Hence the ice cream which we both know is clogging me up as you speak.
“I know the ice cream is misleading, but I gave myself a treat today. Because of all the running.”
“Diana.”
She jumped, because he’d come up right behind her. “Yes!” When she turned, she was face to face with the man in all his glorious hotness.
“Why are you so nervous?” He tugged on a lock of her hair.
“Um, because you and I…we…” Had incredible, wonderful, glorious sex and she’d told him it was only going to be once. Since he listened so incredibly well, it was going to be up to her to change that. Guts, and her lack of them, were going to weigh heavily against her.
“Made love?”
She blew out a breath. “Yes.”
“Once.”
She closed the refrigerator door. “Uh-huh. That’s what I said.”
“And I heard you loud and clear. I didn’t come here for that.”
Well, you’ve done it this time. Thanks a lot!
“Sure, but here’s the thing.” She took a big breath and found her balls. “I was just thinking about this today. Is it really such a horrible idea?”
“Is what a horrible idea?”
Oh right, he couldn’t read her mind. “I mean you and me. One more time.” She inspected the pattern of her kitchen floor. Very cheap linoleum, a real shame because there were probably original hardwood floors underneath should anyone care to take time to discover them.
She felt Scott’s hand tip her chin up, and his eyes met hers. “Is that what you want?”
“Sure. Yeah, okay.”
He chuckled. “I like it when you tell me what you want. In great detail.”
“So… I was thinking one more time.”
He pressed her up against the refrigerator door, one arm on either side pinning her in. “I’m waiting for detail.”
“You and me. Together. Naked. This time on a bed.”
“We’re going to have to work on that detail.”
“What else do you want me to say? I mean, okay, I can’t stop thinking about you, yada yada yada.” Oh God, and she was a writer? Not anymore apparently.
“That might worry me if I wasn’t having the same problem.” He grinned. “But what I meant is, talk dirty to me.”
Good going! Maybe we should have listened to Mandy.
She buried her face in her hands. “Oh Scott, I’m really, really, really not any good at that. Trust me.”
He brought her hands down. “That’s okay, I’ll teach you.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “One more time, huh? What about me?”
“Yes, you would be there too.”
He smiled and his thumb circled her lips. “I think I should get some input.”
“Absolutely.”
“We should re-open these negotiations. I’m thinking two more times and when I say two, I don’t mean on the same day. That wouldn’t count. The more I think about it, the more I want a clause in which I get to re-negotiate terms.”
Good Lord. The man was gorgeous, sexy and smart. “Okay, wow. I’m…speechless.”
We hit the jackpot! Woohoo!
Calm down, she reminded Heart. This is temporary.
“Also, I get to give the orders from now on.” Scott moved her away from the refrigerator and in one swift move lifted her up on the small kitchen counter. He stepped between her legs. “Take off your shirt.”
She did, grateful she wore her frilly plunging baby blue demi bra. “Done. Next order?”
Scott’s searing hot eyes assessed her breasts but he didn’t touch, just kept his arms firmly on either side of her. “Take off your pants.”
In the kitchen? Is this sanitary?
Oh the hell with it. This was harder to do and he helped as she leaned back and wiggled out of her jeans and panties. She smiled at him, more than a little vulnerable half naked on a kitchen counter top with a whole lot of hotness between her legs.
“What now?” she asked.
He dipped his head between her thighs. “Try not to move.”
Sex, as it turned out, had been great for Diana’s word count. She finished the article before the deadline. Another first. Unfortunately she was now twice over on her word count, but this was the easy part. Now she could cut and rearrange to her heart’s delight. She no longer felt like a stopped up sink. Far from plugged, she’d pretty much sprung a word leak. Words were spilling out of her as fast as the water had sprayed in Gran’s kitchen.
She’d been prepared to feel the guilt hit her but it never had. Even when she’d waited for the guilt to arrive in a special delivery. Not happening. But Diana told herself it wasn’t just him who had unplugged her, uh, sink, but the talk with Gran. Finally Diana had admitted the truth out loud to Gran.
And it was okay. She wasn’t a loser because Bradley had dumped her. Or because she’d never managed to write anything publishable. No matter what she decided to do, it would work itself out. She’d manage somehow. Move forward and find a new passion or find a way to fall in love again with the old one. And she had one more goal. Before the end of summer, one by one, she’d convince the folks in Starlight Hill that she was no husband-stealing hussy. That she didn’t want the attention from the Internet video. A job in town and being part of the community would go a long way, not to mention that her savings wouldn’t last the rest of the summer. But still no luck finding work since now the shampoo girl job was also gone.
Late Wednesday morning, she walked to Gen’s bakery to surprise Gran with a special delivery of some of her favorites. As she rounded the corner to the bakery a man was placing a sign in the window that made Diana stop in her tracks. The sign read ‘Help Wanted: part-time’, but although he looked like he was about to tape it up, he turned, taking the sign with him. Genevieve tugged on him and she seemed animated, talking or possibly arguing with the man. The man then shook his head and picked her up in his arms giving her such a heartfelt and intimate kiss that Diana had to turn away.
