Cherished (26 page)

Crimson and vivid green mosaic created the outline of a woman’s body. Paper and pen and ink gave her more detail. Her arms arched above her head, wrists bound.

“Good wow?”

Mary turned. “Yes. Really good wow. Daze, this is crazy good. Hot. Gorgeous. I love it.”

She grinned and hugged Mary tight. “Thank you. I don’t know. It’s not my usual thing but it…it just came out of me.”

“When the others see this, there will be a fight to see who gets to buy it. I’d try to snag it now but then everyone would whine.” Mary winked.

“I really do need to have more buyers than you guys. Not that I don’t appreciate it and all.”

Mary laughed. “Girl, you think we pity-buy your art? One of these days the stuff we snagged at a bargain will be worth enough to get our kids through college. We’re smart. And lucky to have such a talented friend.”

Pride warmed Daisy. She was lucky in her friends. “You’re fabulous. I’m going to enter it for art walk.”

“Oh! Such a great idea. If they turn you down, they’re idiots.”

Art walk had started as an informal thing some local artists had started five years before and now it was a regular event. Each quarter they had a themed one with specially chosen pieces on display in front windows all over town. Daisy had been dreaming about her work being in one of those windows ever since.

She’d grown up in her grandmother’s shadow. Which was overwhelmingly a blessing. She’d had a great example to follow. Wonderful advice. A teacher, a critique partner at times. Her biggest cheerleader and also her harshest taskmaster.

But sometimes people seemed to believe she was only doing well because her grandmother opened doors for her. They took one look at Daisy, noted her age and wrote her off.

She wanted her successes to be something she made on her own. She appreciated her grandmother’s help and advice a great deal. Never felt a need to apologize for it. But she craved independence in so many ways, having people take her seriously for her work was one of her ultimate goals.

Chapter 3

Levi wandered through the store. Dumb to go grocery shopping when he was hungry, he knew. But he’d been in one meeting or hearing after the next and his fridge was bare. He avoided the frozen aisle, saving it for last when he wouldn’t fall on the jumbo boxes of popsicles like a starving man. Or maybe he would. At least he didn’t have to cook popsicles.

The last week had left him a little ragged. Familial obligations right and left. A luncheon for his mother’s pet project—a program to provide pro bono legal services for survivors of family violence. There had been many just a decade before, but continued cuts to social programs had devastated most and left the very few limping along on triage with long wait lists for women who didn’t have the time to wait.

And then more wedding stuff for Mal. Dinners and fittings. Silly things he could have done on his own but for whatever reason Gwen made into one event after the next.

The thought of his brother kowtowing to the woman for the rest of his life made Levi tired. Malachi was smarter than this
usually. She was a beautiful woman, but there were other beautiful women out there. She was shallow and petty. Their mother despised Gwen, which might be part of her appeal to Mal. All in all, dealing with any of the wedding stuff took a few stiff drinks and cotton in his ears to drown it all out.

Work of course. His uncle was nearing retirement. He had no kids of his own so the work was being split between Levi and his oldest brother Jonah. He’d been part of several different meetings with myriad clients to introduce himself and begin that handoff.

It was Friday night and he planned to make some soup and a sandwich and watch
Doctor Who
on the DVR while he polished off a few beers. And then he planned to sleep until at least ten the next morning.

A fine plan.

The produce section loomed to the left. Yes, apples and some bananas for smoothies. He grabbed them by rote.

Then he stopped dead in his tracks to admire.

A woman in formfitting yoga pants was bent at the waist, peering at something. She also had on a scoop-necked T-shirt and bent the way she was, her tits mounded up at the top of the shirt as he could also see the edge of her bra. It wasn’t as if he was a pervert, but a woman with that much lush beauty on display wasn’t something he’d feel bad looking at.

Her eyes were closed as she held a piece of fruit to her nose and breathed it in. Her nails were done a shiny red and then he realized who it was when she opened her eyes and her gaze locked on his as she straightened and stood.

“Hello, Levi.” She put the fruit in a brown paper bag and tucked it into her basket.

“Daisy.”

