “Hey! Hey! Don’t take your irritation out on me just because you’re too chicken to call him. This is the twenty-first century, you know. You don’t have to sit at home and wait for him to call you, you can call him.”
I sighed deeply, turned away, and continued on with my sweeping.
Saint & Sinner: A Second Chance Romance Page 7
