bw280 (2 page)

The owner of the shop was working the counter herself, as usual, and recognized her on site.  “Hi, Tess!   How goes the flower business?”

“It’s going pretty well, if I do say so myself,” she smiled back at Helen.  “Well enough that, though. I thought I deserved a bit of a reward, so here I am.”

“Well, what can I get you?”

“I think I’ll succumb to temptation and get a large decaf, three splashes of skim and three Equals, please, with just a slight shake of cinnamon.”

Helen had strategically located a huge display of luscious pastries right in front of her customers so they would have to look at them while their drink was made.  When she handed Tess her coffee and saw the glazed look in her eye, she laughingly asked, “Anything else?”

Tess whimpered audibly, still staring at all the homemade delights and trying to decide just how good she wanted to be.  Finally she groaned, “You are cruel and unusual, waving all of these goodies under my nose.  I’m starving, and I’ll have an apple-cider doughnut, warmed, with cream cheese frosting, please.”

Helen deliberately left the frosting off of some of her wares, only to later slather a generous dollop of some delicious flavor onto the top.  With the doughnut warmed just slightly, all of that frosting would melt onto and into and over, and Tess could barely wait to sink her teeth into it.

As she took her coffee and the small box containing the confection, Tess warned with a smile, “I’m going to blame my first heart attack on you, you know.”

“It’s been done already,” Helen deadpanned back, already moving on to the next person in line who happened to be Sean Maddox, the man she knew was responsible for the puddles of drool already forming on her good tiled floor.  The quiet owner of a local auto shop, Sean was the kind of man whose modesty about his good looks made him even more attractive. Even now, the majority of Helen’s mostly female clientele was either eyeing Sean or trying to catch his.

Sean wasn’t paying them any mind at all.  His eyes were on Miss Martin, who had taken only a few steps away from the counter before she had the donut out of its case and was sinking her teeth into it with a moan of pure pleasure.  He found her oral display quite interesting; certain parts immediately stood at attention, forcing him to use his morning paper to try to maintain some level of decorum in a public place.

Sean knew he should stop staring at her – especially considering his overreaction - but he just couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away.  She was enjoying her treat with such unabashed delight that all he could do was wonder if she’d be quite as vocal – or enthusiastic - when he had her beneath him in bed.  The pastry had been so generously slathered with frosting that a bit of it remained just above the vermilion border of her full lips, as if daring him to lick it off.

“Sean?”  Helen prompted loudly, dragging him rudely out of his reverie.

He recovered completely, clamping down successfully on his libido, at least for the time being.  He thrust his head through the open door just in time to see where that thoroughly-enticing woman had gone once she’d left the coffee shop - about four doors down to the flower shop that had sprung up several years ago.  He had noted the shop’s opening at the time, but since he had no reason to go buying flowers he’d never met her.  He was determined to change that, and did so the very next morning.

Tessa made it to work early the next day, having managed to avoid the annoying blue truck for once.  It was about nine-thirty or so, and she was futzing with her deliveries in the back – putting some of the flowers into the cooler, sorting out the ones she wanted to display – when she heard the bell ring that signaled someone had entered the shop.  She wandered out front to find a man standing amid all of her flowers, looking incongruous among the blooms - and extremely uncomfortable.

He was one of the most classically beautiful men she had ever seen in her life - and she had been a connoisseur since age eight.  He wasn’t overly tall, but was well-built, with an unmistakable y-shape – broad-chested, slim-hipped with heavily-muscled thighs and a full head of very closely-cropped dark brown hair, set off by a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee.

When she first laid eyes on him, she nearly dropped the large glass vases of flowers she was carrying.  Her knees got weak and her heart began to pound.  She wasn’t that type of woman at all - the kind that got the vapors at the sight of a good-looking guy.  No man had ever affected her like that, and she wasn’t any too happy that he was, either.

