by Anne Conley
“Take the milk and pour two gallons into each of these pots. Watch the thermometers while you juice these lemons. When it gets up to a hundred and eighty degrees, turn off the heat and add the lemon juice. I’m gonna go take a really quick shower. Can you handle it?” She quirked an eyebrow at him.
“I know my way around a kitchen.” He said with a sardonic smile.
“Good. Please don’t burn down my house.” And with that, she was down the hallway to her bedroom.
Connor followed her directions to the letter, and when she returned from her shower, looking positively kissable, he was removing the pots from the burners, getting ready to pour in the lemon juice.
Jessie checked the thermometers. “Good. Now we get to go pick our herbs. Come on.” He followed her out to the garden, realizing she smelled amazing now. The summertime smell was enhanced by the peachy lotion shower stuff she had used. Her hair was wet, leaving a patch of moisture on the back of her white tank top, making it transparent, so he noticed her bra strap through the fabric.
They clipped an assortment of herbs, taking them back into the kitchen. Connor chopped them expertly, while Jessie made a fresh pot of coffee.
“I need to get the rest of the milk from the fridge in the barn and put it in the fridge on the porch. Can you help me with that?
“Sure.”
They went out to the barn, and loaded up Jessie’s yard wagon with the gallons of milk. After they had loaded up the fridge, Jessie grabbed four gallons and took them inside the house.
“Now we start again. I almost always do several batches a day. Since I’ve been thinking about your idea of the event here, I need to do even more. I don’t want to run out of cheese.”
Connor felt a flush of pleasure climb up his cheeks. He was glad she thought his idea was a good one. He was confident it would get people out here, and the more people knew about Jessie and her products, the better her business would be. Proud he could help her out, he said, “I’m glad you think it’s such a good idea.”
As they continued with the cheese making, Connor felt a rush of contentment. They were functioning together in the kitchen, side by side, a dream of his. He had always wanted a woman he could work with in harmony, especially in the kitchen. Jessie was teaching him a new technique, and he was relishing every moment of it. Working together, they were creating artisan cheeses, experimenting with flavors, and Connor knew the result would be mouth-watering.
Jessie was quiet as she worked, and Connor watched her. She had done this so many times she could probably do it with her eyes closed. She didn’t give him much instruction, he just watched her and instinctively followed. She was an impressive teacher, and he felt she could teach him so much more. He yearned for it.
When they pressed the first batch of cheese into molds, he watched the muscles in her shoulder as they tensed and released with her movements. Her hair, now pulled back into a ponytail, swayed from side to side as she rocked back and forth. He was lost in the motions, and his imagination ran away with him. There was something about this woman that made him ache for her. He had never ached for a woman before, and the sensation was disconcerting. Her self-confidence, her independence, her sexiness all combined in a package he could no longer deny himself.
“Jessie…” His voice was not his own, raspy with desire.
She turned to him, eyes darkening to the color of emeralds. Before he could stop himself, his arms were around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She made a small squeaky noise, as he pulled her body against his. He inhaled deeply of her scent, watching her face react to his nearness. Her pupils had dilated, and a flush rose from her neck up to her cheeks, spreading to her hairline. His fingers caressed her spine, and he could feel her tremble beneath his touch. She breathed heavily, her breasts rising and falling against his chest, and he could feel her nipples, erect against his chest, as he knew she could feel him, hard against her hipbone.
“Connor…” Her voice was ragged, and husky, sending desire racing through his bloodstream, straight to his groin.
He lowered his lips to hers, just to taste, gently. As soon as his lips touched hers, though, his need made him want more. Her lips were soft, warm, and sweet. They were pliable beneath his, and they opened for him eagerly. Jessie moaned into his mouth, almost setting him off completely. He thrust his tongue inside her mouth, savoring the experience, as her tongue met his willingly. Their tongues and lips twisted together, sucking, biting, exploring.
