CHAPTER TEN
VELVETWOKEUPthe next morning with a huge smile on her face. Just like she’d told Jaye, she’d had pleasant dreams—more than pleasant—they’d been downright scandalous, naughty even. Last night, she hadn’t been able to get into her house quick enough to take a cold shower. Her goal had been to semi-seduce Jaye, but in the end she was the one who’d gotten all hot and bothered. Just knowing they were in such close proximity had nearly overpowered her.
She had deliberately done things that would get his attention, like twisting her backside in the air, rubbing her hands over the car’s interior and placing her body in positions where he couldn’t help but notice her. She was pretty certain that he had.
Glancing at her watch, she saw it was ten minutes past the time Jaye usually jogged past her kitchen window. What was up with that? Should she be concerned when she knew the man had an internal clock? When they had been a couple, she’d had a hard time convincing him there were times when it was okay to be fashionably late, and that you didn’t have to be the first to arrive each and every time.
She put down her coffee cup, deciding she couldn’t worry about Jaye’s no-show when she needed to get ready for work. She was about to walk out of the kitchen when she saw him jog across the yard. Instead of leaving, it appeared he was returning. That meant he’d gone jogging before she’d gotten out of bed.
He paused right outside her window to bend over. Her heart rate kicked up a notch when she saw him doing his cooldown exercises. Even from where she was standing, she could see drops of perspiration trickling off his face and rolling down his neck, shoulders and back. Lordy, his sweats were low on his hips, and why on earth was he bare-chested? It was February for heaven’s sake, and since Catalina Cove was so close to the water, mornings tended to be cool. But the weather didn’t seem to faze him. And if jogging hadn’t been enough, now he was on the ground doing crunches.
Intense desire surged inside her, and she moved closer to the window. She didn’t want to get too close, since she didn’t want to be seen. Velvet stood with her gaze fixed on Jaye until he finished his crunches. When he stood and began running in place, even more perspiration covered his face and barreled down his chest to disappear in the waistband of his sweats.
She placed her hand at the center of her throat and felt her erratic pulse. Not only that, her body was growing hot and a slow throb began right between her legs. Moments later, he stopped, grabbed his water bottle, uncapped it and tipped his head back. He took a huge gulp, then lifted the bottle and poured the rest over his head and face. Dang, she could just imagine lapping up every drop that touched his skin. Licking him was something she’d always enjoyed doing, and from the way her tongue was twitching in her mouth, it was also remembering, and itching to do it again.
Suddenly, his head snapped toward her window, and she quickly jumped back. Had she made a sound? A deep moan that might have carried out to him? She closed her eyes, hoping she had moved quick enough and he hadn’t seen her. He didn’t need to know just yet that he could still make her body sizzle.
She shook her head, knowing he already knew. There was no way he didn’t when on two separate occasions they’d come close to kissing. Jaye used to read her well and could tell just what she wanted and how much of him she needed. There was never a time he had disappointed her in the bedroom. He had always gone above and beyond, which made him a hard act to follow.
Honestly, he had never disappointed her once they had gone exclusive. Over the years, they’d received many comments on how good they looked together and how well they complemented each other. He often told her that himself. What he’d never told her was that he loved her. For some reason, she’d begun thinking he did. At least she had until she’d overheard what he told his best friend one night he thought she was still in the shower.
That was why no matter how much she desired Jaye for her it was about satisfying her needs and not anything else. As long as she remembered that, Jaye could not wiggle his way into her heart again.
Satisfied she had gotten her thoughts and her hormones in check, she left the kitchen to get dressed for work.
JAYESTOODINhis kitchen and watched Velvet leave for work. He wondered if she’d had pleasant dreams. If she had, then she was the only one. His night had been torturous as hell. He had dreamed they’d made love...or attempted to. Each time, just before their bodies were to join, they’d been interrupted, and the deed was never done. He’d had very little sleep. That was why he’d gotten up at the crack of dawn and gone jogging.
He hadn’t expected to be watched while working out his sexual frustration by exercising and cooling down after his run. He had detected Velvet’s presence by her kitchen window and, more than once, he’d seen the curtain move. He’d even swear he heard a moan. Had he known she’d be watching, he would have made it worth her while and given her something to think about today—which reminded him of last night.
