Four Weeks to Forever
Auteur
Karen Booth
Lezers
15,7K
Hoofdstukken
12
HarlequinOne
Corryna Lawson was placing a perfect peony in a bouquet when everything around her went black. The music she was listening to abruptly cut out. The light from the decades-old overhead fixtures in her floral shop disappeared. “What the hell?” she asked no one, speaking into the dark cavern that was now the back room of Royal Blooms. Hannah Waters, her main counter clerk, had gone home hours ago. Corryna liked to stay and work late, listening to music and getting lost in her designs. Her love for flowers and the artistry of arranging them were not only the reasons she’d started this business, they were also the parts of her job she never questioned. Plus, it wasn’t like she had anyone to go home to. Not anymore. Not since her divorce.
She grabbed her phone from the worktable and switched on the flashlight function, then wound her way past the buckets of blooms and into the front of her shop. The large picture windows facing downtown Royal were black as night. By the looks of it, the businesses across the street had also lost power. She unlocked the front door and stepped outside, momentarily blinded by the headlights of passing cars. Down the block, patrons were filtering out of The Royal Diner and onto the sidewalk, seemingly just as surprised as she was. In every direction, all she saw was darkness.
This was not good. Corryna had thousands of dollars of floral inventory sitting in the refrigerators in the back of her shop. She not only needed the blooms to fill upcoming orders, she needed them to work out the floral designs for the June nuptials of acclaimed bestselling author Xavier Noble and Hollywood actress/producer Ariana Ramos. Corryna had lived in Royal for nearly eight years, and the Nobles were long-standing pillars of the community. The wedding was more than three months away, but it was going to be the social event of the year, and Corryna was damn lucky to have such a prestigious job.
Morgan Grandin from The Rancher’s Daughter, the upscale women’s clothing boutique next door, stepped outside. “Oh, hey, Corryna.” Morgan used a small flashlight in order to see while inserting a key into the dead bolt on her shop’s front door. “This is a real pain in the butt, isn’t it? I hate having to close early, but it was pretty slow.”
Corryna flipped off the flashlight on her phone to save the battery. Luckily, there was enough ambient light from the moon to help her see some things, like Morgan’s fair-complected face and striking red hair. “Any idea how long the power is going to be out?” Corryna asked.
Morgan shrugged and hooked her handbag in the crook of her elbow. “I just talked to my sister Chelsea. Her husband, Nolan, said the whole town is out. Who knows when it will be back on. I hope it’s not days.”
“Days? But...but... I don’t have days.” Corryna couldn’t disguise the panic in her voice. She didn’t have thousands of dollars to lose. Her shop was just barely breaking even, after she paid herself her pittance of a salary. She could not let her flowers go to waste. It would be a setback that would take months to recover from. “I have to save my flowers. They’re all in my fridge which already doesn’t work that well. It’ll be a matter of hours before they start deteriorating. I have weddings this weekend. What do I do?”
Morgan stepped closer and eyed the front of Royal Blooms. “Well, shoot. I never thought about that.”
“Seriously. I need you to help me think. Any ideas?”
“Uh... So you need another fridge, right?”
“Yes. A massive one.” She so appreciated that Morgan was calm because Corryna’s anxiety was making her shoulders bind up and her stomach sour.
“Except the power is out everywhere. So you also need a place that has a generator.”
Dammit. Corryna blew out an exasperated breath. “Yes. Of course.”
“They have both of those at the TCC.” Morgan was referring to the Texas Cattleman’s Club, which was the hub of social life in Royal. “But I know for a fact that their generator isn’t working. I guess they got a new one and it’s faulty.”
This mission was sounding more doomed at every turn. “Do you have any other ideas? I’m desperate.”
“Who else has a fridge that big and a generator? It would have to be a restaurant.”
As soon as Morgan said that, Corryna had her answer. The problem was she didn’t like it. In fact, she hated it. What was that old saying about desperate times calling for desperate measures? She had a feeling she was about to put that to the test. “What about Sheen?”
Morgan reached out and grasped Corryna’s arm. “Oh, my God. Yes. They have both.”
Morgan had so much sheer enthusiasm in her voice that it broke Corryna’s heart to think about what she was about to say. “The only problem is Colin Reynolds.” She could hardly spit out his name, she disliked him so much. The owner and head chef of Sheen was an arrogant, bristly, penny-pinching jerk. “He doesn’t like me. And the feeling is mutual.”