Connor had never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Jessie, right now. Sparks were flying, threatening to ignite a fire Connor didn’t want to extinguish. He had been too long without a woman, and his need overwhelmed him.
His hands went in opposing directions, one up into her hair, as silky as it looked, to pull her head back so he could have better access to her neck. The other hand traveled down to her backside, so he could press her closer to his rigid cock, straining painfully against his zipper.
His lips traveled down her neck, nibbling delicately, tasting her musky sweetness. Images of summertime again filled his mind, only now the images involved Jessie’s lithe body, entwined with his.
Jessie had submerged her fingers in his hair, pressing his head down onto her skin, and moans escaped from her mouth between ragged gasps. Her lips found his earlobe, and nibbled on it delicately, driving a growl from the back of his throat to his lips. Her breath in his ear clouded his vision, sending him over the edge into oblivion. If he didn’t stop now, he realized, he would take her right here, on her countertop.
With every ounce of restraint he had left, he propelled himself backwards, away from her eager hands, which had been traveling down, lower, to the point of no return. He knew he had to stop this.
Gasping for breath, he distanced himself from her. Jessie was looking at him, through eyes glazed with lust, a question on her lips.
“I-I…I can’t do this. I’m sorry, I’ve got to go.” He ran his hands through his hair, as he turned to leave.
“Wait. Connor?”
He didn’t stop. He knew if he turned to look at her, he would be lost. So he kept going, right out the door.
Chapter 8
Jessie felt Connor’s rejection deep in her gut. He had been sending her mixed signals from the beginning. He had come to her in the bar. He had kissed her wrist. That had been an experience. He had kept coming back, even when he didn’t have to. He had just assaulted her with the hottest kiss she had ever experienced. His physical reactions hadn’t been her imagination either. But his words kept telling her no.
She didn’t understand.
And she didn’t know what to do about her own reactions to him.
Connor did something to Jessie she couldn’t explain to herself. He was drop dead gorgeous. That part was a no-brainer. He was smoking hot. She could understand that. But the way he smiled at her. The way he watched her, so intensely. His smell. God, the man smelled good. He always smelled like citrus, and some sort of herb or spice, she couldn’t quite put her finger on. The way his fingers, and their tantalizing sensuality, stroked things, relishing textures. The way he seemed to care about how she did with her business, as if he wanted her to be successful as much as she did.
She thought he cared about her.
Wiping tears of frustration from her eyes, she vowed to not let this ruin their professional relationship. She couldn’t lose him as a customer. He was the best she’d ever had.
She had to make a plan. She would finish today’s batch of cheese, then make something to take over to him. She needed to talk to him, to reassure him she would stay professional. No more kissing. No more casual visits. Strictly business. That’s what she would do.
Her phone ringing interrupted her preparations.
“Hello?”
“Thank God, you’re okay.”
“Hi, Summer.” Jessie rolled her eyes slightly at her friend’s dramatics.
“I’m so glad to hear your voice. I called Bo last night, and told her about the
woman in his house. She agreed with me that place is bad news. I don’t want you
to go back, Jessie.”
Jessie remembered the woman in the mirror she had seen last night, and an involuntary shudder went through her. She had managed to forget, and now here was Summer, freaking out. She wasn’t about to add fuel to the fire, though. So she kept quiet about the vision she thought she had seen in the mirror.
“I have to go back, Summer. Connor is a good customer, and I will go back to deliver more stuff. I’m not going to mess up this deal.” Her voice held a vehemence, which probably wasn’t warranted in this particular conversation, but after what had just transpired between her and Connor, her emotions were raw.
“Please be careful, Jessie. That woman doesn’t like you. She could try to hurt you. I got a definite feeling of malice with intent from her. She’s probably a spirit who has attached herself to Connor somehow, and sees you as a threat. That’s what Bo thinks, and she knows way more about this stuff than I do. She said …” Summer was pleading with her, with a frenetic energy, which had turned to babbling, and Jessie needed to put a stop to it, or she would get carried away. Summer had a tendency to do that.
