Love Charm for Carlotta (A Short Story in the Love Charm Series) (2 page)

"Nah."
He leaned back
against the counter, and crossed his booted feet in front of him. Not that she
looked at anything below his neck.
At least not
intentionally.

"I never was tempted to hitch myself to anyone,"
he said.

"So many women, so little time," she muttered. If
she didn't stop punching this dough, her pecan rolls would be hard as a hockey
puck.

He laughed. "Yeah, that was a phase, but I got through
it pretty quickly."

She rolled her eyes. "So now what—you're gay?"

This time his chuckle was low, and intimate. "You know
that's not true."

Her face flushed. Damn it, why did he have this affect on
her? She refused to remember those high school years. Yeah, he'd taken her
virginity. He'd even been careful and considerate about it. She twitched at the
memory of all that hard virility pushing slowly into her, filling her until she
started to panic. He'd sensed her distress immediately, and talked her down,
stopping all movement within her, but failing to withdraw.
Until
she'd grown accustomed to his presence and began to feel a sense of urgency to
do something more.

Of course, he'd known when that moment arrived as well. He'd
been a mind-reader then, and she didn't need him reading her mind now.

She reached into a drawer, pulled out a linen towel and
snapped it open.

"I have a lot of work to do," she said.
"Thanks for stopping by."

Jace continued to lean against her kitchen counter, unfazed
by her attempted dismissal. "Let me help you with the cupcakes," he
said. "Then we can deliver them to the
Rosens
.
They live next door, right?"

"I'm perfectly capable of delivering them on my
own." She scowled at him. As far as she knew, he hadn't been back to the
island for twelve years. How did he know where the
Rosens
lived?

"Come on." He plucked a toothpick out of her tray.
It looked comical against his large hand. "I want to do that dye thing
with the frosting that you used to do."

"You just want to make a mess. Like a
two-year-old."

He grinned. "If it were up to me, I'd make a mess in a
very adult way."

"Jace!
Knock it off." Her
cheeks heated up again, and she turned to reach into the refrigerator.
"You want something to drink?"

Shoot. She'd been betrayed into being hospitable.

"Love a beer."

"No beer. I live here alone."

His blue eyes darkened. "What happened to your parents,
Carlotta?"

She shook her head. The wound was too fresh. If she had to
speak of their deaths, she'd start to cry.
Especially when
she was already an emotional wreck due to
Jace's
unexpected appearance.

She pulled a Coke out of the fridge and handed it to him,
then flattened her hand on the counter for support. She couldn't let him see
her tremble.

He put the can on the counter and took a step closer.
"I shouldn't have asked. I thought it might help you to talk about
it." He wrapped his hand around her flattened palm. "I'm sorry."

"I—" She shook her head. "I'm sure you heard
about the accident."

"Yeah."
His hand
tightened on hers. "I was in South America when it happened," he
said. "I only heard about it when I returned last week. But I wanted to
see how you're holding up."

"Is that why you're here?" She couldn't bear it if
he'd made a pity visit.

"No." He rested both hands on her shoulders,
lightly caging her.

"Why then?" Carlotta shrank back against the
counter, trying to avoid his enticing scent, the lure of his bold masculinity.

He gave her a slow grin. "I've always planned to return
for you, Carlotta. They say your first love is the best, and I have to agree.
I've never forgotten how we were together."

Her heart thumped. But she couldn't succumb to his practiced
flirting.

"That was sex." She managed a shrug. "No need
to get sentimental about it."

"Yeah."
He captured her
gaze. "The sex was great. But you know we had more than that
together."

"Save your lines for someone else. They aren't working
on me." She forced herself to duck under his arms and move away. "I
want to know exactly when you decided you needed to look me up. After twelve
years, something gave you the idea that now was the time to do it."

She needed to know that his sudden appearance in her life
had nothing to do with the love charm. If the magic of her charm had been
wasted on a man who wasn't capable of commitment, she'd be devastated.

