Hammer's Fall (The Breakers' Bad Boys) (5 page)

Kalista let out a delicate snort as she set the empty pan down in the large sink to be washed later. She wiped her hands on her apron, then smiled at her friend. “Okay, now do you want to try the lavender cookies or the white chocolate cupcake with lavender buttercream frosting?”

“Duh, both. What a stupid question. And you are so not changing the subject. I want details about you and Hammer.”

Kalista turned to the refrigerator to give herself a moment to think. Details? It would be easier to explain things if she knew what was going on herself. She pulled out a cupcake, setting it on a plate, then took two cookies from the cooling rack and set it down in front of Zoe. “I just don’t understand him.”

“What’s there to understand? You’re a beautiful woman, he’s a hot guy. You practically melt into a puddle whenever he’s around, and he looks at you like he wants to tie you to his bed and fuck you for a week. So, did you let him?”

That had Kalista shaking her head. “You have such a potty mouth, Zoe. Maybe I should rethink feeding you that soap.”

Zoe shrugged her delicate shoulders as she ate her cupcake. She had a slim figure for her five foot seven frame, but regardless how fragile she looked, she still packed a punch. “I’ve spent too much of my life being proper. Someone was always telling me what to do, what to say … even how to feel. I’m done with that shit. I like being able to say whatever naughty thoughts are in my head.” Her expression brightened. “Speaking of naughty, this cupcake is like sex in my mouth and these cookies are to die for.”

Despite the smile on Zoe’s face, Kalista knew that the memories of the past weighed heavily on her friend and a wave of sympathy swept through her. Since Zoe had moved into town three months ago the two of them had become good friends. Usually, Zoe was pretty tight lipped about her past, but there had been a couple of nights they had shared a few bottles of wine and swapped stories about what haunted them both. Kalista was glad her friend had found sanctuary in Breakers, just like she had.

“I’ll pack a few in a box so you can take it to work with you tonight,” Kalista promised as she got a small box from a rack off to the side and started filling it with cookies. “And no, I didn’t sleep with him, but he did kiss me.”

“Oooh, was it good? He seems like he would be a good kisser.”

“Good is too tame a word for what that man can do. My God, Zoe…I felt like my brains leaked out of my ears. I was so embarrassed I almost had an orgasm right there in front of my building!”

Zoe huffed. “Now you’re just bragging. So, what are you confused about? Hammer is a nice guy. He’s not one of those assholes who comes into the bar and flirts with anything with tits.”

Kalista’s brow rose. “You mean like Dante?”

“Dante is a man-whore,” Zoe groused as she wound her long black hair up in a bun on the top of her head and secured it using two chopsticks.

“But you like him,” Kalista insisted. “And he likes you. I can see it in the way he looks at you.”

Zoe’s feelings for Dante were…complicated, and not something she wanted to delve into at the moment. If ever. “It doesn’t matter. I could never be with a man who sleeps around like that. I don’t care how good looking he is. Plus, he’s my boss. It would totally be wrong to get involved with him. That is to say, if he actually wanted something more than one night. You know how he is. I don’t want to be just another in his string of random hookups.”

Kalista set the box of cookies in front of Zoe, then leaned against the counter and sighed. “You’re probably right since he is your boss, but I don’t think Dante looks at you like those other women he’s been with. I think he really cares about you.”

Zoe waved a hand in the air. “I don’t want to talk about him. Tell me, what are you planning to do about Hammer.”

“I have no idea.” Kalista sighed. “I just don’t know how to handle this with Jared. I mean, I’ve known him for months, but we’ve never really spoken until last night. Then he goes and offers to be my date for my cousin’s wedding and—”

“Really?” Zoe laughed evilly. “David will shit his pants when you show up with Hammer.”

Kalista smiled as she thought about it. “Yesterday, I went over to his gym and asked if he would give me self-defense lessons because I want to lose some weight before the wedding. Jared got mad when I mentioned why I wanted the lessons.”

Zoe glared at her. “You don’t need to lose any weight. What you need to do is stop listening to your asshole ex and your stupid mother. Tell you what, if you talk Hammer into setting up a self-defense class for women, I’ll go with you.”

