Candy Kisses (3 page)

“Is she? I still won’t give you a discount.”

He laughed again and she wasn’t comfortable with what it did to her. She should be infuriated that he’d somehow gotten her in his car and was laughing at her, but she couldn’t be. There was a relaxed quality about Preston Banks. It was something Tabitha had never felt around a man. When he laughed he laughed easily. When he smiled, it was genuine. And though he talked in circles to get what he wanted, he was pleasant.

As they drove west toward the mountains, which gave Colorado its identity, with the jagged peaks of Red Rocks glowing from the setting sun, he told her of his life in luxury car sales.

Tabitha searched her mind for small talk that would move away from how busy she was and how his mother kept adding to her workload. “How did you get into selling cars?”

“I’ll be honest. It wasn’t a career I thought I’d choose. But right out of college my roommate tells me his dad needs some help for the summer at his car lot. I’m thinking one of those lots where the hoods are tied down, but they don’t let you see the flaws, they just sell you the car.” She nodded. She’d known a few places like that. He focused on changing lanes near the Morrison exit and eased off the highway. “So I show up the first day and of course I was stunned when it was a legit dealership which, at the time, sold Fords.”

“So you didn’t start in luxury?”

“I know everything there is about the Ford line.” He smiled brilliantly. “They began to expand and eventually they opened a BMW location and he sent me off to head it up.”

“Head it up?” She turned to him. “You run it?”

“General Manager. It’s my show.”

She turned back. “Impressive.” He certainly knew how to manage people. The proof was her sitting in his car.

It should have been a conversation that bored her to sleep. But he had a soothing voice, and genuine enthusiasm for what he did, and she found herself interested.

Preston pulled into the lot outside a small building, back from the main street where small restaurants, bars, and gift shops lined. It was a rustic cabin and not what Tabitha had in mind when he’d said sushi.

He parked the car, climbed out, and hurried to the other side and opened her door. He reached for her hand, and helped her out. The cold that hit her was different from that in the city. The air was crisper, but still. The large hills blocked the wind from blowing through them.

When he took her hand and interlaced their fingers. She felt a surge of heat flash through her in sharp contrast to the cold that surrounded them. For a moment she couldn’t move. She could only take in the sight of him.

His eyes and hair grew darker in the shadows of sunset. Tabitha hadn’t had time to appreciate the strong lines of his face. He was taller than she’d remembered when he’d stood on the other side of her display and she wondered if he’d worn that same scent which carried on the February breeze and penetrated her senses sending tingles over her skin.

Preston reached for her other hand and linked their fingers as he looked down at her. “You are a beautiful woman, Tabitha. I’m so happy you weren’t just a name of a chocolate company.”

He lifted her hand to his lips and gently brushed his lip over her knuckles before placing a soft kiss in the palm of her hand. She swallowed back thrill it sent through her.

“Preston, please don’t get the wrong idea about tonight. It’s just dinner.”

“That’s all I asked for if I remember correctly.”

Tabitha nodded. Perhaps he did understand the situation.

Because being around Preston Banks seemed to bring calm to her that she’d never felt, she’d tasted dishes she never would have tried. When it came to sushi, she was fine with the cooked items or the vegetarian rolls. Preston, however, enjoyed the more exotic. She quickly found she didn’t enjoy octopus, but she could say she’d sampled it.

“Sushi anywhere is good. But I’ll be honest sushi in a land locked state doesn’t hold a candle to freshness of somewhere by the ocean.” He dipped a piece of tuna into his soy sauce and then ate the entire piece with his cheeks puffing out because his mouth was full.

“Where have you gone with the best sushi?”

Preston thought for a moment while he drank his hot tea. “There is a little place in Manhattan that is my favorite. I had it just last week when I was there. But there is a place in Maui.” He closed his eyes and smiled. “The tuna is unlike anything I’ve ever had.” He sighed and opened his eyes.

Maui. It was funny that the mere mention of the tropical spot had her thinking that he had probably vacationed with a woman there and the focus wasn’t on the sushi and tuna at all. The thought stuck in her chest and she fought to make it go away.

Who cared if Preston Banks had gone away on some secluded vacation with some woman? Why should she be jealous? She didn’t even know the man. The pain it caused was uncomfortable and it made her hate the whole dating process even more.

The air was frigid when they left the restaurant, but thanks to technology, Preston had started the car from inside and when Tabitha slid onto the warm leather seat she was at ease.

“Thank you for dinner. I had a wonderful time.”

“Thank you for coming with me.” He backed out of the parking lot and headed back to the highway. “I’m sorry again for picking you up so early. I know I have a tendency to talk people into things and I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d not have been there.”

“I wouldn’t have been.” She was honest. “Preston,” she turned her head to catch his eyes, darkened by the night. “I don’t believe in all of this. I think it’s fair to let you know.”

“In what?” His voice was smooth.

“I don’t believe in relationships or soul mates. I don’t believe in Valentine’s Day or love at first sight. It’s not real.”

