“Yep. I can make anything you want. Any size. Any shape.”
“Even, say a…jeweler’s box?”
Her heart dropped to her knees then shot back up, bypassing her chest to lodge in her throat. Oh my God… “Y-yes. I can.” She couldn’t stop the grin, even though she needed to be sure. “This is for a ring, right? Not a necklace or bracelet, because that’s a different shape.”
“For an engagement ring, yes,” he confirmed, excitement and terror fighting to claim his expression.
“No problem, and oh, my God, congratulations.” She launched herself at him and hugged him, then immediately stepped back, and looked around to make sure no one saw. “Sorry. I’m assuming it’s a secret.”
“Yes.” He grinned, no doubt completely amused by her antics.
“I won’t say a word, but dang I’m so happy for you two.” She pulled up the notepad on her phone and jotted down the specifics of flavor, design, embellishments and engraving, promising to have it ready the day before Valentine’s Day. “I’ll call you sometime this week with a price and to show you a mock up on paper. Is that okay?”
“Perfect. Thanks, Jill.” He winked, before disappearing into the garage with the snowmobile, leaving her with her happy thoughts on the new commission.
It was jobs like these that Jill enjoyed the most. The ones that came straight from the customer’s heart, and she strived to capture exactly what they wanted to convey to their loved one. It was as exciting as it was gratifying, and she looked forward to this one more than any other, because it was for her dear friend, the first one she made since returning to the Pocono Valley.
No way would she screw this up. She was going to make the edible box look like the antique Ben had requested. Her goal was to take Lea’s breath away and make her friend cry…in a good way.
This wasn’t like being commissioned to create ten chocolate roses so some slick dick could give them to ten different women. No. This was the real deal, and she was thrilled to have a few weeks to perfect the piece.
The first thing she needed to do was work on consistency. What she couldn’t figure out today at the shop, she’d figure out tomorrow at home. Her heart raced with excitement.
This was going to be her best batch of chocolate yet.
Chapter Ten
Three batches of chocolate and six hours later, Jill decided to call it a day, and take back the snow suit, coat, gloves and boots she forgot to leave at the resort. She’d been forced to work in her socks all day. Her very bright, multi-colored toe socks. Yeah, she was nothing if not entertaining today.
Business had been good, and so had the customers, but her thoughts had been on making chocolate and hitting it out of the park for her friend. And when she hadn’t been thinking about Lea, her mind and body had perfect total recall of Mason’s heat, strength and the delicious play of muscles in his incredibly lean body as she’d wrapped her limbs around him and held tight.
Oh, sweet baby Jesus, when he’d taken those corners…
Hot flashes had ensued. At the shop, too. The back door had been opened and she’d welcomed the cold breeze. Three times. Yeah. Pathetic. Again. She was acting like the virgin he’d mentioned.
Muttering a curse, she slipped the jacket and boots on, grabbed the bibbed suit and her purse, then locked up and headed to the resort.
Her reasons for heading there now were logical. Purely logical. Tomorrow would be another busy day. They might need the suit. It was also her day off, and she hoped to sleep in a little because she was going to be up half the night making chocolate, which would make taking it back after she woke up, a bit too late. So, heading there now made sense. It had nothing to do with the fact Mason would be done with work for the day and might be around. Nope. Nothing to do with that at all.
And she was still telling herself that when she clomped through the lobby of the resort twenty minutes later. She walked past reception and headed straight toward the back where she took a left and made a noisy trek to the rental desk.
The closed rental desk.
Her gaze fell to the sign on the counter with the hours clearly marked. Seven a.m. to five p.m. Great. It was going for six-thirty. How was she supposed to return the gear with no one there?
At least she could retrieve her regular boots and coat, hat and scarf. She clomped her way to the woman’s locker room and pushed on the door. It didn’t budge. Oh, goody, locked. Now what?