Sean saw her almost stumble and reached out to relieve her of her burdens, but she recovered quickly and waltzed right past him.  “Can I help you?”  Tessa put the roses on display in the two bowed front windows, then turned back to him, holding out her hand.  “I’m Tessa Martin, the owner.  What can I do for you today?”

She clutched his hand firmly, pumped up and down twice, and let go.  Sean was glad to see that she shook hands like she meant it, not prissily grasping the tip of his index and middle fingers with the very tip of her own as if he had leprosy.

“I’m Sean Maddox.  It’s very nice to meet you.  And it’s not so much what you can do for me, but rather the other way around.”  He extended his arm to her, offering her the coffee he had in his left hand, as well as a small bag he’d clutched with his ring and pinky finger.  “A large decaf, three splashes of skim, three Equals and a shake of cinnamon, right?”

Amazed, Tessa blinked owlishly, taking the drink from him a bit hesitantly.  “Yes, that’s exactly how I take it.  Thank you.”

“And an apple-cider doughnut, warmed, with cream cheese frosting?”  He was still proffering the bag, but only until he told her what it contained.

Tessa took the bag and peeked at the contents, sighing loudly. “You are a very bad influence.”

He chuckled, and the sound poured over her like so much heated frosting.  She could no more stop herself from looking at him now than she could stop the sun from rising in the East.  “How’d you know what I liked?  I’m fussy as all get-out, and you got it perfect the first time – even down to the doughnut.”  She left off that her last lover – not that that was what the man in front of her was going to become, of course – couldn’t seem to remember her birthday after five years, much less how she liked her coffee.

“I was behind you yesterday and heard you order it,” he answered, unabashedly confessing that he’d been eavesdropping on her.

For some reason, that idea made her blush furiously, and she added defensively, “Wow. You’ve got a good memory. I’m reallyparticular about my coffee.”

He didn’t look in the least concerned or annoyed by her idiosyncrasy, answering softly but firmly, “That’s okay.  I’m a particular man myself, especially when it comes to women.”

Tess’s mouth went Sahara dry at that, and she found she was having trouble swallowing because of it, so she took a big gulp of her coffee, scalding everything it touched in the process.

Smooth move, she chided herself, coughing violently.

Luckily, he decided to look around the place a bit and hadn’t noted her distress. “How long have you been open?” he asked casually as she tried to assess what she’d decided had to be third degree burns to her mouth.

“Nearly three years.”

“It looks like you’re doing okay.”

She had to smile a bit proudly.  “Better than okay, actually.  I’m ahead of where I’d thought I’d be.”

“Really?  Good on you, then.”  There was no trace of sarcasm in his tone whatsoever, as there would have been in Tighe’s if he was here.  “It’s not easy to get a small business going nowadays.”  His eyes settled on her in a look that was somehow much more intimate than she was really comfortable with, audaciously peaking her nipples from three feet away.  “I own the garage on the way out of town.”

“Maddox Motors?  I’ve seen it.”  So far she’d been lucky enough not to need him, but old Bessie was getting on in years – hell, she was already on in years.  She was at the portals of ancient, and it would be convenient to know somewhere to take her when she started showing signs of age, especially since he was within walking distance.  “How long have you been in that location?”

“Well, we’ve been there since about 1980, but I officially took it over from my Dad when I got back from a stint in Iraq about seven years ago.”

Somehow that wasn’t a surprising thing to hear from him.  He had a very military bearing, and with his regulation short sandy blonde hair he just .  .  .  looked like a soldier, somehow.  Tessa cleared her throat.  “Well, thank you for your service.”

“You’re welcome.”  No false modesty, no demurring, just flat, polite response.

He had yet to take his eyes off her, and Tessa’s entire body was beginning to flush, as she already knew her face was.  He took a step towards her, his eyes intent on hers.  “So, does risking life and limb for God and country get me a date with a pretty lady?” 

She couldn’t stop herself.  It just came out, force of habit.  “I don’t know.  You’ll have to find yourself a pretty lady to ask.”

