Chapter 15
It had become crystal clear to Eliot that subtle was not going to work on the Mayfield women. So, he’d decided to try a different tack. What he called Operation Sell! Sell! Sell!
As he swept the front walk entryway of the store a week later, he watched as it was implemented. A real estate agent named Gill Childers pulled up in front of the store. Completely ignoring Eliot as he’d been paid to do, he entered the store and walked up to the counter.
“Hello, ma’am. Are you the owner?”
Mae nodded, watching the man suspiciously.
Eliot smiled to himself. He would trust Mae’s instincts any day.
“My name is Gill—Gill Childers—and I would like to talk to you about your store. I have an offer that would knock your socks off! Would you like to hear it?”
“Well, my granddaughter runs the bus—”
“Say no more! Can I speak to this granddaughter? My client had authorized me to make this offer, but it is for a limited time only.”
“Sophie!” Mae called to the back, but Lonnie showed up. “Lonnie, go ask Sophie to come here, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.” And Lonnie hurried away.
A few minutes later, Sophie rolled to the front of the store, glancing first at Eliot, then the visitor. “Yes?”
“Hello, ma’am. My name is Gill—Gill Childers—and I have an offer that will knock your socks off. My client has authorized me to offer you…” He pulled out a card and handed it to her.
Sophie’s mouth dropped open. “For what?” Mae had come up behind her and Sophie handed over the card.
“Oh, good Lord,” Mae breathed, reading the number on the card.
“For this store, of course!” Gill answered Sophie’s question. “Now, being a strip mall, my client is assuming you don’t own the building, and in that case—”
“Yes we do.”
That announcement caused Eliot to look around, as well.
Gill seemed momentarily stumped. “Excuse me?”
“We were one of the first businesses here, and we were given the option to buy—we took it. We own the building.”
Eliot looked away, seeing Gill fight the urge to make eye contact. This was the problem with proprietary businesses, Eliot thought. Certain facts regarding their financial situations were hard to uncover.
“Well, that does not change the offer!” Gill rebounded. “The price on that card is for the business as it stands! You would just sign the dotted line, collect your check and walk out the front door.”
“Why?” Sophie asked.
“Location, my dear. Location, Location, Location. And my client needs this particular location.”
Sophie and Mae glanced at each other. “This is a ridiculous amount of money for a small bakery, Mr. Childers,” Sophie finally said.
“Like I said, my client needs this particular location—and he needs it today. What do you say?”
Sophie looked shocked. “Certainly, you don’t expect us to make this kind of business decision in a moment, do you?”
“Well, I need an answer immediately. This offer won’t last forever. My client is in a hurry to get moving on this.”
“Can I ask what he plans to do with the place? Continue to run it as a bakery? Or move everything out and create something different?”
“No offense, Ms.…?”
“Mayfield.”
“No offense, Ms. Mayfield, but that is a confidential matter. So when do you think I can have an answer?”
Mae bent and whispered something in Sophie’s ear. Sophie nodded in agreement. “Sorry, Mr. Childers, we need to know more. That is a great sum of money, enough to provide for my whole staff, but we can’t just sign over this store on a whim.”
“Of course not. Of course not. Tell you what. I will give you twenty-four hours to decide. I’ll be back around this time tomorrow, what do you say?”
Sophie glanced at her grandmother for confirmation. “I’d say you’re wasting your time, but you are certainly welcome to come back.”
“Good day, ladies.” He turned and, as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.
Eliot strolled over to Sophie’s chair. “Can I see?” he asked Mae, and she handed over the card. “Wow, that’s generous.”
Sophie’s eyes narrowed on the window. “Too generous. What is he up to?”
Mae shook her head. “Don’t know, but there is something shady about that character.”
Eliot wanted to scream in frustration, but held back. “Could it be that he is just doing what he said, trying to close a deal for a client who really, really wants this location?”
“For what?” Mae snapped. “One of those seedy bars where the women take off their clothes?”
Eliot shook his head. “Mama Mae, this is a strip mall, with a laundry service, dress store and video store. Who would want to put a strip club in here?”
She frowned at him. “I don’t know how those men think.”
“No,” Sophie said thoughtfully. “He wants it for something else. Or nothing.”
“What do you mean?” Eliot asked. Maybe his woman was too damn smart for her own good.
“It doesn’t make any sense. Why would he want us to just leave everything and walk out the door, unless he wanted the bakery? But if that’s the case, why the rush? It doesn’t make any sense.”