“Summer, there is nothing going on with Connor and me.” Not now, anyway. “And there is not a ghost in his house, waiting to do me in.” She needed to change the subject, or else Summer would start obsessing. “I’m going to have an event here, at the ranch. Sort of like an open house, to get people to come and experience my cheeses.” She went on to tell Summer about Connor’s plan.
“That sounds like a super idea! I can make up the flyers for you. Remember that time I took all those pictures for your website? I think I still have them. It would be no trouble to put something together for you. I could put a flyer in my bags here at the shop.”
“That would be great, Summer. Thanks! Hey, do you think Whiskey Myers would play for us?”
“I could ask John. He owes me a favor or two. I’ll see when they can come. That would be a great way to draw a crowd. They have a huge local following, especially since they’ve signed in Nashville.”
They continued making plans, until a customer came into Summer’s shop, and she had to go. They said goodbye, and Jessie went back to her cheese.
When Connor had returned to the restaurant, he lost sight of his primary goals and called Brandy. He had some empty threats he wanted to hurl at her, in another attempt to get her to leave his personal life alone. She didn’t answer. So he had called his Houston lawyer, who had nothing positive to say to him. Frustrated with himself, Brandy, and his impotent lawyer, he had thrown himself into cooking for lunch. The crowd wasn’t as big as he’d like, but it seemed to be growing a little.
His thoughts, as they usually had lately, turned to Jessie.
What had he been thinking? Now he wasn’t near her, under her spell, he could think rationally. There was no way he could have a relationship with her. Brandy would find out, as she always did, and sink her tentacles into Jessie. She would twist the facts, and somehow convince Jessie that Connor was a drug-addled womanizer. Or she would make Jessie out to be a bad person in the courts, and have yet another round of ammunition against his custody appeals. There was no limit to Brandy’s vitriol, she would do anything to hurt Connor. He could not, for the life of him, imagine why she wanted to hurt him so badly. He had done everything he could to make her happy.
And now, he wanted to make Jessie happy, but Brandy had ruined him.
He relived the afternoon, again. The feel of her body under his hands, her hair in his fingers, the taste of her on his lips, the noises she made, all conspired to bring him to his knees. He resigned himself to making her a fantasy. That was something for his spank bank, because he could never pursue it, ever.
Putting his energy into cooking for lunch, then cleaning up after the rush, he wasn’t aware he was being watched.
Jessie had said hi to Kathy before letting herself into the kitchen, knowing where Connor would be. He was intent on his chores, cleaning the grill, straightening the pots and pans, wiping down the countertops. When he turned to carry a stack of mixing bowls to the dishwasher, he saw her.
He did a double take, and stopped walking when she smiled at him tentatively.
“What do you need?” His voice was gruff, taking Jessie aback.
“Um…I brought you a smoothie. I wanted to apologize for this morning.” She started tentatively. She hadn’t expected his reaction.
“You have nothing to apologize for.” He said shortly, as he turned to go to the dishwasher.
She followed him. “I don’t want to mess up our business relationship. So I brought a peace offering.” She held out the Styrofoam cup to Connor, who dumped the dishes in the sink, and looked at her warily.
“Thanks.” He took it, and turned back to the dishes, turning on the water, effectively drowning out any further conversation.
“Well…” She started, but he didn’t turn, or even acknowledge her. “See you.” She slowly turned and left the kitchen.
Out in the dining room, she saw Kathy escorting the final customers out the door. She turned to Jessie and smiled sheepishly. “I should have warned you. He’s in a rotten mood. When he came back from wherever he went this morning, he got on the phone. When he got off, he started his snapping turtle impression, and hasn’t stopped.”
“Well, he was at my house. I’m afraid I probably had something to do with his mood.” Jessie said quietly.
