Cappuccino Kisses

Mariah was surprised when Jackson came to relieve her for a short break, so she could get off her feet and have a cup of much-needed coffee.

Mariah went into the office and took a seat. She pulled off her comfortable flats and rubbed her aching arches. She hadn’t truly realized just how exhausting running a bakery could be, affecting not just her sleeping routine, but her feet.

Owning and operating a bakery was hard work. The hours were long and the work tiring, but Mariah believed without risk there would be no reward.

Chase hadn’t arrived yet. He typically didn’t show up until 9:00 a.m., and Mariah envied his banker’s hours from nine to five. He’d soon be scouring the pile of bills she’d seen sitting on his desk—invoices for the inventory of ingredients and equipment that it took to run Lillian’s. Money was constantly going out and they would need to start pouring some back in to ensure the firm’s viability.

She was leaning back in the chair, strategizing on an advertising campaign that would help boost business, when Jackson poked his head into the room. “You have a visitor.”

“Who is it?” she asked, looking up, but he was already gone.

Mariah sighed. She didn’t have time for visitors. She needed to come up with a plan to get Lillian’s name out there. The reporter yesterday had been right when he’d indicated that Sweetness Bakery had a solid and long-standing reputation in Seattle and it would be hard to compete against them. But Mariah knew Lillian’s recipes were superior and that eventually they would succeed.

Slipping her flats back on, she rose from her desk. After checking herself in the mirror that she’d installed in the office to ensure she would always be respectable before greeting the public, she headed out of the room.

When she made it to the storefront area, only a handful of customers were munching on their baked goods at the small countertop and bank of tables. Most were probably enjoying the free Wi-Fi Lillian’s offered.

Jackson gave her a wink as he dealt with a customer at the register. “He’s over there.” Her brother inclined his head toward the far side of the store.

Mariah noticed a man kneeling in front of the display there, but she couldn’t tell who it was. But as she approached and he rose to his feet, there was no mistaking the visitor’s identity. It was none other than Everett Myers.

Fortifying herself and letting a rush of air out her lungs, Mariah walked toward the counter. “Good morning,” she said with a smile. “May I help you?”

He returned the smile. “Good morning, Mariah.”

“Mr. Myers, what can I get for you this morning?” she asked, purposely using his last name as she turned around. She grasped two plastic gloves and opened the display case.

He looked down at the pastries and then back up at her, penetrating her with his dark gaze. “Everything looks good.”

The way he was gazing at her with such undisguised lust, Mariah doubted he was taking about the pastries. “Might I suggest the cheese Danish? We just baked them fresh.”

“That would be lovely, but only if you join me?”

“Join you?” Mariah squeaked. Her voice sounded small even to her. “I couldn’t possibly. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m working.”

“Looks like your brother has everything under control. What could it hurt to take a break and keep me company?”

He made it sound so simple that she should join him, and since resisting seemed only to incite his interest, as she’d learned yesterday, she said, “All right, but I can only spare a few minutes.”

Everett glanced down at his watch. “A few minutes is all I have. And I will take your suggestion of a Danish along with a bottled water.”

“Coming right up.” She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Everett was just a man. But why did he have to look so darn handsome in his charcoal-gray suit and crisp white dress shirt that perfectly fit his athletic physique? Mariah could only wonder what lay beneath the clothes as she reached for the pastry and placed it on a glass plate, which was Lillian’s signature. Aunt Lillian believed in serving people as if they were at her home, and not have them eat off paper or plastic. When she’d grasped a bottled water from the refrigerated case behind her, Mariah took the plate and mug to the table he’d secured.

She couldn’t help but notice the smug smile Everett gave her as she left the display area, or the way his eyes roamed over her entire frame, taking her in from root to tip. “Here you are.” She placed the items in front of him.

He rose to his feet. “Please have a seat.” He pulled out a chair for her before resuming his own.

“Thank you,” Mariah said, “So what brings you by, Mr. Myers?”

“Please call me Everett. All my friends do.”

Mariah’s brow rose a fraction. “And are we friends?”