“You will? But you already know karate, don’t you?”

“I know tai chi not karate, but it’s been a long time since I’ve really practiced. I just signed up at Fight Hard last week to work out on the machines. I wouldn’t mind taking a class to learn some new moves. I bet Becca would go with us, too?”

“Where am I going?” Becca asked as she pushed through the swinging door to the front of the shop. One perfectly sculpted black brow rose above her unusual violet eyes.

“A self-defense class over at Fight Hard.”

“Work out with hot guys? I am so there!” Becca looked over at her boss with a mischievous grin. “Speaking of hot guys, Hammer is up front and he’s asking for you.”

A shiver of pleasure rippled through Kalista as she thought about seeing him again. She’d had a hard time falling asleep the night before since he had left her aching and wanting him. If not for her trusty vibrator, she would have never gotten to sleep. Still, it was a poor substitute for the real thing. Pulling off her pink apron, she smoothed down her hair and glared at her two friends who were grinning at her. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. You look perfect. Now, go get’em, tiger,” Zoe said with a wink, happy to see her friend looking so flustered. “I’ll just finish up my cupcake and show myself out the backdoor. Thanks for the cookies…now go get your man.”

“Stop it,” Kalista hissed good-naturedly, then pushed through the swinging door. The nervous smile of greeting froze on Kalista’s face as she saw Jared sitting at a table with a beautiful woman with long sunny-blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

Kalista recognized the other woman as Evelyn Beaumont, a local heiress with a large mansion at the far edge of town right by the water. She had seen the woman often enough when she came into the bakery, but Kalista didn’t know much about her except that she ran some sort of dog training facility at her home and had converted the huge stables in the back to a working kennel. She had also owned the plot of land next to hers with a large plantation-style building that she had just started running as a sort of boarding house for the numerous former-military men that seemed to pass through town.

Becca came through the door and bumped into her from behind, causing Jared to look over at them when she yelped. His dark eyes heated as he saw her and a smile spread across his face, making him even more impossibly good looking. Damn her hormones!

“There you are, Kali,” he said in his deep voice that seemed to vibrate straight to her clit. It was practically sinful what the man could do to her with one look.

Confused as to why he was he was there with another woman, she came out from behind the front counter and slowly walked toward his table. Self-doubt plagued her, but she tried to push it back. Jared was nothing like her ex, and he certainly wasn’t the type of man who would bring a date into her own shop to rub her nose in it. It was difficult though. Evelyn was so beautiful that Kalista found herself lacking in comparison.

As if sensing what she was thinking, he frowned and stood up, holding a hand out to her. When she was close enough, she placed her hand in his and was startled when he pulled her to him and pressed his lips lightly on hers. He gave a hum of pleasure, then kissed her again a little harder before he pulled back and smiled down at her.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” she answered breathlessly. Her heart was doing a happy dance in her chest at his public display of affection, and it eased some of the worry she’d been feeling.

“Kali, this is Evelyn Beaumont. Evie, this is Kali. Do you have some time to sit with us?”

Kalista looked over at Becca who was back manning the register and saw she and one of their part-time workers had everything in hand. “I’d love to join you. It’s nice to meet you, Evelyn.” It was almost unfair how beautiful the other woman was, Kalista thought with an internal sigh. To take her mind off of that she looked down at the table at their coffee and sweets and smiled. “I see you two went for sweets today.”

“Please, call me Evie,” she said with a laugh. “And I can’t seem to help myself. Every time I come in here I have to have one of your brownies. They’re like my crack. Me and my thighs hate you.”

Kalista laughter was cut off as Jared leaned closer to her. “I was in the mood for something vanilla and—” he took a little sniff of her neck and smiled. “Lavender. But I guess I’ll make do with my cinnamon roll.”

Kalista could feel the blush heating her cheeks and ducked her head a little. “I’ve been trying some new recipes using white chocolate and lavender.”

“You’ll have to let me try it later,” he murmured softly before he cleared his throat and raised his voice to a normal speaking level. “We just got done with our meeting over at the gym when Evie mentioned wanting to speak to you about something. She kept nagging, so I thought I would just bring her over so she could meet you.”

