Her eyes narrowed. He imagined she was trying to look stern, but came off as cute instead. Her store location was handy, she probably had an inside track to the town and townspeople, and she looked as if she was one of those crazy trust-until-proved-untrustworthy kind of people.
A much better cover than the loosey-goosey vamp whod hit on him before. She was going to be easier to, well, manipulate.
I remember this store now, he mused as he looked, noting the deep purple walls with garlands of flowers, stars, suns and moons painted along the ceiling. I broke in here one night on a dare, hoping to see a rumored séance. It wasnt a restaurant then, though.
Broke in? I always heard that you were wild, but I thought those rumors were exaggerated.
He just shrugged. It wasnt as though it was a secret that hed been well on his way to a life of crime in his teen years. Hell, he considered it early training for his undercover assignments.
The frosting was good. Ready for more, he took the fork and scooped up a big bite.
This room used to be set up for classes and readings, she explained, still frowning at him in a chiding sort of way. My mother started using it for storage when the mayor changed the permit requirements to demand a twenty percent kick-back.
Caleb snorted. Hed grown up the son of an infamous con artist and spent his adult years dealing with criminal dregs. But he was pretty sure politics were the biggest scam around.
Gotta hand it to her. The mayors big on clever ways to line the town coffers.
She gave him a narrow-eyed look at odds with his sweet, goody-goody image of her. Isnt Mayor Parker your aunt?
Realizing he was starving, he forked up more of the rich cake and grinned. Yep.
So this is like old home week. Will you be staying with your aunt instead of your father?
Nope. Im at the Black Oak Inn. Room seventeen, if youre out wandering later, he said with a wink.
Her eyes rounded. She caught her breath as if grabbing back a response that scared her. The move made her cotton top slide temptingly over rounded breasts. He watched as her nipples beaded against the fabric. Suddenly starving, he wanted nothing more than to lean across the table and taste her.
Her reaction was gratifying. His own irritated him, though. She wasnt his type, and given the situation, she was off-limits. He just had to remember that.
Im sure Ill see her, though. Want me to talk her into dropping those fees for you? he offered with another wink.
I dont do readings.
That sounded bitter. His chewing slowed; he gave her a searching look.
She gave a tiny shrug and looked away.
Off-limits? A part of him wanted to push. To ask questions and get to know her better. The rest of him, the burned-out, disenchanted, cynical DEA-trained part of him, said that unless it pertained to the case, it didnt matter.
Since he wasnt sticking around longer than it took to clear his old man, the cynic got to call the shots.
So whats the deal? Caleb asked instead. You seem to know Tobias pretty well, right?
I wouldnt say I know your father well, she mused, her eyes skimming toward the alley. No more so than anyone else in town. I mean, hes the patriarch, isnt he? From what I understand, hes got more power than the mayor and the sheriff combined. People look up to him, turn to him for advice. Ive been hearing accolades since the day I arrived.
Youre not a native of Black Oak? Why had he thought she was?
I am native, she said, drawing the words out. I think I was even in a few classes with your sister, Maya. But I left for college and havent been back much since.
So whyd you get a job here? Youre interested in this New Age stuff?
She looked toward the dangling beaded doorway with shelves of crystal balls lining either side and rolled her eyes.
Interested? I dont know about that. More like indoctrinated. At his arched brow, she shrugged and admitted, Cassiopeia is my mother.
He might only have a vague recollection of the store, but he definitely remembered Cassiopeia. Third-generation woo-woo queen, all the guys in high school had had crushes on her. Bodacious, outrageous and eccentric, the outgoing redhead had a scary handle on that psychic stuff she sold to her customers.
I remember your mom. She did readings at my senior carnival.
Mine, too. Pandora didnt sound nearly as intrigued as hed been. The son of a colorful character, Caleb could sympathize.
Talk about the apple falling so far from the tree it could make orange juice. Now that he knew what to look for, he could see the resemblance in the curve of her cheeks, the rounded eyes more hazel than her mothers emerald. And, of course, the red hair, again, more muted in Pandoras case. It was as if shed stepped into a shadow instead of embracing the full wattage her mother liked to wave around.
Interesting.
Even more interesting was that Caleb was finding muted about the sexiest thing hed ever encountered. He just couldnt figure out why since hed always been a Technicolor kind of guy.
You know what I heard while we were still in the store, then again while you were in the back getting cake?
You mean while you were hiding back here? she corrected.
