The Bee Charmer (Sweet Treat Series Book 2) (10 page)

“Far from it, you’re the first guy to actually sweep me off my feet.”

He peered down and saw that indeed her cute little manicured toes were inches off the porch. “Men should be sweeping you off your feet regularly you know.”

“Oh, really,” Her voice was sarcastic and coy.

This only made Jeremy like her even more. “Yes really, you should have a man making sure every day is special with you in it. For months, I’ve hoped that I would be that man.”

“Really,”

“Is that all you can say?” Both of them started laughing, as he inched her chair back more. “So, what do you say?”

She stared at him, still as if sizing him up, her teeth lightly biting her full lower lip.

Jeremy watched her and couldn’t wait to nibble on that lip himself.

“I still feel funny about dating my boss.”

“You know I thought about that the other day when you said this. So, since Lily is your boss, does that mean you can’t or won’t be friends with her?”

Pamelia paused and tilted her head for a moment.

“Also, I am an employee at Hewitt Farms too, just like you. My mother hired you and basically, Lily is your boss.” His eyes stayed locked onto hers. "I did my job by processing the paperwork and that was it.” He knew his gaze reflected his desperation too. He didn’t care. He willed her to say yes.

She let out a breath. “I never thought about it that way.”

He nodded his head, trying to keep his excitement at bay.

“All right, I’d love to.”

“Great!” Jeremy was elated that she accepted and he slowly let the chair go down fully on the porch. Taking her by the hand, he helped her up. His thumb rubbed lightly along the knuckles of her hand.

She paused and gazed down at their hands. “You know what? I think you can charm more than just bees.”

He grinned at her. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“Seven it is, Mr. Bee Charmer.” Pamelia smiled.

Jeremy left the porch. It wasn’t until he got into the car, waved goodbye to her and went down the road toward the stoplight that he let out one of his ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ yells.

Chapter Ten

“S
o, he asked you out huh?”

Pamelia couldn’t help but feel a bit giddy after what happened today. It was around eight when Lily called and of course, said those six little words that she knew was eventually coming. They’d become close friends, already into the habit of calling each other, especially when Lily had some juicy bit of gossip.

But tonight’s bit of gossip was about a certain girl going out on a date with probably the most eligible man in Oak Glen.

“Yeah he did. In a way, I knew all along that he was just trying to get the nerve to do it. Has he ever acted like this with any other woman he’s tried to date?”

“He’s never really gone out on a lot of dates. He’s only had one really serious girlfriend, Jessica and they had been together for ten years. We always thought that they would get married but that Jessica, she was a piece of work.”

“What do you mean?”

“She was always jealous of Jeremy and every woman who came within a foot radius of him. She would even think that the women he would be talking over the phone with for work were women he was dating behind her back. The arguments they would have in public sometimes were wild, especially the one here on the farm during the annual Hewitt Honey Farm Family Picnic. It was our way of saying thanks to everyone in Oak Glen for their years of appreciation they’ve given us. We would have a band come out, some of the people and their families came with their picnic lunches to enjoy the day out here. Then have sparklers for the children during the night and they would run around just playing and enjoying the evening…” Lily paused for a few seconds.

Pamelia felt more than curious about this subject as she waited for her to continue.

“…Well, this girl who went to school with Jeremy had come into town to visit her parents and they all showed up for the picnic. It was the first time they’d seen each other in a very long time. The girl, whose name was Cheryl, was about six months pregnant and when Jessica saw her, she thought that Jeremy was the baby’s father. She went off on poor Jeremy in front of half the town and she almost jumped the poor girl. Thankfully, I was there to protect her because I was the one who ended up jumping Jessica that day. Afterwards, Athena made her parents leave and they’ve never called much less came back to the farm since. Everyone in town talked about that mess for months, they called Jessica psycho and Jeremy didn’t have anything to do with her for about three months after that.”

Pamelia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t imagine what all they had to go through that day. “I don’t know what I would have done if someone came up on me like that and six months pregnant? My God, I would have gone ballistic or something on her ass.”

“It’s also pretty sad, because the town enjoyed the picnic too. So, what are you going to wear on your first date? And you know you will have to one up it from that outfit you wore to the art exhibit.”

“I can pull a little something out of my closet to wear that would be nice.”