They stood close, just staring at the other.
Goddamn
, she was hot. In the dress she’d worn in the dance class the week before she’d been sexy and retro. But formfitting worked for her just as well.

“Like a bad penny.”

He had to tear his attention from her breasts to figure out what she’d said. “What?”

“You keep turning up. Like a bad penny. Have you never heard the saying?” She cocked her head and he flushed at the long expanse of her neck, wanting to touch.

“How old are you?” He actually blurted this and then was horrified.

Her head tipped then, her hair falling back as she laughed.

“God, that was rude. I’m sorry. It’s just…” He licked his lips. What the hell did he think he was doing?

“I’ll answer your question. On one condition.”

He stepped a little closer because he wanted to so badly. “And that is?”

“I’ll only answer if you’re attempting to ascertain my age because you’re going to ask me to dinner or drinks.”

He liked how bold she was. Liked the way she flirted.

“But not otherwise?”

Her smile brought out her dimples.

She shook her head slowly. “Otherwise it’s not your business.”

“All right. Point taken. How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

Christ. Twenty-four? She was nearly twenty years younger than he was. He needed to turn around and walk away. And yet he continued to stand there. This couldn’t go anywhere. She was too young. Too everything.

And damn if he didn’t want a taste. Damn if he didn’t want to see if that submission she showed while dancing with him could extend into other parts of her life.

“And so?” She blinked up at him with a challenge.

He was about to say no thanks, or still trying to talk himself into saying it when he said, “Can you cook? I can’t except for sandwiches.” He sighed. “What I mean is, I’m starving but I’ve
eaten out for the last week except for a family dinner over the weekend. I’d like home cooking but the best I can offer you is soup and grilled cheese. If you cooked well, I’d prefer that.”

She laughed again. “I’m not the best cook in the world. But lucky for you, my friend is one of those talented cooks and she brought me a huge amount of food just this morning. I can’t tell you what any of it is. I just tucked it all into my fridge. But I can guarantee whatever it is you’ll love.”

“And you live in your own place?”

“No. Of course not. I live in a dorm with all my college pals. We play beer pong and have pillow fights in our underpants while giggling.”

He’d been about to frown at her until she made the pillow fighting comment and then he went there in his head and had to fight off a hard-on at the thought.

She handed him a business card. “My house is here. Well, not the gallery part. I live in a small house on the same lot. Mine is the one with the blue shutters. You can meet me there in a bit. I need to take these figs to the same friend who brought me the food this morning. I’ll be home in about thirty minutes.”

“All right. I’ll see you then.”

She waved and he watched her head to the front to check out. At least he had time to run his own groceries home first.

Daisy knocked and went inside when she heard Mary call out. “Hey, I was at the market and I saw figs on sale.” She held up the bag and Mary took them with a delighted sound before she kissed Daisy’s cheek and hugged her.

“Awesome! I’ve been working for the last two days on a few new recipes with figs. Stay and be my tester.” Mary drew her into the large kitchen where Mary’s brother Cal and their friend Jules were already seated.

“Hey gorgeous!” Jules hopped up to come and hug Daisy.

“Hey you.” She hugged Jules back and then moved to drop a kiss on Cal’s cheek. “I can’t stay. I have…I guess it’s a date.”

“You guess?” Jules’s pretty features darkened.

“It’s this guy I met in a class. Or it wasn’t my class, I was subbing in the class and he was in it by mistake and he left and I left.”

“Oh, hot guy in the suit. Yum.” Mary put the figs on the counter.

“Yes, him. I just saw him at the grocery store. I’m going to make him dinner. Or actually serve him your food, which is better. I told him it wasn’t my cooking all up front and everything.” She added this when Jules’s brow went up.

“Girl, I don’t care about that. Who is this guy? You’re letting a near stranger come to your house?”

“He’s some uber professional hot dude. If I end up dead and stuffed in a freezer, tell ’em some pretty guy named Levi Warner saw me last.”

“Don’t make fun.” Jules glowered and Daisy hugged her, loving how protective they all were.

“I’m not making fun of how you care about me. But he seems wary because of the age thing. It’s dinner, not an engagement.”