Caleb grinned, glad to see she had claws. It was always more fun to tangle with a wildcat than a pussycat.
I heard people saying you serve up something besides food back here.
This time the color wasnt subtle. Nope, she blushed a hot, brilliant red. Her eyes flew to the store, then to the cake before meeting his gaze. A stubborn line furrowed between her brows.
I have no idea what youre talking about, she dismissed.
Youre a horrible liar.
A gentleman would take the hint and change the subject.
Sweetie, Ive never worried about being a gentleman.
Obviously.
Grinning, Caleb decided it was time to change gears. He stood, and with a glance at the still-milling crowd in the store, decided to take his cue from his father and head out the back way.
Walk me out? he said, making the demand sound like a request.
Walk me out? he said, making the demand sound like a request.
The back? The doors right there, she pointed out. But she got to her feet anyway.
Caleb didnt know why he was pushing it. Hed already declared her off-limits, and while he was a guy who was all about pushing boundaries, he never crossed lines he, himself, drew.
But right now, he didnt care.
So is it true? he asked, heading toward the door, counting on her being trapped by good manners into following.
Is what true?
Do you really serve aphrodisiacs?
She ground to a halt so fast, she teetered in her flat-heeled boots. Dont believe everything you hear, she said dismissively.
So, its a lie?
Its more of anexaggeration, she decided. After all, whos to say whether aphrodisiacs are real or whether theyre a figment of the imagination?
I have a really good imagination. He reached out and took her hand, lifting it to his mouth.
What are you doing? she asked with a gasp, tugging. But he didnt let go.
You have chocolate, he told her, justhere.
He swiped his tongue over her knuckle. Her eyes went heated, her breath shuddered and she leaned against the wall with the cutest little mewling noise.
In an instant, Caleb went from amused to rock-hard. An overwhelming urge to touch her, to taste her, washed over him.
Never a man to ignore his gut, he went with the feeling. Stepping forward, the rich taste of chocolate still on his lips, Caleb pressed her body between his and the chilly glass. One hand on either side of her head, he leaned closer.
This is crazy, she breathed, twisting her hands together at her waist. But she didnt pull away. Instead, she lifted her chin.
Thats all the encouragement he needed.
Holding her gaze captive, he brushed his lips over her soft, sweetly moist mouth. He slid his tongue along her lower lip, then gently nibbled at the cushioned flesh.
Passion throbbed, urging him to take it deeper, to go faster. But he resisted.
For the first time in forever, Caleb felt as if hed come home. Even as the sexual heat zinged through his body like lightning, he relaxed. Need pounded through him, making him ache. But he was at peace.
It was that confusion more than any desire to stop that had him pulling back. He stared, waiting for Pandora to open her eyes. In them he saw confusion, hunger and a hint of fear.
The same as he was feeling.
You might want to go easy on that cake, he suggested, brushing his knuckles over her cheek before forcing himself away. Stepping back from the warm, soft curves of her body was harder than it should have been. Way too freaking hard. Caleb frowned, not sure what the hell was going on here.
Hand on the doorknob, he looked back. She was still leaning against the wall, her breath ragged and her eyes huge.
Like I said, Im in room seventeen. Come on by if you want to do something about that interest. Or serve up something a little hotter than cake.
4
ILL HAVE THE PASTA SPECIAL, the house salad with raspberry vinaigrette and the house white, Kathy ordered over the melodic jingle of crystal and silver.
And you, madam? What would you like?
Id like whats in room seventeen, Pandora muttered, staring blindly at the menu.
Beg your pardon?
Whats in room seventeen? Kathy prodded with a nudge of her toe under the white linen-covered table.
Playing back what shed said, Pandora scrunched her nose in a rueful grimace. God, she couldnt get Caleb Black out of her head. His intense gold eyes, his sexy swagger and oh, baby, those magic lips.
Hed tasted so good. So enticing. Like the most deliciously decadent chocolate éclair. Rich and tempting and mouthwateringly hedonistic. All she had to do was close her eyes and she could relive the sweet slide of his mouth over hers, her body heating instantly at the memory.
Dory?
Pandora blinked. Damn, shed done it again. Spaced off into Caleb fantasyland. Shed been taking that trip over and over and over for the past two days. Shed just bet his body was a wild amusement park, too. One she was in desperate danger of knocking on the door of room seventeen to beg to ride.
Pandora!
Pandora winced and gave the waiter an apologetic smile and said, Sorry, Ill have the same thing.