“Just imagine. You never know what could happen on your first date. Do I have to start saving money for when you pick out china patterns to set up a home for you guys?”

“Oh, will you hush. You know this will be my first date in a very long time now.”

“You’ll have a great time because Jeremy will make sure of that. He’s always been the perfect gentleman both him and Tyler were raised that way you know. Just be your carefree self that you always are and you’ll have no worries. Hell, you’ll be having too much fun to be worrying about anything else.”

~* * * *~

When Pamelia woke up the following morning, she grabbed a cup of coffee and made her way out to front porch as per her daily ritual. The sun would peek through the trees from over the Matthew’s yard. If it’d gotten too cool, she would bring out the patchwork quilt to wrap herself around the shoulders with but today, she didn’t really need it. With her legs folded to the side of her, Pamelia enjoyed the coming of the day but worried about what the evening would bring for her and Jeremy Hewitt on their date together.

Sure, he was handsome, too handsome she’d always thought with a smile that probably melted hundreds of hearts since the day he was born. That first day she spotted him coming from the hives when Mrs. Hewitt introduced her to him…she thought that he couldn’t be for real, looking the way he did. With that golden blonde hair which seemed to brighten up more when the sun would hit it, along with those striking blue eyes. When he gazed into her eyes yesterday, it sent goose bumps all over her skin and her nipples to grow so erect that they still hurt even after he left. Bee Charmer…yes, that charm was as sweet as the honey he makes. At the naughty thought, she giggled. Bet he tastes as sweet, too. Pamelia never got nervous around men, but with this one…there was no denying that she was very attracted to Jeremy.

Now, here they were about to go out on a date this evening. She heard the phone ringing inside and got up to see who it might be.

The caller ID stated that it was her sister. “Hey there, what’s going on in your neck of the woods?”

“Well…” She walked back out to the porch to sit down. “…I was sitting out on the porch, drinking my coffee and enjoying the morning. What are you up to?”

“You know Chris and I have talked back and forth about getting one of those food trucks because we’ve seen that they’ve been doing pretty good, especially during the summertime. I talked with a friend of mine who does great selling her cakes and pies from off the truck wherever she goes. So, Chris talked with some people who own a food truck that isn’t real old, practically new. He bought it like three months ago and decided that he didn’t want to venture into it. We decided to buy it off of him and so now, you can say we are expanding.”

“You know I’ve seen some of those food trucks before and they seem to do real good. Plus, it will get you guys more notice for folks to come to the restaurant. It sounds so exciting and I’m happy for you both.”

“Thanks sis, I knew you’d be happy. So what are your plans for today?”

“Well, I’m thinking about what I am going to wear tonight.”

“What’s going on tonight?”

“Oh…” She took another sip of coffee. “I have a date.”

Her sister squealed over the phone. “A date, No way! Well, who is it?”

“Jeremy Hewitt.”

“Oh, so finally he came around to asking you out. I went on the website for the farm and saw his picture…oooh, boy…he is handsome. Maybe you two might hook up for good after this date huh?”

“I swear you sound like Lily, both of you ready to make our wedding date already. But yeah, he did ask me out for dinner and dancing by the river.”

“Well, since it’s a nice sunny day and all, then wear one of your maxi dresses and bring a wrap since I know it does get kind of cool. When you look into that closet, it will catch your attention and you’ll know which dress to pick out.”

“You know what?” Pamelia got up from her chair, went back inside to her room. “I think I might just have the very dress in here. I bought it…” She went into the closet, which she was thankful it was a big walk in one and pushed aside some of the clothes until she got to the very back. This was where she kept outfits that were meant for eveningwear.

“Which one did you find?”

She’d gotten the maxi dress over a year ago, she wore it to a friend of hers wedding and had gotten so many compliments for how she looked in it. It was a beautiful long flowing floral print empire dress that was accented with lovely pink flowers and brown stems along a white background. The pink sash that went along the middle and the V neck made the dress a win for her since she could fill it out the front as the straps went around her back of her neck. “Remember the dress I wore to Val’s wedding?”

“Oh yes, that would look so good with your hair up and some hoop earrings,” Veronica suggested.

Pamelia laid it out on the bed. “Well, now I’ve got to find my shoes and I’ll be set for tonight.”