“No. How is that possible? Everyone loves you.”
“Not Colin.” Corryna knocked her head to the side. “We had two unpleasant run-ins. This was a while ago, but they were both bad.”
“Oh, really?” Morgan did like a bit of gossip, and there was always plenty to go around in Royal.
“Yes. The first was when he hit on me in The Silver Saddle at The Bellamy.” She’d been sitting at the bar of the tapas restaurant at the luxury resort, trying to gain some intel on who Ariana and Xavier were hiring to do their wedding flowers. “I told him that I was a lost cause and he should go chat up someone else. I thought I was being self-deprecating, but by the look on his face, he took it as a massive insult.”
“So you’re not dating at all?”
“Not really. I mean, I’d like to, but it has to be the right situation. I definitely don’t need a guy like Colin. Whenever he’s romantically linked to someone, it doesn’t last long.”
“I hear he’s quite the playboy.”
Corryna had heard the same. Colin’s reputation in Royal was notorious. Women fawned over him. They swooned. It was part of the reason it was impossible to get a reservation at Sheen. Frankly, it was embarrassing. Sure, he was far better than “good looking”—six foot five with messy, shaggy light brown hair, a square jaw and penetrating green eyes. But who wanted the arrogance that went along with the handsome exterior? “Two days later, he canceled Sheen’s contract with my shop. I took a massive hit to my bottom line. Plus, he was such an ass about it.” My customers care about my food, not your flowers. Even now, she could hear echoes of his annoyingly sexy Irish brogue. Corryna had a real weakness for a man with an accent. “He was just being vindictive. I think he figured out who I was and decided to get back at me. I don’t think his ego could handle it.”
“I wish I could come up with another option, but I can’t. No one else has a big enough fridge for all your flowers.”
Corryna grumbled under her breath. “Yeah. Okay. I guess I gotta do it, huh?”
“Are you going to call him first?”
Corryna shook her head emphatically. She was certain Colin would tell her no straight away. “I need the element of surprise. Plus, I figure if I show up with a truck full of flowers, it’ll be that much harder for him to say no.”
“What if he isn’t there?”
“Oh, he’ll be there. He’s a total workaholic.” Sort of like me.
“It seems like you know a lot about this guy you supposedly hate.”
Corryna had done some research online the night he’d canceled his account with her. She wanted to know his weak spots. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find a single one. He’d had a meteoric rise in the restaurant industry. Everyone thought he was brilliant. He made piles of money, to put on top of the fortune he’d been born into. End of story. “People talk. I listen.”
“Well, if you want, I can help you load up your flowers,” Morgan said.
“Really? You’d do that for me?”
“Yeah. Of course. Let’s do it.”
Corryna led Morgan into her shop and grabbed the keys for the delivery truck, then they started ferrying buckets of flowers out into the back alley where the vehicle was parked. Twenty minutes later, the truck was full and Corryna needed to get on her way.
“Thank you so much, Morgan.”
“Yeah. Of course. Good luck with Colin.”
“Thanks. I don’t just have a feeling I’m going to need it. I know I will.” Corryna hopped in and started up the engine, then embarked on her trek to Sheen. With every traffic light in town out of commission, she had to drive with caution. Creeping down these familiar streets and roads at a snail’s pace while everything was dark left her feeling like she’d landed on another planet. Once she got closer to Sheen, even that looked peculiar. The restaurant was built entirely of glass, so it was usually brightly lit and looking like a jewel box. Not tonight. A small soft glow from the center of the building was the only indication that Colin Reynolds’s generator was indeed working.
She pulled into the parking lot and parked right next to Colin’s ridiculously expensive show-off of a car—a black Jaguar SUV. One of the things she’d learned about Colin during her online sleuthing was that he came from incredible wealth and power. In his life, making a fortune from being a restaurateur was a family affair. As if he wasn’t already intimidating enough.
This would have been an excellent time to chicken out, but she wasn’t about to lose her business because of a blackout. She’d just have to face the handsome jerk, do her best to hold her own, then make a swift exit. Colin Reynolds was not the sort of man she needed to spend any time at all with.