A few things just didn’t add up. Had she deliberately tried to tempt him? Although she had searched for her earring with the flashlight, he’d expected her to look again this morning. However, she had gotten into her car without even a glance around for the lost earring.
If he didn’t know Velvet, he’d suspect she had looked for her earring deliberately to get him next to her. But he did know Velvet and one thing he knew was that she didn’t play those kinds of games. When her car was no longer in sight, he turned to get his cup of coffee...and to think.
He loved Velvet. That was a definite. He didn’t want to rush her into anything. That was a definite, too. But being around her was hard, making him impatient. Maybe it was time to level with her and tell her everything. Exactly what had brought him to Catalina Cove in the first place.
His chest tightened at the thought that she wouldn’t buy it. She would think he’d just missed the sex and not her. He needed time to court her properly, but he didn’t think he had that kind of time. According to Delisa Mills, Velvet’s lease would be up soon. The older woman had mentioned that Velvet wasn’t sure if she would renew it. Why? Was she thinking of moving to another part of town? For all he knew, she might have plans to move away from Catalina Cove altogether. If she did either, where would that leave him? Maybe it was time for him to take his chances and level with her.
Frustrated, he rubbed a hand down his face. Tomorrow, he was leaving for a business trip to Birmingham. He decided he wouldn’t keep things from Velvet any longer and would tell her everything today. Hopefully, while he was away, she would think about how far he’d gone to regain her love and prove that he loved her. More than anything, he wanted them not to dwell on the past, but to move forward. If she wanted to take things slow, he’d agree to that. Hell, he’d agree to just about anything to get her back into his life.
He headed to the shower, knowing he was making the right decision.
VELVETSLIDINTOthe booth opposite Bryce at Spencer’s. Bryce had called when she was en route to work, inviting her to lunch to discuss plans for Sierra’s surprise bridal shower and thought this would be the perfect place.
“Vashti is on her way,” Bryce said, smiling. “She had to wait on the babysitter. Ashley won’t be able to make it since she has a doctor’s appointment. She and Ray will get to listen to the baby’s heartbeat today.”
Velvet nodded and knew that had to be exciting for them. “Where’s your little one?” she asked. Bryce and her husband, Kaegan, were the proud parents of a nine-month-old, Kaegan, Jr., whom they called K-Gee. From what Velvet had heard, K-Gee had been Kaegan’s nickname while growing up. Bryce had given him the name in elementary school when she couldn’t pronounce the name Kaegan correctly.
“I dropped K-Gee off at the office to spend time with his dad. All Kaegan has to do is crank up K-Gee’s swing and place him in it, and you won’t hear a peep out of him. Our son loves that thing.”
Velvet glanced around. Whenever she came here, she noticed how well-kept and clean this Spencer’s was, and that made her feel good. She’d been here a number of times and had to give credit to whoever was the manager. The food was always delicious, and the employees were always friendly. At her annual meeting with the corporate team, she knew this particular Spencer’s consistently got high customer rankings for service, food delivery and management. She also knew there wasn’t a lot of employee turnover, which meant people liked working here.
Her parents had always been the face of Spencer’s, which was why a large portrait of them hung on the wall of every Spencer’s restaurant. The photograph was taken when they were in their early thirties. They’d been young, in love and determined to build a hamburger empire. The picture showed them in the kitchen of their very first restaurant in Seattle. Her dad was standing in front of the hamburger grill and her mother stood beside him with her order pad. Both were smiling and dressed in their Spencer’s aprons and sailor caps. Seeing that portrait always reminded her of what she’d lost.
“Are you okay, Velvet?”
She switched her gaze from the portrait over to Bryce. “Yes. Why do you ask?”
Bryce shrugged. “For a minute there, you looked sad.”
Since Bryce didn’t know of her connection to the Spencer’s restaurant chain, she would have no idea what had bothered Velvet. “I’m fine. I was just thinking of something.”
Velvet liked Bryce and had from the beginning. She was the realtor who had found the Blueberry Lane rental property.
She loved where she was staying and always knew it was temporary. She had considered moving when her lease was up and had even mentioned to Delisa that she was thinking about it. But now she figured she would wait since she was interested in possibly buying property in Reid’s new development on the waterfront. When she did, everyone in town would discover her association with the Spencer’s restaurant chain, since there was no way she could afford the house she intended to build on a teacher’s salary.