“I hope you have fun, hell I
know
you will have fun. You deserve to have a hot as hell man showing you a good time, plus you need to get you some this weekend. You’ve had a dry spell as long as the Sahara been a desert.”

Pamelia coughed to the point of choking and for a minute almost felt as if she couldn’t breathe. Eventually, she composed herself while going into the kitchen. “Oh, too funny, Just remember that I know about those leather restraints that you and Chris tried that time and you ended up getting all hot and heavy then—”

“All right…I don’t even want to hear about that anymore. I won’t say another word about your sex life.”

Pamelia chuckled while pouring another cup, “I’ll talk with you later. I have to run into town and grab a couple of things. Love you bunches and congrats on the truck venture.”

“Thanks sis and love you.”

After getting herself together, Pamelia went into town to run her errands that she normally did during the weekend which consisted of going to the store to grab a few groceries and making a stop to the Candy Kitchen to help satisfy her sweet tooth. Then she stopped off at Mitchell’s hardware store to see about getting a few potted plants for the front along with some seeds to start up that fresh herb garden she had been wanting. She ran into Athena and Weston there who looked like they were picking up a few things themselves.

“Hello, Pamelia dear.” Athena smiled when she walked her way with Weston not too far behind.

“Hi, I see you both are running errands too.”

“Weston wanted to get some nails and I wanted to get out from the restaurant for a bit, so I hitched a ride. What all do you got, looks like you are planting some herbs?”

“Yeah, I was going to plant some fresh herbs because I love cooking with them and whenever I go to the store to get some fresh ones, they are so expensive. So, I’d rather grow my own. I also wanted to get some plants for the porch since it looks so bare.”

“If you need any help with those plants, let us know and we’ll help out for sure,” Weston told her with a wink and a smile. “I’ll be back hon,”

“Okay, I’ll go with Pamelia and then we’ll meet you up front.”

He left the two alone as they headed over to where the seed packets were.

While she was trying to find some basil and Athena was helping her with finding some cilantro she uttered, “So, are you excited about your date tonight?”

With the question, Pamelia stood wide-eyed while she thought her heart had stopped beating. She shook her head and smiled. “Lord have mercy, isn’t anything sacred?”

Athena laughed. “Hon, nothing is sacred within the Hewitt family,
especially
when it’s something this epic.”

“Epic, what do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t think you realize this but you are probably the first woman that Jeremy has been interested in for a very long time now, and I do mean
really
interested in. But I have to say I am very happy that he chose you, because he’s had chances with others and I didn’t see in them what I do in you.”

Pamelia didn’t know what to say but she did smile. “I didn’t want you to think I normally go out on dates with my boss.”

“Oh, that’s understandable. But, really my dear, he isn’t your boss, technically, you know. I can say that Jeremy is a good man and I’m not just saying that because he’s my son but he would make any woman he’s with very happy. Did you need some parsley too, I found some?”

“Oh yes, and if you find some dill let me know.” Pamelia secretly chuckled at how Athena managed to neatly change the subject. They continued their scavenger hunt of herbs until Pamelia found the ones she wanted.

Once they got up to the front to check out, Weston was talking with some other older men as the cashier wrung everything up for her.

“I had some hanging plants that I had picked out as well as some potted ones too, oh they are over there.” She pointed towards four baskets of lavender petunias as well as two potted snapdragons, which was her Aunt’s favorite flower.

“Oh, those are lovely. You do have an eye for color,” Athena mentioned.

“Thanks, they are both mine and my Aunt’s favorite color as well as flower too.” Pamelia handed her debit card to the clerk. “I plan on hanging them up when I get home. I’ve wanted to put some up but been so busy. It’s just a little project I want to do for myself.”

“Oh, I completely understand, Weston dear, come and help us with these plants to Pamelia’s car.”

“Sure thing,” He grabbed two of the hanging plants in each hand while she and Athena grabbed the other potted ones as well as the rest of her things.

Once outside, Pamelia used her key bob to open the back of her SUV.

Once he put everything in and helped them with their things, he closed the trunk. “We better be heading on home, if you need any help with those flowers just give us a call and we’ll come and help out.”

“Oh, this is a project she’s going to be doing on her own, Weston dear.”

“Oh, a little DIY then huh, Well, I can understand wanting to do a little around the house to spruce things up.” He smiled while making his way over to his truck.