The dough was beginning to feel heavy in her hands, but she
kept pulling at it. The movement helped to distract her from the ugly thought
that she'd, once again, been too impulsive when she fell for the myth of the
love charm.

She knew better than to believe in magic and promises. But
she still wanted to have hope of a future with love in it. So when Ashley had
told her how the love charm had worked for her, Carlotta had been tempted to
give it a try. Now, for the first time since she'd followed the instructions to
cast the charm into a body of water, an attractive man had approached her. But
she knew Jace could never make the commitment she wanted. If the charm had
caught him, the magic had been wasted.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she waited for Jace to
provide a reasonable explanation for his presence here.

"Let's see." Unaware of the importance of his
words, Jace leaned back against her counter again. "I was at a charity
ball last weekend—"

Carlotta stopped breathing. "What charity ball?"

"Some Venetian thing.
Had to wear a mask."

"Who were you with?" She couldn't help it.
Jealousy reared its ugly head and she was helpless before its bite.
Which was ridiculous as she had no intention of hooking up with him
again.

"Stop interrupting me. I'm trying to answer your
question."

She huffed out a sharp sigh. "You're trying to torture
me.
Might as well get on with it."

"I ran into Jamie Pierce. You remember him,
right?"

She nodded.
Another hockey player from the
high school team.

"Jamie said he saw you auctioning off your…favors to
benefit the deCordova Museum. He said some tall dude won the bid." Jace
leaned forward suddenly. "What did he buy, Carlotta?"

She shrank back from his fierce glare.
"None
of your business."
She certainly didn't intend to tell him the man
hadn't wanted as much as a kiss from her.

"Tell me." He stared her down. "Tell me right
now or I'll kiss you."

She froze, her hands stuck in the bread dough. "Why do
you care?"

He straightened up and took a step toward her, towering over
her again. "
Cause
I'm feeling possessive, that's
why."

"Don't be silly," she managed, though it was tough
to talk when she couldn't breathe. "I'm making bread." A somewhat
inane comment, but it was the best she could do when his hot male scent was
wrapping around her, slicing through the yeasty aroma of the bread dough.

"Tell me."

"Fine."
Nothing would be
as dangerous as letting him kiss her. "He only wanted my mask!"

She yanked her hands out of the bread and turned away from
him to go to the sink. Disappointment rolled through her again, as sharp as it
had been last weekend. She'd offered to participate in the auction, thinking it
would be a good way for a man to find her if the love charm had been effective.
She'd thrown it into the moat at the Carnevale as soon as she arrived.

But, clearly, she'd made a mistake. The impulsivity she'd
been trying to curb for twelve years had betrayed her again. If she'd planned
her casting of the charm more carefully, maybe if she'd waited until she saw a
man she was interested in…maybe the magic would have worked for her.

Instead, she'd returned to her date, though she already knew
her relationship with the doctor had no future. Otherwise, she wouldn't have
been interested in the love charm. Given that she already had one failed
marriage behind her, she didn't have time to waste. She'd ended the
relationship with the doctor that night.

And now she'd discovered that Jace had been at the same
party. Had her carelessly tossed love charm brought back to her the very man
who'd already broken her heart once?

"Your mask?"
Jace
repeated from behind her. "What did he do with it?"

She shrugged.
"Gave it to some other
woman."

"Strange." Jace placed his hands on her waist and
turned her around. "Anyway, when Jamie told me the story, I knew I had to
see you again."

"Why?" She tilted her head back to look up at him.

This time, he was the one to shift his eyes aside. "I
was angry," he said softly.
"Angry at any of these
men bidding on you at an auction, thinking about you that way."

"That way?"

"Sexually," he said flatly. "You were
mine."

"I haven't been yours for a long time, Jace. I married
another man."

"
Which was a mistake.
"

"Our breakup had nothing to do with you."

