Plus None 2 (4 page)

“What’s the matter, baby doll? You got a headache?” Her nails flutter lightly over my arm. “It’s not easy being on your own, I know. It’s why I’m always on the lookout for Mr. Right Now.  Life’s just easier to bear when you’ve got…when you’ve…got…”

Brook’s mouth, which hardly ever stops moving, falls silent. I look up. Her glossy lips are parted and she’s breathing deeply from her mouth. Painted eyelids the color of tiger stripes are fixed intently on the shop’s front window.

I follow her gaze, unnerved by the sudden, alien quiet of the bakery. It’s like God pressed the mute button on his clicker.

I see him in sections. Black hair, impossibly thick, pushed back in shiny waves. A big hand, the color of light toffee, reaching forward to push against the door. His white dress shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, revealing a smooth tan neck.

The bell over the bakery door rings and he steps inside. For a moment, no one speaks. Not him, not me, not the three sex-crazed cougars rendered speechless by his presence.

“Hi.” His voice is the same…a deep tenor.

Is this really happening or have I fallen into my memories?

“Well fuck me.” Unaware she spoke aloud, Patsy runs her eyes over him from head to toe. “Who’re you?”

He smiles over his shoulder, politely forgiving her crass introduction and then turns his deep-brown eyes back on me. “I’m Alex Ramirez.”

Holy shit. Amber can talk to the dead.

Chapter Three

56 Days Until Willy Tries His Luck With the Bridesmaids

Alex, seemingly unnerved by four pair of blue eyes boring into him, steps closer. “Is there someplace we can talk?”

His eyes shift to Brook. The Botox effectively masks her shock but her mouth has been hanging open so long, I’m worried she may start to drool. 

I move away from the counter on shaky legs. “In the back.”

Alex walks around Brook and waits for me. Her head follows him like a blind dog follows sound. We make our way to the back room. My hands shake as I pull the thin cotton curtain closed behind us, leaving my three stunned aunts to man the bakery.

He’s standing very close to me. Dressed in a smart white button-up and navy slacks. He looks every bit as delicious as he did the last time I saw him. My mouth is so dry I have to try twice to force words out. “Hi,” I manage.

“Hi.” He smiles warmly at me.

 I return his smile uncertainly and two roguish dimples tease me. “What are you doing here?”

Alex looks around the small room. “I was nearby and thought I’d stop in. Say hello.”

“You were in Harlow?”

“Nearby,” he says. “I heard about the bakery and I thought it might be nice to check it out. See you again.”

Last time Alex Ramirez saw me, he saw
all
of me. “Paige told you?”

Alex nods. “She’s proud of you. Though, I think she’s a little raw you didn’t want to follow her footsteps out of here.”

Paige has never understood my loyalty to this place. It was during one of her many attempts to lure me to the bright lights of Dallas that I met Alex. It was the only time her plan even came close to succeeding.

“I think you may be right. We’re so different. Sometimes I think she must’ve been delivered to the wrong house by a drunk stork.”

His laugh sends vibrations running through me. “And your dad? I hear he’s still working in the fields. How’s he managing that and having an empty nest?”

So he knows I bought the bakery and he knows I moved out. I let my inner trailer park do some talking. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me?”

His eyes settle on my mouth for the space of two heartbeats. I bite my bottom lip, a nervous habit.

“I’ve kept my ears open. I’m happy for you, Charlie. I remember how much you wanted this place.”

The intimacy of his words makes me uncomfortable. “I’m surprised you remember.”

“I remember a lot about that night.” He doesn’t bother to be covert, but looks me up and down.

The intensity of his gaze leaves a trail of hot, flushed skin in its wake. He closes more distance between us. “I remember the color on your cheeks when I stripped you of that towel.”

I gasp, shocked by his words.

“I remember the smell of your skin from your interrupted bubble bath.”

Another half step and he’s within inches of me. I don’t look up but stare instead at the collar of his shirt, a familiar view.

Alex leans forward, his mouth almost against my ear. When he whispers, the words tickle the skin on my neck. “I remember how you tasted.”

I sway on the spot and he places firm hands on my hips. “You’re always falling around me,” he says, softly.

