“Do you live near the boardwalk?” he asked her. She looked at him sideways.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t know you.”
He couldn’t help but to stare at her. Her eyes were mesmerizing, just like the rest of her. She was very attractive and young. He felt this tingling in his chest. He identified it as concern maybe because she had looked like she might pass out. He didn’t want to just walk away, but he didn’t want her to think he was some pervert.
“Sorry. Force of habit. I’ll leave you to your lunch,” he said, even though she’d chowed it down already. She must have been starving. She looked thin, but still shapely. Why did he think for a moment she was hiding something?
He got up was about to walk away when he noticed the look of relief on her face. She was up to something. What the hell was it and why did he even care?
He walked away but didn’t head back to his truck, instead he mingled through the crowds and kept an eye on her. He told himself it was because he was concerned. He wouldn’t want a young, attractive woman like her to pass out from heat exhaustion and have some random guy come to her aid. Again he had that tightness in his chest. Why would he care if some random guy got to touch her, hold her in his arms?
He cursed under his breath and continued to watch her. Should he go back and flirt? Maybe try to get her number?
Instantly the idea of someone as beautiful and sweet as her seeing his scars caused a numbing sensation to expand over his body and make certain parts deflate, including his ego.
“Forget her and walk away,” he whispered.
* * * *
Nina stood by the railing and watched all the good-looking men enter the restaurant and café called Sullivan’s. Cindy wasn’t kidding when she said some of the best-looking first responders hung out there after their late shifts or even during the day. She should have gotten a clue after seeing that attractive older arson guy at the table near the pizza place. That guy was intense and attractive in such a way that she felt a little funny. Well, maybe not funny, but intrigued. Thinking about liking another man or even admitting to feeling attracted to someone felt scary. It was something she’d rather avoid entirely simply for the reason she could never act upon her emotions. Her poor judgment, lack of self-esteem, and desperate need to feel like she belonged had caused her to nearly die. Nina just wasn’t willing to test fate one more time. She shoved those thoughts aside. She couldn’t, wouldn’t ever trust a man again. Not if her life depended on it.
Nina swallowed hard as she gripped the box with the six different pies in it. She hoped that Cindy wasn’t lying about her boss wanting to meet Nina and try a piece of pie. She was shy, and she knew she needed to be a bit more outgoing, salesy yet friendly, and that made the nauseous feeling hit her gut.
Please don’t let me puke.
She saw Cindy walk out the front door and wave her over. Nina’s heart was pounding inside of her chest. She felt the lump in her now totally dry throat. Taking a deep breath, feeling her sweaty palms nearly lose her grip on the box, she took another deep breath, then another, and headed over.
The moment she entered the place all eyes fell upon her and she nearly lost her ability to walk. Hol. Ly. Shit.
Never in her life had she seen such attractive men all in one place. The male population definitely dominated in Treasure Town. Maybe that was the meaning behind the name. Because any woman lucky enough to snag one or more of these men had totally hit the jackpot.
Cindy helped her with the box. “Relax, they’re just a bunch of regulars, and like I said, you’re gorgeous. I just can’t believe you’re so oblivious to it.” She chuckled then pulled her along. “This is your chance to sell your product. Good luck.”
“Florence, this is Nina. Nina, meet my boss and one of the owners of Sullivan’s.” Cindy introduced them.
“Hello, Nina. I’ve been hearing an awful lot about your delicious pies. We usually order from a distributor out of town, but Cindy was insistent that we try your homemade pies.”
“Oh, I understand,” Nina began to say and Cindy gave her a nudge.
“Ain’t nothing like a locally homemade pie though, Florence. Nina lives in town, just a few blocks over, and can make just about any pie you like,” Cindy pushed.
Florence leaned forward and inhaled near the box. “God, these smell incredible. Is that cherry pie, too?”
“Yes, ma’am. I use all fresh ingredients from the farmers market around the corner, and I get my eggs fresh from them, too.”
“Well, they look beautiful,” Florence said and then looked up as someone approached.
