“You’re not a native of Black Oak?” Why had he thought she was?
“I am native,” she said, drawing the words out. “I think I was even in a few classes with your sister, Maya. But I left for college and haven’t been back much since.”
“So why’d you get a job here? You’re interested in this New Age stuff?”
She looked toward the dangling beaded doorway with shelves of crystal balls lining either side and rolled her eyes.
“Interested? I don’t know about that. More like indoctrinated.” At his arched brow, she shrugged and admitted, “Cassiopeia is my mother.”
He might only have a vague recollection of the store, but he definitely remembered Cassiopeia. Third-generation woo-woo queen, all the guys in high school had had crushes on her. Bodacious, outrageous and eccentric, the outgoing redhead had a scary handle on that psychic stuff she sold to her customers.
“I remember your mom. She did readings at my senior carnival.”
“Mine, too.” Pandora didn’t sound nearly as intrigued as he’d been. The son of a colorful character, Caleb could sympathize.
Talk about the apple falling so far from the tree it could make orange juice. Now that he knew what to look for, he could see the resemblance in the curve of her cheeks, the rounded eyes more hazel than her mother’s emerald. And, of course, the red hair, again, more muted in Pandora’s case. It was as if she’d stepped into a shadow instead of embracing the full wattage her mother liked to wave around.
Interesting.
Even more interesting was that Caleb was finding muted about the sexiest thing he’d ever encountered. He just couldn’t figure out why since he’d always been a Technicolor kind of guy.
“You know what I heard while we were still in the store, then again while you were in the back getting cake?”
“You mean while you were hiding back here?” she corrected.
Caleb grinned, glad to see she had claws. It was always more fun to tangle with a wildcat than a pussycat.
“I heard people saying you serve up something besides food back here.”
This time the color wasn’t subtle. Nope, she blushed a hot, brilliant red. Her eyes flew to the store, then to the cake before meeting his gaze. A stubborn line furrowed between her brows.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she dismissed.
“You’re a horrible liar.”
“A gentleman would take the hint and change the subject.”
“Sweetie, I’ve never worried about being a gentleman.”
“Obviously.”
Grinning, Caleb decided it was time to change gears. He stood, and with a glance at the still-milling crowd in the store, decided to take his cue from his father and head out the back way.
“Walk me out?” he said, making the demand sound like a request.
“The back? The door’s right there,” she pointed out. But she got to her feet anyway.
Caleb didn’t know why he was pushing it. He’d already declared her off-limits, and while he was a guy who was all about pushing boundaries, he never crossed lines he, himself, drew.
But right now, he didn’t care.
“So is it true?” he asked, heading toward the door, counting on her being trapped by good manners into following.
“Is what true?”
“Do you really serve aphrodisiacs?”
She ground to a halt so fast, she teetered in her flat-heeled boots. “Don’t believe everything you hear,” she said dismissively.
“So, it’s a lie?”
“It’s more of an…exaggeration,” she decided. “After all, who’s to say whether aphrodisiacs are real or whether they’re a figment of the imagination?”
“I have a really good imagination.” He reached out and took her hand, lifting it to his mouth.
“What are you doing?” she asked with a gasp, tugging. But he didn’t let go.
“You have chocolate,” he told her, “just…here.”
He swiped his tongue over her knuckle. Her eyes went heated, her breath shuddered and she leaned against the wall with the cutest little mewling noise.
In an instant, Caleb went from amused to rock-hard. An overwhelming urge to touch her, to taste her, washed over him.
Never a man to ignore his gut, he went with the feeling. Stepping forward, the rich taste of chocolate still on his lips, Caleb pressed her body between his and the chilly glass. One hand on either side of her head, he leaned closer.
“This is crazy,” she breathed, twisting her hands together at her waist. But she didn’t pull away. Instead, she lifted her chin.
That’s all the encouragement he needed.
