Lush (38 page)
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you need? Will you be a lady of leisure while you’re not making
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us awesome food? You’re welcome to sit in while we work. You
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may not want to. It gets . . . intense sometimes. You’re welcome
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to ride horses or whatever too.”
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“I’m going to spend the time when I’m not with you all work-
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ing on recipes for my book.”
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“Awesome. In my kitchen? Even better.”
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“We’ll see. I don’t know if it’ll sell. But it seems to me a great
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opportunity to work on it while I’m getting paid.”
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She was practical. It was an attractive quality.
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“I’ll drive down Sunday night after the supper club and come
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home Thursday night.”
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“No, you won’t. I’ll fl y you up and back. No, don’t argue. I
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will worry about you the whole time if you drive. You can leave
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your car here and use mine when you’re at the ranch. Consider
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it part of your pay.”
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It would be nice not to have to face a long- ass drive after
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supper club or on Thursday night up to Bainbridge.
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“Okay. If you’re sure it won’t interrupt your work schedule.”
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“So we have a deal?”
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“Yes.”
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He took the pad and pen, setting them aside, and then shook
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her hand. Then he sat back and gave her the look. Oh, that look
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of his. She was in trouble, but it was the good kind.
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“So, I was thinking about how the traditional handshake
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really seemed boring.”
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“That so?”
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“Yeah. I think sealing the deal in a whole ’nother way would
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be much more fun.”
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Lauren Dane
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“Why do I get the feeling your idea involves nakedness?”
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“Because you know me really well. I’d like to know you even
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better. In a carnal sense.” He crawled over her as she lay back
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on her couch.
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“I’m perfectly all right with that.”
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He kissed her lazily because they had time.
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He kept from lying totally against her, holding himself away
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because the lure of her body would have rushed him and he
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wanted to cruise around the kiss. Wanted it to be a lazy, Sunday-
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afternoon drive instead of a race.
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She sighed into his mouth, her palms sliding up his arms, up
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over his shoulders. It made him hot that she dug his body the
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way she did. Made him feel invincible to be desired by a woman
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like her. Not just for his talent and his personality or whatever,
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but that sort of raw greed for his body.
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She opened to him easily, nipping his bottom lip, laving the
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sting enough to chip away at his resolve.
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He managed to hold on until she pushed on his shoulders.
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When he pulled back, breaking the kiss, she scrambled up, pull-
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ing her shirt up and off, bending and tossing her underpants off
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to the side, leaving her in a skirt and her bra.
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Struck dumb, he kept motionless until she tossed the bra over
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her shoulder. Then he moved to sit and she straddled his lap.
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“Are you going to ravish me?”
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She nibbled on his earlobe and then down his neck. “Yes, I
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think so.” Then she grabbed his belt and made quick work of
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getting his jeans open and his cock out.
28S
“I think you should be nice and ready fi rst.”
29N
The smile she gave him sent shivers through his system.
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“That so?”
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She traced his lips and then he sucked her fi ngers into his
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mouth. She leaned in close. “Get them wet.”
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He groaned and she caught her lip between her teeth. Which
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was hot enough to watch until she fl icked her fi ngertips over her 05
nipples, which hardened under her touch.
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One hand slid down her belly and up under her skirt. He
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couldn’t see what she was doing there, but he knew. In his head,
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he knew her fi ngers played against her pussy, dipping inside and
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then back up to her clit.
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Imagining it may have been as hot as watching it. And he
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liked to watch plenty well. The peekaboo nature of her hand,
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out of sight, and the fi ngers on her nipple made him so hard he
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ached.
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“Are you wet?”
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“Mmm hmm.” She hummed, her head falling back, spilling
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that mass of dark curls all down her shoulders.
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He surrounded her fi ngers on her nipple with his own, and
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then moved to the other nipple. He tugged the way he knew she
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liked. Knew she got hotter and wetter.
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One of his hands followed the path she’d taken earlier, fi rst
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suiting up because when she came he planned to get in her cunt
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as soon as possible. And then he slid up under that skirt and to
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her pussy. He traced circles around her gate as she worked her
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clit, slowly easing in and back out. Over and over until she came
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in a hot rush against his palm, her head dropping on his shoul-
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der as he embraced her.
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“Now then.”
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All her post- climax lethargy wisped away when he pressed
N29
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Lauren Dane
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into her in one quick, hard thrust, fi lling her in a way that was
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familiar and yet exciting. She knew his shape and size and her
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body adjusted as it welcomed him.
