Hot Buttered Yum (2 page)

It was a bit nerve-wracking.

Taking note of the number of tourists who had come and gone among
the lunch customers, the majority of them women, Roni had felt a satisfied
warmth spread inside her. Looked like the business owners had gotten it right. Mr.
Yummy Santa was a good idea. It would be a success.

As long as Roni didn’t screw it up.

Which meant no casual fling with one of the contestants. No
matter how much fun it would be.

She sighed and turned back to the men, digging money out of
her purse to cover her bill at the same time. “It’s not going to happen,
ladies. Kayla would—”

At that moment, eight handsome faces turned in their
direction and a chorus of squeaks and giggles bounced around the table. The
women straightened in their chairs, all looking dead ahead at the women sitting
across the table. Not at the men.

But the guys were still watching them, Roni could tell.

It was as if a tanker of testosterone had been dumped in the
middle of their table and none of the ladies could do anything but let out
feminine giggles and wiggle in their seats.

Chairs scraped back as the men stood, and one by one, the
women snuck glances in the direction of their table. The guys were leaving. But
not without winks and smiles directed at them. Roni felt about fourteen, caught
gawking at the senior football players.

Not that she’d ever attended a normal high school or had
that experience.

But she had had her share of boy angst as a teenager. What
girl didn’t?

As the last of the guys cleared out, Roni was struck by
another man now in her line of sight. In a small two-seater tucked just inside
the furthermost corner of the patio, where the wrought-iron railing was at his back,
sat a god.

A tall, broad, muscled, sculpted,
testosterone-leaking-from-his-pores god.

Now
that
was someone she could get into for a little
casual fun.

He had dark hair, short but with a bit of a wave to it, a
nice tan on the tightly muscled arms coming out of his well-fit polo. And as
far as she could tell, everything tapering down to his waist and hips in the
exact way a man was supposed to taper.

Lunch didn’t seem to be his priority as there was no plate
in sight, only a half-full glass of tea. He had both hands on the keyboard of a
laptop, his attention fully focused on whatever he was doing, and Roni couldn’t
help it … her fantasies flared to life.

“Roni?” Ginger jabbed her in the side.

Roni swatted away Ginger’s elbow.

“Roni?” Another jab.

Again, another swat. Only this time, Ginger caught Roni’s wrist
and held it. Roni redirected her attention to her friend, only to discover what
the problem was. Contestant number one was now standing directly behind
Savannah, his deep green gaze plastered on Roni.

She looked up at him.

Whoa
. That boy could smile.

“Nice to see you again, Roni,” he said. He had a slight New
England accent. New Hampshire or Connecticut, maybe. Not real strong, though. But
there was a somewhat Southern charm to the way he stood there with his hands
clasped in front of him and his head slightly dipped. And he was definitely a
cutie.

But she still wasn’t going to be tempted to sleep with him.

Roni put a polite smile on her face and ignored the snickers
around the table. “Uh …” she started. Oh crap, why hadn’t she bothered with
their names?

“Gus,” he supplied. He gave a little nod. “I was wondering
if we might find a few minutes to talk at the reception tonight.”

The reception?

“I’d love to have the chance to get to know you better,” he continued.

Roni blinked. Several times.

Ginger leaned in and whispered, “We have the reception with
all the contestants tonight. To welcome them to town. And to meet the—”

“Right,” Roni cut in, her chin lifting slightly as she spoke.
“To meet the members of the community who pulled the contest together.”

Of course. Why had she gone stupid at the sight of one
gorgeous man standing three feet away from her? She’d seen plenty of gorgeous
men in her life. Case in point … she snuck another glance at the god in the
far corner.

Exhibit one, your honor. Gorgeous specimen of a man.

She turned back to Gus. How did she politely discourage his
attention? “I’ll be chatting with everyone tonight, Gus. I’m sure our paths
will cross.”

Kayla chose that moment to appear at their table, standing
immediately to Gus’s left. That helped. But again, Roni felt like the
fourteen-year-old caught gawking at someone she had no business gawking at.

