Page 20 of Crave

“Why are all the best looking ones either crazy or unavailable? Or both,” I say to myself.

My phone rings with an incoming FaceTime call request from my sister, putting an end to my stalking. For now, at least.

“Come save me, Tash,” I say in an exaggerated groan. “I can’t keep doing this every Saturday. She can hire someone to work on Saturdays.” I know she won’t. Our mother only lets family work in the bakery, and since Steve hasn’t been showing up for work, I’ve had to fill in.

“You’re preaching to the choir. I had to do two deliveries today. Come over after you’re done. We’re ordering pizza.” We talk for several minutes as we plan the menu for our biweekly Sunday brunch she’s hosting tomorrow. She’s going on about a recipe she wants to try when I hear the door to the bakery open. I sense a change in the atmosphere, and I don’t mean the gust of cold air from the rain outside.I feel a heaviness and a lightness all at the same time. My heart rate picks up and my nipples start to pucker inside my padded bra.

I know if I turn around, I’ll discover the reason for the change in my body and the change in the air, but I’m not ready to face it yet. Tash’s eyes open wide, as does her mouth. Since the phone is facing behind me, she sees the source of the change before I do.

“Holy shit! Turn around, Dee,” she says. I hear footsteps, but I still don’t turn around. Whoever it is, impatiently rings the bell next to the cash register, and I’m irritated at their audacity.

“Who is it?” I ask Tash stupidly, as if I can’t just turn and see for myself. I will my body to turn, but my legs have turned into dead weight.

“Turn around and see for yourself.Listen to your big sis when she tells you shit,” she says smugly right before she ends the call. After I told them about the disastrous party, Tash was adamant that Jacob Clark was going to show back up in my life. Like some sort of sleuth, analyzed every detail of the events from last week and declared that my life was about to get interesting. At the time, I dismissed her, but could she be right? Is he the one standing behind me now? I already know the answer. My body’s reaction is telling me that it’s him.

He rings the bell one more time. I take a deep breath before slowly turning around. Even though I know it’s him, the reality of seeing him causes the phone to slip out of my hand and land on the glass counter with a loud thud. We lock eyes. Brown eyes on brown eyes. Everything else fades away. It’s just us.

I consume him with my eyes. His beard is a bit fuller, but it’s well trimmed and maintained. He’s in all black today. Black pants. Black V neck shirt that drapes just right over his massive chest. Black leather jacket with rain droplets dripping off. He runs a hand through his damp hair, causing water to scatter on the countertop.

The empty bakery is filled with his presence. He’s tall and lean but has broad shoulders. We watch each other, neither one of us willing to speak first. He finally breaks our eye contact, leaving me exposed as his eyes travel to my mouth. I lick my dry lips and I swear I hear him moan as his eyes continue to travel down and land on my breasts. Now, I’m not the most blessed in the boobs department, but he looks at them like they are water in the desert.

I quickly cross my arms over my chest, blocking his view and signaling that there can never be anything between us. His eyes find mine again, and then he smiles, his warm brown eyes lighting up at the sight of me. And with that one smile, I’m lost. As if being pulled, I take two steps forward, bringing me close enough to touch him. The counter separates us, but I can smell his cologne and his leather jacket. He presses the bell again, and I rest my hand on top of his, causing a jolt of electricity to go up my arm and through my body. I quickly remove my hand as if burned.

“C-can I help you?” I stutter. I’ve never made a fool of myself over any man, and I refuse to start now. Jacob Clark is just a man. A man with deep, soulful eyes and full lips but a man nonetheless. A man with a broad chest that I long to trace my fingertips across. A man with enough confidence to walk into my mother’s bakery to stake his claim.

“I was really enjoying the view, but this is even better,” he says as he looks at me. “You’re even more beautiful than I remembered. Beyond what I’ve imagined this week.”

I don’t respond, nor do I smile. I stand there, eyebrows arched, waiting for him to continue.

“We have some unfinished business,” he says. I don’t remember his voice being that deep, or his tone that confident, but I do remember the fullness of his lips. If things had gone differently, would the evening have ended with me tasting his lips? A taste would never have been enough. I could become addicted to this man, and I don’t need that in my life. Not with someone like him.

I find my voice.

“I don’t think we do. We finished.”

“I always remember when I finish. And when you finish with me, you’ll remember it too.” I can feel myself flush at his double entendre, thankful my skin isn’t light enough to blush. If only he knew that I’ve never finished with a man. I’ve come close, but sadly never finished. Jacob Clark will never know this little detail.

“I’m pretty sure we did. I think it might have been around the time you abandoned me on the dance floor to attack your brother’s wife. Or maybe it was when you and your brother crashed into the cake. Remember that?” I say this sounding as bored as possible, but my rapid heartbeat tells me I’m anything but bored.

“Attack is a strong word, don’t you think? I didn’t attack anyone. In fact, Troy is the one who attacked me.”

“So, you’re the victim?” I ask incredulously.

“It would appear so, yes.”

“No regrets then?”

“I was a fool to walk away from you, and I regret what happened to the cake,” he says, his eyes on my mouth. I lick my lips again and his eyes quickly lock with mine. His gaze is so intense, that I take a step back, grateful for the counter between us. He takes one step forward.

“That’s all you regret?”

“I also regret that you left without a word to me. I regret that I’ve had to wait damn near a week before I could see you again. And I regret this damn counter keeping me from you.”

“And the ugly things that you said to your brother and sister-in-law?” I ask.

“All true and well deserved. I don’t regret any of that, but enough about them. You promised me a date and then you just disappeared.”

“I’m not into other people’s family drama. You’re not who I thought you were, so I left.”

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