“Here’s Vashti now,” Bryce said, breaking into her thoughts. When Bryce waved to get her attention, Vashti smiled and headed their way.
Just like Bryce, Velvet thought Vashti, who’d she’d met through Sierra, was beautiful on both the inside and outside. And she was enjoying getting to know them better. She’d heard that Vashti, Kaegan and Bryce had been best buddies since elementary school and the three even have a nick on their fingers from when they’d become blood sisters and brother.
“I am starving and so glad one of you picked this place.” Vashti gave them both hugs. “I hate to admit it, but I’m happy the girls talked their grandfather into opening a Spencer’s here. I remember those days when we would drive all the way to New Orleans just to eat at one.”
Velvet knew the girls Vashti referred to were her twin daughters, who were also Reid Lacroix’s granddaughters. Vashti had told Velvet the story herself, calling it Catalina Cove’s fifteen-year scandal where she’d played a starring role.
“I hope my lateness doesn’t cause you to rush back to school after lunch, Velvet,” Vashti said.
“It won’t. I have no class period after lunch, so I’m good. I wish I could go home and take a nap. I did a girls trip to New York this weekend with my bestie.”
“I bet that was fun,” Bryce said.
“It was fun and exhausting.”
A friendly young lady came to take their order and they all ordered the same thing. Cheeseburgers and fries. Velvet ordered a strawberry shake and Vashti and Bryce ordered vanilla shakes.
They began making plans for Sierra’s bridal shower. “We can have the party at my place,” Bryce said excitedly. “We’ll tell Sierra that it’s one of Kaegan’s usual parties. That way, the guys will be invited, too. She won’t suspect a thing.”
“What will the guys be doing?” Velvet asked.
Bryce grinned and leaned forward, conspiratorially. “Here’s the part that will make it really fun. I think we should keep the details of the shower from Vaughn as well. Like Sierra, he’ll assume he’s coming to one of Kaegan’s parties. So, in a way this will be a groom-and-bride shower. I’ve talked to Sierra’s sister, Dani, and Vaughn’s sister, Zara, and they both plan to fly in to attend. While the ladies are inside with the bride-to-be doing typical bridal shower stuff, the guys will be outside helping Kaegan prepare and grill all the food. Plus, afterward, we’ll have all that muscle power to load the gifts into the car.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Vashti said.
Velvet thought it was a great idea, too. She had been invited to one of Kaegan and Bryce’s parties before. It had been nice with plenty of food. Kaegan was in the seafood-shipping business, and he had cooked everything fresh.
“And,” Bryce said, still grinning, “I’ve already talked to Ashley and Ray, and they’ve agreed to be in charge of the guest list.”
Less than an hour later, they had finished planning the surprise shower. “We covered everything in good time,” Velvet said happily. Then she looked around the restaurant and noticed Allen Bordeaux. He was restocking some of the supplies at the main counter. “Does Allen Bordeaux work here?” she asked.
“Yes. He’s the manager,” Bryce answered.
“The manager?”
“Yes,” Vashti said. “And, I have to admit, he’s done a great job. The service is always excellent. Since it opened, I understand this Spencer’s restaurant has won a number of awards. Just look at all those plaques on the wall.”
Velvet did. There were quite a number of them. “It’s odd that I’ve never seen him here before.”
“He was probably in the back in his office or something,” Bryce said. “I guess you heard about him being one of our hometown heroes. Like when Vashti put Catalina Cove on the map for her baton twirling, Al became known for baseball when he signed on to play for the Dodgers.”
“Did he attend school with you guys?”
“He graduated a few years after we did. I think he was in the same class as Sierra and Zara.” Bryce looked at Velvet, curious. “Do I hear feminine interest in your voice? He’s rather cute and considered a hottie around town.”
Velvet shook her head. “No feminine interest. His son is in one of my classes.” She was glad when the subject changed—namely to how great business was at Vashti’s bed-and-breakfast inn, Shelby by the Sea.
A short while later as Velvet got into her car to return to school, she couldn’t get over the fact that Allen Bordeaux was employed by the Spencer’s Corporation. That meant he worked for her.