“Hello, Mr. Thompson,” Kayla said. She was only two years
older than Roni, yet when she wore her stern face, there seemed to be at least
a decade between them. “How are you this afternoon?”

“Wonderful,” Gus mumbled. Even he wore a look of guilt
himself, as if he knew he shouldn’t be fraternizing with the forbidden.

Roni gave him a little shrug as if to say, What can I do?
while Kayla frowned at him.

Kayla was a good person, and Roni knew Andie wouldn’t have
moved to Boston so quickly if she hadn’t had Kayla here to run Seaglass for her.
Yet it bugged Roni that Kayla rarely seemed to relax enough to enjoy herself. Life
wasn’t all about work. Roni knew that better than anyone.

“I’ll … uh …” Gus fumbled for words, then his neck
turned red as all eight of the women at the table,
and
Kayla, gazed silently
at him as if to ask, “Were you really here to flirt with our Roni?”

Roni smiled politely. Possibly she batted her eyelashes
innocently.

“I’ll see you at the reception, then,” he mumbled and then
fled before Roni could form a reply.

She couldn’t help it. She laughed.

“Kayla,” she admonished. “You’re heartless. You just scared
that poor boy to death.”

Because yes, the more she’d looked at Gus, she’d determined
he was closer to boy than her twenty-eight. He couldn’t be more than
twenty-three, and probably not even that. And though a twenty-three-year-old hottie
could be fun, and likely he’d show up with loads of stamina, he was still a
contestant.

And she was just too old for twenty-three these days.

Or at least she felt like it.

Which was just sad.

She peeked at the man in the corner.

“He was hitting on you,” Kayla informed them, as if all
eight of the women weren’t aware what Gus had been up to.

“And I was encouraging her,” Savannah added drily.

Kayla’s mouth tightened. “Roni—”

“I know,” Roni said. She held up her hands as if in
surrender. “It would be inappropriate to sleep with the contestants. Not to
mention, who has time for twenty-four drop-dead gorgeous hunks, anyway?”

Kayla blushed at Roni’s implication. Roni may have her fun
on occasion, but she was most definitely selective.

Yet she couldn’t help picking on Kayla.

“I want to do a good job for Andie,” Kayla said in a
pleading tone. “For Seaglass.”

“I understand.” Roni nodded. This was the first non-wedding
event that Seaglass had been hired to do. It was important. They were branching
out. She’d heard this a number of times in the weeks leading up to the event.
Kayla was nervous. And Roni wasn’t a bad person; she wanted to help. Plus, it
was her friend’s business, after all.

Not to mention, she was the face of the contest.

“Spoilsport,” Savannah tacked on. Several at the table laughed
under their breaths.

“I promise to behave.” Roni said contritely. She once again
peeked at the dark-haired Adonis in the corner, his attention still buried in
the laptop in front of him.

She turned back to Kayla and gave her a wide, guileless smile.

“Twenty minutes, then I need you out front,” the other woman
said. “The ferry will be docking soon.”

Sixteen more gorgeous hunks, heading her way. Oh, what fun.

Suddenly, the six long months since she’d been naked with a
guy seemed like six years.

Kayla left the table and Roni stood before she talked
herself out of it, quickly gulping the remainder of her drink. Her attention was
focused on the man at the corner table.

“Where are you going?” Ginger whispered. Her hand reached
out as if to stop her, but she let it drop when Samantha and Savannah both
spoke at the same time. “Oh,” they practically moaned the word. “Even better.”

They’d followed Roni’s gaze. Roni nodded. Even better.

“Go get him, girl,” one of the others whispered as she
passed.

Oh yes. She intended to.

Roni was most of the way across the bricked patio before it
occurred to her that she had no idea what she would do—or say—when she got
there. With that thought finally entering her mind, she stopped, barely ten feet
from the man, and simply watched. He still hadn’t looked up from that computer.

