“Where am I going?” Becca asked as she pushed through the swinging door to the front of the shop. One perfectly sculpted black brow rose above her unusual violet eyes.
“A self-defense class over at Fight Hard.”
“Work out with hot guys? I am so there!” Becca looked over at her boss with a mischievous grin. “Speaking of hot guys, Hammer is up front and he’s asking for you.”
A shiver of pleasure rippled through Kalista as she thought about seeing him again. She’d had a hard time falling asleep the night before since he had left her aching and wanting him. If not for her trusty vibrator, she would have never gotten to sleep. Still, it was a poor substitute for the real thing. Pulling off her pink apron, she smoothed down her hair and glared at her two friends who were grinning at her. “What?”
“Oh, nothing. You look perfect. Now, go get’em, tiger,” Zoe said with a wink, happy to see her friend looking so flustered. “I’ll just finish up my cupcake and show myself out the backdoor. Thanks for the cookies…now go get your man.”
“Stop it,” Kalista hissed good-naturedly, then pushed through the swinging door. The nervous smile of greeting froze on Kalista’s face as she saw Jared sitting at a table with a beautiful woman with long sunny-blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
Kalista recognized the other woman as Evelyn Beaumont, a local heiress with a large mansion at the far edge of town right by the water. She had seen the woman often enough when she came into the bakery, but Kalista didn’t know much about her except that she ran some sort of dog training facility at her home and had converted the huge stables in the back to a working kennel. She had also owned the plot of land next to hers with a large plantation-style building that she had just started running as a sort of boarding house for the numerous former-military men that seemed to pass through town.
Becca came through the door and bumped into her from behind, causing Jared to look over at them when she yelped. His dark eyes heated as he saw her and a smile spread across his face, making him even more impossibly good looking. Damn her hormones!
“There you are, Kali,” he said in his deep voice that seemed to vibrate straight to her clit. It was practically sinful what the man could do to her with one look.
Confused as to why he was he was there with another woman, she came out from behind the front counter and slowly walked toward his table. Self-doubt plagued her, but she tried to push it back. Jared was nothing like her ex, and he certainly wasn’t the type of man who would bring a date into her own shop to rub her nose in it. It was difficult though. Evelyn was so beautiful that Kalista found herself lacking in comparison.
As if sensing what she was thinking, he frowned and stood up, holding a hand out to her. When she was close enough, she placed her hand in his and was startled when he pulled her to him and pressed his lips lightly on hers. He gave a hum of pleasure, then kissed her again a little harder before he pulled back and smiled down at her.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” she answered breathlessly. Her heart was doing a happy dance in her chest at his public display of affection, and it eased some of the worry she’d been feeling.
“Kali, this is Evelyn Beaumont. Evie, this is Kali. Do you have some time to sit with us?”
Kalista looked over at Becca who was back manning the register and saw she and one of their part-time workers had everything in hand. “I’d love to join you. It’s nice to meet you, Evelyn.” It was almost unfair how beautiful the other woman was, Kalista thought with an internal sigh. To take her mind off of that she looked down at the table at their coffee and sweets and smiled. “I see you two went for sweets today.”
“Please, call me Evie,” she said with a laugh. “And I can’t seem to help myself. Every time I come in here I have to have one of your brownies. They’re like my crack. Me and my thighs hate you.”
Kalista laughter was cut off as Jared leaned closer to her. “I was in the mood for something vanilla and—” he took a little sniff of her neck and smiled. “Lavender. But I guess I’ll make do with my cinnamon roll.”
Kalista could feel the blush heating her cheeks and ducked her head a little. “I’ve been trying some new recipes using white chocolate and lavender.”
“You’ll have to let me try it later,” he murmured softly before he cleared his throat and raised his voice to a normal speaking level. “We just got done with our meeting over at the gym when Evie mentioned wanting to speak to you about something. She kept nagging, so I thought I would just bring her over so she could meet you.”