Chapter 8
Salem
"Thank you, I'm excited," she said. "That guy just left like five minutes ago, and my heart is still beating fast from it."
"Do you like him or something?"
Salem's question made her laugh.
"No, silly. My heart's beating fast because it's a big deal that I got that restaurant thing. It was a whole ordeal this afternoon where he asked me to change the recipe three times before we settled on the right flavors to go with his dish. I felt like I was being watched by Gordon Ramsey or something. He was nice, though. He said he'd always wanted to have a hand in the chocolate production for his restaurant." She squealed. "A big part of this day is this counter, Salem. I'm looking at it right now and I just can't believe you made me this. It's more beautiful than anything I dreamed of. Thank you. It's so gorgeous. I didn't get to tell you thank you properly earlier because Kat was here, and I didn't want her to know how much you've done for me. But I do want to talk about paying you. I can't imagine what this thing's worth. It's a masterpiece."
"I'm happy you like it," he said .
"What are you doing right now?" she asked.
"Sanding. I'm in the shop, working on that mantlepiece."
"Can I come by?" she asked. "I've been making chocolate all afternoon, and I'm just getting the chance to relax and look at this counter. Thank you, Salem. Can I come by and say that in person? I was going to bring you some of this chocolate, too. I have so much from today."
"Yeah, of course. You don't owe me anything, but there's no way I'm turning down chocolate."
"I'm coming by there. I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Okay, I'll be here," he said.
It was exactly twenty minutes later when Molly opened the door to his shop. Salem had lost track of time as he was working on that piece, and it felt like only five minutes since he hung up the phone with her.
He turned off his sander when he saw light stream in from the open door. He was dusty and he took off his mask and glasses and set them down as she came inside. He also turned down the music and shook out his hair.
"You were rockin'-out in here," she said.
He glanced at her with a smile. "Hang on, stay over there. I'm going to shake this sawdust off before you come over here." Salem had a practiced move for shaking the dust off of himself. He did his hair again, and then he worked downward, giving himself just the right amount of jostling and shaking to remove sawdust quickly. It clouded up around him and he stepped out of the cloud, continuing to dust himself off as he walked toward Molly.
He could have talked to her with sawdust all over him, but he was glad to have the time to collect his thoughts.
He was officially attracted to this woman. His heart pounded when he looked at her. She was walking into his workshop with those short shorts and that long mahogany hair hanging over her shoulders. She had a loose-fitting, light blue, button-down shirt. It was rolled at the sleeves and tied at the waist, and it was unbuttoned far enough for him to see that she still had on her swimsuit top. She was adorable and irresistible, and Salem had to make himself look away.
"The counter, Salem."
He looked at her when she said that, and she gave him a sincere stare. She was only a few feet away now, and so very gorgeous.
"I want to give you a thousand for it."
"What? No."
"Yes. That's not enough. I was thinking about it. I can afford to do it, especially now with this new gig. A restaurant! What you did is worth way more than a thousand, Salem. I bet the glass was five hundred by itself. "
"The glass was not five hundred, and it doesn’t matter. I wanted to make you that. It's a gift. You've been helping me."
"What? All I'm doing is helping you decorate a beautiful home. That's fun. That's hardly payment, Salem."
"You brought me that," he said, pointing to the box in her hands.
She stepped forward.
He was glancing downward when he saw her little low-top Chucks take a step toward him. He looked up, meeting her eyes again.
"I did bring you this. You might have to share it. Look how much." She opened the box, and he looked inside.
"Whoa, what's all that, white chocolate?"
"Yes, and there's more. I have it stacked," she said. "There's a ton of chocolate here. It's from troubleshooting that recipe with Brian. This is all good chocolate. I put some other kinds in there, too, some dark and caramel to mix it up for you. There's just an abundance of the white today. I figure you can take it to Phillip and the guys if you don't want that much. I want you to taste it right now. It's really good."
"I want to, but my hands are still all dusty. I need to go wash them first."
Molly opened it and reached in as soon as he said that. There were a few small pieces of wax paper between some of the chocolate, and she expertly picked up a small bite of chocolate using a piece of that paper.
"Here," she said, holding it out for him as she closed the box one-handed. "Look, here… it's just one bite. I'll hand it to you. I'm not even touching it." She held up the chocolate, and Salem ducked and took it into his mouth. He touched her elbow to steady her arm as he did it, but he made the whole maneuver quickly.
Molly Kennedy was so beautiful.
She was irresistible.
She was sweet and precious, and now there she was, blinking up at him and hand-feeding him chocolate. It was delicious and she was a sight to behold, and the whole moment felt overwhelming.
"I hope you didn't feed that guy," he said, like an idiot. He clamped his mouth shut.
"What?" she said, squinting at him.
"Nothing."
"No, say it."
"If you didn't hear me, it's better."
"Please say it. If you don't, I'm going to think it's something bad about the chocolate."
"You know better. I'm talking about handing it to me, putting it in my mouth. You said that dude was in your apartment that whole time."
"So was Kat. So was Darren."
"Do you feed those people chocolate?"
