“Hello, this is Celeste, how can I help you?” she asked, businesslike. She hoped the call came from either Booker Foods, who owed her a credit to her account after they’d screwed up the order she’d placed last week, or from Sam, her bus boy who hadn’t bothered to show up for work today.
“It’s Roy.”
She leaned against the wall, and flipped through her notepad, itemizing what table needed what and when. “What’s up? We’re in the middle of lunch rush and you know how the meatloaf sandwich draws a crowd when it’s on special.”
“I do, so save me one.”
“Okay, will do. I’ll drop it off on my way home.”
“Why don’t you come by around two instead? I’ve been looking over the notes you gave me, and I thought maybe we could talk a bit. Do you think Will could cover you for the rest of the afternoon?”
She glanced around the kitchen, where her brother should be helping Rick or at least the two other servers. While she adored her brother, his mind was always on his paintings, not their livelihood. He might not be happy about having to stick around this afternoon, but he owed her.
“Don’t worry about Will. I’ll see you in a bit.” She hung up the phone. After she made a quick round to her tables and the customers at the counter, she went in search of her brother, knowing exactly where he was, and where he liked to hide.
“Hey,” she said, and leaned against the doorjamb of their stock room.
Will looked up from his clipboard. “How’s it going out there?”
“Busy.”
“Meatloaf sandwich on special?”
“Duh, it’s Tuesday.”
“I know what day it is.”
“Then you should also know now isn’t the time to do inventory.” Irritated at how obtuse he could sometimes be, she pushed off the doorjamb. “I mean, you do realize we’re in the middle of lunch rush.” She eyed her brother and waited for his next brilliant excuse to avoid dealing with the hungry customers keeping their business alive.
“I...I...hell, you know I hate waiting tables.” He cringed and held up his hands.
God, he acted like she was forcing him to wear a g-string rather than an apron. “I know,” she said, softening her voice and offering him a sympathetic smile. Will embodied the dark, brooding artist who’d rather sit on the sidelines and observe than place himself at the center of attention. “I don’t need a server, but I do need a bus boy. Sam never showed today.”
He tapped the clipboard against his leg. “I don’t have to take any orders or mingle with the customers?”
She fought an eye roll. While her brother inherited their father’s size and brawn, his strength lay in his art, not his social skills. He hated working at the diner, and hated living in Wissota Falls even more than she did. Small town life had never agreed with him. Until he could survive on his paintings alone, he was stuck here, helping her run the diner while her dad was finding himself in Florida. Finding himself my ass, she thought bitterly. He was golfing, dating again, and now that he’d bought a condo rather than rented one, she doubted he’d ever return to Wissota Falls.
“Nope, you don’t have to talk to anyone.” Shoving the bitterness aside, she tugged an apron off the hook, then tossed it at him. “Now, how about it? I can really use your help. Pretty please,” she added, widening her eyes and batting her lashes in a pathetic attempt to guilt him into doing his job.
Will narrowed his eyes, and twisted his mouth into a droll smile. “Don’t bother with the ‘Oh my, I’m so in the weeds, I need your help’ act.” He’d hitched his voice and mocked her by batting his long, thick eyelashes.
“Snot.” She grinned, and swatted him with her notepad. “You’ve got eyelashes like a girl.”
“You’re just jealous,” he teased as he gave in and put on the apron.
“Oh and before I forget, I’ve got an appointment at two, so you’ll have to watch the diner after lunch.” She dashed out of the stock room and headed toward the kitchen, her brother’s protests muffled by the crowd in the diner.
Several plates of The Sugar Shack’s signature sandwiches, piled high with golden brown, hand-cut fries, greeted her under the hot lamps. She pulled the ticket and the plates then made her way to the counter.
“Here you go, boys. Your usual.” Both Glen Anderson and Stu Clemens’ eyes bulged as she set the sandwiches in front of them. She’d known these local cranberry farmers for years. Every other week they came into town for a supply run and always stopped by the diner for a couple of roast beefs on rye with horseradish mayonnaise and cheddar, one minus the tomato.