With his feet on his desk, Colin Reynolds was savoring another sip of his Redbreast 27-year-old Irish whiskey when headlights beamed into his office from the parking lot of his restaurant, Sheen. He immediately dropped his feet to the floor. He wasn’t expecting anyone in the middle of a blackout. Peering through the window, he saw a white delivery truck and immediately recognized the colorful Royal Blooms logo emblazoned on the side. The headlights switched off, and for a split second as the light faded, he saw Corryna Lawson climbing out of the vehicle. Was he seeing things? He was on his second glass of whiskey, and at forty-two, his eyesight wasn’t what it once was. She was wearing a white top, which made it easier to study her as she ambled toward the entrance to the restaurant. How life was full of surprises.
He immediately headed to the front door and unlocked it. “If you’re here for dinner, we’re closed.” Even through the darkness, Corryna’s flawless complexion seemed to glow. Her sexy, radiant beauty had been the reason he’d asked her out at The Silver Saddle the first time he’d seen her. To his shock and dismay, she shot him down. He’d been turned down once or twice in his life, but Corryna’s rejection had really stung. She’d given him some line about how she was a lost cause. Any man could take one look at her and know that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Not here to eat. I need your help.” Her voice was icy and defensive, as if she was expecting him to say no.
He prided himself on being at least a little unpredictable. Plus, he needed to extend an olive branch. The last time he’d seen Corryna, he’d said a few unkind things about her business. He wasn’t proud of it, but his ego was bruised and he’d lashed out. “Sure. Of course. What can I do?”
Corryna stepped closer and narrowed her eyes. She was wearing a pair of jeans that smartly followed every sumptuous curve of her body, and the white blouse he’d noticed moments ago skimmed the contours of her breasts perfectly. Her wavy brown hair went from dark to light in a sexy tumble. He’d seen countless gorgeous women in his life, and he’d taken more than a few of them to bed. But Corryna was an exceptional beauty, in part because she seemed oblivious to it. “What’s the catch?” she asked.
“None. You said you need help. With what?”
“As you know, the power is out. Unlike you, I don’t have a generator. And I had thousands of dollars of floral inventory in my cooler that I was about to lose.”
“And you’d like to use my walk-in.”
“If you don’t mind. Yes.”
“Sure. Absolutely.”
“Really?” She still didn’t seem convinced.
“Yes. Come on now. Get on with it.” He marched past her to the rear of her truck and opened the doors. The interior light flickered on, revealing the volume of flowers she’d brought along. It was going to be tight in his fridge, but this was no time to go back on his promise.
Corryna joined him, standing at his side. “I’m begging you to be careful. I have two weddings this weekend. Many of these flowers are for that.”
“What makes you think I’m not going to be careful?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I seem to remember you telling me something about not caring about flowers.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” He grabbed several buckets and led the way into the restaurant. He trailed through the dining room then into the kitchen and back to the massive walk-in refrigerator. He set down the buckets and opened the door. A rush of frigid air hit his face. “Quickly. Can’t keep the door open long. The generator can only do so much.”
“Got it.” She hustled into the cold room ahead of him.
“At the back, please. Just be careful of the beef. It’s dry aging. A lot of money on those shelves.” He followed her, stealing a glimpse of her ass as she bent over to set down several buckets. It was a real shame she’d turned him down. He knew for a fact they could have a whole lot of fun together.
“Of course I’ll be careful,” she snapped as she turned back to him.
“No need to be angry. It’s only a suggestion.”
She sighed and looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry. I’m a little stressed, okay?”
He felt bad. Of course she was under strain. Until a few minutes ago, she’d thought she was going to lose the most precious thing her business could have—her inventory. “You don’t need to apologize. I’m sorry if I’m being an ass. Let’s get on with it and save your flowers.”
They rushed back outside, and made six or seven trips back and forth in order to load up the refrigerator. “Thank you, Colin,” Corryna said when they were finished.
“Can I interest you in a whiskey?”
“I should go home.”
“You just did all that work, and I know it’s been a hard night. It’s just a drink. We’ll sit and talk and you can tell me why you don’t like me.”
Corryna let out a dismissive tut. “You’re the one who doesn’t like me.”
“Did I or did I not make a pass at you at The Silver Saddle? I didn’t do that merely for fun. I did it because I thought you were gorgeous. I did it because I do like you.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“Which is why I don’t do it. I am an open book. And I don’t invite people I dislike for a drink.”