“Whatcha got in there that smells so good?” the man asked. Florence chuckled.
“Nina, meet Lester. He works at the coffee bar here. And he just happens to be a connoisseur of pies. He does the ordering for the desserts,” she said.
Nina smiled. “Hi, Lester. Would you like to try a piece? Your choice,” she offered. His eyes lit up.
He rubbed his hands together. “Okay. I’ll try the cherry pie. It looks as sweet as you, doll.” He winked. She felt her cheeks warm and that tightness hit her chest, but she remained smiling.
Nina lifted the large cherry pie out of the box and then Cindy took out the others, placing them onto the counter. Lester cut into the pie, taking a small slice. He eyed over the slice as if he truly was an expert.
“These are fresh cherries? You soak them and all?”
“Yes, sir. My own recipe,” she added.
“Hey, big guy, where’s your whipped cream?” another man asked as he joined them and wrapped his arm around Florence’s waist.
“This is my husband, Al. Al meet Nina. She baked all these pies herself. She’s looking for us to order some to sell here.”
“We order through the distributor.”
“Oh, but these are homemade locally. You can’t beat that, sir,” Nina added confidently, even shocking herself as she felt her cheeks warm. She looked away, and then when she glanced back at Al, his lip curled up in a small smile. He watched her as if he were analyzing her and she felt that intimidated feeling again.
Please don’t let me get sick in front of these people. Please let them love the pies and order from me. God, I need the money. I need to make it here or I’ll have to leave and live on the streets. God, I don’t want to do that again. It’s so scary.
“Oh my God, this is delicious. I mean, not like just really good, fantastic.” Lester used his fork to scrape up every bit of pie. Florence chuckled.
“Thank you, Lester,” Nina said.
“Let me try,” Al added and picked up and fork and dug into the pie on the side. Behind them Cindy was asking if they were buying the pies because a group of men smelled them and asked for one whole apple pie.
“My God, this is heaven. You made this yourself?” Al asked Nina. She felt her heart racing. She wanted to scream with joy that they loved her pies, but she knew that her luck couldn’t be this good. Something was going to go wrong.
“How much do you want per pie this size, Nina?” Lester asked her.
She looked at Cindy. Shoot, she never thought about a price.
“Well, they are homemade, I do get all the fresh fruits from the market,” she started to say.
“How about this. I get the pies, this size from the distributor for fifteen. If you can offer the same deal then I’ll place an order with you and see how our customers respond? How does that sound?”
“That’s a deal, Lester. Thank you so much.” She reached out and shook his hand.
“Wonderful. How many pies are you going to need and what kind?” Cindy asked, handing Nina a pen and paper. Thank God because Nina was so shocked she thought she might pass out.
Lester rambled off the pies he wanted, and Florence smiled.
“So how about we take these for now, minus Lester’s cherry pie,” she teased as Lester held the rest of the pie pan in his hand as if he wouldn’t let anyone else try some.
“The cherry pie is on me. It was a sample to let you see what you were buying,” Nina told them.
“Excellent,” she replied.
“Oh, I think we owe you for the others, too,” Florence said.
“What others?” Al asked.
Nina looked on the counter and the pies were gone.
Cindy handed over some money.
“They paid twenty dollars a pie when I told them they were the last ones,” Cindy said. Lester, Florence, and Al chuckled, but Nina felt her jaw drop.
“Twenty each?” she asked Cindy with tears in her eyes.
She was so thrilled. If this kept up, she would be able to save some money and rent a bigger place with a better oven sooner than later.
“A hundred bucks for five pies, and about a dozen very satisfied firefighters with sweet teeth,” Cindy teased.
Nina felt the tears reach her eyes. “Thank you, Cindy,” she said and then turned toward Florence, Al, and Lester.
“Thank you so much for this opportunity. I won’t let you down.”
“You’d better not. I expect eight more pies here tomorrow morning by eight. Can you handle that?” Lester asked.
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“No, thank you, Nina. We’re so glad that Cindy told us about you and your homemade pies. Before long the other restaurants will be ordering, too,” Al said.