He checked his watch as he stepped into the elevator. The board would be assembled by now. Amber would be going over the sales figures for the store in Savannah one final time; then he would make his presentation of how he saw things being put into action.
He’d install a handpicked management and marketing team on-site for the foreseeable future. He knew it was possible that he was overdoing it with high-level staff, but those he had asked to make the trip, to invest some personal time in Savannah and to meet customers face-to-face, had been thrilled. Everyone in the company was just as willing as Colt was to do whatever was necessary to do to make Corners Cookies a success in this new venture.
Since Colt had taken over the company, he’d visited every department, learned everything from the ground up. He spent time learning how to bake and package the cookies, examined the distribution channels, talked to the marketing people, got into the nuts and bolts of the business from the beginning to the present. He wanted and needed to know all the ins and outs. It was the only way he could present any new ideas that would hopefully turn Corners Cookies back into the powerhouse it had once been.
He would make sure this worked. He would be as hands on as anyone else and if that meant he had to get his hands dirty cleaning and painting the storefront or wake up at the crack of dawn to go in and bake the cookies himself, he would. This was his baby, and it was beyond important to him.
All his notes were in his phone, and he could call up any figures or documentation he needed and upload it to the company server, but that’s not how he generally conducted these meetings. He was, as Amber pointed out, personable and good with people. He connected and created bonds, relationships, something he could comment on or ask about to let them know they were more than just people who worked for him. That was his gift, his talent.
The smile on his face was natural and open when he walked into the conference room. It was barely seven in the morning, but this wasn’t the only meeting he had before he could leave for Savannah and Chrissie.
What would she think of him if she could see him in his business element? He was casual and relaxed, and he spoke with confidence because he believed in the company, in the changes he’d helped instill and that would be taking place for years to come. If Corners Cookies was to make it another twenty or thirty years, then change had to be undertaken.
“Do you think we will ever have one of these meetings when the sun is up in the sky rather than still trying to decide if it wants to rise for us or not?”
Colt heard the question asked by one of the senior members of the board and laughed. At least they were in a decent mood. “Good morning, everyone.”
Chapter Eleven
“Colt? You here?” Russ called out.
“Yeah. I’m in the back. Hold on.” Colt emerged from the kitchen area of the store. “Glad you could stop by.”
“No problem. I got done with my meeting early, and the restaurant is just down the block from here so we can walk.” Russ glanced around. Up to the ceiling. Down to the floor. Colt stood behind the built-in counter and watched his brother. Russ had an eye for detail that rivaled anyone Colt knew, including himself. He also had an incurable curiosity. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “What is this place?”
“This,” Colt replied with a sweeping gesture of his arm, “is the first Corners Cookies store.”
Russ turned toward Colt. “You were serious?”
“Of course I was serious. When have you ever known me not to be serious when it comes to my business?”
“But here in Savannah? Why not Houston?” The questions were logical, but before Colt could answer them, Russ pinned him with a stare. “This wouldn’t by any chance have anything do with Christina, now would it?”
Colt didn’t flinch. “It would.”
“I know I asked this before, but just how serious is it between you two? You said it wasn’t a one-night stand, but to move halfway across the country for her?”
“I plan to marry her,” Colt answered without hesitation. His brother’s eyes widened, astonishment written all over his face at the announcement.
“Wow. That’s… So you’re in love with her.”
“Yes.” His voice cracked on the word unexpectedly. Loving her was how he felt, though, and he wouldn’t, couldn’t take it back. “Crazy, isn’t it?”
“More than a bit, yes. Is she in love with you?”
“Yes.” She hadn’t said so again since the night she let those three little words slip, but he heard them in her voice each time they talked, and he felt them in his heart each time he thought about her. He knew she had meant them.
“When will you see her?”
“She’s at work right now so I don’t know if I’ll see her tonight or in the morning.” As Colt finished speaking, Russ began pacing. Luckily the space was empty and gave Russ ample room for the back and forth he was doing. His steps were sure and solid.
He could see why Chrissie had fallen for Russ. He was quick with a smile, easy on the eyes. Even though Russ was his brother, Colt knew a good-looking man when he saw one. He knew the competition and his own strengths. He knew his own weaknesses too. He tried not to let those get in the way, but conceding defeat too early, not speaking up in personal matters… He wanted to make sure everyone around him got what they wanted, what they deserved.
For his brother’s happiness, he was willing to do that as well. Fortune had fallen in Colt’s lap this time, however. He winced at his own thoughts. Probably not the best turn of phrase to use. He’d never have wished Chrissie’s broken heart on anyone.
“I’m glad it’s you,” Russ said finally. He stopped at the front window and looked out onto the tourist-filled street, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
“Me too.”
“I’m not sure I’d trust her with anyone else. Strange coming from me, yeah?”
“No. You loved her, in your own way, and even though you’re over her, it doesn’t mean you don’t still care for her. I know ”you do.”
“You’ll be a better fit for her than I was. I wanted to make her into society, upper crust.”
“I know, but she already was upper crust.”