He was in the seat that she chose anytime she came over to
the historic hotel alone for lunch, though he wasn’t making the same use of it
at all.

She liked to sit there not because she was shying away from the
crowd, but because she enjoyed watching them. Some would show up in the middle
of the day in their Sunday best, and others came in tourist-casual attire. Occasionally
women would arrive looking as if they’d stepped off a Paris runway. Those were
her favorites. She liked to dream up stories of where they would head to next.

Computer guy had no idea anyone else was in the vicinity.

He was staring so intently at the laptop, his fingers tapping
rhythmically on the keys, that he still hadn’t noticed Roni. Which meant she
could continue taking her time noticing him.

Her eyes dipped as far down the red polo as she could see,
and then she tilted her head, wanting to see below the table to determine if
the goodness continued all the way down. But before she could assess, a soft sound
to her left caught her attention. Glancing over, she found a red-haired server
with a high ponytail on the back of her head smiling at her from ear to ear.

“Oh yeah,” the younger woman murmured. “He’s as good as you
think. Only, not the talkative type. He’s been sitting there for going on two
hours, doing nothing but working on that laptop.” The waitress gave her a
sideways look as if sharing a government secret and added, “And downing a
mammoth sandwich. Our grilled chicken. Only, he added an extra piece of
chicken.”

Roni looked back at the man. He was big in the small seat. Wide
shoulders, long legs. Probably over six feet. And he certainly filled out the
space. But he didn’t strike her as the type to overeat.

Maybe it was to provide energy to all those muscles.

“Talking
is
overrated,” Roni found herself replying.

The waitress giggled so loud that everyone in the vicinity lifted
their gazes to them.

Everyone except the hunk sitting in her seat.

Roni narrowed her eyes. Desperate measures suddenly seemed
in order. She wanted that man’s attention.

She looked at the waitress, glancing at her name tag.

“Cindy,” she said. Roni nodded toward the occupied table in
front of them, sweeping her hair out of her eyes when another gust of wind
caught it. “Would you mind bringing me a glass of tea, please?”

Cindy’s eyes widened in question.

Roni gave her a devilish smile. “I’ll be joining the
gentleman.”

The waitress nodded in a quick head bob that made her
ponytail bounce and headed off, and Roni asked herself what she thought she was
doing. It was rude to intrude upon someone who was obviously looking for some
time to himself. She could understand that need. For the most part, she liked
being around people, but she also knew how to appreciate a quiet corner all to herself.

Yet she couldn’t make herself walk away.

Maybe simply because he was so oblivious to everything going
on around him.

And maybe because she suddenly found herself unable to think
of anything but getting naked with him. Nothing wrong with that. She was a
normal, healthy girl. And Mr. Oblivious looked to be a normal healthy guy.

Even if a bit too into his computer.

Without questioning herself further, she finished the final
few steps, stopping only when she reached the chair opposite him. He still
didn’t look up at her. Annoyance flitted through her and she dragged the chair
back from the table—intentionally
not
lifting the legs.

The man’s long fingers stilled on the keys at the sound of metal
legs scraping over the brick. His shoulders stiffened for a millisecond, so
fast she almost missed it. And then those muscles relaxed, and Roni had the
thought that he was forcing a calmness he didn’t quite feel. If he was anything
like her when she was into one of her daily practice sessions, he’d been deeply
entrenched in whatever he was working on.

She almost felt bad for interrupting him.

But then he slowly curled his fingers under his palms and
she found herself forgetting her rudeness and holding her breath as she waited
for him to look at her. He didn’t lift his head so much as shift his gaze. It
landed somewhere around her middle before his lids lowered and he trailed down
over the A-line blue chambray skirt of her dress.

The dress was a favorite. The skirt ended just above the
knees and had tiny blue- and sienna-colored flowers, the reddish-brown color
matching the wide braided belt at her waist, and the bodice and three-quarter-length
sleeves were white and covered in eyelet lace. She’d paired the outfit with her
favorite cowboy boots. The ones that had turquoise stones on the pull tabs on
either side of her calves.