The memory makes my body thrum. I turn my head and focus my gaze on his mouth. I’ve tried so hard to put him out of my mind. To convince myself that the reason he never came after me was because he knew what I suspected, that our worlds are just too different. The son of an oil tycoon only ends up with a girl from the trailer park for one reason, and we did plenty of that back in Dallas. We’re just two people with a lot of past and no future.

I only wish someone would tell my body. As his eyes trace the shape of my mouth, I’m ready to drop the damn towel all over again.

His lips move experimentally as his mouth reacquaints itself with mine. My eyes flutter closed and I rest both hands against his hard chest. Just like I remember.

Alex pulls me forward until our bodies are pressed tightly together. The old electric zing is still there, strong as ever. The kiss becomes more insistent and my need to feel and taste him grows. He slants his mouth over mine, moaning into the kiss. His tongue sweeps against my lips and I open to him. Hands fist in my messy hair as he delves deeper.

A nagging voice at the back of my mind tells me I shouldn’t be doing this. But it’s not possible to heed the warning once his hand cups my breast.

I groan against him and squirm beneath his hand. Two years since I’ve been touched this way. I’d nearly forgotten how uncontrollable lust feels. It has to stop, I know, but I can’t seem to break away.

 His thumb moves across my nipple, finally jolting me enough to break our connection. He reaches for me but I quickly put distance between us. He’s like a lust vortex and every time I’m within arm’s reach, I get sucked in.

“Charlie.” His voice is deep with desire. It makes me shiver.

“Stop.” I turn away and shake my head, taking a few calming breaths. It’s easier to think when I’m not standing so close to him. “Why are you here, Alex?”

“I wanted to see you.”

I turn back. His eyes are dark in the dim light and his shirt is crumpled from the grasp my fists had on it. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” He runs a hand through his hair and leans heavily against the stainless-steel door of the refrigerator. “I wasn’t nearby. I drove down here to see you.”

I bite my lip, trying to rid myself of the tingle he left on them.

“It’s crazy, I know. We spent one night together years ago. The whole way down, I kept telling myself I was coming to clear the air.” Catching my quizzical look he adds, “The wedding.”

I nod knowingly. “I was trying not to think about it.”

Alex pushes against the door and steps toward me. “Then you’ve been doing a better job than me. I haven’t been able to think of anything else since Ken told me he was finally marrying your sister.”

I hold his gaze. His eyes are every bit as dreamy as they were the first time I met him, when I stumbled into a nest of hydrangea bushes at a party and he rescued me.

“Why’d you walk out that morning, Charlie?”

Finally, the question he came to ask.

I rehearsed my response to this question a thousand times in the weeks following our one-night stand. I planned to tell him it was all a big mistake. That I never should’ve left. But he never called or wrote; never showed up under my window with a boom box and a love song. The truth is, as much as I wanted him to, I never really expected him to come and find me.

 All this time later, maybe the best answer, is the honest one. “You and I…we were never going to work. I just called it early.”

“That’s funny. I thought we worked pretty well together.” The nature of his tone pulls at my navel.

“We’re from different worlds, Alex.”

“C’mon, Charlie. This isn’t the antebellum South. There’s no such thing as the wrong side of the tracks anymore.”

“Ha! Bring your parent’s to dinner at the trailer park and we’ll see who the delusional one is.”

“Want to know what I think? I think you got scared.”

My head snaps back. “Scared?”

“Of our connection.”

I stamp down the flurry of excitement at his words and fold my arms across my chest. “It’s pretty easy to feel connected to someone when you’re
literally
connected to them.”

“Bullshit.” He blocks the entrance into the shop. My only means of escape. “Something happened between us. Something I’ve never felt before or since. I know you felt it, too.”

“Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“For fuck’s sake, Charlie, you cried when we had sex! I held you.” His voice bounces off every surface in the room.

“Shhh. Keep your voice down.” I look over his shoulder. I swear I saw the curtain flutter.

“Why? You afraid someone’s going to find out you’re not the tough girl you pretend to be?”

“Honestly, Alex, I’d rather they hear about the spanking.”

