Pulling in another deep breath, he watched as a huge smile touched her lips before she raced from behind the counter to be engulfed in the man’s arms.
“Rico!”
Chase frowned. Who the hell was Rico? And judging from the gigantic smile on Jessica’s lips she definitely knew the guy. Was this the guy she was going out with later? Suddenly, without much glamour or fanfare, an emotion he hadn’t experience in a long time attacked his insides. He didn’t know who the man was, but he wanted to cross the room and snatch Jessica out of his arms.
He made a move, then caught himself, astounded that he would feel that way. Not since Iris had he felt jealousy for any woman. Fighting for control he leaned back against the counter. Okay, so he usually wasn’t the jealous type, but dammit, at the moment he was seeing red.
“Maybe I should leave,” he said in a somewhat angry voice.
Two pair of eyes shifted to glance over at him. Evidently the extent of his anger registered. He saw a sparkle in the man’s eyes. In Jessica’s he saw clear confusion. Hell, he was confused about the way he was acting as well.
“Umm, maybe you should leave,” the man named Rico said, smiling, although the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Chase’s frown deepened. He straightened, suddenly filled with a desire go over and smack the man, break the pretty boy’s nose.
“Rico, stop,” Jessica said, chuckling. She met Chase’s hard stare and the smile vanished from her lips. She wondered what had him so upset. Then it dawned on her. She had told him she was going out later today and then Rico showed up. She couldn’t help but smile again at the possibility that he was jealous.
She shook her head, knowing that couldn’t be possible. Men who were only into casual relationships didn’t get jealous. “Chase—” she cleared her throat to say “—I’d like you to meet my brother, Rico Claiborne.”
Chase lifted a brow and stared first at her and then at the man. “Your brother?” he asked, clearly astonished. The two looked nothing alike.
“Yes, her brother,” the man answered smiling. He slowly crossed the room to Chase. “And you are?” he asked as though he had every right to know. Chase started to tell him off but then he remembered how he and his brothers used to behave with his baby sister Delaney’s dates, and decided big brother here was due the same courtesy.
“Chase Westmoreland.”
Chase watched a confused expression form on the man’s face before Rico turned around to look at Jessica.
Jessica inhaled deeply. She knew that Rico recognized the Westmoreland name and had questions. And she would have to give him answers.
Rico turned back around and offered Chase his hand. “Nice meeting you, Chase Westmoreland.”
Chase took the hand the man offered, wondering what the hell was going on. He had picked up on something between brother and sister when he’d given the man his name and that had him confused. “Nice meeting you as well,” he finally said. He then cleared his throat and said, “I’m sure you want to visit with your sister so I’ll be going.”
Rico smiled. “You don’t have to leave on my account.”
Chase inhaled deeply. Yes, he did have to leave. He had to go somewhere and think about his possessive feelings. “I was about to go anyway. I have a lot of work to do.”
Rico nodded.
“Chase owns that huge restaurant two doors down,” Jessica was saying. “My shop assistant got sick today and he was kind enough to help me out with the lunch-hour crowd.”
Rico Claiborne nodded again, looked over his shoulder at Jessica and then back at Chase and said, “Oh, I see.”
Chase frowned. He had a feeling Jessica’s brother was seeing too damn much. “Nice meeting you,” he said, then crossed the room to the door. Before he opened it he stopped and glanced over at Jessica. “And I’ll see you Saturday morning.”
She smiled. “All right.”
Chase then walked out the door and closed it behind him. For a long moment Jessica didn’t say anything but watched as he walked past Mrs. Morrison’s shop back toward his place.
“Would you like to tell me what’s going on, Jess?”
Jessica turned and met her brother’s inquisitive gaze.
“I’m not sure I know, myself, Rico.”
Later that night Jessica walked into the ballroom of a community center and glanced around. This was a fund-raiser for a mayoral candidate and like everyone else present, she had purchased a ticket to attend. However, she was only here to get answers from the man whose company would be catering the food.
Rico had been passing through on his way to Florida and had only stayed long enough for them to share a snack and talk. She had explained as much about the situation as she could, leaving out specific details involving her and Chase but she had a feeling he had read between the lines anyway.
Jessica glanced down at her watch. She had arrived during the cocktail hour, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to make her way to the kitchen and talk to the cook. All she needed was a few minutes of his time.
Moments later she walked up to one of the waiters who was carrying around a tray of hors d’oeuvres. “I’d like to see Mr. Henry. Is he around?”
The man smiled then nodded in the direction of the kitchen. “He’s in there.”
“Thanks.”
A few moments later she walked into the kitchen and glanced across the room at the man giving orders to a couple of waiters. If this was Theodore Henry then he was a lot younger than she’d thought he would be. This man appeared to be in his middle forties.
She waited until the two young waiters left before approaching him. “Mr. Henry?”
He turned and gave her a pleasant smile. “Yes? How can I help you?” he asked, extending his hand to her.
“I’m Jessica Claiborne. I’ve tried calling you several times but you never return my calls.” Jessica watched as the smile on his face vanished and he coolly withdrew his hand from hers.
“I am an extremely busy man. Besides, I have no idea what you were asking about.”