Preston nodded as he merged with the traffic on the highway. “My mother would be very disappointed to hear her favorite chocolatier say such things. You do know she’s booked weddings on the fact that she uses you exclusively.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Yep, and she’s a fool for love.” He tilted his head toward her and she assumed he meant Claire was all ready planning a future for her and Preston.

Tabitha huffed out a laugh. “Our mother’s are quite a pair.” She didn’t let it bother her. Preston didn’t seem like the kind of man who would press the issue.

For a moment, she enjoyed the drive with the mountains to her left and the lights of the city on her right. It was obvious he was taking the long way back to her store, but she didn’t mention it. She was enjoying the drive. She was enjoying him.

“Do you believe in all of it?” she asked breaking the silence between them.

“All of what?”

“Valentine’s Day. Love at first sight. Forever?”

Preston reached for her hand and linked their fingers again. “If I find the right woman I think all of that would be important.”

She swallowed hard. “I’ve seen it fall apart too often. I mean my mother is getting married for the fifth time. Four failed marriages and multiple other relationships that didn’t last don’t lead me to believe in the longevity of love.”

Preston shifted his eyes to her and then back to the road. “You wouldn’t give it a try?”

“No.”

He shrugged. “That’s too bad.”

She sat back in her seat. “I only agreed to dinner, remember.”

“And I didn’t ask for more, did I?” His voice was calm, where hers hadn’t been.

Now she felt foolish.

The sky was dark and the stars were bright against the black sky. It was beautiful. She often forgot, living in the lights of the city, what beauty there was just beyond her front door.

Preston pulled off the highway and parked in lot at the edge of the Hog Back, a geological site she remembered visiting as a child on fieldtrips. In the day light, you could see the many colors of the rock formations from where they had cut through to build the highway, which now separated the two sides.

He turned off the engine and sat for a moment in the silence. “I know it’s frigid, but what do you say we take a little walk and look out at the city?”

She couldn’t help but feel the buzz of excitement brewing in her, which surprised her after she’d shot down all the wonderful things about relationships.

There was no way to suppress the fact that she was enjoying herself and hadn’t wanted the night to end. It came as quite a surprise to her since she hadn’t wanted to have dinner with him at all.

They made the small climb up the path to the end of the trail and looked out over the merging highways that took their bends around the rising hills. Denver splayed out in front of them in brilliant colors.

Tabitha shivered as a breeze blew through. Preston moved in next to her. He placed his hands on her arms and instinctively she settled against him.

She let herself take a moment and enjoy the warmth of him standing so close to her. His firm body pressed against her, his hands on her arms, and his warm breath on her cheek. “This is amazing. I’ve never been up here at night to see the lights. It’s the perfect spot for everything. You have the city, the rocks, the mountains, and the traffic moving people everywhere.”

“I didn’t notice.”

She turned her head only to find his dark eyes gazing down at her. He took the band, which held her hair back and pulled it free letting her hair fall over her shoulders.

“I’ve wondered what that would look like,” he said as he ran his hand over the length of her hair. “I told you your eyes looked like milk chocolate but in the shadows it’s like black satin.” Tabitha swallowed hard and tried to look away but his eyes locked onto hers. He touched her cheek and his hand was still warm. “You’re freezing out here,” he said as he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

She’d forgotten she was cold and that her face was numb. In fact, she couldn’t remember ever being in a man’s presence when she’d felt a fire burn through her as she did with Preston standing before her.

He combed his fingers through her hair once more. “I should get you home. I know you have a lot of work to do tomorrow and it would be rude of me to keep you out too late.”

He hesitated and Tabitha moved her gaze to his lips. The traffic below them seemed to silence as she could only hear her heart beating in her ears. She wanted him to kiss her. The desire to have him press his lips to her shivering ones was enough to drive her mad. Never in all her life had she wished someone would make such a move.

Every encounter with a man she’d ever had was coldly calculated. This was spontaneous.

Then it hit her like the frigid air. She stepped back from him and the bitter cold froze her to the bone. She’d been on the verge of moving in and kissing him herself. She’d wished he’d hold her, touch her, kiss her, and God knows what else. Not even thirty hours had passed since she’d met him. This is where it began. This was the moment women turned into putty and let men take advantage of them.

She shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat. “I think you’re right. I need to get back.”

“You’re sensible aren’t you?” They turned from the lights to walk back to the car.

She thought about the question and how suddenly dumb it was. Yes she was sensible. And a moment ago she’d lost all sensibility. That was what passion and lust did to a person. It was, she now understood, what her mother felt when a man would give her attention. How quickly a gaze or a touch could be misconstrued into something more. Convinced that those things could build into love it was no wonder women jumped into bed with total strangers. For heaven’s sake, her mother had taken it so far as to marry a man within weeks and they’d had her to show for it. Was this what her mother felt each time a man told her she had beautiful eyes? Did she think it was love and worth marrying for? Tabitha sure didn’t. As they climbed into the car and drove away, she tried to come up with the right way to tell him they shouldn’t see each other again.