Читать книгу Cappuccino Kisses - Yahrah John St. - Страница 12

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.

If he continued his quest of stopping by the bakery, Mariah wasn’t sure just how long she could hold out before she finally gave in.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Everett returned to his penthouse and found EJ sitting at the breakfast counter eating one of the pastries he’d brought from Lillian’s yesterday, while Margaret was at the stove, no doubt starting supper. Everett chuckled inwardly. Clearly, the boy wasn’t that sick if he could enjoy the delicious concoction.

“Looks like someone’s feeling better,” Everett said, placing his briefcase on the counter.

EJ smiled and looked up, his face smeared with chocolate. Everett reached for a paper towel and threw it at him. “Wipe your face,” he said with a laugh. “You have chocolate all over it.”

“This is good, Dad,” EJ replied, after wiping his mouth. “Where’d you get it?” After dinner last night, they’d been too full for dessert.

“Lillian’s. And I brought another.” He held up the box from that morning.

EJ reached for it. “I’ll take it.”

“Not before dinner, you won’t.”

“I was telling him the same thing, Mr. Myers, but he insisted on eating that one.” Margaret gestured to the empty saucer in front of EJ.

“You’d better listen to Miss Margaret,” Everett chided, pointing his finger in EJ’s direction. “Don’t you give her no sass.”

EJ frowned. “I wasn’t.”

Everett loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt as he headed for the refrigerator. He took a bottle of beer out and quickly dispensed with the top before taking a generous swig.

“Why don’t you come talk to me?” he suggested as he walked to the living room. “While Margaret finishes up dinner.”

He heard an audible sigh, but EJ slipped off the bar stool where he’d been sitting and joined Everett as he settled on the couch. “So are you finally ready to talk to me about what happened yesterday?”

EJ shook his head., “No, but I guess you’re going to make me?”

“Something like that.”

EJ sunk deeper into the sofa cushions and was quiet for several long moments before he finally spoke. “There were some kids razzing me because I don’t have a mother.”

Everett frowned and sat upright. He hated hearing EJ talk like that. “You had a mother, EJ. Her name was Sara. She’s not here with us now, but she loved you very much.” It was important to Everett that EJ remembered her and knew that he’d been loved and was a product of that love.

“I know that, Dad, but I still don’t like hearing about it. Have kids bring it up like I’m some sort of freak or something.”

“You’re not a freak.” Everett patted EJ’s thigh. “You’re just different. And you have to be okay with that. You still have me, or am I chopped liver or something?” It was one of things he worried about—that somehow he wouldn’t be enough for his son. Lord knows, he’d tried to be a father and a mother all rolled into one, but it was hard sometimes.

EJ gave him a reluctant half smile. “No, but it’s...it’s just not the same.”

Everett wasted no time pulling his son into a firm hug and holding him close to his chest. “I know that,” he said, leaning back to look at him. “And I know that I can’t be your mom, but I promise you I will do my best to be both a mother and father to you. Whatever you need, I’m here.” He gazed into EJ’s dark eyes, which were cloudy with unshed tears, then tugged him back into his arms. “I’m always here.”

“Love you, Daddy,” EJ whispered into his chest.

Those three words were all that Everett would ever need.

* * *

Mariah stared at her reflection in the mirror in the bathroom of her two-bedroom apartment. She looked pretty darn good if she did say so herself. She was wearing her favorite pair of skinny jeans, a floral tunic and a long dangling necklace. She’d applied a trace of mineral foundation, mascara, and the finishing touch was lipstick. She typically never went to such trouble dressing each morning, since she spent the first few hours of her day in the kitchen. But the thought that Everett might show up again today had her making a special effort. Her stomach was in knots with eager anticipation of his arrival.

She must have been noticeably antsy because later that morning Jackson commented as much. “What’s got you so jumpy?” he asked. “Every time the doorbell chimes, I can see you perk up. Are you waiting for someone?” One of his eyebrows rose with amusement. He knew the answer.

“No.”

“Liar.” He laughed as he continued with the fondant cake he was working on for an upcoming wedding. Jackson had become quite the cake aficionado and they’d already received a few orders.

“Am not.”

“You’re wearing makeup. And you’re dressed up today.” He eyed her attire and face before returning to his task.

Mariah glanced down at her outfit. She’d gone for casual chic, so as not to look as if she was trying to attract a certain person’s attention or advances.

“C’mon, sis, I know you, and you can’t get anything by me.”

Mariah rolled her eyes and sauntered out of the kitchen. “Whatever.” There was no denying that Jackson was right, but that wasn’t what irked her. It was Everett. He was late. He usually came around 9:00 a.m. and it was after ten, which meant she’d gone through all this trouble for nothing.

She shouldn’t be surprised that he’d finally taken the hint. She had given him the brush-off three times and he must have figured three strikes and he was out. She’d blown it.

The doorbell chimed and Mariah didn’t bother looking up this time, so was surprised when she finally did and found his dark brown eyes looking at her.

“Everett.” She swallowed the lump that suddenly formed by having the businessman yet again in her crosshairs.

“Hey.” He smiled, showing off his sparkling white teeth.

“Hi.” Mariah didn’t know why she couldn’t think of anything but a one-syllable word, and her heart was hammering in her chest.

“Surprised to see me?”

“Actually, no, I’m not,” she replied, finding her voice. “You’ve been persistent, so I doubted today would be any different.”

“Is that why you dressed up for me today?” Everett asked, raking every inch of her figure with his magnetic gaze.

Mariah started to say no, but knew it would be a bold-faced lie, so she led with the truth. “What if I did?”