When she looked back a moment later the sign was in place. She ran inside before Gen changed her mind again. The doorbell dinged and both Gen and the man, someone tall and nearly as good looking as Scott, turned toward her.
“Morning!” Gen said.
“You here about the job?” the man asked.
“Wallace!” Gen said. “This is Diana. She’s one of my best customers.”
Wallace nodded. “Nice to meet you. Well, if you know anyone—”
“Actually, Gen, you do know that I’m looking for work?” Diana said. “There isn’t much in town.”
“This is only temporary. I’m actually not even sure I need anyone, but—”
“Except that you do.” Wallace leaned back, his arms folded across his broad chest.
“All right, I do.” Gen smiled at him. “I need to cut back on my hours. Sophia used to help me from time to time for the early shift and I have a girl that fills in occasionally. But Sophia can’t do the early shifts anymore. And then there’s Mrs. Lewis who used to own the bakery before I bought it, but she can only fill in occasionally because she can’t stand on her feet too long. The doctor told her—”
“Babe,” Wallace interrupted her. “She doesn’t need your entire life’s story.”
“Oh, right.”
“I’ll get you an application.” Wallace went to the back.
“How early?” Diana asked.
“Oh, the shift? I’m usually here at four in the morning.”
“Oh my God!”
“What?” Genevieve turned and looked behind her. “What’s wrong?”
“You said four a.m!”
“Is that too early for you?”
“Absolutely not,” Diana lied. “It’s just that I was thinking about how long it’s been since I had an opportunity to get up early enough to see the sun rise.”
“It’s a great feeling to be up that early. It feels like you’re the only person on earth for a little sacred time. I
used to love it, but like I said, I’m not getting to bed early enough. And I’m so tired lately.” She whispered across the counter. “Actually, this is Wallace’s idea.”
“I kind of figured. This job would really help me, too. Not just the money but a chance to meet everyone in town. They all seem to congregate here. I need them all to see I’m not a husband-stealing type.”
“We all know that, sugar. You’re Mrs. Paulsen’s granddaughter.”
Yeah, and she couldn’t coast on that alone. Diana accepted the application from Wallace when he came back. He positioned himself just behind Genevieve, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her toward him in a move that was both possessive and tender at the same time.
Damn those two were cute together. Diana sat at one of the tables and filled out the application quickly, hesitating only a moment in putting Scott down as a reference. Gen already knew Diana from her association with Gran. This was the way of a small town. People. Community. The bakery happened to be a hub here and everyone loved Genevieve. Some of that love would brush off on Diana and before long everyone would forget about the viral video and her stellar entrance into town.
They’d see her as Diana, Betty Paulsen’s devoted granddaughter. Gen’s loyal bakery employee. Scott’s—friend?
Of course they were friends. No one made her feel the way Scott did. Beautiful. Special. Wanted. But they’d recently stretched the boundaries of the definition of friendship. She assumed friends-with-benefits would be a better definition but not surprisingly, she didn’t want to put a qualification on the two of them. They were going to have a good time. Fun. Keep it light. Considering she’d never done anything like it, she was way out of her comfort zone.
The doorbell jangled again and Diana looked up to see Wallace leaving. Finished with the application, she handed it back to Gen who gave her a lightning speed interview, then took her back to show her the ovens and the recipes she’d have to get to know backwards and forwards.
“All right, you’re hired!” Gen said. “You get one week’s training.”
“That was fast. What made you decide?”
“Of course I trust you because you’re Mrs. Paulsen’s granddaughter, but also Wallace said that if I hired someone today he’d give me the best foot rub of my life tonight. And he gives really good … foot rubs.” She blushed.
“I bet he does.”
Diana bought a baker’s dozen donuts, and headed out the door to Gran’s. She had a job at a bakery which seemed to be the heart of the town. Sooner or later she’d meet every person in town and they’d see that she was just like them. Not an Internet sensation but a real person with feelings.
For the first time since the fire, she thought maybe she might make this work.
14
Scott was on his forty-eight off and working a remodeling job with a light crew when he stopped in Ed’s Hardware store for a few lug nuts. It was a bright beautiful clear day in early August which did nothing for his mood since the emails had started. Jake’s sister Megan had sent one last night that had severely dampened his mood. He’d had to go out to the garage and pound his punching bag for two hours.
Still hadn’t done the job.
He was standing in line to pay when he got a text from Sophia: My dad remembered my Mom’s birthday.
Good, Scott replied.
Not good. He started crying. Then Eileen started crying.
Shit, Scott texted back. He had firsthand information on how Mom could bawl when she got going. There was always a lot of hugging involved.
I so need to get out of here.
She added a smiley face, which had to be good. He slipped his phone back into his pocket. Once Scott paid for his purchases, he stopped by the bakery to pick up lunch since Gen had said she wouldn’t be able to stop by the work site today. He waited in line with everyone else.
“…all I’m saying is that it makes me wonder,” Debbie White was saying. “She’s from out of town, you know. Los Angeles. Do I have to say anymore?”
“Loose morals, that’s what it is,” Lorena said. “She has no class.”