Jessica lifted a brow. “So you knew nothing about Scott Westmoreland’s allegations that my grandfather gave you Westmoreland recipes when you were Schuster’s cook?”
“Oh, I heard about it but I didn’t have time for such claims. I was too busy coming up with those tasty dishes to worry about two old men with nothing better to do than argue over something unimportant.”
Jessica exhaled a breath. Although it was killing her, she was determined to continue questioning the man with polite professionalism. Although she definitely wanted to tell him where he could shove his arrogant attitude. “And just where did you get the recipes, Mr. Henry?”
His frown deepened. “Not that I have to answer that, but to clear your mind about any wrongdoing on my part, those recipes have been in my family for years. I told Westmoreland that, but he refused to believe me.”
Before giving her a chance to respond or to ask him anything else, he said, “Look, Miss Claiborne, I really don’t have time to stand here and discuss something that happened almost eighteen years ago. Evidently it’s important to you but it’s not to me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.”
“Hey, boss, we’re about to leave,” Donna said to Chase. “You plan to stay late tonight?”
Chase pushed away from his desk. “Not too late. I just have a little bit of paperwork I need to do.”
Donna nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Once alone, Chase leaned back in his chair and glanced around. His office looked normal, nothing like it had the night before. But still that didn’t stop the memories from flooding his insides with a heated rush.
He stood for a moment, stretching his legs. As he walked around the room every step he took reminded him of Jessica being here with him last night. He remembered all the times he had kissed her, brushed his lips across her skin, touched her with his fingers, and devoured her greedily with his mouth. He was getting hard just thinking abo
ut it.
Damn. He was spending way too much time lusting after Jessica. After all, that’s all it was. There was no other explanation for it. That bout of jealousy earlier today had stemmed from possessiveness, nothing more. Hell, he’d had a right to feel possessive after what the two of them had shared. She had been a virgin, for heaven’s sakes. He couldn’t help but smile. Even she had been surprised by that.
He stretched his shoulders and looked down at his watch. It was close to eleven o’clock. He wondered what Jessica was doing. Was her brother still there? What if he wasn’t? He sighed deeply. Damn, but he wanted to see her.
He shook his head. After last night, if he were to show up now, this late, she’d think he was making a booty call. Hmm, although the thought of that sounded nice, he knew, whether he wanted to admit it or not, that he thought of Jessica as more than a convenient body he could use. There was something about her that reached him on all levels, not just the physical one. He wished he had the strength to keep her at arm’s length but knew he could not. Even when she wasn’t there with him he could feel her presence. Thoughts of her were always embedded deep in his head.
Knowing he had to get out of his office he grabbed his jacket off the rack. Moments later he was locking the door behind him. He tried not to glance over at Jessica’s place. But he just couldn’t help it.
Fighting temptation with a vengeance, he walked to his car. He was determined not to see Jessica again today. But as he pulled out of the parking lot, intent on going home, he knew that tomorrow was only a few hours away.
Nine
“Hey, Chase, you got somewhere to go tonight?”
Chase glanced up from looking at his cards and met Dare’s stare. He and his brothers were over at Storm’s place playing a friendly game of cards. At least it always started off friendly. Hopefully tonight they wouldn’t have to worry about Storm’s loud complaining when he started losing. With newborn twins in the house he figured his brother’s boisterous foul mouth would be kept at a minimum.
“What makes you think I have someplace to go?” he asked.
Dare smiled. “Because you seem anxious about something, and you keep looking at your watch.”
Thorn chuckled and glanced over at Chase. “And that’s a sure sign a woman is involved.”
Chase had no intentions of telling them if there was or if there wasn’t. It had been hard going all day without seeing Jessica. Twice he had started over to her place before quickly changing his mind. They would be seeing each other tomorrow when she went with him to Chattanooga and he was satisfied that was soon enough.
Chase threw down his cards. There wasn’t a damn satisfying thing about it. He glanced around the table at his brothers, who were staring at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Look, I’m out of here,” he said standing on his feet.
Stone lifted a dark brow. “But for once you’re winning.”
Chase inhaled. No, he wasn’t winning. He was losing every minute he was sitting here with them when he could be with Jessica, in her arms, in her bed.
This had turned out to be a good batch of chocolate, Jessica thought as she pulled off her cooking mitt and licked her lips. She had made more than she needed, but she figured the extra would be perfect for moulding into candy for Chase’s Crusaders.
Removing the hairnet from her head, she pushed a wayward strand of hair from her face and thought about her disappointing meeting with Theodore Henry last evening. The man was arrogant. And regardless of what he’d said, she believed he had gotten those recipes from somewhere.
Today had been a very busy day and she was glad Mrs. Stewart had felt well enough to return. But the steady stream of customers hadn’t stopped her from glancing over at the door every once in a while hoping to see Chase walk in. She knew Fridays were one of the busiest days at his restaurant, but still, she had missed seeing him all day. He’d had dinner delivered to her and the thought of him thinking of her made her smile. She had discovered that Chase Westmoreland—the man she had fallen in love with—was a very thoughtful man.