It wasn’t as if she were ugly; she wasn’t.  But pretty?  Not really, if she was honest with herself, and she always tried to be.  She was .  .  .  plain at best.  She had probably come closest to pretty while she was living with Tighe, and was still attempting to keep herself up although she’d started neglecting some of the little things in this out-of-the-way town.   No more mani-pedis.  No more nylons or uncomfortably high-heeled shoes or slathering on makeup every morning.  There was no need.

After finding out that Tighe had been cheating on her for more than a year - and right under her nose at that - she had sworn off of men entirely and decided to live for herself. No excuses, no more looking for Mr. Right or even Mr. Right Now.  She could live fine without a man, and intended to do just that. Besides, she was just wary enough – even with Tighe - that she’d never really trusted any man enough to tell him what she really wanted out of a relationship.  She couldn’t imagine starting now, especially not with a man who – based upon his reproachful look at her disparaging comment about herself - honestly looked like he wouldn’t hesitate to tip her over his lap if she said or did something he didn’t cotton to.  The very thought sent a crimson flush across her face and chest.  She tried and failed to swallow down the lump of pure desire that had somehow lodged in her throat.

As she watched a thick eyebrow rise towards his hairline, she couldn’t suppress a delicate shudder;  her nipples remained embarrassingly, noticeably rock-hard beneath her blouse.

“I am asking a pretty lady,” he said firmly, taking another step towards her, soft voice belying the steel beneath it.  “I’m asking you, Tessa Martin - and I think you should consider your answer more carefully this time, because another one like that and you could find yourself in a heap of trouble.”

Chapter Two

Sean liked the way those unusually-colored eyes went wide when she was startled, and he was glad she was taking him seriously, if only unconsciously.  He wasn’t kidding when he said she’d get herself into trouble with him by running herself down, and she’d find that out soon enough if she agreed to date him.

By now, most women had backed well away from him, sputtering and stammering inanities and letting him know unequivocally that they wouldn’t be at all interested in the type of relationship he wanted, not that he had cause in the past decade to make such bold statements. He had never expected to be in a situation again where he would even glance at another woman.  It had been years since.....even now he couldn’t think about it. Women like he wanted - submissive women - didn’t grow on trees. And Sean wasn’t a man to settle. He’d told himself he’d not try again until he came across a woman who not only would yield to his natural dominance, but would crave it.

But there was something about the woman standing in front of him that he just couldn’t ignore – especially since she hadn’t retreated an inch as he’d slowly and deliberately come closer.  Even more intriguing, she didn’t appear to be in the least outraged by his suggestion that she would find herself in some sort of trouble if she continued to act in a way that he had prohibited. Instead, those impudent nipples of hers had begun to press just that much more against the confines of her pretty pink blouse, the pupils in those big round eyes had dilated just that much more, and he could see that she was already breathing rapidly as she stood there, gazing at him, as if waiting for him to do something.

“I want to take you out to dinner tomorrow night.  I’ll pick you up around seven.”

He watched her bite that full lower lip.  “I can’t,” came the soft reply.

“And why not?”  Sean didn’t alter his commanding tone. If there was a valid reason why she couldn’t go out with him, he wanted to know what it was.

“The store doesn’t close until eight.”

“Eight it is then.”  Before he could stop himself, he leaned down just a bit and pressed his lips to hers in a deliberately gentle kiss. Then, before she could really react to what he’d done, executed a perfect about-face and sauntered out the door.

Tess wasn’t exactly sure just what had transpired in the past few minutes.  Somehow she’d gotten herself a date for tomorrow night, and she was quite sure she really didn’t want one, especially not with a man who seemed to wear a cloak of dominance as if it were a second skin.  She’d never indulged that hidden side of her desire and now that it stared her in the eye, she wasn’t at all sure she should pursue it – at least not with a man like Sean Maddox.  She knew instinctively that he wouldn’t shy away from the role she had envisioned for the lover in her lifetime of haunting late-night fantasies.