“I certainly hope so,” he answered, “If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been trying to remedy that.”

Mariah couldn’t resist a smile. “Yes, I have, and I appreciate the grand gesture of your stopping by, Mr.— Everett,” she finally said. “But you needn’t bother or try so hard. As I told you yesterday, I’m not interested in dating anyone right now.”

“Does that mean you might be later?”

Mariah inwardly chuckled. Of course he would pick up on her word choice. “Later might be a long time coming.”

“I can wait.”

She placed both elbows on the table and steepled her fingers together as she watched him. “Am I a challenge to you, Everett?”

He didn’t answer, because he’d chosen that moment to take a forkful of the Danish, and groaned aloud, causing a place deep inside Mariah to answer, just as it had yesterday. Her breasts tightened in response. She, or rather her body, was not immune to the virility of this man. “This is divine. Did you make it?”

Mariah flushed. “Yes, how did you know?”

He looked deep into her eyes. “I don’t know. I guess that, because it was made with such love, I knew it had to be you.”

Mariah swallowed hard and licked her lips. Everett’s eyes followed her every movement and it made her uneasy that he was watching her so intently. “Um, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say to that.”

Everett took another forkful of pastry. “You don’t have to say anything, since it’s I who should be thanking you for the delicious start to my day. If you don’t mind my asking, how did you get into baking?”

“I started baking in my tween years when I went to visit my aunt Lillian.”

“Lillian Reynolds Drayson?”

“Yes, how did you—” Mariah stopped herself. Everett struck her as the type of man who never left anything to chance. If he wanted to know more about Aunt Lillian, he’d probably done his research. “Anyway, I used to visit her in Chicago during the summers and I would join her at the bakery. I learned the basics of how to bake at a young age. Once I grew older and was married, I had a lot of extra time on my hands and I began dabbling and trying new recipes.”

“Your husband left you alone?” Everett sat back in his chair.

“It wasn’t like that.”

“No?” He quirked a brow as if he didn’t quite believe her, but then shrugged. “If you were mine, you would only know one position and that’s lying on your back.”

Mariah flushed immediately at Everett’s provocative statement. She’d never been so attracted to and aroused by another man before.

He gave her a mischievous grin. “Did I say something to offend your delicate sensibilities?”

“No, I’m just not used to men speaking to me like...” Mariah was at a loss for words.

“So openly about what they want?” he inquired. “I know what I want, and when I want something in life, I go for it with gusto, no holds barred. You get my drift?”

His eyes never left her face and Mariah was under no false illusion about what he meant. When Everett desired something or someone, he was fully committed. He was in. Mariah wondered what it would have been like if Richard had been like that in their marriage. Maybe if he’d been all in, their relationship wouldn’t have ended and she wouldn’t be divorced at twenty-six.

“Mariah?” Everett cocked his head to one side to peer at her questioningly. “Did I lose you?”

She blinked several times, bringing him and their conversation back into focus. “No, you didn’t, but I really do have to get back to work.”

“You’re doing it again,” he said.

“What’s that?”

“Running away,” he responded. “But lucky you, I like to chase.” He rose from his seat, pulled several bills from his wallet and laid them on the table. He stepped toward her and Mariah was frozen, unsure of what to do. Was he going to make a move? Was he going to kiss her?

Instead, he just softly caressed her cheek with the palm of his hand, which was warm and tender, and said, “I’ll see you soon.”

And he was gone. Leaving Mariah to wonder and secretly hope when that might be.

* * *

Outside the bakery, Everett stared into the window at Mariah as she walked back toward the kitchen. What on earth had possessed him to come here just a day after she’d turned down a date with him? Although he’d dreamed of a certain beautiful honey blonde in his dreams, he certainly hadn’t woken up this morning with the intention of acting on any of his desires. But somehow, as he’d exited the penthouse garage on his way to Myers Hotel, his car had taken him in a different direction, directly to Lillian’s Bakery.