"If you're asking if they eat my chocolate, then yes. We all ate it today. "
She wasn't giving him a straight answer.
"I wasn't asking if they tasted your chocolate."
"Did I feed it to them with my own hands? Is that what you're asking?"
"Yes."
"No, I didn't."
"Good," he said.
"Thanks, Dad."
"I'm sorry. Thanks for handing me the chocolate."
"Did you like it?" she asked.
"It's amazing," he said, savoring the last bits of it as it dissolved in his mouth. "Why did you have to tweak this? What could have possibly been wrong with it?"
"Nothing was wrong with it, Brian was just looking for a specific flavor profile to go with his recipe. I think we added a few drops of almond oil to the final batch."
"Did you feel okay with having him in your kitchen, telling you what to do?"
"I did feel okay with it until you put it like that," she said in a silly voice. She was being playful about it, and Salem was annoyed. He had to take a deep breath and remember that she wasn't his.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing, why?"
"Because you seem weird right now. You're acting…" she trailed off, looking at him as if to judge his mood. "You seem jealous right now. "
Salem leaned against one of the worktables in his shop. He ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe that guy's just a creep. I don't know, I just worry about him taking advantage of you because he's your landlord. Does he have cameras in that house? On the pool? You have to think about stuff like that."
"What, Salem? No. Security cameras?"
He ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. "I don't know. He just strikes me as a creep."
He looked straight ahead, and she touched his arm. "Salem, I know you feel protective of me. I know you see me as a little sister. But I would never flirt with some dude just to sell him chocolate. I don't know how old Brian is, but Darren and Michelle are like twenty years older than me. They're just trying to help me out. You made me a whole counter. You're helping me out. Does that mean you're trying to take advantage of me?"
"Yes. Yes, it does. I am. I don't just walk around making cabinets for free for people, Molly."
He was agitated. He didn't know what to say. He didn't even really know what he was feeling. He was impatient and protective and he wanted her to agree to not flirt with anyone else for the rest of her life. Having her in his shop only confused him further. He could not resist glancing at her. She had these legs, and she came in smelling good and looking like a ray of sunshine, feeding him candy from a box .
"I didn't expect you to be all working-manned-out when I came in. I've never seen you all dusty and dirty like this."
She reached up and ran her hand through his hair. It was difficult for him to stand there and let her do it. He wanted to take hold of her and kiss her. He just stood there, unflinching.
"I know you don't just walk around giving away counters, Salem. I know it's a big deal what you're doing for me."
"I didn't mean to say I was trying to take advantage of you," he said, staring at the floor again.
"I know you didn't mean that. I know you're not taking advantage of me. Maybe I wish you were. I'm the one who approached you with the ten-kiss thing, remember? If anything, I'm the one who's taking advantage of you."
He hesitated for a long minute. "Do you have those deals with other people?" he asked.
"I told you I don't, and you're not acting like yourself right now," she said, moving in front of him to get him to look at her.
"How am I acting?"
"Jealous," she said.
"Yes. Is jealous the same thing as wanting to protect you?"
"I don't need protecting if I'm not in any danger," she said. She looked away, and he stared at the side of her face for a second before she shifted again and their eyes met .
His chest ached.
"Then maybe I'm jealous, I don't know. I really don't know what's going on."
By the time he got the words out of his mouth, she was kissing him. She had moved into his arms the instant his resolve had broken. He went to her, feeling relieved to stop with the formalities. Goodness. Their embrace was instantly passionate. They kissed in a way they had never kissed before. Molly was sweet and vulnerable, and she was a skilled kisser. She went to him tenderly, and he ached to have her closer. Salem still had the taste of chocolate in his mouth. He tasted Molly. He wanted more of her. He wrapped his arms around her, and she held onto him. He kissed her deeper in those seconds than he ever had. Their movements started to grow more feverish. The shared attraction caused a palpable tension. Masculine urges welled inside of him, and he could hardly contain himself.
He pulled away, breaking the kiss, both of them breathing heavily.
"I'm dusty," he said after a second. "I'm going to get you dusty."
"I think it's too late for that," she said. She stepped back. "That was some number eight. We're almost done."
"Don't say that," he said.
"Why?"
"Because you know why. That wasn't… it's not… part of that deal. "
"Why not?"
"Because that was something different."
"No it's not, that's still the deal," she said smiling and shaking her head at him. "You're just all wrapped up in the moment right now. Tomorrow you'll wish we took it from the total."
"No, I won't," he said stubbornly.
"You need to stop," she said, pushing at his arm.
He reached for her. "Stop what? Come here."
"No, Salem, this is too much. You're all handsome out here with your sawdust and your beautiful things you make. You can't start kissing me like that and saying things that make me think you like me, Salem. It gets my hopes up."
And then he was kissing her again.
Her voice had been vulnerable, and her tone and words had been like some sort of invitation. He could do nothing but lean in and start kissing her again. And goodness, did she kiss him back.
It had never been like this between the two of them. This was new. It was a different type of exchange, and Salem didn't know what it meant. He didn’t know what any of it meant.