She could go home and try again tomorrow and kiss her sleep-in good-bye. Go to Timbers and see if one of the Wyne brothers was there. They’d help her get into the locker room and make sure the suit, gloves and boots got back where they belonged. She could also knock on Ethan’s door, the family door to the Wyne section of the lodge she’d used with Lea once.
Jill hated to disturb the family. But she hated to take home their property even more.
Deciding on option number three because it was closer than Timbers, Jill tried to tip-toe in the big snow boots, causing some of the guests to smile, and a few to laugh. Giving up on being quiet, she clomped the rest of the way to the Wyne door, sucked in a deep breath, and knocked. She wondered briefly why she was even bothering to try. The way the past half-hour was going, surely no one was home.
But within ten seconds, the door swung open to reveal a shirtless Mason. He hesitated, glanced behind him as if to call someone else to the door, then seemed to think better of it and turned to face her.
“Hey,” he said.
She was thrilled at the fact he wasn’t sure what to do with her either, and also thrilled he stood before her, hair wet from a recent shower, tiny drops of water running down his broad shoulders, begging her to take action. So she did. She watched their decent as they slid over his muscled pecs, ripped abs, and the start of a delicious V his wranglers cut across.
Her hot flash was back, this time much stronger, so strong her body practically hummed.
“Hey, Jill,” he said, slight quirk to his mouth.
Damn, he had a great mouth.
“Did you need Ethan or something?”
Forcing her eyes front and center, the haze lifted from her mind. “No, you’ll do.”
He raised a brow, leaned a forearm against the door and grinned. “Will I now…what did you have in mind?”
Ah, crap. The haze threatened to return, and the heat pooling low in her belly wasn’t helping her to remain in control. It was helping her to turn stupid.
She lifted the suit in her arms, flashed him a peek at the boot on her foot and smiled. “I need your help to get into the locker room so I can retrieve my stuff and return these. I left in a hurry today and forgot to change first.”
“Ah, but clunk is a good look on you,” he joked, moving back and motioning her inside. “Come on in while I grab my shirt and keys.”
She followed past a large living room and down a hallway, her gaze salivating over every single ridge and muscle that rippled on his back. The man was perfection.
“Wait here, I’ll be right down,” he said, then disappeared up the stairs she knew led to the rest of the apartments, thanks to her one-time visit with Lea a few weeks ago.
The place was quiet, empty. She removed her coat and turned around to salivate anew. God, she loved the Wynes’ state of the art kitchen with every stainless steel appliance imaginable, and a big, beautiful, center island. Her creative juices flowed as she lovingly stroked the gorgeous granite counter. Oh, the things she could create…
“Do you need a moment?”
She jumped and twisted around, but her clod hoppers didn’t cooperate and she managed to trip over them. Ungracefully. Her purse flew east. Coat and snow suit flew west, while she headed south. But instead of becoming intimate with the beautiful hardwood floor, her face met with something much…harder. And hot.
Mason caught her arms, but her head brushed his stomach, and she got a face-full of crotch as her knees hit the floor.
And what a crotch. He smelled great, too. All shower fresh and male.
Then she lost it and began to laugh.
He joined in, and together, they slid to the floor and rolled onto their backs. She wasn’t sure how long they laid there and laughed, but her stomach was sore by the time she was able to catch her breath and wipe the tears from her eyes.
“Oh, man, if anyone had caught that on film, we’d make some good money from that funniest video show,” she said with a lingering giggle.
“Yeah, well, that gone wild show would’ve paid twice as much,” he said, then shifted onto his side and smiled down at her. “Are you okay?”
No. Hell no. Not when he stared at her with concern and mischief in his eyes. The mischief she could take. Hell, she wanted that, ached for that, but the concern? That was a game changer. It gave her false hope. Made her feel wanted. Important. All good things. Very good things.
Until they were gone. Until he decided he didn’t want her. Until she wasn’t important anymore.
Wasn’t loveable enough.
It had happened too many times before. With her step-fathers. Now, she understood they had left because of issues with her mother, not with her, but as a child, she’d carried the blame.