After a slow perusal—all the way to her boots and back—the
man finally removed his hands from the keyboard and his body went from straight
back, good posture to what she would call casual-sexy-slump. Her blood pumped
harder in anticipation.

Then he lifted those eyes to hers.

A deep blue the exact color of the first car she’d owned stared
back at her. Along with a slow curve of full lips that made a spot a few inches
below her belt wake up and say hello.

Oh. My. Lord.

He might just be more man than she could handle.

She wet her lips and forced the smile she’d thought she’d
already been wearing. She’d apparently been gaping instead. But good grief, he
was hot.

It wasn’t just the muscles and the eyes and that mouth …
swoon, that mouth!
… it was the twinkle and the charm that somehow
seemed to emanate from him while he did nothing more than shoot her a lazy look
and an if-you’re-not-already-thinking-dirty-thoughts-I-can-make-you-think-them
naughty grin. And there was just something about him that shouted that he
should be wearing a cowboy hat and saying, “Howdy, ma’am.”

A man shouldn’t be able to exude charm like that without
trying.

“Well, hello,” he said. His voice was as delicious as
everything else about him.  “What can I do for you?” One eyebrow lifted the
slightest amount with his question and she would swear his deep, slow timbre
made her womb quiver.

You can invite me up to your room and have me for dessert
.

She blinked at the thought, then lowered herself quickly to
the seat. She wasn’t so hard up that she’d invite herself to the man’s room
without at first getting to know him.

But then again …

Reaching a hand across the table, she upped the wattage of
her smile, determined to take control of the conversation. “Hi,” she said,
drawing out the word and using the Alabama drawl she’d outgrown the first year
her father had taken her on tour with him. “My name is Roni.”

His gaze quickly crawled over her face.

“Lucas,” he drawled out, showing a Southern accent of his
own. His sounded more Texas, though. It only added to the cowboy-hat fantasy.

She forced herself not to audibly sigh at the warm feel of his
skin as he closed his fingers around hers, then chastised herself for her
silliness. He was merely a nice-looking man. She’d met hundreds of nice-looking
men during the years she’d traveled from one side of the world to the other as
a concert pianist. Had met a decent share of them since she’d lived here.

Nice-looking men came to the beach all the time.

So this one had tightly bound muscles just waiting to
explode everywhere, so what? And a jaw with the absolute perfect amount of
scratchy stubble. Not to mention the easy charisma that she suspected was
currently pulling at every woman within a twenty-five-foot radius. She
swallowed against her dry throat.

He was
still
just a man.

She let go of his hand and put hers in her lap. She could
handle “just a man” any day of the year.

With that thought, she relaxed back into her chair, crossing
one leg over the other, and took pleasure when his gaze flicked down to follow
her move. She didn’t have long legs, but she made good use of what she had. She
never missed her morning run on the beach. Good health and good legs, all in
one fell swoop. It worked.

Especially when she wanted to use those legs to capture a
man’s attention.

She stared at Lucas now, having no idea what she should say
now that she was here. But she trusted her instincts. So she opened her mouth.
And then almost laughed at what came out. “You’re in my chair,” she told him.

His blue eyes widened. “I … uh,” he stammered. A look of
innocent confusion swept over his face and she quickly saw that he was even
more disarming when he didn’t purposely turn on the charm. “I’m sorry?” he
asked.

With a small motion, she nodded in his direction, forcing
herself to not let her smile out. “My chair, Lucas. This is where I sit. You’re
in it.”

“Oh.” His mouth rounded with the word, and then humor passed
over his strong jawline. He ducked his head, looking around as if checking out
the sides and back of the chair. When he finished, he gave her a crooked grin
and lifted his hands, palms up. “I don’t see a label anywhere, Roni. Are you
sure
this is where you sit?”

She liked that he was mimicking her by using her name as
she’d done his. He was fun.