Holding her gaze captive, he brushed his lips over her soft, sweetly moist mouth. He slid his tongue along her lower lip, then gently nibbled at the cushioned flesh.
Passion throbbed, urging him to take it deeper, to go faster. But he resisted.
For the first time in forever, Caleb felt as if he’d come home. Even as the sexual heat zinged through his body like lightning, he relaxed. Need pounded through him, making him ache. But he was at peace.
It was that confusion more than any desire to stop that had him pulling back. He stared, waiting for Pandora to open her eyes. In them he saw confusion, hunger and a hint of fear.
The same as he was feeling.
“You might want to go easy on that cake,” he suggested, brushing his knuckles over her cheek before forcing himself away. Stepping back from the warm, soft curves of her body was harder than it should have been. Way too freaking hard. Caleb frowned, not sure what the hell was going on here.
Hand on the doorknob, he looked back. She was still leaning against the wall, her breath ragged and her eyes huge.
“Like I said, I’m in room seventeen. Come on by if you want to do something about that interest. Or serve up something a little hotter than cake.”
4
“I’LL HAVE THE PASTA SPECIAL, the house salad with raspberry vinaigrette and the house white,” Kathy ordered over the melodic jingle of crystal and silver.
“And you, madam? What would you like?”
“I’d like what’s in room seventeen,” Pandora muttered, staring blindly at the menu.
“Beg your pardon?”
“What’s in room seventeen?” Kathy prodded with a nudge of her toe under the white linen-covered table.
Playing back what she’d said, Pandora scrunched her nose in a rueful grimace. God, she couldn’t get Caleb Black out of her head. His intense gold eyes, his sexy swagger and oh, baby, those magic lips.
He’d tasted so good. So enticing. Like the most deliciously decadent chocolate éclair. Rich and tempting and mouthwateringly hedonistic. All she had to do was close her eyes and she could relive the sweet slide of his mouth over hers, her body heating instantly at the memory.
“Dory?”
Pandora blinked. Damn, she’d done it again. Spaced off into Caleb fantasyland. She’d been taking that trip over and over and over for the past two days. She’d just bet his body was a wild amusement park, too. One she was in desperate danger of knocking on the door of room seventeen to beg to ride.
“Pandora!”
Pandora winced and gave the waiter an apologetic smile and said, “Sorry, I’ll have the same thing.”
Not that she had any idea what Kathy had ordered.
Clearly clued in to big news by Pandora’s dinginess, Kathy leaned forward on both elbows and demanded with her usual rapid-fire pace, “What’s going on? You’ve got news, don’t you? How’s the store doing? Have you put your stamp on it? Do you love the café angle? Are people doing the deed on the tables thanks to that menu we came up with?”
Pandora’s fingers tapped a rhythm on the table as she pondered.
“Well?” Kathy used one perfectly manicured finger to poke Pandora in the arm.
“I was waiting to see if you had more questions,” she replied with a wicked grin.
“Cute. Now spill.”
She’d called Kathy to meet her for lunch for just this reason, to spill the dirty deets about Caleb Black and his hot lips. Her friend was the only person she could tell, because not only was Kathy a great sounding board, she was sane. She’d be the voice of reason and keep Pandora from doing something insanely stupid, like chasing a man who was totally wrong for her. But she’d also keep Pandora from chickening out if her idea—and Caleb—were actually doable.
But now that the moment of truth was here, she couldn’t quite share. Wasn’t sure she was ready for this kind of risk. So she sidestepped.
“The store is actually doing well. There’s a ton of business. The new café is bringing in lots of customers. They’re shopping in the store, heck, even the online storefront is getting a lot more traffic. Sales are up forty percent over this time last year and I’ve banked almost enough to cover the quarterly tax payment.”
Pressing her lips tight to stop the bragging, Pandora waited for a reaction. She was a little embarrassed at how proud she was of the store. Even more embarrassed at how much she wanted people, any people—but especially people in Black Oak—to know she was kicking butt. To know that she wasn’t a failure.
