Close to You (8 page)

Treat followed her into the
kitchen.

Bracing her hands behind her on the
counter, she faced him. “Tell me what you want.”

His body responded instantly to that,
but he reined in his need to take her. Forcing himself to slow
down, he walked up to her, put his hands on her waist, and lifted
her onto the counter. “First, I want this.”

Before she could say anything, he
speared his fingers through her hair, tilted her head back, and
pressed his mouth to hers.

He kissed her slowly. Deeply—the way
he’d been imagining since the first day he set eyes on her. Her
lips were warm and soft, falling open to let him in. She tasted of
coffee and sweetness, and he knew it was a taste he’d never get
tired of.

She braced her hands on his shoulders,
holding firmly, not pushing him away. He didn’t think she would—he
could tell she wanted him as badly as he needed her.

He savored the kiss. He wanted to
touch her all over, but he kept his hand in her hair, his other one
at her waist.

She surprised him by wrapping her legs
around his waist and pulling him into her.

They both gasped—him because he hadn’t
expected her to take that kind of initiative. He figured she was
shocked by his hardness.

Did she like it? He wanted to ask. He
wondered how bold she was, if she liked to play, and how much. He
could tell she was sensual—you couldn’t bake the way she did
without because a bit of a hedonist. But sex was another
thing.

He wanted her hands all over him so
badly he was tempted to take them and put them on him.

She leaned back, her eyes dazed and
her lips glistening. “Okay, that was what you wanted first. And
next?”

“
A date.” Never breaking
their gaze, he said, “Go out with me, Eve.”

She nodded slowly. “I’d like
that.”

A strange sort of triumph surged
inside him, strange because he’d never felt it before. Women had
said yes to him plenty of times, but this was different.

That wasn’t something to think about
right now. “Friday night?”

“
I close at seven, so
seven-thirty?”

“
Seven-thirty. Wear your
usual shoes.”

She looked down at her feet. “My usual
shoes? Which ones?”

“
Any of them.” He kissed
her again, only because he could.

“
Treat, do you have a foot
fetish?”

“
It’s a very recent thing.”
He returned her grin and stepped back before he was tempted to push
her onto the counter and kiss her more
thoroughly—everywhere.

Swinging her legs, she tapped her
mouth with a finger as though she was in deep contemplation. “I
have lots of shoes.”

He didn’t know whether to groan or be
elated. “I didn’t figure you for a cruel woman.”

She hopped off the counter and tugged
her top back into place. “You don’t know me.”

“
Not yet, but I’m looking
forward to it,” he said with all honesty.

She blinked. “Really?”

“
Yes.” He pushed her hair
behind her ear. “I really am.”

Chapter Eleven

Friday morning, at exactly 10:57am,
Eve took her apron off and turned to Allison. “Can you handle
things for a little bit? I have an errand to run.”

Her barista nodded at the to-go cup on
the counter. “Based on the Nutella latte you just made, I imagine
you’re off to prepare for tonight’s big event.”

“
There’s no big event,” she
lied, putting a sweater on.

“
Uh-huh.” Allison shooed
her off. “Take as long as you need. I’m fine here.”

“
Thanks.” Smiling, she
picked up the cup and headed to Olivia’s lingerie shop. There was a
bustier waiting for her there.

Romantic Notions was a block and a
half away, and she timed it so she arrived right at eleven when
Olivia was opening.

Sure enough, Olivia was in
the window, changing over her sign to read
open
. Smiling, she opened the door
for Eve. “This is a surprise.”

“
I come bearing a
latte.”

Olivia reached for it with both hands.
“You are a goddess. I knew that the moment I met you, but it’s now
been confirmed.”

“
Actually, I’m a friend in
need.” At her friend’s questioning look, Eve said, “Do you still
have that bustier you were talking about?”

Olivia’s expression went sly. “What’s
his name?”

Her cheeks reddened, as if Treat were
standing right there next to her. “What if I want it to please
myself?”

“
There are two types of
women.” She held up one finger and then a second. “The ones who
wear lingerie to feel pretty, and the ones who wear shoes. You’re a
shoe girl, babe.”

They both looked down at Eve’s calf
length boots. Her skinny jeans were tucked inside to show off their
Victorian-esque detailing.

Olivia took a sip of her latte, her
brow arched.

“
Okay, I have a date.” She
held a hand up before her friend could say anything more. “It’s our
first date. It doesn’t mean I’m going to get naked for
him.”

“
But you want to be
prepared, just in case.” Olivia nodded shrewdly. “He’s important,
whoever he is.”

“
Yes.”

“
I have your size in the
back.” She headed toward her stockroom. “I’ll be right
back.”

While she waited, Eve
wandered around.
Olivia had done a great
job of creating an atmosphere of romance. Muted rose and ivory
colors dominated the space, windows swathed in creamy velvet. In
one corner, there was an overstuffed chair and plush loveseat with
a coffee table that held an assortment of magazines, from fashion
to travel as well as automotive magazines for men waiting on their
women.

She touched a frilly garter belt. She
pictured wearing it under her clothing, of Treat unwrapping her to
discover it. A thrill shot up her spine.

Olivia walked back onto the
floor, her hands full of a colorful lace and satin. “You
need
this bustier. It’s
going to look fantastic on you. The color matches your eyes. Go try
it on.”

Eve followed her to the dressing room
and closed the drape. In addition to the bustier, there was another
bra as well as matching panties for both.