It left scars.
They started off happy, and adoring, saying sweet things, wonderful things, making her feel wanted and loved. Then something changed. She couldn’t figure out what she’d done wrong and eventually accepted they just stopped loving her.
Experience with Donny was exactly the same. So, she concluded, her lovability had a timer. Sometimes it just took longer for it to expire.
How long would it take with Mason?
Didn’t matter. She refused to think about it now. That was a question best saved for when she was alone. Right now, she had a different question in mind.
Would he taste as good the second time around?
“Yeah,” she finally answered with a smile, lifting her hand to touch his face, loving the feel of stubble rough against her palm. “I am okay.” For now.
His answering smile washed away lingering doubts from the past, bringing back the warm and toasty feelings she was beginning to crave.
“Same here,” he said, cupping her cheek with his hand as he slowly lowered his mouth…
“Uncle Mason! We got it! And pizza, too!”
The young yell came just before the door slammed and footsteps echoed down the hall.
In the blink of an eye, Mason yanked her to her feet, and she was standing by the time his nephew, Tyler, came barreling into the room, then stopped.
“Hi, Jill! I didn’t know you were here,” the cute six-year-old said with a grin. “Are you going to watch the movie and have pizza with us, too?” He turned to Ethan who had come up behind him with the large square box. “She can stay, right, Dad?”
“Of course.” Ethan nodded with an apologetic tilt to his head.
Mason turned to her, identical apologetic tilt. “Some girls aren’t into super heroes, Tyler. I’m not sure it’s Jill’s thing.”
She glanced at the DVD clutched in the little boy’s hand. Keeping up on current trends was a must in her business, so she recognized the super hero immediately and smiled. “Oh, you have the third one. I’ve seen one and two. I’d love to know what happens in number three,” she said, deciding to forget the inadequacies of her past and allow herself some fun, and that perfecting Lea’s chocolate could wait a few hours.
“Yeah! Me, too! It’s gonna be great. The last one had the lizard. This one has an electro guy.” Without taking a breather, Tyler pointed to the snow suit and asked, “Jill, why is your coat and stuff on the floor?”
She held back her groan, having hoped to retrieve them before anyone noticed. She should’ve known better. “Because your uncle startled me, and I tossed my stuff everyone. It wasn’t pretty, Tyler. I jumped like a scared kitten,” she said with a shake of her head, then pointed to the ceiling. “I’d barely come down from there when you walked in.”
The boy laughed. “No way!”
“Yes, way.” She nodded.
“You’re funny,” he said like it was the greatest thing ever.
She winked. “I get that a lot. You want to see something else that’s funny?”
“Yeah!” He grinned from ear to ear, anticipation twinkling in his eyes.
She clomped past the silent, smiling Wyne brothers, sat on the couch and happily pulled off the clod hoppers. “Check out my socks.” She wiggled her toes, clad in another pair of toe-socks. The theme this time—Super hero.
Tyler rushed forward, hit his knees and stared down at her socks. “Oh! Those are cool! I want a pair. Dad?” He shot to his feet and ran to his dad. “Can you get me a pair for my birthday next week?”
“I’m not sure if they make them in your size, buddy. But I’ll try,” Ethan said, amusement coating his tone. “Maybe Jill can help me with that.”
“Of course.” She returned his smile, having already made a mental note to check the website where she’d purchased hers online.
“And the cupcakes.” Tyler tugged on his dad’s hand. “Ask her about the cupcakes.”
She stood and walked toward them. “You need some for school?”
“Yeah.” The little boy nodded. “Last week, John Tupper brought in green ones with dinosaurs on them he made with his mother. Everyone thought they were the greatest.”
Noting sadness dulling his eyes, Jill knelt down in front of him. “What kind would you like? Super hero ones?”
“Can you do that?”
She nodded. “Yes, I can do that, especially when I wear my super hero socks. And you could help me, too.”
“I can? You’ll come here and bake them with me?”