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But he wasn’t content to let her set the pace. Instead, he kept
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controlling hands at her waist, holding tight, guiding her up and
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down at
his
speed.
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Not that she had any complaints. There was something so
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incredibly hot about the way he did it, about the way he moved
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her exactly how he wanted. All that laid- back sexuality sort of
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exploded into something else. Something harder and more raw.
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And that worked too.
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It really, really worked.
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What worked even better was the way he walked his fi ngers
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over to her pussy and made her come twice more until she was
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nearly boneless, totally wet and sensitized. Then he began to
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thrust up as he pulled her down. Harder and harder, sending her
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breasts to bouncing and a fl ush working over her skin.
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And then he came, her name a snarl, his teeth fi nding her
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shoulder, sinking in until she gasped. Not from pain.
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“That’s what I call sealing the deal.” He kissed her chin, then
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her lips.
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28S
29N
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o starting November fourth I’m going to be in Hood
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River four days a week. I’ll be back for supper club fi rst
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thing Friday or late Thursday and I’ll leave again Sunday
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night.”
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Daisy looked over from where she’d been hanging a new piece
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of art to replace the one she sold the day before. “Wow.”
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“I told you he asked me to be their personal chef while they
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worked on their new album.”
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“You did. And you said you were trying to fi gure out the
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catering gig thing too. What about that?”
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Daisy didn’t word it in an accusatory way at all.
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“Local jobs are good. I earn plenty at them. But when I have
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to go to Seattle it costs me more in time and gas, travel, all that N29
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stuff. I’ve been looking over my numbers and for most of my
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jobs, like dinner parties and that sort of thing, I’m only barely
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making more than even. And with traffi c and the ferry and all
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that, it eats up a lot of time. Plus, you know, I’m sort of sick of 05
people like Kathy Bonebright.”
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“I can’t even with that woman. Such a bitch.”
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“Yes, but your life now means you have to deal with people
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like her more often. And you soldier on. Because you love Levi.”
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Daisy blushed. “Honestly, with the exception of a few, mostly
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people have been nice. It’s probably because they’re afraid of
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Levi’s mom and Jonah. Levi told me Jonah cut this woman who
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he overheard talking about me to her knees. Not literally of
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course, he’s way too smooth to need to resort to that. He’s got
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such a way about him. If you think Levi is an alpha male, you
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just need to spend a few minutes with Jonah Warner to know
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the true meaning of alpha male.”
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Jonah Warner was indeed one hunky alpha male. That Levi’s
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older brother had Daisy’s back made Mary happy.
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“Anyway, so I spoke with those two folks who had approached
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me about being their personal chef. I’m going to be doing pre-
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pared meals for them. They’ll come pick them up here on Sat-
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urdays. I’ll make a week’s worth in advance. I’m holding off on
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non- Bainbridge catering gigs for now. And trying to stick to
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weekends only.”
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“So do you foresee this personal chef thing as a long- term
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goal?”
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“I don’t know. I love making food. I love the supper club but
28S
I don’t know if I’d want to do it every day like with a restaurant, 29N
you know? And I like catering, but there’s not a huge margin of
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profi t for me once I deal with staff and all that stuff. Being a
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personal chef would be interesting, but I don’t know if I’d want
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it in the long term. But I’m trying it both ways. Down in Hood
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River with Damien and then up here with the pre- prepared
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meals. I have the time and the opportunity to try things out. I’m
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going to take that gift.”
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Daisy nodded. “All right, that totally makes sense.”
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“And while I’m not working for Damien, I’ll be working on
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the cookbook.”
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Daisy’s eyes lit. “So exciting!”
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“We’ll see. I want to do it either way. If my agent can’t sell it,
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I may do some small print runs and sell it here at Tart and via
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mail order. I have no idea if it’ll fl y. People may not care a bit 13
about my recipes. But I have the time so I’m going for it. When
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it’s a little more defi ned I’m going to talk with Gillian about
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some marketing and logos and stuff.”
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Gillian was an amazing graphic designer. She’d done the
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branding for Tart and Mary loved it. She’d done some stuff for
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Luxe when Mary had run the truck so it was natural she’d go
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back for the cookbook.
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“And this will give you an idea if this thing with Damien can
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work. I mean if you’re down there more. Living with Levi is a
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new challenge. I mean it’s good, don’t get me wrong, but seeing