“Geez, Celeste, you’ve outdone yourself.” Stu salivated.
“I’ll say.” Glen tore his gaze away from his sandwich. “Before I forget, can you pack up a couple dozen of your chocolate chip cookies? Ya’ know, for the wife.”
“Uh-huh. For the wife, is it?”
“Yeah and the kids, too. They love ‘em. Don’t know what you put in ‘em.”
“Oh, and the kids too. Aren’t you thoughtful.”
“He’s full of it,” Stu said around a mouthful. “Those cookies won’t make it home. He’ll have ‘em—umph.” He rubbed his ribs. “Whaddya do that for? She knows you eat them all and—umph—ouch, cut it out.”
“Then shut your trap, she don’t need to know about my addiction to her cookies.”
“Boys, please.” Her heart swelled with pride. She did make a damned good cookie and knew these guys were putting on a show for her. “Tell you what. I’ll throw in a few extras, on the house, and they better make it home.” She pointed an accusing finger at Glen. “Don’t forget, I know your wife.”
They chuckled as she turned away, giving her a couple of “yeah, yeah’s.” They were always suckering her into a few extras here and there. She didn’t mind, they’d be harvesting soon, and always gave her the best cranberries at cost.
A full coffee pot in hand, she eyed the diner, pleased at the number of customers crowding booths, tables and the counter. After her mom had died and her dad went off to grieve and find himself in Florida, he’d turned over all responsibilities of the diner to her and Will. She’d worried they’d lose business. But with her degree in accounting, not to mention her knack for baking, she and Will had managed to not only keep the diner alive, but helped it grow, even if it was a continual bane to her and her brother’s own aspirations.
Rather than frown at that last thought, she smiled when she caught Will efficiently busing tables, especially when he went out of his comfort zone and greeted several patrons. If it wasn’t for the nightmares, life would be...just as boring and unfulfilling as it had been for the past three years.
With a sigh, she refilled empty coffee mugs and joked with the regulars sitting at the counter. The bell on the front door chimed, and sunlight spilled into the diner. When she glanced up from the mug she’d been filling, she nearly fumbled the scalding coffee pot as she caught her breath and stared at the man strolling through the door.
Very male, very hot, and certainly not from Wissota Falls. If he had been, she would already have known every detail about him. Who needed to be psychic when the diner was a regular gossip factory?
Tall, dark and sexy glanced around the busy diner, then chose a vacant stool near the wall at the end of the counter. If a man that big could move with such a fluid, commanding grace by simply walking, she’d bet he had even better moves in bed. She startled herself with the thought, then even further when she pictured him in her bed, naked and between her thighs.
“Can I get a little more coffee?”
Her cheeks burned. Good Lord, she was fantasizing about a complete stranger when the diner was hopping with customers needing attention. “Sure, Russ, need anything else?”
He grunted a refusal, which gave her a chance to lose the coffee pot before she did some serious damage. She wrung her hands on her apron, then reached for her notepad and pencil.
He’s just a man like any other, she told herself. No big deal. So what if her
fingers tingled and itched to touch his thick black hair? So what if she’d already pictured him naked? It had been a long time since she’d had sex. Too long, she supposed, based on the sudden desire to touch and be touched sizzling through her body. She stuffed any notion of having sex with the stranger in the back of her mind, like she did with any thoughts or memories she wasn’t sure she could control. This time, though, it didn’t work.
Images of his large hands caressing her bare skin forged past her mental barrier. Thoughts of his firm, kissable lips exploring her mouth, breasts, and between her thighs where she now throbbed and ached took over and made her body hum with urges she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
In an effort to control and hopefully hide the pure lust and attraction this complete and total stranger had evoked, she plastered on a smile as she approached him.“Hi there. What do you want me to do to you?” She winced, realizing her gutter mind had taken over her tongue when a few of the regulars sitting nearby snickered. She narrowed her eyes at them. “I meant, what would you like me to get for you?”