“Of course, Brenda is by far the better choice.”
“It’s a no-brainer.”
It was one thing for him to live in this town of busy bodies but he hated to hear anyone gossip about Diana. They didn’t know her at all. Scott cleared his throat and both women turned to him. They had the decency to look embarrassed.
“Scott. Nice to see you,” Debbie mumbled.
“Hi ladies. I know it’s tempting to gossip, but maybe you could for once mind your own business.”
“I’m a friend of your mother’s!” Lorena wagged her finger.
“I’ll tell her you said hello.”
“We’re only trying to look out for you,” Debbie said.
“I can look out for myself, thanks.” He opened the door for them, eager to help them leave. With the shop empty, he turned to Gen. “Sorry, but they had it coming.”
“No worries,” Gen said, handing him a box. “I’m totally Team Diana.”
He shut his eyes. “There are no teams.”
“Whatever you say.” She smiled. “She’s working for me now.”
“Since when?”
“I hired her this morning. She’s going to take the early shift for me. I’ve been so tired lately and Wallace thought it would be a good idea.”
“I know she needed a job. I was going to send her Billy’s way, but this is better.”
Gen nodded. “She sure is beautiful, isn’t she?”
“You can quit matchmaking. I like her, all right?”
“Oh, good! Hey, I’m pretty good at this. My first time out the gate and I picked a winner.”
“Don’t get too cocky. We’re not dating or anything.”
“No, she said she wouldn’t date until she had everything with Mrs. Paulsen settled and found a job and an apartment. Guess she’s two-thirds of the way there now.”
“Right. Look, Gen, we’re just friends. You do know she’s leaving at the end of the summer?”
“That’s what she says.” Gen winked. “But you and I both know you could convince her to stay.”
He didn’t believe that, but even so he didn’t know what he wanted either. Plus he had a few more important things on his mind than great sex with a girl who made him crazy. The Shasta Trinity forest fire had started just yesterday, and they had the rest of the summer to get through. Chances were high that their unit would eventually be called up. There was every possibility that in the driest summer in decades, there would be a hell of a lot more fires to contend with before fall.
Gen placed the order in front of him. “I’d just like to see you happy again. Smiling. Like before.”
Only his immediate family fully understood what ‘before’ meant, even if they never discussed it anymore. He was about as happy as he figured he could be considering the circumstances. What he wanted was a chance to feel useful, a chance to make a difference. At one time, Jake would have understood exactly what Scott meant. He sometimes wondered if Jake had done what he had because he no longer felt he had anything left to offer.
Scott would never let that happen. As long as he had a breath in him, he couldn’t give up trying.
Diana’s alarm went off at 3 a.m. and she reached over to hit it, but it wasn’t in its usual place. It kept going off, louder and more insistent. Get up! Get up! Now! The alarm shrieked. Diana rolled around in her sheets, searching, grasping, praying that the noise would stop and she could get back to her dreams.
Scott had been in them, and she’d been in the midst of blowing his mind.
Upstairs, one of her new neighbors hit the floor, a not so subtle hint.
“Yeah, yeah,” Diana threw off the covers and it was only then that she remembered.
Last night, she’d outsmarted herself. She’d put the alarm in the bathroom so that the walk might wake her up enough that she couldn’t hit the alarm and go back to sleep. She staggered to the bathroom, found
the alarm and shut it off with a smack. It fell to the floor.
“No apology from me, you bitch.”
Diana showered and dressed quickly, slammed down a mug of coffee and chose to walk to the bakery in the dark. Gen was right in that at this time of the early morning before dawn, she felt like the only person on the planet. Everyone else lay asleep and snuggled in their beds like she wanted to be. She was on an adventure, Diana reminded herself. When she’d dropped by Gran’s yesterday and informed her of the good news, there had been no doubts or concerns. No question as to whether being a part-time baker’s assistant was possibly not the best use of her MFA. Not Gran. She only wanted Diana to be happy.
She wasn’t there yet, but not for lack of effort.
Gen was opening up the shop when Diana arrived at the bakery. Inside, Gen handed Diana her own Southern Sweet Buns frilly white apron, then showed her how to start the industrial sized coffee machine.
“I’ll need all of this for myself,” Diana joked. “What will the customers have?”
Gen seemed too tired to laugh. She sort of gave a halfhearted smile.
“Are you okay?” Diana asked.
“So tired.” Gen yawned.
“Another sleepless night?” Really, why couldn’t Wallace just get happy hour started earlier? It seemed rude to keep Gen up so late, even if it was for the fun reasons.
Gen nodded. “I guess.”
The industrial sized ovens in the back kept the kitchen warm and toasty. Despite the heat of the day, the temperatures had dropped into the high fifties during the night which made standing near the ovens this chilly morning kind of cozy. Soon enough summer would be in her rear view mirror and it would be autumn. She’d be back home, maybe closer to figuring out her life by then.
Gen gave her a quick tutorial of the mixer. “I have batches of flour that I keep ready for some of the recipes to save time. I do the cakes by special order these days. I have an even better kitchen at home that Wallace designed for me.”
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