An uninhibited smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

“I’ve got to get back to work. Thank you for stopping by.”

Alex shakes his head. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re not disappearing on me again.”

I wave my arms around us. “I’ve got a three year lease. I think you caught me.”

He turns serious. “What time do you close?”

“I close at one on Saturdays but Paige has her dress fitting, so I’ll lock the doors early today.”

“So you’re coming to Dallas?”

I nod once, reluctantly.

“Perfect. Have dinner with me tonight. We can talk.”

“About what?”

“About where we go from here.”

There’s a challenge in his eyes. I’ve seen it once before when he asked how much pleasure I could stand before I would beg to be put out of my misery. I won that game, as I recall, but then again, I’d also been naked. I’m not sure how well I’ll fair against him fully clothed. “Fine, dinner tonight.” Then, as an afterthought, “Somewhere public.”

He smiles, accepting my terms. “Where’s the dress shop?”

“Downtown, near Commerce, I think.”

He’s quiet for a moment, weighing his options. “Do you like steak?”

“Is that a serious question? I live in Texas, Alex.”

“Seven-thirty, the Dallas Chop House. It’s on Main.” Not waiting for a response, or for me to change my mind, he turns and walks to the partition. There’s an unmistakable scramble of heels on ceramic tile. Alex pushes the curtain to the side and ushers me through before him.

The aunts are sitting primly at their table. Their,
“Who? Me?”
expressions don’t fool me for a minute.

Alex looks back at me when his hand is on the front door’s metal bar. “I’ll see you tonight.” He turns his dimples on the aunts and nods his goodbye. They each wave gracefully. Amazing. They’ve gone from porn stars to princesses in fifteen minutes.

They crane their necks to watch his retreat and melt back into their seats, saying nothing. It’s discomforting.

Brook recovers first. “For the love of God, girl, please tell me you got it on videotape.”

I read somewhere that the difference between an awkward silence, and an uncomfortable one, is a black eye. If Cadence Spelling says the words, ‘trailer park,’ one more time, this situation is gonna get uncomfortable real fast.

“I simply can’t wait to see Paige in her dress. I helped her pick it out, Charlotte. And I must say, I think your sister’s going to be the most gorgeous bride of the season.” She smiles beatifically. 

I’m not totally sure what she means by season, but I’ve got a feeling it has nothing to do with football. I muster-up a thin smile and lean to the left, trying to see down the hallway. Paige played me. Big time. She knew Cadence was coming today and that I wouldn’t if I’d known.

“So, Charlotte--”

“Please stop calling me that.” I hold up a hand to cut her off.

“Charlotte?” She wrinkles her forehead. “But that’s your name.”

“Yes, but everyone calls me Charlie. That’s the name I prefer.”

She huffs and waives her hand in front of me. “Don’t be silly. You’re nearly thirty years old. Grown women do not use nicknames.”

I’d like to inform Cadence of my special nickname for her, but she starts talking again.

“You know, when I first met your sister she told me all about you. She positively idolized you. A college dropout working in an oil field? I remember thinking, this girl needs a new role model.”

“Excuse me?” I keep my voice low. I’ll let my fists do the screaming.

“Please.” She turns as though she can’t stand to look at my face. “What have you ever done with your life?”

“I raised Paige. Took care of her and Daddy. Took care of everybody. And in case you haven’t heard, I opened my own business!”

We’re starting to draw looks from nearby shoppers.

Cadence fixes her hazel green eyes on me. “And how many times a week does one of your degenerate cousins come in for a free dessert? How many friends and family do you feed on a daily basis?”

I clamp my mouth shut, anger and embarrassment boiling inside me. She’s right. Since opening four months ago not a day has gone by where I haven’t given away free food. Lord knows Amber’s eaten her way through a hundred pounds of baked goods. If it wasn’t for their constant mooching, I might be turning a small profit by now.

Cadence shakes her head sadly at me. “The truth hurts. Doesn’t it,
Charlie
? So tell me, what are you going to do when everyone you’ve spent your life taking care of moves on? What will you be left with? You’ve got no education, no money. You haven’t had a real relationship with anyone as long as I’ve known you. You focus on everyone else because you’re afraid.”