He shifted his gaze from the menu. His dark chocolate eyes, heavily fringed with long lashes, swept up, and briefly settled on her breasts before finally meeting her gaze. Thank God for her stiff, uncomfortable apron and the way it hid her hardening nipples. If she hadn’t been in lust before, she sure was now. His gaze alone set her body on fire, and she could only imagine what his mouth and hands could do. And she had a very vivid imagination.
When he cocked a brow, she shook her head, but couldn’t shake the thought of him touching and caressing her. Damn, Roy was right. She really needed to date more. “I’m sorry, I was distracted. What did you say you’d like to order?”
“I didn’t say anything.” He sent her a crooked grin, his deep voice holding a hint of amusement. “But an iced tea would be great.”
She made the mistake of glancing at the regulars sitting at the counter watching her make an ass of herself. Stu and Glen were grinning like idiots, and Russ sent her a wink and a nod. Rolling her eyes at them, in an effort to act as if she wasn’t a lust-struck fool, she left the counter to grab his iced tea.
When she returned to take his order, she kept her head down and her eyes off his mesmerizing gaze. She didn’t want the guy thinking she was some sort of small town girl easily flustered by a handsome city slicker. City slicker? God, now she sounded like her neighbor, Mrs. Turner. Next she’d be using words like whippersnapper and scallywag.
“Okay.” She scribbled on her note pad. “One turkey, bacon ranch with fries. It’ll be out in a few.”
“Wait.” He reached out and touched her arm.
A powerful jolt rocketed through her body. She jerked as if electricity coursed through her, surging along every nerve ending, every pore. A split second image of the stranger emerged.
He rocked his naked body against hers, hovering his mouth inches from her lips. His eyes darkened, his face tensed, strained in passion. Skin against skin, the friction, the heat, the overwhelming desire, she arched her back and groaned...
He snatched his hand away. While the vision immediately dissipated with the loss of his touch, the erotic image remained seared in her mind, igniting a passion and desire that went beyond lust.
He glanced at his palm, then up at her, his eyes questioning, probing. “I...ah...” he began, his voice thick, husky before he cleared his throat. “I wanted to add a cup of soup to my order.”
She nodded slowly, unable to tear her eyes away from his. “Right. A cup of soup,” she echoed, then forced her feet to move. After placing his order with Rick, she ladled the soup. His stimulating touch still distracted her, still sent sensual tingles across her skin.
Something was definitely wrong with her. Most of her psychic visions came to her through her dreams, and over the years she’d learned to retrieve images from inanimate objects. She’d never understood how or why, but she’d also never had a vision that included her. Then again, she’d never had vivid nightmares before, either.
As her mind tried to grasp what had just happened, she glanced back at the man with the electric touch and caught him rubbing a hand down his face. He looked tired, worn and as lonely as she’d been feeling lately. She wanted to ease the tension from his shoulders, erase the worry from between his brows, kiss the grim line from his lips...
Damn. She needed a serious grip on reality. What had happened was probably her body’s way of telling her it had been way too long since she’d experienced any form of intimacy with a man. Her state of exhaustion probably didn’t help, either. Add on the stress of the nightmares...
She placed his soup in front of him, then kept herself busy. Fluttering from one customer to another, she moved on auto-pilot, the stranger never far from her thoughts, his touch still humming through her body.
She couldn’t wait for him to finish his meal and leave. She didn’t want to deal with his distracting aura, his hypnotic eyes or the desire he’d awoken. His touch had left a small imprint on her, had her longing for intimacy, affection...sex, had her facing a feeling she’d denied for years. Loneliness. The need to run from the responsibilities that had been dumped on her was stronger than ever, leaving her longing for the freedom to live her life, her dreams.