"I told you to wait for me, Carlotta." He stepped
closer.

"Forever?"

"If that's what it took." His deep voice melted
over her.

"Did you wait for me?" she whispered.

"I'm here now." His lips touched hers, a feather
of a kiss.

She inhaled his scent, all heat and man and always, even in
the spring, with a hint of ice in his essence. He would never live in a warm
climate. If he had children, he'd be a hockey coach, surrounded by other
ex-players who loved the game, its speed, the edge of violence, and the
boisterous camaraderie.

His arms moved slowly from her shoulders, and down her back
in a soothing motion that ended in a strong grip as he eased her against his
hard frame.

"Carlotta," he whispered, his lips nuzzling her
ear. "I missed you."

His hands roved up her back, massaging her gently. She
swayed against him, intoxicated by his touch, even as she knew it was fatal to
her peace of mind.

She could not succumb.

But her lips opened, and his tongue swept in, strong and
sure. She clutched his shoulders and her hips pressed against him. Oh, that
felt so good. A tiny moan escaped her.

"That's it, honey," he murmured. "Let me know
how much you missed me."

His arms tightened around her back again, and he deepened
the kiss.

She yearned into him, even as a voice in the recesses of her
brain yelled out for her to stop. She had to pull away before this went beyond the
point where she could control it.

She had to.

She almost gasped when he lifted his mouth and their upper
bodies separated. Thank you, God. She'd managed to pull back.

Until she realized that Jace was the one who'd separated
them, and he'd managed to untie the neck of her apron, and now it was flopping
down around her waist. She stiffened, though his arms didn't loosen.

"Easy, Carlotta."
He
brought one hand around to her front and up between their bodies.

"No," she said, though even she didn't know what
she was objecting to. She could feel her nipples pebbled in need, and knew he
could see their shape through her thin cotton t-shirt.

But he was touching her with such reverence. "Please,
Carlotta." The way he said her name was her undoing. If he'd used some
generic term of endearment, she could have been reminded of all the women he'd
had. But his voice was always husky and intimate whenever he said her name,
making her feel special and cherished. She knew it was nothing more than a good
tactic, but it moved her anyway.

When he slid his hand under the hem of her shirt, she didn't
protest again. His fingers were warm and rough, and
so
perfect as he stroked her.

His breath hitched in and out of her ears. "So sweet,
Carlotta," he murmured. "How I've wanted you."

Never believe him
, she told
herself fiercely.
Never
.

But his hands felt wonderful.

He lifted her t-shirt, as something clicked somewhere behind
her, but she couldn't focus on what it might be. Not when Jace had dropped her
t-shirt to the floor, and his hands were circling ever closer to her nipples.

"Ah—" He sucked in a gratified breath. "I
knew you weren't wearing a bra."

"
Yoohoo
…" The voice of
her best friend, Amy Rosen shrilled through the open back door.

Jace's
head jerked up at the sound
of Amy's voice. Carlotta saw the flush on his cheeks, the dazed look in his
eyes.

"What the hell—" He yanked up her apron and, by
the time he'd turned so Carlotta could face
Amy,
the
apron strings had been tied around her neck.

"Amy—" Carlotta gasped, her mind blank.

Amy's eyes goggled wide. "I thought you were making
cupcakes for Tommy's birthday?" She glared at Jace. "But now that I
see what an ill wind blew in, I'm glad I came over."

Carlotta stepped forward, one hand outstretched. "Please
don't make a scene, Amy." Amy had always disliked Jace, muttering whenever
she'd had a chance back in high school that Jace was sure to break Carlotta's
heart.

Since that was exactly what had happened, Carlotta had never
blamed her friend for her attitude. But she knew Amy had seen the motorcycle in
her driveway, and that's what had brought her over.

Carlotta waved at the table. "The cupcakes are almost
ready."

"Tommy will be very disappointed if you don't appear
with
the cupcakes," Amy said in a warning tone.