Cindy appeared at that moment with her tea, and Roni simply
grinned across the table at him. After Cindy set it down, Roni pointed one
finger at the glass. “That’s my tea,” she said. “Guess it is my seat.”

Lucas laughed, the sound ringing out long and warm, and Roni
caught herself leaning into the table to soak it in. She even inhaled deeply,
as if she could somehow smell that yummy sound. She didn’t have to look around to
know that every female head on the patio had turned in their direction. His
laughter was the kind of sound any woman would want to get closer to.

A strange kind of honor passed through her that she was the
one he was directing it at.

It made her enjoy the moment even more. Even if it went no further
than this conversation, she was glad she’d come over.

“You here on business?” She motioned to the laptop. “Did I
interrupt something important?”

Lucas’s face went still for a brief second as he glanced
back at the computer. Then he closed the lid and turned all his focus on her.
“Nothing I can’t take care of later.”

“Good,” Roni said. She turned up her glass of tea and took a
deep gulp, suddenly nervous with all of that maleness directed at her. He was far
more potent than any of the men who’d just left the restaurant. Too bad he
wasn’t in the contest. He would win hands down.

As Lucas watched her, seeming to wait for her to make the
next move, heat fluttered across her cheeks. She should have thought this
through before coming over. It wasn’t like she could just say, “Hey, it’s been
a while for me and I’m feeling a bit of an itch. Want to scratch it?”

Not that she would do it quite so casually, anyway. Even if
it was the only thing she was currently thinking about. She had some standards,
after all.

Get to know a guy a bit. Require a dinner or something.

Not simply
Hi, nice to meet you, let’s get to it.

“There seems to be a tableful of women watching you, Roni,”
Lucas informed her. His voice was halfway to laughing as his gaze drifted over
her head in the direction from which she’d come. “And now they’re all smiling
at me.” He shifted back to Roni. “Clearly I’m missing something.”

Her cheeks had to be deep red by now. She could even feel
her ears burning. “I suspect that’s the group of women I just had lunch with.”
She cringed as she uttered the words. “They’re waiting to see what happens over
here.”

Where had her spine gone? Why was she suddenly a fragile
flower wilting under the intensity of this man’s charm? Not good. She had to
turn this around.

“Ah,” he murmured before taking a drink of his own tea. “So
this
isn’t
your seat?”

“Yes, it is.” She nodded quickly, but then paused and gave him
an apologetic grimace. “When I come to the restaurant alone.”

“And I’m guessing from the looks of that table, you didn’t show
up alone today.” The gleam that shone from his eyes was laughter. At her
expense. Obviously, her not-so-subtle flirting would be more effective without
her many backseat drivers.

“Actually …” she started. She glanced back at the girls
and shot them a hard look, hoping it would make them quit staring. Instead,
they all waved. Even shy Cookie tossed up her hand. Perfect.

Lucas chuckled and Roni’s body parts reacted to the low, scrumptious
sound.

Maybe she shouldn’t have had such a strong drink before
coming over to talk to this walking, talking every-woman’s-fantasy.

She gave up on her friends and returned to Lucas, pulling
out her bravado once again. It was just flirting, after all. She’d done flirting
for years. “You shouldn’t laugh like that so freely, you know? It’s not nice.”

“What’s not nice about it?” He looked honestly confused.

She waved a hand at her body, moving it in a circular
pattern, palm toward her, up and down in front of her chest and abdomen. “It
does things to a woman. Messes with her.”

He grinned suddenly. Not the slow, sexy smile he’d given
when he’d first noticed her. This one was fast and real. It said, “I’m a fun guy.”

It said, “Baby, you’re in trouble now.”

“Seriously,” she groaned out. “Stop it. You’re killing me.”

He laughed loudly again, lines creasing on either side of
his mouth and out from his eyes, and she was just about to lean in to soak it
up once more when the sound abruptly cut off. His dark-blue gaze flicked to a
spot above her shoulder a second before she felt heat there. Someone had
stepped up behind her.