“Wow,” Kathy said with a huge grin, clapping her hands together in delight. “I told you it would work. You’re totally rocking the businesswoman gig. I’m excited for you.”
“I wouldn’t say rocking it,” Pandora said, blushing a little. “But it is going so much better than I’d expected. I thought I was going to have to work a lot harder to convince people that oysters, strawberries and asparagus would make their love lives more exciting. But I barely had to advertise. Just opened the café, showed the menu and once word got out, it’s been packed.”
“Beats little blue pills, right?”
Pandora laughed, leaning back in her chair and letting the soothing elegance of the restaurant wash over her.
“Oh, yeah, I have it on good authority that I’m way ahead of the little blue pill,” she agreed with a grin. “Do you know how much I now know about sexual aids for the elderly? I mean, yes, the customers are all ages, but it’s the elderly that want to share.”
Pandora paused while the waiter set a basket of sourdough bread and a dish of roasted garlic and olive tapenade on the table. As soon as he left, she continued.
“They are so grateful and excited about the aphrodisiacs—and to give them credit, about a place to get killer desserts—that they seem to have a need to fill me in on their newfound vigor, enthusiasm, length…?. It’s TMI run amok.”
Kathy choked on her wine. “Length?”
Pandora’s brow quirked, then as she realized what Kathy must be thinking, she giggled. “Eww, no. I meant how long their little trysts are lasting now. Apparently chocolate cake is accredited with an extra twenty minutes of good lovin’.”
“And they never discovered the power of chocolate before?”
“Not naked.”
This time it was Kathy who wrinkled her nose.
“It sounds like you’ve had plenty of entertainment. Leave it to Black Oak to stay lively.”
“Yep, the town is chock-full of characters.” Pandora hesitated, then took another fortifying sip of wine. “Including Tobias Black’s kids. Do you remember them?”
“Ooooh, baby,” Kathy said with a low-throated growl. “I had one memorable night with Gabriel right after graduation, remember? I still consider that my introduction to real pleasure, if you know what I mean.”
Pandora winced. Maybe she really did have a sex-confessional sign floating over her head. Before Kathy could share details, she changed the subject. “Did you know the rest of his family?”
“Not so much. Maya is a little younger than we are, Caleb a few years older than Gabriel. Their mom died when they were really little and I think their aunt tried to get custody but Tobias wouldn’t let them go. I remember my mom saying he might not have done them any favors since the boys ran pretty wild. He used to travel a lot, and sometimes he took the kids, but mostly they stayed home on their own.” She frowned, sopping up oil with her bread before picking it apart in tiny little bites. “They had a few minor brushes with the law, teenage things, but nothing major. I remember they were scary smart in school, though. Like they didn’t even have to study to ruin the curve, you know?”
Mulling this over, Pandora nodded.
“Why? Are you selling bed-y-bye snacks to old man Black? Now,
that’s
a guy who’s aged well. Talk about a hottie. I’d think he’d have little need for a chocolate-coated pick-me-up.”
Mr. Black? A hottie? Pandora wasn’t sure what to say to that. It wasn’t that she didn’t agree with Kathy, because Tobias Black was definitely a good-looking man. But it was kinda creepy thinking about him that way when she was nursing a serious case of the hots for his son.
“If he’s as good a kisser as his son, I’m sure he doesn’t,” Pandora agreed, nibbling at her own piece of bread and nervously waiting for the reaction. Once upon a time, she’d have relied on her own ability to read a person, to gauge their body language, and had trusted her own judgment. But now? Now all she was sure of was that she couldn’t be trusted.
The question was, did that mean she shouldn’t trust her lust for Caleb? Or her fear of him?
Kathy gave a gratifying gasp, tossed what was left of her bread on her plate and leaned forward to grasp Pandora’s arm. “Spill. All the details. Which brother, how was it, where’d you do it and were you naked?”