Kathy raised an eyebrow in question. “Want to talk about it?”
“Not right now. I do need to call you later, though. I want to bounce something off of you.”
“Okay, talk to you later.” Her friend hugged her, and Jessie drove home.
Connor finished the dishes, and walked into the dining room, to find Kathy cleaning the floors. She stopped and looked up at him when he entered.
“What did you do to her, Connor?”
“What do you mean, what did I do to her?” Connor bristled.
“She doesn’t do contrite. She’s the most unapologetic person I know. What happened between you two?” Her hands were on her hips, and she stood there, expectantly.
He sighed, heavily. “I honestly don’t know, Kathy.” And he didn’t. He wanted her, and she wanted him, but it couldn’t ever happen.
Kathy wasn’t giving an inch. Connor could see the protectiveness welling up inside of her. “Well, she came here to make something right. Can you think of something that’s wrong, she might want to make right?” Connor was silent. “Because Jessie has never cared enough about anyone with testicles to try to make something right. She usually just writes them off. If you are fucking with her or her business, I will personally see to it you regret ever setting eyes on her.”
He wasn’t particularly afraid of her threats, even though he knew she would make good on them. He did realize however, Jessie had come to make an overture, and he knew this was at least the second one she had made towards him, and he had rebuffed it. Again.
“Fine. I’ll go talk to her.” Even though he knew if he went back to her house, he wouldn’t be able to just talk. Fuck Brandy. He felt something inside of him shift, some primal motivation in his life changed right then. He decided to not let his ex rule his life anymore. He could do this.
As he went back into the kitchen to remove his chef’s coat, and hang it up, he noticed the mirror on the counter again. It was sitting on the counter he had wiped, not ten minutes ago. And it hadn’t been there then.
“Dammit.” He growled, as he picked it up. Slamming the mirror down on the edge of the counter, he heard a satisfying shatter as the mirrored glass broke into a dozen pieces. Not giving it a second glance, he again threw the creepy thing into the trash can before stalking out the door.
When Jessie got back to her house, she was suddenly livid at the sight that met her in the driveway.
Chad’s cruiser was parked haphazardly in the yard, and he was sitting nonchalantly in one of her rocking chairs
on the porch as if he owned the place. She took a deep breath to calm her ragged nerves before exiting her truck and stomping toward him.
“Chad. What in the hell are you doing here?”
“Good afternoon to you too, Sweetness. I just stopped by to check on things. I heard you had a complaint filed against you.”
“I need you to leave, Chad. I’m tired of being civil.”
“I’m not leaving, Jessie.”
She had climbed the porch steps, slowly, every muscle tense, each of her nerves on full alert for whatever Chad had planned. She knew he had something in mind.
“Yes, you are.”
He stood then, his motions a blur. His hand grasped her wrist, tightly, dragging her towards the door. “I’m tired of you talking to me like I’m trash. You are going to open the door, and we’re going to have a nice time today, Babe.” His arms were around her waist tightly, his chest to her back as he pushed Jessie towards her front door.
“You are trash, Chad. I’m not letting you inside my house. Ever.” She knew she was pushing him too hard, but his grasp around her was too tight. She couldn’t get to her purse. She cursed herself. She should have had her gun ready when she got out of the truck.
Chad pushed her against the door, slamming her head into the window, just hard enough to leave a bump, but not break the glass. She stomped on his instep, eliciting a growl of rage from him, but he didn’t let go.
He spun her furiously, and grasped her upper arms, shaking her. “You think you’re better than me? Huh?” He slapped her then, bringing a stinging heat to her face. She tasted blood. Chad continued to shake her. “Nobody’s better than me, Sweetheart.” He stopped shaking her, and leaned in close to her face. “I’m the best.” He pulled an arm back and let loose with a punch in her face, which sent her back into the door, breaking the window before she slumped to the ground. He kicked her once in the thigh before picking her up again.