“I don’t know...” She cocked an eyebrow, but seemed like she was open to a bit more persuasion.
“It’s delicious. The best you’ll ever have.”
“Okay. Fine. I’m game. What else do I have to do? Go home and sit in the dark?”
Colin did his best to hide his satisfied grin. “That’s what I want to hear. Right this way.” He led her back to his office, where the whiskey bottle was still sitting on his desk. This was one of his favorite spaces in the restaurant—a true retreat, with modern earth-toned furnishings. Needing order in his life whenever possible, he kept everything as tidy as could be.
“This is so nice.” She ran her hand along the smooth tawny leather of one of two generous armchairs opposite his desk. “My office is about one quarter this size.”
“Thank you. I like it, too. Which is a good thing because I spend so much time in here.” He grabbed a match for his glass from the corner bar and poured them each a drink. He handed her one, then raised his glass in a toast. “To helping others.”
She clinked her glass with his, then took a sip. “Mmm.” She rolled the glossy amber liquid in the glass, admiring it. “This is delicious.”
“Just like everything that comes from Ireland.” He bobbed his eyebrows up and down at her in an attempt to flirt. He’d suffered her rejection once, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to try again.
“You’re terrible.”
“I’m also delicious.”
Corryna laughed and shook her head, then sat on the edge of his desk. “Can you answer me honestly this time? Did you cancel my contract with Sheen because I turned you down at The Silver Saddle?”
“As I tried to explain before, I did not realize you were the same woman until you came into Sheen to yell at me. By then, it was too late. I’d already made my decision.”
She took another sip. “Why am I still not sure I believe you?”
“You said it yourself. I’m a terrible liar. I’m no good at it.”
“Okay. I guess that’s good to know.” She still didn’t seem convinced.
“I’ve nothing to hide. Ask me anything.”
“Why me that night at the bar? There were dozens of hot women there.”
She wasn’t wrong. “I just told you. You’re gorgeous. Plus, something told me you were a challenge. I love that. It gets my blood pumping.”
“Then why did you give up so easily?”
“Because you were trying to deflect. And there’s usually a reason for that.”
“But you still seemed disappointed.”
This wasn’t an easy topic for Colin to discuss. He didn’t enjoy ruminating over his failures. That was territory his father liked to tread, pointing out every instance in which Colin had come up short. “Of course I was. It was brutal. The most stunning woman had turned me down. I thought I had a chance. I guess I was wrong.”
She pressed her lips together tightly. “You weren’t entirely wrong. If I had been in a better headspace, I probably would have said yes.”
“That would’ve made me incredibly happy.” He reached out and brushed the back of her hand with the tip of his finger. “And I know I could’ve done the same for you.”
She watched his finger on her hand, then peered up at him with her remarkable pale green eyes. They swept back and forth in the softly lit room. She was still sitting on the edge of the desk and he was standing right before her. They were mere inches from each other, breathing in sync, electricity traveling across the tiny sliver of space between them. “You’re a player, right? Never get serious with a woman?”
He shrugged, then dared to reach out and take a lock of her silky hair and twist it around his fingers. “I’m whatever you need me to be.”
“Anything?” She bit down on her lower lip, and he sensed that he was getting somewhere.
He rubbed the side of her jaw with the back of his hand. “How long has it been since a man has made you feel good, Corryna?”
“It’s been a while.”
“I mean really, really good.”
“So long. So very, very long.”
He stepped closer, but with her sitting on the desk, he had to straddle her knee in order to get his legs against the edge. He pushed her hair back from her shoulder and leaned down to nuzzle the side of her neck with his nose. “Does this feel good?”
“Yes.” Her voice was soft and yielding, yet full of desperation.
It made everything below his waist go tight. He could set her on fire. He knew he could. With an open mouth, he kissed her neck. She grasped his shoulder and moaned in delight, then raised her knee until it was right against his crotch. That bit of pressure nearly made him lose all ability to see. “Corryna, I want you just as much as I did that night at The Silver Saddle. Maybe more.”
“Prove it to me.”
He was lightning fast unbuttoning her blouse while he worked his lips up and down her neck. He tugged her sleeves down her arms, then reached back for the clasp of her bra. She wrapped both of her legs around one of his, pressing the top of her thigh against his length, which was heavy and hard.
