Cafe in the Park (Siren Publishing Classic) (4 page)

* * * *

Emily couldn’t sleep. She listened for the thud of a big cat landing on her patio, on the roof, or her balcony. She got up and brought her laptop back to bed with her. The speed dating and the missed encounter with the man in sunglasses still irked her. She logged into her account and checked her matches for the day.
Waste of time. Admit it, the guy in sunglasses is the only one remotely interesting.

She was about to log off when she remembered the magazine mailbox. Maybe there were messages from potential dates. She opened it, not believing there’d be anything, but there was Chris’s e-mail. She read it, a smile spreading across her face. This was okay. She might as well go. He’d signed his name this time. That was encouraging. She logged out and closed her laptop lid. All thoughts of the strange big cat on her balcony fled from her mind as she allowed herself to dream about this Chris. If he were even half as attractive as the man at the speed-dating event, she’d hurry the thing along. Kiss him. Get some hugs and kisses. Take the sex she so desperately needed. What man knocked back sex? These match sites were probably loaded with men who were there for sex.

Emily constructed him in her dream. He’d be tall, muscled, and with blue eyes, dark hair, kissable lips, and wearing…a black leather jacket. She drifted to sleep curled on her side, with her fingers between her legs for comfort.

A light rain misted the leaves of the tree where Chris stood. He carried a thick bunch of white Calla lilies, tied with green ribbon that matched the color of the stalks. He’d looked for a reply to his e-mail that morning, but there wasn’t one. All he could do was hope she’d meet him this time. He ached with it. His heartbeat sped up as one o’clock approached. Then he saw her. She was hurrying down the path toward the café. He waited until she was almost in front of the door and then walked over.

Emily must have heard or sensed his approach because she stopped and turned to him.

He held out the lilies. “Hi, I’m Chris.” His voice was throaty with yearning and fear. She smelled great…
orange blossom
. Her hair a little damp from the rain, curled on her lovely cheekbones, the tendrils escaping from the braid she’d wound around in a clip. Her delicious lips were parted,
in surprise
, he guessed.

“You…you’re the guy at the speed-dating event.” She stepped back from him.

He thought she was going to reject him.

Then she smiled. “I’m Emily. Thank you.” She took the flowers.

Elation filled him and bubbled over. “I’m so pleased you decided to meet me. Sorry about before. Sorry about scaring you at your car the other night. I really was parked nearby.”

Emily stared at him as he babbled.

He stopped talking and drank in the look of her.

Her eyes filled with more than acceptance.

He could tell she liked him. He gazed at her mouth, waiting for her to speak, wanting to kiss her.

“It was just a surprise to find you behind me. I didn’t hear you walk up.”

Chris studied her expressions. He sensed her needs.
Right now, she wants to make up for lost time, but later, she’ll be mine for sure.
He breathed out with relief. His heart settled down. He itched to slide his arm around her shoulders and claim her. Instead, he nodded to let her know their brush on the street after the event was of no consequence. “I guessed that. It’s my fault. I should have been louder.” He smiled to reassure her. “Shall we get some coffee?” He gestured at the café doorway.

Emily smiled her agreement. “Yes, please.”

Chris walked by her side, matching her pace, until at the door, he opened it for her.

Emily gave him a look that he interpreted as appreciation. She went in.

“Thank you.” Her whisper rushed by his cheek and made his heart beat faster again. He looked around for a table. There was one at the back of the café near the far side window. He took her hand and led her there. The moment he felt her skin under his fingers, his cock stirred. He closed his eyes for a second and savored the softness and size of her hand in his.
Sex, his deep beast needs railed. The lonely man shook his head quickly, Love, he retaliated.

Chris let go of Emily’s hand and pulled out a chair for her.

Emily sat down with a smile.

He sat opposite her, and his long legs reached to hers under the table. Without thinking he placed his feet on either side of hers, caging them possessively. He breathed, taking in the scent of her. Not just the shampoo and soap she’d used, but the essence of her. His eyes widened. She desired him. He could smell it.

Emily looked at him and he enjoyed it.

Her blue gaze traced his face, and then she dipped her eyes to his hands clasped on the tabletop.

“Are you going to take off your sunglasses?”

Her voice broke into his daze of happiness.

Chris smiled and took them off. He placed them on the table.

“Sorry, I’m sensitive to bright light, and heat.” He saw her consider that.

“It’s gray out. Maybe you’re a vampire.” She leaned forward and grinned mischievously at him.

It alarmed Chris that she’d made the leap to something supernatural about him, even though the detail was wrong. He leaned back in his chair.

“I suppose it’s also a habit…wearing sunglasses.” He looked over at the counter questioning if he should go there and order. He glanced back at Emily. “Do we need to go and order, do you know?” He hadn’t been in the place for months. Maybe things had changed.

As he finished asking, a young woman approached holding a PDA. She took their order and left.

Emily watched her go and then faced Chris. “I’m glad you e-mailed. Tell me about yourself.”

Chris shifted in his seat. He had to be careful. “I’m a businessman, but I play in a band, too. I live in the foothills.” He needed to move along. His loneliness drove him. “You have lovely eyes. In fact, you’re very pretty.”
Is it too soon to say this?

She didn’t miss a beat. “You have the most remarkable blue eyes I’ve ever seen. I can’t even name the color. It’s like a fantasy ocean.” She glanced away as if she’d said too much, and then she sighed. “I’m really hoping to meet someone who’s genuinely looking for love. I don’t know why a man like you would have to join a matching service to get a date. What’s the real story?”

Although astounded by this, thankfully he had the chance to consider what Emily said as their order arrived and the server placed coffee in front of them both.