No, it didn’t. Not really. But Eliot had hoped they would be so impressed by the dollar figure, realizing that it would be enough to provide for the staff, as well, that they wouldn’t start asking those kinds of questions. But in the mad dash to get them out of there, Eliot had forgotten one critical thing about these two. It wasn’t about money, had never been about money. For Sophie it was about proving to her family once and for all that the bakery could be more than just a financial sponge soaking up every dollar in sight. And for Mae, it was about her husband’s memory and legacy. In the end, you couldn’t put a price on those kinds of ambitions. And Eliot knew already that the very talented and persuasive Mr. Gill Childers would ultimately get nowhere with these two. Which meant he was back at square one.
Later that night, as they lay together in Sophie’s little bed, Eliot continued to try to persuade her, but with no real energy. He’d already accepted defeat…at least for the moment.
“I was terribly shy.”
“Really?”
He nodded. True to her word, Sophie had continued with her one new thing every night. And Eliot was running out of insignificant generic facts about himself. “How about you?”
“I never really thought about it, but I guess I would be considered outgoing. I have plenty of friends and was always into some school thing. But still, I always liked being here more than hanging out with my friends. So, I guess in that way I was a little different.”
“Loving your grandparents is not different or odd.”
“In my family, it almost is.”
They lay spooned together. Eliot had placed a pillow beneath
her leg for support. “So, I assume you’re going to tell that real estate guy no?”
“Yes, although I doubt if anyone would ever offer us that much again.”
“Then why not take the offer?” He asked the question, even though he already knew the answer.
“Because it’s not about money. I mean, don’t get me wrong. Money is nice. We’re all in business to make money, but it’s not the only thing. We have to think about our staff, as well. In a small town like Selmer, jobs are few and far between as it is. Someone like you can go anywhere and find a job, but Wayne? With his record? Or Dante, with his lack of training in anything? It’s not just about me and Grandma and making a fat profit.”
He kissed her shoulder. “I know. That’s why I’m crazy about you.”
True to his word, Gill Childers showed up the next day and accepted the rejection of his offer with grace and kindness. And Eliot could see the handwriting on the wall.
The next night, Eliot had a dream. He stood before a wall of fire and knew that somewhere behind the wall was Sophie, her grandmother and everyone at Mayfield. But someone else was there.
His uncle blocked his path, and he was holding a burning torch. Eliot knew the only way he could get to them was to get past his uncle. But as he was trying to find a way, he heard screaming. Sophie’s screams as she cried out his name. There were other screams mixed in, but it was Sophie’s screams that tore out his heart.
But every time he moved toward the wall, his uncle would thrust the torch at him. It soon became apparent to Eliot that he would have to risk the flames if he wanted to save Sophie. Then he heard her again, crying out his name…
“El! El, wake up! You’re on my leg!”
Eliot opened his eyes to hear Sophie’s very real mournful cries. He looked down and realized he’d rolled over on her cast. Quickly he shifted, moving back over. “You okay?”
She sat up, cradling the leg in her arms. “It hurts like hell!” she whimpered.
“Baby, I’m so sorry.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him, not sure what else he could do. “You want to go to emergency?”
She shook her head instantly. “No, it will stop.” Then suddenly, she punched his arm. “You sleep too hard! I kept calling you and calling you, and you wouldn’t wake up.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He continued to hold her.
At her request, he went into the kitchen and brought back a glass of water. She took a couple of the pain pills the doctor had prescribed, and soon she was dozing in his arm again. This time, Eliot put the pillows between her legs and his, so he wouldn’t repeat the incident.
He knew his dream was not connected to Sophie’s aching ankle, and the disturbing images stayed with him straight through to the next morning. By the time he left her to change into clean clothes and prepare for the day, Eliot was certain he understood the symbolism of the dream. Time was running out.
Chapter 16
“After eight long weeks, finally!” Sophie glanced back at El with a cheeky grin. “Hurry up, Dr. Michelson. I have a weekend getaway waiting for me.”
“Sophie, I expect you to go home and rest on this ankle, not go gallivanting around Memphis.” As he spoke, the doctor’s attention was fixed on the saw as he cut through the cast. “But, then again, when do you ever listen to me,” he muttered.
“Don’t worry, Doc, I’ll take good care of her.” Eliot winked at her.
Dr. Michelson finally finished sawing, then used a large forceps-type device to gently pull the two sides apart, revealing a fully healed ankle. Placing the cast to the side, the doctor ran his hand over the ankle, checking all sides. “Perfect,” he finally pronounced. “Well, despite your bad behavior, the ankle still managed to heal correctly. You shouldn’t have any problems with it in the future, but if you do experience any pain let me know right away, understood?”
“Yes, sir.” She grinned from ear to ear, anticipating the
romantic weekend ahead of her. After the incident with Wayne, it didn’t take everyone else long to figure out something was going on between them. And though, no one ever said anything directly to either of them, the feel of eyes constantly on them was becoming annoying. Both needing a break from all the unasked questions. El had promised that as soon as her cast came off, he would take her away for the weekend. So she made sure her appointment to have the cast removed was on a Friday.