She tried on the bra first, a deep
bluish violet. Olivia had excellent taste in underwear, and she
hadn’t missed the mark with this one. It was lovely.

“
Are you decent?” Olivia
asked as she peeked in. She studied the bra critically and then
nodded. “That looks fantastic on you.”

“
It does,” she agreed,
turning to look in the mirror.

“
It makes your eyes look
dark and mysterious.” Her friend nodded in satisfaction. “Try on
the bustier,” she ordered as she backed out of the room.

It was a frothy concoction of lace and
silk, a whimsical sky blue. Fastening the row of hooks up the back
was a feat, but the results were worth it. She gaped at her herself
in the mirror. “Damn.”

“
What is it?” Olivia asked,
poking her head in again.

“
I have boobs.”

“
I knew it’d look awesome
on you, and how often do you find that color blue in a
bustier?”

She had no idea. The only thing she
knew was that Treat was going to swallow his tongue when he saw her
in it.

When
—like it was a foregone conclusion. She ran her hands along
the lace insets. She supposed it was inevitable. “It might get in
trouble if I wear this on my date.”

“
That’s the point,” Olivia
said with a knowing smile. “Take your time getting dressed. I’ll be
out here.”

Eve stared at her reflection,
imagining Treat standing behind her, running his hands over the
silk covering her breasts.

What was she doing? Shaking her head,
she undid the hooks. Her father would flip out if he knew she was
trying on underwear instead of manning her shop.

Getting dressed quickly, she checked
the price tags as she walked back onto the floor. Yikes. She
winced. Maybe she’d be able to afford it if she ate tuna fish all
month.

Olivia must have noted her expression
because she took all the underwear out of her hands and said, “I
knew I should have taken the tags off before giving them to you.
They’re a gift.”

“
They?
No
. Even just the bustier is a small
fortune in lace, and I don’t need the other bra.”

“
I get them at wholesale.”
She set them on the counter and pulled out tissue paper. “You were
meant to have them. Both sets looked fantastic on you.”

“
I can’t—”

“
Yes, you can,” Olivia said
firmly. “You give me lattes and croissants all the time, simply
because it makes you happy.”

“
Yes, but a croissant
doesn’t cost a couple hundred dollars.” She watched

“
That’s not the point.
We’re friends, and you’ve been stressed, and I want to do this for
you.” Her friend narrowed her eyes. “So accept it.”

Eve sighed. “Thank you.”

“
You’re welcome,” Olivia
said primly, holding out a fancy bag with Romantic Notions scrolled
daintily on the side. “I do expect full details about your date,
though.”

The lingerie was so expensive, asking
for her firstborn child would have been reasonable. “Definitely,
but no pink champagne this time.”

Olivia laughed and hugged her. “You’re
on.”

On the way back to the café, Eve’s
cell phone rang. She plucked it out of her pocket. Seeing the New
York number she answered it immediately. “Eve speaking.”

“
Eve, this is Carmen
McKnight.”

She held her breath, trying not to get
her hopes up. “What can I do for you, Carmen?”

“
We’re going to be in San
Francisco in two weeks to look at the venues who’d like to host
Daniela. We’re going to be in your neighborhood on March 18th. I
trust that works for you.”

Not a question—she was being told it
was the 18th or never. “Of course. The eighteenth is
fantastic.”

“
We’re visiting the other
store at”—the
rat-a-tat
of fingers on a keyboard sounded over the
line—”two. We can stop by yours at one-thirty.”

Frowning, Eve pushed open the door to
Grounds for Thought. “Does that give you enough time? It takes a
surprising amount of time to drive from one place in the city to
another.”

“
It’ll be fine. It’s just
across the street.”

Eve stopped in her tracks.
“What?”

“
A place called
Crumpet.”

Whirling around, she glared out the
window at the teahouse down the street.

Not realizing anything was amiss,
Carmen blithely continued. “We’ll see you on the eighteenth.
Daniela is looking forward to it. I’ll be in touch to coordinate
before then.”

The call ended, but Eve was stuck
glaring at that woman’s store. Growling she put her phone away and
stomped to the counter.

Allison’s eyes widened. “Uh-oh. Bad
news?”

“
Daniela Rossi’s publicist
just called to arrange to see the store.”

“
That’s fantastic. But then
why do you look like you’re going to explode at any
moment?”

“
Because that woman across
the street is being considered for the event as well.” Eve tossed
the bag with the lingerie on a shelf under the register.

Allison’s lips puckered in confusion.
“She’s vying for the event too?”

“
Evidently.” She paced
behind the counter.

“
Maybe she’s a Daniela
Rossi fan too,” her barista offered. “Maybe she didn’t know you
were trying to get the event here.”

Eve gave her a flat look.

“
You can’t seriously think
she’s doing it on purpose?”

“
I wouldn’t have thought
that before, but she instructed that boy to hand out flyers for her
store to my customers. How can I not think she’s trying to drive me
out of business?”

“
No one is that
bitchy.”

“
She was. At the risk of
sounding like a conspiracy theorist, what if she’s behind the bad
Yelp reviews?”

“
Then she’d be seriously
addled.”

“
Yeah.” Eve remembered the
distant, cold way the woman had treated her and shuddered. “I need
to talk to her.”

“
Yes you do.” Allison
looked at the time. “They open at noon, don’t they? Why don’t I
stay a little later today so you can go see her?”

“
Thanks, Allison.” She
hugged her friend. “What would I do without you?”

“
Don’t imagine doomsday
scenarios.” She grinned. “Now are you going to show me what you got
from Olivia?”