When he arrived, he’d thought about getting something to go, but on the other hand, he couldn’t resist the pull he’d felt yesterday with Mariah. He’d wanted more. So he’d asked her brother to find her. And when she’d come out to the storefront, she’d looked just as sexy and scrumptious as he remembered. Sure, she was wearing a less than flattering apron that covered all her God-given assets. That was why he’d asked her to come around from the display—so he could take another real good look at her. Perhaps he’d hyped her up in his dreams to be more than she was, and reality would be like a cold splash of water in his face. But he hadn’t been wrong.

Instead, when she’d come from behind the counter wearing low-rise jeans that sat seductively over her hips and a crop top that gave him just a hint of stomach and skin, Everett had been eager to know what secrets lay hidden beneath them. It hadn’t helped that her full, round breasts were pressing against the thin top she wore, showing him that she might be a bit chilled.

Jeez. He glanced down at his watch and realized he’d better get to the hotel so he could make the morning’s meeting, rather than stew over a baker who, if she had her way, could take him or leave him. Everett quickly drove the short distance to the hotel.

As he did, he realized he hadn’t expected the full force of Mariah’s sexiness to hit him with such magnitude as it had that morning, but he’d felt it deep in his groin. He’d had a hard-on happening when she hadn’t so much as touched him. Matter-of-fact, she’d tried her best to keep him at bay throughout their interlude. That is, until he’d stuck his foot in his mouth and revealed exactly where she’d be if she were his woman. She’d be on her back in his bed and he’d ravish her all night long until she begged him to come inside her.

When had he gotten so horny? It hadn’t been that long since he’d been with a woman, had it? Everett pondered the thought as he rode the elevator up to the administrative offices of Myers Hotels. Walking through the lobby had been a blur. As the doors opened, he blinked to get himself back in the game and on his morning routine.

The meeting was already under way when he arrived, and Everett merely stood back against the door, listening as the hotel’s general manager went over the day’s events.

When he was done, he glanced up and saw Everett. “Mr. Myers, is there anything you’d like to add?”

Everett shook his head. “Not at all, you go ahead. I’ll just listen in.”

Thankfully, the hotel pretty much ran itself, with Everett stepping in only periodically, when a major decision needed to be made. Hiring the best and brightest in the hospitality industry and paying them a fair wage had ensured that Myers Hotels were respected in the industry and one of the more sought after places of employment in the Seattle hotel market.

He slipped out before the meeting concluded and headed to his office. His executive assistant, Mildred, was waiting for him with his messages. There were the usual suspects, along with a message from EJ’s school.

Everett immediately thanked Mildred for the update and closed the door to his office. Being a father came first, before business. It had been that way with his own dad and Everett was ensuring he did the same. Although Stephen Myers was a serious and austere man to some, he had always made sure that Everett and his mother were his top priority. Even when his father had been building the Myers Hotels into a well-respected luxury chain, he’d made certain he had time for his family. If ever Everett had a problem, his father had always been there to help him solve it. It was because of him that Everett was the man he was today. And it’s why he’d wanted to emulate him by marrying his first love. He’d thought he and Sara would be together forever, until fate struck.

Everett picked up the receiver and dialed the principal of EJ’s school, who’d left the message for him.

“Mr. Myers, thank you so much for the quick response,” the woman said.

“When it comes my son, nothing is more important,” Everett replied. “What’s going on?”

“Well, EJ was having a hard time today, so I brought him to my office.”

“Why?” Everett sat upright in his chair. “Is something wrong? Is my son okay?” Ever since Sara’s death, he had become somewhat paranoid and hypervigilant about EJ’s safety, but how could he not? EJ was all he had left.

“He’s fine, he’s fine. Physically, that is.”

Everett understood her meaning. “And emotionally?”

“I learned there were some students picking on him...” She paused. “Because his mother is gone.”

“I see.” Everett’s voice was clipped.

“I’ve disciplined them accordingly,” the principal continued, “but EJ was clearly upset, as he has every right to be, and I just thought that—”

“I’ll be there in twenty,” Everett said, and hung up the phone. He grabbed his keys and sunglasses as he headed for the doorway.

“Is everything okay, Mr. Myers?” Mildred asked in obvious concern, since he’d only just arrived.