Less than an hour later, they were on the freeway headed to Memphis, and Sophie was feeling as if the world could not get any better. “So, what’s the plan this weekend?”
“I’ve developed what I call the three-Bpackage.”
“Three-B?”
He nodded, watching the road carefully all the while. “Yes, first we check into a bed-and-breakfast, a cozy little place on the river.”
“Is that one Bor two, for bedand breakfast?”
“That’s one. Then we enjoy dinner and some of the best blues in the country at a club downtown.”
“Hmm, sounds good so far. That’s Bnumber two. And three?”
“After we’ve enjoyed an evening of good food and great music, we come back to our cozy little bed-and-breakfast, and you…” He flashed her a quick grin. “Give up the booty.”
She laughed. “You sure can kill a romantic vibe.”
“What?” He frowned. “How is that not romantic?”
She shook her head. “Never mind. I can’t expect you to understand. So, why does a chef from Houston know so much about Memphis?”
“What makes you think I know so much about Memphis?”
“The three-Bpackage sounds like your standard get-laid combo.”
“It’s not.” He glanced over at her. “It was created just for you.”
“Really?”
“Believe it or not, before I came to work for you, I dedicated most of my time to work. I didn’t date much.”
“So what are you saying? Working for me inspires you to slack off?”
He chuckled. “No, but being with you does let me know that there are more important things in life than my career and ambition.”
“What about the married woman?”
“Who?”
She frowned. “The woman you had the affair with, the one who got you fired.”
“Oh, yeah—her. Temporary lapse in judgment.”
“Well, I can overlook that lapse, because it brought you to Selmer.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Just don’t lapse again.”
“Why would I, when I have Bnumber three to look forward to?”
Later than evening, they arrived at the bed-and-breakfast and were greeted by an older African-American couple, dressed in western garb, whose names were Roy and Dale. Sophie found the fact that the couple shared their names with the old Western movie and TV stars hilarious. Eliot, was not the slightest bit amused by the coincidence, but he did find her uncontrollable laughing fit funny. So in the end, they were both rolling around on the huge king-sized bed and laughing like a couple of lunatics.
They had reservations at the club for seven but made the mistake of deciding to shower together. One thing led to another, and they didn’t get out of the shower until seven-twenty. Eliot called the club and, luckily, they had another opening at nine.
They were dressed and ready to go when Eliot got a call on his cell phone. He stepped out into the hall to take it, which Sophie thought was strange, but she ignored it because her ankle was starting to hurt.
She attempted to stand on it, and began limping around the room hoping to build the strength in it. “Ouch!” She clutched the end of the bed, just as El was reentering the room.
“What’s wrong?” he rushed to her, and braced her against his side.
She forced a smile through the pain. “Nothing.”
El frowned down at her leg. “Is your ankle hurting?”
She shook her head. “No, not at all, let’s get ready to go.”
He stared at her for several long moments, and she fought to keep the pained expression off her face.
“Liar.” Suddenly, he reached behind her knees and swooped her up in his arms, carrying her to the side of the bed.
“El, we’re going to miss our reservation.”
“So be it. We’re not going anywhere with you in pain.” He gently placed her against the pillows at the head of the bed. And although she would never admit it, it felt good to be off her foot.
“El! I didn’t come all this way to sit in a hotel room!” She pounded her fist against the comforter, feeling childish as she did it, but the frustration was real. This was suppose to be their special weekend, and her stupid ankle was about to ruin it.
El went into the bathroom and came back with a warm, damp cloth and wrapped it around her ankle.
“Tell you what,” she ran her hand over his soft locks, “how about a compromise?”
He turned his head and looked at her. “This should be good. Let’s hear it.”
“Take me to the club tonight, and we can stay in the rest of the weekend.”
“And how do you propose to get to the club when you can’t stand?”
“I can stand.” She moved to get off the bed.
“No!”
Sophie stopped suddenly and her eyes widened at the harsh tone, and El quickly shook his head.
“Sorry, baby. I can’t stand to see you in pain.” He sat down beside her with a heavy sigh. “Tell you what, since it’s obvious you’re not going to give me any peace if we don’t go tonight. We’ll go, but I’m carrying you. Deal?”
She smiled widely. “Deal.”
He insisted on carrying her to the car, but Sophie didn’t mind. There were few places in the world she enjoyed more than being snuggled against his chest. And Dale and Roy thought the whole display was extremely romantic.
They had a slight disagreement when they arrived at the club after Sophie realized Eliot intended to carry her inside the club.
They compromised by having one of the club’s guest wheelchairs brought out to her.
Sophie was a little disappointed with the turn of the evening, because she’d been waiting over two months to dance with El, but he promised her they would have other chances, and she wanted to believe him.