“Yes, and she didn’t want it. She wanted something else but was willing to do whatever made me happy. What does she think of your store idea?”
Colt couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face as he thought back to the moment he’d told her he owned Corners Cookies. “She can’t wait.”
“You have my blessing, you know.”
Colt smiled and suddenly felt lighter, felt more at ease. “You’d already given it, but thank you.”
“That was to date her. This one is to marry her. I know it’s not my place to give, but… Man, I can’t believe this is how things turned out. I’m genuinely happy for you, bro.” Russ stepped forward, and Colt embraced him. They were half brothers to the world, but there were things, parts of each of them, that the word “half” couldn’t touch. They were blood, and that was all that mattered.
“I expect you to be there. In fact, I’d…I’d like you be my best man.” The idea had come to him sometime over the last few days, and he hadn’t been able to shake it. “I know it’s probably weird for me to ask, and probably even weirder for you to accept and actually do, but it would mean the world to me if you did.” If Russ said no, Colt would understand, though he didn’t want to have to. He didn’t want anyone else to stand up with him.
Russ studied Colt for a long second, then smiled, nodded. “If Chrissie doesn’t shoot me on sight, I’ll be happy to. I’d be honored. Now, how about some food before I hit the road?”
Chrissie bit down on her tongue and silently counted to ten. The young woman standing at the counter didn’t seem to know anything at all about what an outdoor store was or much about the man she was dating. But if she whined in that high-pitched voice one more time… “Okay.”
“I just don’t know, you know?”
Chrissie did, unfortunately. “
Well, let’s see if we can narrow this down a little more. You said he likes hunting, right?”
“I think so. He talks about it sometimes.”
“Does he talk about hunting with guns or arrows?”
“I’m not sure. I’m not really listening for much of it. Whatever makes him happy. Is one better than the other?”
“Depends on the person, I suppose. I always preferred a gun.”
The woman’s eyes widened, and Chrissie knew she’d walked into a minefield and she’d need to back out slowly. “You mean, you like hunting? Should I like hunting too? Would I have to wear, you know, camo? They have such cute things downstairs. Little shorts and tank tops. What do you wear when you hunt?”
Pretty soon Chrissie was going to be headed to the emergency room because she was about to bite her tongue in half. No way should anyone ever put a gun or bow or knife or anything sharp or dangerous in the hands of this woman.
“Perhaps, since you’re not quite sure what type of hunting your boyfriend likes to do, you could get him a gift card. He could come in and get whatever he wanted.”
“Those are so impersonal, though.”
But so much safer, Chrissie thought. “They can be, but you could personalize it a little with a cute little…camo outfit or even some camo lingerie.” Chrissie watched, observed really, the transformation in the girl’s eyes. They lit up, cleared of their confusion and uncertainty, and she smiled.
“You know what? You might be right about this. I could totally do that, especially in some of the pink camo. He would be so surprised and love to see me in something so genuine.”
Oh yes. Pink camo. So genuine. Chrissie fought against the urge to roll her eyes. “I’m glad I could help.”
“You definitely did.” The woman nodded emphatically. “It’s no wonder you’re the manager.”
“No wonder.” Chrissie waved at the customer’s back. It wasn’t the friendly have-a-nice-day wave either. No, it was the wiggle-of-fingers wave. Combined with the smirk on her face, it merely conveyed the “crisis averted, and you’re dumber than a box of rocks” sentiment floating through her brain.
“No way should ammunition ever make its way into her hands,” James commented when the woman was in the elevator and the doors were closed.
“Nope. Not at all. Ever. And heaven help her boyfriend.”
“Speaking of boyfriends… When are you going to get a new one?”
Chrissie glanced at him. They’d worked enough shifts together and become good enough work friends that she didn’t take offense at the question. She just wasn’t sure how to answer it. “I, ah…” Was Colt her boyfriend? One physical date with the most perfect kisses. Multiple texts day and night. Phone sex as often as possible since he’d been home in Houston.
He gave her butterflies, both in her belly and between her legs. He made her smile and laugh and come so hard she saw stars. And… He had said they were much more than “a thing.”
She wanted him with her. Inside her. Day in and day out. She wanted him here, in Savannah, not there in Houston. She wanted to call him up, get in her car, and drive to see him, walk into his hotel room and crawl into his bed. She wanted to belong with him.
She—
“Chrissie?”
The sound of her name stopped her thoughts, and she looked to the source of the voice. “Colt.” She was as surprised to see him as she was happy, and her smile was instantaneous. “I-I didn’t think I’d see you until after I got off work tonight.”
“I thought I’d take a chance that you wouldn’t mind being seen with me in public, where you work.”
“Oh, stop that. Of course I don’t mind.”
“Good to know.” He winked at her and turned to James, offering his hand. “Hi, I’m Colt. Chrissie’s boyfriend.”
James took the hand, and the two shared a firm shake. “H-hi. I’m James, her humble employee.” James pinned her with a dumbfounded look.
“Humble, my ass. Can you hold down the fort for me for a bit? I need to talk to Colt for a few minutes.”