“It’s EJ.” And with those words, he was out the door.

He made it to the school in fifteen minutes, parking his car in the tow-away zone. No one would dare tow his vehicle, given the thousands he’d donated to this private school.

The look on his face must have said it all, because the receptionist rose as he walked straight past the front counter and toward the principal’s office. He knocked twice and didn’t wait for a response before entering.

“Mr. Myers!” The principal jumped up from her desk.

“I’m here to pick up my son.”

He glanced across the room and saw EJ sitting at a table, while the principal looked up, startled, from her computer.

“Of course, of course.” She rushed toward him. “And I’m sorry to have to bother you,” she said, closing the door behind him so they could speak in private. “Just given the time of year, with Mother’s Day coming in May, I thought it prudent you come.”

“Thank you for calling me.”

“You’re most certainly welcome.” She touched his arm. “And I can assure you that we don’t tolerate bullying of any kind. The children have been reprimanded and their parents were contacted.”

“I appreciate that,” Everett said. “EJ, grab your things,” he told his son over her shoulder, since he was several inches taller. He bent down to whisper in the principal’s ear in a lethal tone, “Let’s ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

The woman nodded.

Once they were outside the school, Everett stopped and turned to his son. “How you doing, buddy?”

EJ just he kept walking toward the car. Everett understood the cue that he didn’t want to talk here, so he unlocked the Cadillac Escalade and EJ jumped into the passenger seat.

Everett came around to the driver’s side. He turned on the engine, but thought better of it and said, “Do you want to talk about it now?”

“Can’t we just go?”

“Not when something’s on your mind,” Everett responded. “You know you can talk to me about anything and I will always sympathize and be here to listen.”

EJ turned to face the window and said nothing.

Everett sighed as he put the Escalade in gear. “All right. Well, when you want to talk about it, I’m here for you, okay?”

EJ didn’t answer; he just nodded his head.

Chapter 4

Everett wasn’t surprised when EJ claimed he was sick the following morning. Everett suspected it was a ruse, and normally would have made him go to school and face his bullies, because that’s what a father taught his son. But in this instance, Everett couldn’t make the boy do so, not when he knew this hurt went deeper because it was over the loss of his mother. He went to work instead, leaving EJ with Margaret, who’d keep any eye on him until Everett returned later that afternoon. He would make it an early day, so he could spend some time with his son.

But first he had a strong desire for another one of Lillian’s pastries, or so he told himself as he walked toward the bakery. He opened the front door with a flourish and a bell signaled his arrival.

Everett was happy to find Mariah at the front counter instead of Jackson. “Good morning,” he said, strolling toward her.

She sighed in apparent exasperation at seeing him for the second day in a row. “Everett.”

“You’re looking lovely today,” he said, admiring the way her glorious honey-blond hair hung in soft waves to her shoulders. She’d clearly done something different with the style, but he didn’t care. It just made her look all the more attractive to him. He’d love to rake his hands through it as he brought her mouth closer to his.

He liked everything about Mariah, from the color of her eyes, which reminded him of sandalwood, to her delicate round little nose, to the sinful curve of her alluring lips. Lips that he would love to kiss, tease and suck into his mouth.

“Everett?” Mariah was saying his name again and he had to stop staring at her as if she were a fresh piece of meat.

“Yes?”

“I asked you what you would like,” she said, looking at him strangely.

“If I said you, would that be too much?”

She grinned at his come-on. “Are you always this much of a flirt?”

“Only with you.”

“I’m flattered, really,” she said, as the chime of the doorbell indicated another customer had just entered the bakery, “but as I told you before—”

“You’re not interested,” he stated, cutting her off.

She pointed her index finger at him. “See, you really are as smart as the internet says.”

“Have you been looking me up?” Everett was intrigued as the familiar air of electricity he felt on the prior occasions with Mariah sizzled between them. There was no mistaking it. She was not as immune to his charms as she was leading him to believe.

Mariah flushed and he could see he was right.

“There’s a line forming,” she said, as yet another customer came through the bakery door. “What can I get you?”