The club was everything he told her it would be, with good food and great music. She’d never heard of the band and didn’t know why, considering how talented they were. The band played blues and their versions of many popular R & B songs.
A photographer came by and took their picture. El bought two copies, one for each of them. They shared a barbeque rib platter with all the trimmings. And by the time they left late that night, the band was starting to pack up their equipment.
When they got back to the bed-and-breakfast, Dale was the only one awake, and she was just waiting for them so that she could lock the door for the night. By the time El crawled into bed next to her, Sophie was certain she’d had the best day of her life.
“Trust me,” El was whispering in her ear, even as he tied her hands together with the silk scarf he’d pulled out of his overnight bag. He glanced down at her bare legs, then shook his head. “I really had my heart set on tying your feet, as well, but not with your ankle still bothering you,” he said.
Sophie lay naked beneath his straddling form, finding herself disturbingly aroused by the sense of helplessness the ties brought on. “Been thinking about this a lot, have you?”
“You have no idea,” he muttered, as he reached for another scarf to cover her eyes.
She shook her head. “No, El.”
He looked directly into her eyes. “Trust me, gorgeous. I would never hurt you.” He smiled. “All this will do is heighten your awareness.”
She did trust him. That was not the problem. It was the fact that she was enjoying this too much that she found most troubling.
“Can I?”
She stared into his eyes for a moment before she nodded her consent. He tied the scarf behind her head, effectively blocking
her sight. And he was right, because she was instantly more aware of his body over hers. The feel of his hard thighs against hers, his stiff erection laying against her stomach. Even his breathing seemed louder this way.
“You’ve got to trust me, gorgeous. That’s the only way you can fully appreciate this,” he whispered in her ear.
“I trust you,” she whispered back, feeling his weight leave the bed.
She heard a rustling noise, and then a few drops of heat touched her stomach. She gasped in surprise, but the heat quickly cooled and became a comfortable warm sensation. Oil.
And then she felt his hands sliding through the liquid warmth, spreading it all over her torso, her sensitive breasts and her shoulders. Then back down over her flat stomach to the curls covering her womanhood. He spent quite a bit of time just playing in her curls, drenching them in the oil, when all she wanted was for him to continue south. To touch her where she most wanted to be touched.
She spread her legs wide in invitation, and still he ignored her most essential part, continuing to toy with her curls, his thumb brushing briefly over her hypersensitive clit. Sophie bit her lip for fear of whimpering like an animal in need.
His weight shifted again, and she could feel his body over hers, legs to legs, chest to chest, and…he rubbed against her, and she almost shot off the bed in surprise. The feel of his whole body rubbing over her oily skin was incredible.
“You like that?” he whispered. Instead of waiting for an answer his mouth swooped down on hers, demanding, taking. Prying his way between her lips, he sucked her tongue into his mouth, and Sophie felt as if she could hardly bring air into her lungs for the intense sensation.
As soon as he released her mouth, she shouted her response: “Yes, oh yes!”
His lips wandered over her silk skin, kissing and touching along the way, sucking first one breast then the other into his mouth. Pushing them together with his wet fingers while his tongue wreaked havoc on both. Then, just when she thought she would die of the pleasure, he continued his stroll south. Moving
as if he had all the time in the world, when Sophie was feeling as if she were about to spontaneously combust at any minute.
The man was a demon to torture her with such sweet agony. Soon, she felt his hands on her legs, pushing them apart, and she held her breath in anticipation, as he kissed the insides of both thighs, ran his tongue through her curls, and finally plunged his tongue inside her.
“Oh, El! I can’t take it!” She twisted beneath his cruel mouth, trying to free her hands, needing to participate in this assault, wanting to hold his hands to her. Then she clamped her legs around his shoulders. The slight pain in her ankle was a forgotten memory as she pushed against his hungry mouth, feeding him, loving him, wanting more of him.
“Please, El!” she begged, hoping he would understand before it was too late, before she took flight without him. He understood, because suddenly, the whole impressive length of him was sliding deep inside her, stretching her, making room for himself and, as she so loved about him, demanding his place inside her.
Together they took to the skies as the release came down hard and heavy. Sophie bucked uncontrollably beneath him, as he held her to his body and absorbed the blows, pumping his essence inside her until he felt like nothing more than an empty vessel.
Leaving a sticky trail of juice across her midsection, he reached up and released the scarf knot that held her hands in place, then pulled the other scarf off her head. “Thank you,” he whispered against her shoulder. “Thank you for trusting me,” he muttered, before falling asleep on top of her.
Sophie lay there for several minutes more, trying to understand what her senses were telling her was the truth. That El was thanking her for more than just the sexual experience they’d shared…he was thanking her for something profoundly more. But she had no idea what.