She glanced around when the doorbell rang. It was close to ten o’clock. Who could that be? Her pulse rate increased at the thought that it might be Chase. Leaving the shop’s kitchen, she quickly made her way to the front door. The silhouette of his body through the glass gave him away. She hadn’t been expecting him but she could tell by the way her heart was beating and the sizzling heat that was beginning to flow through her that she was glad to see him.
Breathing deeply she slowly unlocked the door.
Chase couldn’t help but stare at the woman standing in front of him. She was barefoot and her thick black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but a lock of hair had escaped and obscured one eye in a way he thought was sexy.
“Chase?”
He stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep them from reaching out and pulling the rubber band from her hair, totally destroying her ponytail and making her hair tumble over her shoulders.
“I was playing cards with my brothers,” he said slowly, getting turned on just by looking at her standing there. “I was winning, but I couldn’t keep my mind on the game for thinking about you, wondering what you were doing and wishing whatever it was, I could be here with you.” He watched Jessica’s mouth turn up into a smile and his guts clenched.
“Chocolate,” she said softly.
He blinked then lifted a brow. “Excuse me?”
She smiled again. “I was making chocolate. At least I was just finishing up. Would you like to come in?”
Chase smiled. Would he ever. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
She met his gaze. “I’m positive.” As he closed the door behind him, Chase leaned against it for support and stared at her. Her reaction to his heated gaze seemed natural, and the darkness of his eyes touched her everywhere, making a low burning need ignite through her. Seconds turned into minutes and neither said anything. If she didn’t speak soon, she’d be burned to a crisp. “Would you like some?”
Too late she realized what she’d asked and watched a smile tilt the corners of his lips. It was a smile that was definitely provocative, irrevocably male. She quickly decided to clarify. “Chocolate. I made extra. Would you like to taste some?”
He nodded his head, kept his gaze directed on her. “I’d love to taste your chocolate.”
She swallowed as a sharp physical reaction sliced through her and it made her wonder if they were still discussing the same thing. “There’s some left on the stove.”
Chase followed Jessica to the kitchen and remembered the last time he’d been inside that particular part of the shop. It had been the night he had taken her to the movies and she had invited him in for cookies and milk afterward.
“Where’s your brother?” Chase decided to ask, wondering if the two of them were alone. He hadn’t seen another car parked out front.
“He’s gone. He was passing through and only stayed for a little while.”
Chase nodded. “I would never have guessed the two of you were related.”
Jessica glanced back over her shoulder at him and smiled. Most people didn’t and she understood why. “Our father is African-American but Jennifer, my stepmother, is white. Rico looks like her and my sister Savannah looks like a combination of both of them.”
Chase stood just inside the door of the kitchen and glanced around as the aroma of chocolate teased his nostrils. She had definitely been busy. A long table was lined with molds for chocolate lollipops. But what was really holding his attention was Jessica.
He watched as she walked over to an industrial-sized stove. “One thing about chocolate,” she was saying, “is that you can never make too much, since it can be stored and reused many times over.”
She turned and smiled at him. “The only problem is that tonight I’ve run out of storage space and I have to get rid of what’s left in the pot since I won’t be using it. I think it was a really good batch.” Chase watched as she stuck her hand into the pot and then tasted t
he chocolate from her finger.
His gut clenched at the sight of her licking her finger clean, and he felt an immediate hardening of his body as his control began slipping. He met her gaze and doubted that she knew just how aroused he was getting from watching her.
“May I have a taste?” he asked, shrugging out of his leather jacket and walking toward her. He paused long enough to place the jacket on a hook near a small table.
“Sure. Is a spoonful okay or do you want—”
“Your finger.”
She lifted an arched brow. “My finger?”
He came to stand in front of her. She smelled good, but he knew without a doubt that she tasted even better. “I want to lick it off your finger. Just like you did.”
Jessica swallowed hard. His words made her feel tingly all over, especially in one particular spot. She turned back to the stove and stuck her finger in the huge pot. She shivered slightly as she ran her fingertip along the side and coated it with warm chocolate. She turned and held her hand up to Chase, close to his lips. “Here you go.”
Without saying anything, and without his gaze leaving hers, he caught her hand in his to steady it, then stuck out his tongue and licked the chocolate off her finger. His strokes ignited the already simmering flames inside her to a torturous blaze as she watched his tongue gently but boldly caress her finger. She felt a whimper form in her throat and when he sucked her finger into his mouth, devouring it greedily, she nearly came undone. He had to reach out and catch her by the waist to stop her from melting to a heap on the floor.
When he finally released her finger, he smiled at her, licked his lips and said, “You’re right. That’s a good batch. I’ve never had chocolate that tasted that good before.” Then before she could catch her next breath, he leaned in close to her lips and whispered, “And I want some more.”
He kissed her, slanting his mouth greedily over hers. His seductive attack on her mouth put her on hot alert. Immediately her body responded to the feel of her breasts pressed tightly against his chest, the way her middle fit snugly against the hard length of him, and the way his mouth was mating with hers. She could feel the desire between them intensifying. They needed each other badly. He tasted like chocolate, but she figured so did she. And they both intended to indulge to their hearts’ content.
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