Laid Bare
Page 11
She hadn’t known how she planned to greet him, but the beautiful, open smile he gave her and the way he stepped around the counter brought her into his hug and against his body.
Her arms moved to hug him back, every cell in her body reacting to being touched again. Not as a sister, not in grief or mourning, but as a woman.
The unexpected beauty of it, the bittersweet sensation of sexual attraction after being dead inside for years, made her want to grab a pen and start writing. Crying could wait.
For that moment she reveled in it, in feeling something so lovely.
Finally, after a hug long enough to let her know he enjoyed the attraction between them still, Todd kissed the top of her head and let go enough to lean back and look into her face.
“It’s so good to see you. You look damned good. I like the pink hair.”
She laughed and only barely managed to catch herself from playing with it. “Thank you. You look great too. Are you visiting?” Oh yeah, he was married, wasn’t he?
“No. I just moved back to the area. I’m starting a security consulting business, or rather, buying into part of it with some friends of mine.”
She noticed people waiting and stepped back. “Hang on. Let me get these orders filled. Do you have the time to visit a bit?”
“I do, and I’d like a bite too.”
Todd watched her move with the same effortless sensuality she’d had ten years before. Noted how she worked quickly and efficiently, ladling out soup and sliding sandwiches onto plates.
The soup he’d ordered was rich and spicy, and the veggie sandwich served on dark bread satisfied his hunger quite nicely.
What the heck was she doing running a tiny café in Ballard? He knew she and her younger brother had gone down to LA roughly about the time Todd had gotten married. They’d made it big sometime after. Not his kind of music, so he’d only seen her in passing on MTV, on his way to CMT.
She’d disappeared from the limelight—some sort of legal trouble, he thought he recalled. But he’d been so busy with his own life and career, he hadn’t followed the entertainment news at all, outside the country music he liked.
Drugs, perhaps? Although he doubted it. Erin had been a very strong and self-possessed woman. Plus, she and her brothers were very close, so they’d have been a good support system. Still, there was a hesitancy in her she hadn’t had before. He supposed that was only natural. They hadn’t parted as enemies but certainly not on the friendliest of terms either.
She hadn’t been far from his mind over the time they’d been apart though. Not that he’d pined for her, but a wisp of memory would come and fill him with the sense of longing, of loss. And she’d played a part in many of his fantasies over the years too.
About an hour later, after the eight tables and the counter had filled up and then emptied out again, she brought over a bowl of soup and sat with him.
“Sorry it took so long. Lunch rush. You want a refill on the tea? Or some coffee?”
“I want to sit and talk with you.” He put a hand on her arm, gripping to stay her, and their gazes locked. That familiar darkness wafted through him, taunting him.
She swallowed and eased back. Obeying him just like that, and he remembered all the times he’d closed his eyes and thought of her. Of her arching beneath him, taking all he had to give and wanting more. She’d been his, and he’d been too scared to take what she offered. All because he’d been worried about what his desires made him look like.
No longer.
“When do you get off?”
She snorted a laugh and he joined her, adjusting in his seat. “You know what I mean.”
“I’m the boss. I close up at two and then it takes me about an hour to close out the till, clean up the back and prepare for tomorrow.”
“Oh, this is yours now?”
Those hazel eyes of hers took him in carefully. There were shadows there that hadn’t existed before. “Yes. I came back to Seattle three years ago and wanted something to do. Brody had someone else running this place, but it wasn’t doing much. I bought it and I run it how I like. It works to keep me out of trouble.”
“You used to like trouble.” He looked her over again. The hollow of her throat called to his lips. His fingers twitched with a need to touch the soft, warm skin there again. “Are you free when you close up?”
She blinked, and slowly licked her lips, but before she could answer, the bell on the door jingled and she got up to deal with customers.
Erin didn’t know what to think. No one had ever gotten to her as deeply as he had. Not even Jeremy had touched that spot deep within her, let it uncoil. At one point she’d just figured it was that memory thing where you tend to make the past better than it was. But Todd did that to her then, and he affected her still.
Her hands shook a bit as she steamed some milk and absently made small talk with a customer. But when she looked up, she saw him watching her.
Their spark hadn’t been her imagination. His invitation was more than just a hey, let’s hang out and grab a beer. While she was on board with a little reliving of old times in bed with him, it wasn’t going to happen if he was married.
She ladled soup, poured out tea and coffee until everyone had been served, and there he was again, waiting patiently, his eyes moving over her body like a caress.
Erin hadn’t been so sexually on edge or so needy and out-and-out horny in years, it seemed. He hadn’t propositioned her. He hadn’t even touched so much as a breast, but her body thrummed with excitement and anticipation. It seemed wrong to hope he was divorced, but she did anyway.