“I’ll take that as a compliment. I promise I’m looking for love. It’s not as easy as you might think for me.” He trailed off and picked up his coffee cup to hide behind.

Emily turned her cup in the saucer and smoothed a slender fingertip along the handle.

“You’re good looking, young, play in a band, have that aura of rock star about you. I don’t get it.”

Chris frowned. “Hey, I could say the same about you. Well, imply the same. Why are you single?” He smiled to soften the question. He saw her become downcast. It tore at his heart. “I mean, I think you’re lovely. I want to get to know you.”

Emily nodded. “I’d like that. This is hard isn’t it? It’s much harder than if we met at some club and fancied each other.”

Chris put down his coffee. “We could do that. Meet in a club and take it from there, if you want to?” He grinned at the suggestion.

“I don’t have long now, so if we are going to meet again, we need to arrange that.” She drank some coffee and looked at him over the rim of the cup.

His stomach flipped with emotion. She had to leave so soon. In his imagination, he thought they’d have the whole afternoon, that he’d be able to move forward rapidly to kiss her, hold her close. “Meet me after work. Have dinner with me. I’d love that.” Chris watched as she put her cup down, and then he reached for her hand, and held it firmly.

Emily nodded. “I’d like it, too. Where and when?”

Relief swamped Chris. “Is there somewhere you like?”

Emily hadn’t been out for so long, she had trouble thinking of a place to get dinner, let alone where she liked. She gazed into his eyes. “You choose.”

“Okay, but can I pick you up, say about seven-thirty?”

He saw Emily hesitate.

She freed her hand.

“I promise you’ll be safe with me, Emily. Let me have your cell phone. I’ll key in my number and my address, even my car registration plate, that way you can tell a friend, just as they say on the date matching website.”

Emily laughed, but she took her cell phone from her jacket pocket and slid it across the table to him.

Chris keyed in all the details he told Emily he would onto a contact tab and then looked up to see her watching him. Her wistful expression held something he recognized, sexual hunger, raw need. His cock jerked and his stomach clenched. He gave her the cell phone and held her gaze. The moment stood still for him. Desperation to kiss her beat at him. He broke eye contact. A sigh escaped him as he looked down into his coffee cup.

Emily put away the phone and drank some of her coffee.

Chris swallowed down the need to take her in his arms. It prickled along his spine, sending bursts of sensation into his balls. He took a deep breath to control himself.

She stood. “Thank you for meeting me.” She picked up the ticket that the server left for payment. “I’ll get this. You stay. You’ve hardly touched your coffee.”

Chris stood. “I’ll walk with you. Let me?”

Her smile took away his wash of sadness at her leaving. He smiled back at her and made a grab for the ticket. “I’ll get this.”

The thing tore in half and Emily laughed. She opened her hand to have him take the other half. “If you want it that much.”

The satin texture of her palm against his fingertips sent a shiver through his whole body. A low purr started in the back of his throat. He cleared his throat to stop it, took the ticket, and paid the bill.

Emily stood with him at the cashier’s desk.

He could feel her there as if she leaned against him. That side of his body pulsed. He slipped his sunglasses on. When they were outside again, he took her hand.

She looked down at their clasped hands, but didn’t let go.

He saw a smile in her eyes before she looked ahead again.

Outside her office building, he freed her. He stood his ground there as close to her as he dared. “You need to tell me where you live.” He knew, but this subterfuge was necessary. He stared at her mouth.

Emily smiled and spoke.

Lost in yearning to feel her lips against his, Chris just about registered the words. He leaned closer. He flicked his gaze to her eyes, and saw it.
If I kiss her, she’ll return my kiss.
He moved in, touched his lips to hers. The connection nearly made him fall down. He lingered, kissing her again each time she’d gently ended the kiss. Then he knew he must stop.

He raised his head. Eyes heavy with lust and cock straining against his jeans, he whispered, “Seven-thirty.”

Emily nodded. Then she’d gone through the wide, smoked-glass turnstile doors, and he closed his eyes for a few seconds. He straightened his sunglasses. How they’d stayed on his face was anyone’s guess.

Emily started laughing softly the moment she was through the office building doors. Her heart raced. Her panties were drenched. The kisses set her tingling. She relived the way Chris kept up the kisses, and her pussy throbbed. She took the stairs instead of the elevator, and with each step, her happiness grew. Chris could be the man she longed for. He looked the part. His hand around hers filled her with longing. His kisses were to die for.

She put the bunch of flowers he’d given her on her desk. Lost in imaginings, Emily went to the staff room and took a water jug, filled it, and back at her desk placed the lilies lovingly in there. She planned what to wear that night instead of answering e-mails, and then her professionalism kicked in, and she got down to work. She sat on the edge of her desk chair, her pussy still wet and her breasts heavy from the raw sexual response Chris sparked in her.

At three-thirty, she took a coffee break. Emily went into the female restrooms and closed a stall door behind her with the little twist lock. She took off her panties. Her pussy still throbbed when she pictured Chris. The panties were damp and she stuffed them into her jacket pocket. The temptation to stroke her clit and relieve the desperate need for sex was strong. She fought it down. It might take too long. Work wasn’t the place, although if Chris stood before her now, she’d open her legs, and pull his fingers between them. She’d whisper, “fuck me,” into his mouth as they kissed. The thought set her thighs clenching.
Stop it. Go back to work
.

Emily pulled her skirt down hard as she sat. The last thing she needed was to mark the chair with her cream. It wasn’t too bad if she didn’t think about Chris. She couldn’t keep the damp panties on. They stuck to her pussy, rubbed a little on her swollen clit. It made the need for sex worse. She concentrated on her work, but at five, she claimed the approach of a migraine and went home.