“He’s legit.” Cal sipped his beer. “Warner family is a big deal in some circles. They’ve got a law firm in Seattle. He’s got a small office here as well.”

“Is he throwing shade on you guys? I will totally kick him out if he is.”

Cal laughed. “No, baby, but thank you. He does land use stuff. Not anywhere near what we do. He’s even sent some of his local people to us when they needed representation on issues he doesn’t do. But he’s older than you are.”

“He is.”

Everyone made a deal about her age. Usually until they got to know her. It used to bother her more than it did by that point. At
the beginning of Delicious, she was just eighteen years old. Gillian and Jules were already close friends. Mary and her brothers too because they lived right next door. Daisy had been the kid who ran errands for them. She’d made extra money in high school working for Jules’s parents at their cafe so she knew them all. Liked them and wanted to be part of their circle. So she’d just done it. Showed up. And they’d let her in and they’d all grown close and now six years later she was one of them, twenty-four or not.

“Like how much older?”

Daisy shrugged. “He looks mid-thirties. But he’s got one of those faces some men have. Could be up to fifty. Though I don’t think so.”

Cal interrupted. “He’s got to be forty or so. He was ahead of me at UW. He and I both went to law school there. What’s a forty-year-old man want with a twenty-four-year-old?”

Daisy indicated her body. “Dude. I mean, come on. Twenty-four-year-old boobs.”

Cal blushed furiously as Mary and Jules laughed.

“Look, it’s dinner. He’s not a creep. I’d know. I can always tell. He’s hot. We had chemistry. That’s all we’re talking about right now. And I need to run. He’ll be at my house in ten minutes.” She hugged and kissed everyone before heading out again and back home.

Truth was, she found herself deliciously intrigued by Levi Warner.

He was nothing like any man she’d been with before. Distinguished, she thought as she put her bags down in the kitchen and headed to her closet to find something to change into. He made her want to dress up to please his eye. Which was interesting in and of itself.

It was too late for a full new outfit and all that. But she could do better than yoga pants. She found some trousers and a shirt to wear over the tee she had on. A quick brush of teeth, some lipstick
and a braid of her hair and she was ready by the time he knocked on the door.

She’d even had time to light some candles so the house smelled good when she opened her door to find him standing on her stoop with a huge bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine.

“Come in.” She took the flowers and led him to the kitchen, just a few steps away. “Thank you.” She loved that he’d chosen a bunch of colorful wildflowers. They went perfectly with the vase she’d finished up a few months ago.

“I brought wine.” He held up a bag. “And some beer too. I wasn’t sure what you’d be serving.”

“Put them here on the counter. Let me see what I’ve got. I just walked in. If you’d like, you can put some music on.”

He wandered off, looking around and probably thinking she didn’t notice it. The house was where her grandmother used to live and work after her grandfather had died. But she was in her late eighties now and lived in her parents’ house. She and Daisy shared a workspace out back.

So the little house had become hers.

Little Dragon began to play through her speakers. She watched him pause to listen and then nod to himself as if he found it acceptable. This was a good sign.

She pulled out the containers Mary had left, peeking in and taking sniffs as she peeled the lids back.

“Mmm, pulled pork. Do you eat pork?”

He moved to her and she had no choice but to freeze in place. He was too much and not enough all at once and she didn’t know how to process. So intense she wanted to run and rub herself all over him at the same time.

He was the most intense man she’d ever been attracted to. Though, attracted was a lightweight word for the way he simply assumed ownership of all her parts, leaving her mentally panting. And he hadn’t even touched her yet!

He got even closer to look into the container she held. “I do.”

Licking her lips, she stepped back to grab plates and put things into the microwave.

“Sit. I’ll get you something to drink. We’ve got pulled pork, which will go awesome with the brioche she put in with it. Shrimp salad of some kind. Don’t know what she calls it, but it’ll be good. Other little puffy things and some crunchy bits and bobs.”

“Beer please.”

He watched through hooded eyes as she moved around the small space and served him. Watched as she tipped the glass when she poured the beer. Watched as she automatically dished him up a plate and handed it to him along with a linen napkin she casually put on his lap.