She had meant at her shop, but the importance of making them in his own kitchen wasn’t lost on Jill. “Sure, if your dad and uncles don’t mind.” She glanced at both Wynes who nodded.
“Of course we don’t mind,” Ethan said, relief easing the sadness from his gaze. “Thanks, Jill.”
“Yeah.” Tyler smiled wide. “Thanks!”
She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but when the little boy threw himself at her and hugged her tight, she nearly lost it in a different way. God, she understood. She got it. He had one terrific parent, but still needed…longed for the other. To have that acceptance. Hugging the boy close, she glanced up at Mason, noting appreciation and something else, something unreadable pass through his dark eyes. Then she glanced at Ethan and caught his pained expression before the widowed father quickly hid it behind another smile.
Tyler drew back, his gaze bright and happy, all of the sadness completely gone. “If Uncle Mason doesn’t marry you, will you marry my dad?”
The ache in her heart increased tenfold. She ached for the little boy. She ached for his father. And she ached for the little girl inside her who knew exactly what he meant.
Careful to keep her gaze off of Mason and Ethan, and her voice light, she winked at Tyler. “I don’t have to marry anyone to be able to make you cupcakes—”
“And candy,” Mason added, stepping closer to offer her a hand. “Don’t forget Jill has super hero powers when it comes to candy, Tyler.”
Heat rushed into her face and limbs as she grasped his hand and rose to her feet. “Thanks,” she said, basking in his words of praise and the warmth of his gaze. “Now…will there be popcorn involved with this movie?”
“Absolutely,” Mason said. “That’s my department. Tyler, you and your dad take the pizza and plates and get the movie ready while Jill and I get the popcorn.”
“Okay.” The happy boy pulled his dad to the big screen TV on the far wall as his uncle tossed a bag of popcorn in the microwave and pulled a big bowl from the cupboard.
“Thanks for helping my nephew,” he said quietly.
She nodded. “No problem. I remember what it was like to only have one parent at that age.”
“I promise, once the movie is over, we’ll sw
ap out your clothes.” A small grin tugged his lips. “Can’t have you tripping into…things all night.”
She lifted her foot, wiggled her toes and stated, “Not an issue anymore,” then promptly slid into the counter. She laughed. “Correction. New issue.”
He smiled, a natural, warm smile that supercharged his expression, and upped her pulse. And it continued the whole night. All through the movie, she felt that supercharge. In the innocent brush of his hand when they’d accidentally reached for the same slice of pizza, or into the bowl of popcorn at the same time. The rumble of laughter that shook through him at a funny part in the movie. When he shifted in his spot on the couch and the cushion dipped, propelling her closer.
By the time the DVD finished and she headed to the locker room with Mason, Jill was done, too. Tuned in and turned on. And hot. Overheated hot. Walking from the resort to Lea’s car would be good. She doubted she’d need the heater on the way home. But first, she had to swap coats and boots.
Stopping outside the women’s locker room in the deserted wing, Mason pulled out his keys, then slid one into the lock and opened the door. He flipped the switch inside the room and the lights came on. “Give me the snow gear and I’ll return it to the rental department while you grab your stuff in here.”
“Okay. Thanks,” she replied, eager to have a quiet minute to herself to regroup. Her mind and body were on Mason overload.
After a few deep breaths, she opened the locker where she’d stuffed her belongings earlier that morning. Seemed more like days than hours ago. Ah, but what a day. Her mind replayed the snowmobile ride while her body remembered how incredible it felt wrapped around Mason. She shoved her feet in her boots, and her arms in her coat, doing up all the buttons before hooking the belt. He’d been warm and hard and smelled so dang good. With a sigh, she wrapped her scarf around her neck, then grabbed her purse and headed for the door, flicking off the lights on her way out.
“All good?” Mason asked, pushing off the wall across the hall. He looked good enough to eat in worn jeans and hoodie sweatshirt with Wyne Resort across the chest.
Wyne and Chocolate (Citizen Soldier Series Book 2) Page 9