Chapter 3 #2
Who am I kidding? I’ve had a thing for Lacey Lovette for years, and even a hint of disappointment in her face is enough to get my ass in line.
Clearing my throat, I edge away from the door. “Yeah, okay. I’ll take one.”
Lacey’s eyes are wide as she looks back up at me. “Oh, you don’t have to!”
“Nah.” I wave her off, drawing closer now. “They smell great. Thanks.”
They really do, too.
I don’t meet her eye as I stop beside the desk and take the napkin resting atop the neat little spiral she’s set out, helping myself to one of the scones. They’re still warm. Sensing her eyes on me, and knowing what she’s hoping for, I take a bite.
Jesus fuck. Is there anything about this woman that isn’t perfect?
“Incredible,” I mutter, shaking my head in mute disbelief once I’ve swallowed the first mouthful. My pulse skips as I glance up, meeting the eye of the beautiful young woman standing just a few feet away from me, her lips pressed together to stop herself from looking too pleased at the praise.
It’s all too easy for my filthy imagination to conjure up a whole list of other ways she could be a good girl for me.
I’m thankful for the thick denim of my pants as my cock swells at the thought. Jesus, the way she looked on her knees for me…
“You can take another for the road, if you want,” Lacey offers sweetly, lowering her eyes as I take another bite. “I guess it’s been a terrible flu season, and we lost almost all our bookings for the weekend. It’s just you and another guest.”
That has me frowning. “You’re staying here for two people? That’s not right. Tell us to get lost.”
Lacey giggles, shaking her head. “Oh my gosh, no! It’s my job, and I really don’t mind. Besides”—she fixes me with a playfully stern look—“I couldn’t possibly turn you away. You’d freeze!”
“I appreciate that,” I chuckle, the tension in my shoulders loosening a bit. “Pick out a book next time you come in. On the house. For taking me in.”
She waves this off, but there’s a cute-as-shit little blush on her cheeks as she leans forward, watching me finish off the scone.
I could eat the entire plate, they’re so good, and my eagerness to get the hell out of here has evaporated into thin air as we stand here talking.
It hasn’t even been a few minutes, and I’m already kicking myself for telling her I had to get going.
“Did you grow up around here?” I ask, searching wildly for a way to keep her talking.
“I did,” Lacey confirms. “My family lived right over on Crescent Street.”
“No shit? I was over on Maple Ave.”
She leans in a little closer, eyes bright. “Right around the corner, huh? How did we miss each other?”
A low chuckle rumbles from deep in my chest. “I think I have a few years on you.”
More than a few, if we’re being realistic. I can’t bring myself to give a damn, though. Not when she’s looking at me like this, giving me hope my stumble last night didn’t have her writing me off completely.
Lacey giggles, reaching over the desk to help herself to a scone, brushing my arm as she does. She opens her mouth, obviously preparing to say something, but whatever it is falls away as her eyes dart to the door behind me.
“Welcome back!” she tells the newcomer, straightening up and offering them a warm smile. “I hope it wasn’t too cold out there.”
I feel a pinch of irritation at being interrupted, but that’s nothing—fucking nothing—compared to the way my chest seizes as the sound of a cheerful, male voice comes from behind me. “Oh, it was. I’ve been in California for too long,” he replies with an easy laugh. “I swear, I was used to it once.”
Over a full decade has passed since I last laid eyes on the man who spoke, and still, I know who he is before he’s finished speaking.
All the air goes out of me as I turn, meeting the bright hazel eyes of the man who has just stepped inside The Chestnut Bed and Breakfast like the ghost of Christmas fucking past.
That is, if the ghost was a twenty-something med student who taught me I like to get my cock sucked by men or women, or—I glance at Lacey, who is peering bemusedly between us—both.
I swallow, shaking myself as August seems to recover from his shock, too.
“Wells.” He lets out a quiet, shocked laugh. “Jesus. Hi.”
“Hi,” I echo gruffly, a little lightheaded by the surge of blood rushing to my face and my cock at once.
Good grief, what the fuck is my problem?
It was years ago. We had a fling, and it ended.
August isn’t the first or the last person I fucked, so why is seeing him again prompting this bullshit reaction?
Behind me, Lacey’s clear, bright voice comes, laced with hesitance. “You know each other?”
“Yes,” August replies, tearing his eyes from me to offer her a slightly pained smile.
His voice is exactly the same, and it’s unsettling as hell.
I grit my teeth. “It was a long time ago.”
Lacey looks between us, and damn it, this was going well. I was having a conversation with the woman, and now… well. I really do need to get out of here.
Pushing off the desk, I shoot her a quick, tight nod. “Thanks for the scone, Lacey.”
I turn, resuming my long-forgotten path to the front door. As I pass August, though, his free hand darts out to grip my arm, effectively stopping me in my tracks.
Even through the thick layers I’m wearing, his touch seems unnaturally warm, and, unable to help myself, I look at him, taking in every line of his familiar features. August Vogel is older now, a little wearier, but he’s still the man I knew.
If I’m honest with myself, I did a lot more than know him.
“Can we talk?” he asks, keeping his voice low.
Talk? He wants to talk? What the fuck is there to talk about?
My lips twist. “I’ll pass,” I tell him flatly, pulling my arm free from his grasp.
Neither Lacey nor August says a word as I stride to the door, and I don’t look back at them as I pull it open and plunge out into the icy December morning. There’s nowhere I need to be, but I assure myself that there are always things to be done at the shop.
Things that don’t involve the woman I shouldn’t want, or the man I hoped never to see again.