Evie winked. “It’s true. I can be relentless when I want something, but he has to put up with me.”

Kalista felt a funny pang in her belly hearing that. Jared and Evie were obviously close. It was in the way they interacted with a casual affection that could only be established through a close relationship. Had they dated? Were they still together? No, he wouldn’t have kissed her if he was with Evie.

He cut a big piece of his cinnamon roll with his fork, glowering at the blonde across the table. “Yeah, you’re a pain in the—”

“Jared!” Kalista chided before she could stop herself.

“Sorry,” he muttered as his massive shoulders hunched, then he stuffed the cinnamon roll bite his mouth.

“Oh, this is too funny!” Evie burst out with laughter. “I can’t wait to tell the boys that she can put you in your place with just a word.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“I don’t mind. I can be a total pain in the ass, but that’s because we’re related,” Evie explained. She could see that Kali was uncomfortable, and wanted to put her at ease. “Hammer’s mother, Madeline, is married to my uncle, Tony, so that makes us family. He has to put up with me and my other cousins, Francesca, Beckett, and Hunter.”

“You’re a brat, but I still love you,” he said warmly.

Evie rolled her eyes. “Stop. Your flattery is going to make me blush.”

He snorted, then turned to focus his dark eyes on Kalista. “I’ve been planning with Evie to use her boarding house as a location for any visitors we may have coming here for extended rehabilitation. It’s close enough to town that we can transport them to Fight Hard for their appointments, but secluded enough for the individuals that don’t want to be around a crowd.”

Kalista had a difficult time concentrating on what he was saying as he took her hand and pulled it onto his hard thigh below the table. Feeling the large muscle flex under her palm had her body heating between her own thighs.

“It’s a wonderful idea,” Evie said after chewing a bite of her brownie. “I didn’t open the place to make money. I mainly wanted to give the men and women who were transitioning back to civilian life somewhere safe to stay while they decided what they wanted to do with their lives. Setting up rooms for your rehab patients will be no hardship at all.”

“That sounds like it will be perfect.” Kalista couldn’t help but admire that Evie had done something so generous to help so many. Curiosity had her asking, “What did you want to speak to me about?”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I run a canine rescue on my property. The Beaumont Rescue Center is a non-profit organization that takes in stray dogs and cares for them until we can find them new homes. I’m also a part of a search and rescue team that operates in the surrounding area. We are planning an adoption event on Valentine’s Day from ten to four, and I was wondering if you would be willing to donate some cookies or something for the visitors that come to the event. I know it’s a lot to ask and it’s short notice, but—”

“I would love to,” Kalista said, cutting Evie off. In her element now, her nerves faded away. “My friend Becca has a little Yorkie named Thor that we make treats for. They’re really cute. We sometimes make them shaped like bones or little paw prints. We could make treats for both the human and the doggie guests at your event.”

Jared gave her a look that almost bordered on horror. “Thor? Really?”

Kalista tilted her chin up. “Thor is very protective of Becca.”

“I’m sure he is,” he said, although the look on his face said otherwise.

Evie beamed at her. “That sounds wonderful! If you have a line of dog treats that you would be willing to make regularly, I would love to place an ongoing order with you every week.”

“Why don’t I stop by your place with some samples in a few days, and we can see if your dogs like the treats? That way we can see which flavors they like best. I can also see how many dogs you have and we can estimate how many you would need for a weekly order. I could come by on Sunday afternoon if it works for you since we close at noon.”

“Sounds perfect!” Evie declared, pleased that Kali had agreed to volunteer so quickly. They talked a little more about the auction event while she finished her brownie. Jared had already devoured his cinnamon roll and was sitting back with his arm casually draped over the back of Kalista’s chair while they spoke.

Kalista was surprised how much she liked Evie Beaumont, then instantly felt bad for doubting that she would. The wealthy woman was nothing like she had first imagined. Evie was smart and funny, but she was also easy to talk to and very down to earth. She had to admit it was a relief to hear that she was related to Jared. Kalista liked the dedication Evie had for her work and was looking forward to participating in the adoption event. The only down side was that Kalista was pretty sure she was going to have a hard time walking away without bringing a pet home with her.