He pulled her bra off and gathered her breasts in his hands, rubbing his thumbs across her nipples as he kissed her. She angled her head to the side and took the kiss deeper. She delivered so much raw, unbridled enthusiasm that he wondered where it came from. Was she like this all the time or had he brought it out of her?
Not that he cared to know the answer. Not now.
He wasted no time unbuttoning her jeans, and she slid off the desk to give him better access. Tugging them down her legs, and taking her panties with them, he dropped to his knees. He was still fully dressed, every inch of him longing to bury himself in her. But he’d made a promise about making her feel good, and he intended to deliver on that.
“Sit,” he ordered. “In the chair.”
She did exactly as he’d asked, leaning back and letting him drink in the vision of her naked body while he took off his shirt, then his jeans and his boxers. He was so primed for her, but he wanted to leave her with something memorable. He dropped to his knees again, took one of her legs and hitched it up over his shoulder, then grasped her hips and pulled them forward until her butt was at the very edge of the seat. He spread her folds apart with his fingers, then lowered his head and swirled his tongue around her apex. She instantly curled her fingers into his hair and gasped. He knew that he was on the right track. He continued with his ministrations and it only took moments before she was digging her heel into his back and crying out.
“Colin... Colin... I want more,” Corryna muttered.
“Good. I do too.”
He hardly got the words out before she did something he never expected. She lowered her leg, sat up and pushed back on his shoulders until he had no choice but to lie back on the floor. Next thing he knew, she was on her knees. Then straddling his hips. Then she took his length in her hands, which made it impossible to think. She guided him inside her. He didn’t have time to ask about a condom. She must be on the pill, he thought.
She dropped her chest against his, grinding into him hard. He met every movement of hers with a thrust as he kissed her, and dug his fingers into the fleshiest parts of her bottom. It was hot and fast and reckless. He’d had plenty of wild sexual experiences, but this was one for the books. The pressure was coiling in his belly so tightly that he couldn’t hold on much longer. He felt himself on the edge. About to go over the cliff. Then Corryna gave way again. She called out into his neck and he thrust once or twice more, the release slamming into him.
She collapsed against his chest, breathless. His hands squeezed her full hips. She was as luscious as a ripe summer peach. He wanted her again. And again. This blackout might turn out to be the best thing ever.
“That was fantastic,” he said.
She pushed up on her arms and looked down at him. “Um. Yeah.” She rolled off of him, grabbed her underwear from the floor and stood up. “It was nice.”
“Nice? I don’t do nice.” He rolled to his side, enjoying his chance to watch her step into her panties, even though it was unsettling to hear the way she stomped her feet when they hit the floor.
“It was ten minutes of fun in your office. Don’t make it more than it was.” She wrestled her bra on.
“Ten minutes? It was more like fifteen. You had two orgasms, Corryna. I’d say that seemed like more than fun.”
“I wasn’t keeping score.” She put on her top, fumbling with the buttons. She seemed rattled, which was incredibly confusing.
Meanwhile, he felt great. Relaxed. Ready for more. And she was ruining it. “I wasn’t saying you had to count. I was only feeling like I deserve some credit.”
“Please stop talking.”
He decided to stand up and put on his boxers. He couldn’t recline naked on the floor forever. “I don’t understand why you’re in such a rush. Unless you want to go to my place. Or yours.”
She stepped into her jeans. “No. Sorry. That’s not happening.”
“Why?”
“Because men are bad for me, and you are a man.”
He stood there frozen, blinking as he took in her words. This was not the normal postsex response he got from a woman. Usually they were begging for more of him. It was often his job to say things like “that was nice, but it’s time for me to leave.” “Okay...”
She strode to the door, then turned back to look at him. “I’ll come back for my flowers when the power comes back on. If you aren’t here, can someone else help me with them?”
“I’m always here.”
“Colin, that was my way of telling you that it’d be better for me if you weren’t.”
“Tell me how you really feel.” He watched as she again turned back to the door. “Corryna.”
“What?”
“You can avoid me for a few days, but you can’t ignore me forever.”
“Sure I can. You canceled your contract with me, remember?”
“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the Noble-Ramos wedding. We’re both working on it.”
“What? No. You’re just trying to rattle my cage.”
He shrugged and plucked his jeans from the floor. He didn’t have the strength to argue with her anymore. “I guess we’ll just have to see then, won’t we?”