“If you’re not on the menu, then I guess I’ll have to settle for one of those,” Everett responded, pointing to the assortment of quiches they’d prepared as a breakfast selection. “And another of those scones from yesterday.” He would bring a treat home to EJ in the hopes that it would cheer him up.

Mariah smiled. “Excellent choice.” She opened the display case to procure his items. Once she’d rung them up, she said, “Have a great day and see you soon.”

His brow rose a fraction. “Would you like to? See me, that is?”

“I always like paying customers.”

He laughed as he made his way out the door. Mariah might be telling him to go away, but he suspected she was starting to enjoy seeing him come around just as much as he was enjoying seeing her each day. And if he had his way, it wouldn’t be long before the walls she had erected around her would come tumbling down.

* * *

Mariah was grateful when she saw the back of Everett’s head as he left the bakery. Today made the third time she’d seen him in as many days. She’d told him in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t interested in dating him, but he kept coming back. The man was relentless and she wasn’t sure how long she could keep turning him down, when it would just make more sense to go out with him and put him out of his misery. Maybe then he would see that they weren’t a match and she was completely out of his league.

Everett was handsome and, according to everything she’d read online, wealthy as sin. Despite herself, she’d been unable to contain her curiosity about the man after he’d visited the bakery twice, and she’d tried to absorb as much information as possible on the man. She’d learned via an internet search about the accidental death of his wife, Sara. But the details were vague because Everett had secluded himself, keeping out of the news, pretty much right after the accident.

According to sources, he was currently single and had been that way since becoming widowed. So what could he possibly see in a newly divorced baker from an upper-middle-class family? For some reason Mariah presented a challenge to him, but perhaps as soon as he won he’d stop his pursuit of her.

“Was that Myers again?” Jackson inquired, coming up behind her and heading to the second register. He turned to the next customer in line. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“It was,” Mariah said, as she smiled and handed her customer some change.

“Wow! Someone’s sprung on you,” Jackson said, after he’d fished out several pastries and boxed them up for his customer. “Here you go. Have a nice day.”

Several minutes later, the storefront was empty and it was just the two of them, so Mariah turned to glare at her brother. “It’s not that serious.”

“Apparently it is for him,” Jackson retorted. “He’s been here three days straight.”

“You can’t count the opening, because he just met me,” Mariah responded, reaching for a cloth underneath the register to wipe down the counter.

“I sure as hell can. The man was enthralled with you. Trust me, I know when a guy is interested.”

Mariah laughed. “I guess it would take one to know one.” She bumped his hip and continued wiping the displays.

“So what are you going to do about it?” He folded his arms across his chest.

“Nothing. Eventually, he’ll tire of the rejections and move on.”

“Ha!” Jackson laughed as he headed back to the kitchen. “You don’t know men at all.”

Mariah thought about her brother’s words later that evening in her apartment, when she was cuddled with a bowl of popcorn, watching a romantic comedy. Jackson had been right that she didn’t know men at all. Her experience with the opposite sex was limited to her college career before she’d met Rich, and there hadn’t been much to speak of. She’d always been into her studies, leaving very little time for dating.

Now she had a rich, successful businessman like Everett Myers interested in her and all she could do was run. Mariah wasn’t proud of it. She’d always prided herself on being a person who persevered even when things got difficult, as she had with her inability to conceive. She’d been the one who’d dug in the trenches, refusing to give up on her marriage even though she suspected Rich had checked out. Mariah had thought that she could win him back somehow and that in time he’d see that she’d done all of it for them, but he hadn’t.

Mariah considered it one of her greatest failures. It was why she was reluctant to go down that path again so soon with Everett, even though she found him stunningly gorgeous. Every time he came into the bakery, Mariah caught herself holding her breath, and when he touched her, her entire body came alive. It made her feel things she hadn’t felt in a long time, such as desire and passion. Whenever he was near, her skin became prickly and the place between her legs became heated. She wanted to push the feelings away, but Everett wouldn’t let up. And did she really want him to? Of one thing she was sure—Everett could quench all her desires.