Her arms moved to hug him back, every cell in her body reacting to being touched again. Not as a sister, not in grief or mourning, but as a woman.
The unexpected beauty of it, the bittersweet sensation of sexual attraction after being dead inside for years, made her want to grab a pen and start writing. Crying could wait.
For that moment she reveled in it, in feeling something so lovely.
Finally, after a hug long enough to let her know he enjoyed the attraction between them still, Todd kissed the top of her head and let go enough to lean back and look into her face.
“It’s so good to see you. You look damned good. I like the pink hair.”
She laughed and only barely managed to catch herself from playing with it. “Thank you. You look great too. Are you visiting?” Oh yeah, he was married, wasn’t he?
“No. I just moved back to the area. I’m starting a security consulting business, or rather, buying into part of it with some friends of mine.”
She noticed people waiting and stepped back. “Hang on. Let me get these orders filled. Do you have the time to visit a bit?”
“I do, and I’d like a bite too.”
Todd watched her move with the same effortless sensuality she’d had ten years before. Noted how she worked quickly and efficiently, ladling out soup and sliding sandwiches onto plates.
The soup he’d ordered was rich and spicy, and the veggie sandwich served on dark bread satisfied his hunger quite nicely.
What the heck was she doing running a tiny café in Ballard? He knew she and her younger brother had gone down to LA roughly about the time Todd had gotten married. They’d made it big sometime after. Not his kind of music, so he’d only seen her in passing on MTV, on his way to CMT.
She’d disappeared from the limelight—some sort of legal trouble, he thought he recalled. But he’d been so busy with his own life and career, he hadn’t followed the entertainment news at all, outside the country music he liked.
Drugs, perhaps? Although he doubted it. Erin had been a very strong and self-possessed woman. Plus, she and her brothers were very close, so they’d have been a good support system. Still, there was a hesitancy in her she hadn’t had before. He supposed that was only natural. They hadn’t parted as enemies but certainly not on the friendliest of terms either.
She hadn’t been far from his mind over the time they’d been apart though. Not that he’d pined for her, but a wisp of memory would come and fill him with the sense of longing, of loss. And she’d played a part in many of his fantasies over the years too.
About an hour later, after the eight tables and the counter had filled up and then emptied out again, she brought over a bowl of soup and sat with him.
“Sorry it took so long. Lunch rush. You want a refill on the tea? Or some coffee?”
“I want to sit and talk with you.” He put a hand on her arm, gripping to stay her, and their gazes locked. That familiar darkness wafted through him, taunting him.
She swallowed and eased back. Obeying him just like that, and he remembered all the times he’d closed his eyes and thought of her. Of her arching beneath him, taking all he had to give and wanting more. She’d been his, and he’d been too scared to take what she offered. All because he’d been worried about what his desires made him look like.
No longer.
“When do you get off?”
She snorted a laugh and he joined her, adjusting in his seat. “You know what I mean.”
“I’m the boss. I close up at two and then it takes me about an hour to close out the till, clean up the back and prepare for tomorrow.”
“Oh, this is yours now?”
Those hazel eyes of hers took him in carefully. There were shadows there that hadn’t existed before. “Yes. I came back to Seattle three years ago and wanted something to do. Brody had someone else running this place, but it wasn’t doing much. I bought it and I run it how I like. It works to keep me out of trouble.”
“You used to like trouble.” He looked her over again. The hollow of her throat called to his lips. His fingers twitched with a need to touch the soft, warm skin there again. “Are you free when you close up?”
She blinked, and slowly licked her lips, but before she could answer, the bell on the door jingled and she got up to deal with customers.
Erin didn’t know what to think. No one had ever gotten to her as deeply as he had. Not even Jeremy had touched that spot deep within her, let it uncoil. At one point she’d just figured it was that memory thing where you tend to make the past better than it was. But Todd did that to her then, and he affected her still.
Her hands shook a bit as she steamed some milk and absently made small talk with a customer. But when she looked up, she saw him watching her.
Their spark hadn’t been her imagination. His invitation was more than just a hey, let’s hang out and grab a beer. While she was on board with a little reliving of old times in bed with him, it wasn’t going to happen if he was married.
She ladled soup, poured out tea and coffee until everyone had been served, and there he was again, waiting patiently, his eyes moving over her body like a caress.
Erin hadn’t been so sexually on edge or so needy and out-and-out horny in years, it seemed. He hadn’t propositioned her. He hadn’t even touched so much as a breast, but her body thrummed with excitement and anticipation. It seemed wrong to hope he was divorced, but she did anyway.