The bell at the front door chimed. She looked up from her notepad. The sun haloed the stranger’s body. He paused, looked over his shoulder and met her gaze, then with a curt nod he left. She closed her notepad, and instead of going to the kitchen to check on the food she’d been waiting for, she went to the end of the counter where he’d sat.
A twenty dollar bill sat on top of his nine dollar and twenty-eight cent check. Although pleased with the tip, a part of her wished for a business card. Stupid. She shook her head and gathered his money. Would she have called him anyway? Nope. She wouldn’t have had the nerve, and besides, she didn’t do one-night stands. Instead of allowing ridiculous disappointment to fester, she looked at his departure logically.
The good news, she ticked off in her head, he wasn’t local, just a stranger, probably a traveling businessman stopping in for lunch. The bad news, she would never seem him again.
Damn. That was supposed to be the good news.
Chapter 4
WHAT THE HELL was that all about?
John burst from the diner, dragging in a deep breath. The unusually balmy late September air only intensified the unexpected sensual heat pumping through his veins.
All he’d wanted was a freaking cup of soup. Instead, he’d ended up with a full-blown erection. He stood on the sidewalk, clenching and unclenching his fist. A strange pins and needles sensation still tingled through the hand he’d used to touch the sexy waitress. Touching her had dazed him with needs he’d never experienced. Lust. Primal, animalistic and possessive. His dick began to harden again as he relived the rush of arousing sensations she’d evoked, then his chest tightened as heartburn set in, which he deserved. He’d shoveled his sandwich into his mouth too fast in an effort to leave the diner and the waitress behind as quickly as possible. He didn’t mix business with pleasure, not anymore.
Without another glance at the diner, and knowing he still had some time to kill before meeting Roy, he set off in search of a store that sold antacids. A couple dozen short, brick buildings lined the entire town square, twelve foot lamp posts stood at attention every thirty feet giving off an antiquated air. Some shops had awnings, others boasted the American flag. Each had their business name centered above their store. Nothing flashy. No bright lights or gimmicks to draw the customer in, just good old-fashioned hometown simplicity.
A peaceful setting, and from what he’d read about Wissota Falls on the flight over, a tight knit community, very family oriented, with low crime and a good school system. Unfortunately the four dead women found this morning would put a huge blemish on the town’s image. The thought of the bodies he’d stared at only an hour ago had indigestion weaving its way into his chest, and his feet moving to find those antacids.
; The R & P Grocery had what he needed. He popped a few antacids into his mouth, then headed for his car, his mind still on the waitress from the diner, and his body still throbbing with the need to have her.
“Ridiculous,” he mumbled to himself as he climbed into his rental and turned the key in the ignition. He just hadn’t had sex since...Renee.
He hardened his jaw. He’d thought he’d buried his memories of her, of her betrayal, the day she’d been buried six feet under. Since he’d worked with the Chicago FBI Field Office on the serial pedophile/murder case, he hadn’t been able to ignore those memories. Although he’d been exonerated from anything having to do with Renee and her death, agents he’d known for years, had worked with, trained with, had still looked at him as if he’d been the one to pull the trigger. If they only knew the truth.
He drove into the Sheriff’s Department parking lot the same time Roy did. As he climbed out of his rental, he nodded to the sheriff.
“I’m glad you’re early,” Roy said as he led him through the double-wide doors into the building. “I got a call from the ME right after my meeting with the mayor.” He turned his attention to the receptionist. “Bev, did you get a fax from Carl?”
She gave him several papers. “Just a few minutes ago.”
“Here are those copies you asked for.” Jesse Peterson came out of a back office and handed them to Bev, who in turn handed them to the sheriff.
“The originals?” Roy asked.
“On the bottom,” she said, her worried gaze trained on the sheriff. “Did you remember to take your blood pressure medication?”
He released a deep sigh. “I...no.”
“Thought so, here.” She plucked a pill bottle from her desk drawer and handed it to him.
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