“Be my guest. I mean, we’re so busy I don’t know how I’ll manage, but you go on and have your little chat,” James urged with a roll of his eyes.
“Good. That’s the spirit.” She grabbed Colt by the sleeve of his shirt. “C’mon.”
“I love that you’re happy to see me,” he said when his stride matched her hurried one. “But where are we going?”
She’d lost her mind, but… “I want to try something, and you’re just the man to tell me if it works.”
“Mysterious.”
“I don’t know about mysterious.” So maybe it was mysterious to him. After all, she hadn’t told him what she was thinking, and being manhandled through the mall probably hadn’t been high on his to-do list when his plane touched down, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
“I do. And you’re definitely it, my dear.”
“Then I’ll take it as a compliment.” She was somewhat absent in her words as she tugged him into the lingerie store she frequented. Farther inside, toward the back corner, she spotted what she’d been looking for and took it off the rack.
“What are you doing?”
“Can I help you?”
Chrissie stopped and looked from Colt, who’d gone from curious to bland in no time flat, to the uncertain saleswoman standing in front them and barring the way to the dressing rooms. Chrissie made to go around her. “No,” she said with a polite tone of voice and as genteel a smile as she could muster. Her mother would be so proud. “We’ll just be a moment.”
“Miss. I’m afraid he’ll have to wait out here. He’s not allowed in the dressing room.”
Chrissie frowned. “He’s my husband,” she pleaded. “And I’ve lost the dexterity in my fingers. I need his help. We won’t be very long, I promise.”
The sales clerk was clearly at a loss as to what to say, and Chrissie expected her to say some well-mannered version of tough shit. “Well, I…I guess it would be all right just this once.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“You little liar. Such a bad girl,” Colt whispered as soon as the dressing room door closed behind him.
He was smiling down at her, and Chrissie felt amazing just being able to look at him, but right now wasn’t the time to get all mushy. It should be awkward, she thought, seeing him for the first time after so many days of not seeing him. It wasn’t, though. It was normal. An odd kind of normal, like they were used to him surprising her in the middle of her work day.
She enjoyed the feeling and it settled inside her. “I didn’t know what else to say, and it’s not like I can go out into the store with just the bra on. I needed to see the look on your face when I get it hooked.”
He quirked his brow upward. “Camouflage lingerie? Is this what all the female hunters are wearing out in the woods these days?”
She nudged him in the shoulder. “Yeah. I know it’s odd, but humor me, okay?”
Colt took a seat on the bench. “I’m happy to humor you in anything, baby. How can I help?” His eyes being riveted on her chest as she changed out one bra for the next was nothing less forceful than a heat wave. She tossed the red lace bra she’d been wearing at him, and he barely caught it.
“Hey.” She snapped her fingers in front of his face. “This is an experiment, not something for you to ogle me over.”
“Sorry, but you know my penchant for pretty lingerie. What the hell did you expect me to do?”
“You’ve got a point. Maybe I should have brought James instead.”
“Nope. No way. I can do this. I promise.”
She loved the little flare of jealousy that’d sparked in his eyes at the mention of someone else seeing her boobs hanging free. She kept watching him as he watched her. Lust darkened his eyes when her breasts were naked, but when she put the new bra on, adjusted the cups, then hooked it around the back, his eyes changed from lustful to hungry. “Now, what do you think?”
He licked his lips a
nd swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as his throat worked to force some sound upward and out his mouth. Chrissie loved the effect she had on him. “Look at my lap. What do you think I think?”
“Keep your voice down,” she whispered roughly. “I think you like it.”
“You’d be right. Damn. If you wear that, I might take up hunting.”
“Good to know. Now, pay attention. Imagine that you are into hunting and the outdoors already. If I came home and put this on, the panties too of course, and, say, slid a gift card into the bra cup or the waistband of the panties, would you find it appealing? A good birthday present? Or would you find it boring?”
“Why are you asking about that?”
“Advice I gave to a customer earlier. She knew nothing about anything outdoors other than her boyfriend likes going hunting. She wanted to get things that were sharp, that she didn’t need to be touching, so I told her to get something like this and give him herself with maybe a gift card.”
“I think it’s a fabulous idea. Creative and sexy too.”
“You don’t think it’s dumb?”
Colt reached for her. “Does it feel like I think it’s dumb? God, baby… Ever done it in a dressing room?”
“No. Am I about to?”
“You are.” He quickly but awkwardly got his pants undone and his shirt out of the way. His cock sprang free, and she was the one who licked her lips this time. “You okay with that?”
“Uh-huh. I think I probably am.”
“Good girl.”
“Are you two all right in there? Can I help you in any way?”
“N-no,” Chrissie called out in a voice she hoped didn’t sound like it anticipated the first feel of her lover’s penis between her legs. “We’re fine. Almost finished.”
“Yes, thank you,” Colt added. “Give us just a few more moments.”
“Is that all it’s going to take?” she whispered as she shed her jeans and panties down to her ankles. Colt held her steady as he turned her back to him and tugged her down on his lap. With her hands braced on his knees, he guided her onto his cock, inch by inch from behind.
Keep It Together Page 13