Page 10 of Witch's Dawn
A pair of warm brown eyes twinkled back. Raum leaned on my counter, smirking as casually as if he came here regularly. His sexy mane of hair was tousled carelessly like he-- or some woman-- just ran their fingers throughit.
This morning he ditched the black leather jacket for a snug, gunmetal gray T-shirt that hugged his chest andbiceps.
"Deja can't be the D-word you're so tired of," he mused. "It's a beautiful name, possibly my new favorite D-word. Although I can think of a few runner-ups."
His teasing grin spread slowly across his face, daring me to ask what those other wordswere.
I steeled myself, suddenly wide awake, and did my best to ignore the heat growing in my cheeks and coreagain.
"Can I help you?" I askedpointedly.
His smile diminished and his brow furrowed slightly withconcern.
"I wanted to stop by and apologize," he said in a low voice, softening his gaze. "We didn't mean to offend or frighten you lastnight."
My eyebrows lifted, taken aback. I got the sense that this guy didn't make apologies veryoften.
"I'm kind of a jokester and sometimes I take it too far," he continued, his eyes resembling that of a sad puppy's now. "I hope we didn't ruin yournight."
My chest and stomach fluttered as I tried to keep my face aloof. I had to admit it was flattering to have a man put aside his pride and grovel before me. Maybe that was an exaggeration but my ego thoroughly enjoyedthis.
"That's alright, I suppose," I said as coolly as I could muster. "How did you find myshop?"
"I have my ways," he answered evasively, the wily smile returning. "How about a truce over acuppa?"
I shrugged my acceptance, figuring he asked Myranda or someone else at the party who’d been a customer ofmine.
"I think we can manage that." I pulled out a clean ceramic cup and a fresh tea bag. "Anypreference?"
"Surprise me," hewinked.
I let my eyes rest on him for a moment, drinking in his features. The rough stubble, the olive skin over high cheekbones and the slight crows feet at the corners of his eyes. I wondered how old hewas.
"You don't strike me as a fruity tea kind of guy," I mused. "I'm thinking something more earthy, with a hint ofspice."
"Yes, girl. Keep talking tea to me," he teased, leaning further over the counter towardme.
I had to chuckle atthat.
"I'll give you some of what I'm having. Irish Breakfast with a bit of ginger and cinnamon blend for a bit of spice and to kickstart the immunesystem."
"Sounds perfect, and something I never would have thought of myself." He watched me curiously as I heated the kettle and prepared the tea. "How did you come to startup thisplace?"
"Long story short, I've always loved growing varieties of herbs and mixing up flavors," I said, trying to keep my cool as I worked, despite my insides somersaulting. "I've made my own tea blends for as long as I can remember. I make my own spice blends for cooking too. Back home, I was never really encouraged to be creative or entrepreneurial. So I took a chance and left. This was as far as my bus ticket would go, so here's where I endedup."
"Where's backhome?"
He picked up the teacup I set in front of him and gently pursed his lips to blow on the hot liquid, his eyes never leavingme.
"Bakersfield," I answered, trying not to stare at his lips toomuch.
"Ah," he said after taking a sip. "I can see why youleft."
"Yeah," I sighed. "I never really left home before coming here. San Francisco has been a pretty big cultureshock."
"Really?" He sounded amused as he took another gulp of tea. "Howso?"
I wrung my hands behind the counter, unsure of how much I wanted to tell him about the life I ran away from. At the same time, some part of my brain shot off fireworks with excitement that this guy seemed so interested inme.
