“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Williams,” she said with the cutest damn smile I’d ever seen.
“Lark, please call me Lark.”
She nodded and looked around. “Azurdee Emerson. Are Jessie and Scott here?”
She seemed nervous as hell, and I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
“I promise I won’t bite, sweetheart,” I said with a wink.
“Azurdee.”
I tilted my head at her. Feisty. “You don’t like the word sweetheart?” I asked.
Now, it was her turn to lick her lips before biting down on her bottom lip. She tilted her head back as she said, “Oh, I love the word sweetheart. I just don’t like it coming from a guy who probably bags at least two girls a week.”
My mouth dropped open as she pushed past me. She opened her trunk and started to pull out her suitcase. Then, she stopped and looked at me.
Pure, my fucking ass.
I walked over and took the suitcase from her. I made my way into the house and up the stairs as she pulled out her cell phone and called Jessie. From the sound of it, Jessie was freaking out that Azurdee was here alone with me.
“Honestly, Jess, I’m fine. It was my fault for coming in a day early. I finished up work, and I was so excited to see you that I didn’t even think of calling.”
I made a beeline straight to the bedroom next to mine. Before I walked into the room, she cleared her throat. I stopped and turned around to see her standing outside the bedroom at the end of the hall. She smiled and pointed into the room.
Fuckin’ A.
“Yep, and Lark is being such a gentleman by carrying my suitcase.”
She let out a laugh, and when I walked by, my arm brushed up against hers.
Shit! What in the hell is with the weird feelings every time I touch this girl?
I put her suitcase down on the bed, turned, and ran my hand through my hair. I didn’t like the way I felt when I was around her, and I’d only been around her for about ten minutes. When I looked up, I saw she was staring at me.
“Oh, um…what did you say, Jessie?” She quickly looked away. “Okay, I probably will because I am starving. Okay, see y’all soon.” She hit End and looked at me again. She gave me the sweetest smile. “They’re, um…they’re going to be heading back soon. Have you eaten dinner?”
My heart dropped to my stomach, and I was starting to get pissed-off at how my body was betraying me. I just needed to either fuck this girl or completely ignore her.
“Nope,” I said, cursing myself the moment the word came out of my mouth.
She nodded as she set down the two bags she’d carried up with her. Then, she turned and walked out of the bedroom. I followed her out and down the stairs to the kitchen. I sat down as I watched her open the refrigerator. She took a quick look, and then she went to the pantry and looked around. She pulled out powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and the bread. She walked back over to the refrigerator and pulled out some eggs.
“Do you like French toast? I’ve been craving it so bad the last few days.” She pulled out a bowl and began cracking eggs into it.
I had to swallow the lump in my throat before I could talk. “I love French toast.” Nikki used to make me French toast all the time. I miss her so much.
“Hey, are you okay?” Azurdee asked as she placed her hand on top of mine.
I instantly pulled it away. “Yeah. Why the fuck wouldn’t I be?” I snapped.
The hurt in her eyes made me instantly regret snapping at her. She took a deep breath and went back to mixing everything in the bowl. She got out a frying pan and put some butter in it.
“Jesus, you sure do know where everything is. Do you come here often?” I asked, trying to make up for being short with her.
She gave me a weak smile and began dipping the bread into the egg mixture.
“I’ve only been here a couple of times. I made Scott and Jessie dinner a few times. I love to cook, and I’ve been told I make a pretty damn good fettuccine alfredo,” she said as she wiggled her eyebrows. “All from scratch, I might add.”
I let out a small laugh as I shook my head. “I think maybe I need to be the judge of that.”
She flipped the toast in the pan. “You got it. I’ll make it while we’re here. When are you leaving? I’m staying until the third and then heading back to Austin.”
The feeling of disappointment washed over me. I wanted both of us to stay longer. I wanted to leave my world behind just for a few days more, so I could get to know this girl better.
“I’ll probably leave on the third.” I got up and took out two glasses from the cabinet. I grabbed the orange juice and poured us each a glass. I glanced over and noticed her watching me.
Yeah, I just need to stay away from her as much as possible.
I sat down and watched her whip out the French toast in record time.
“Will you get out some plates, please?” she asked without even looking at me as she reached and stretched to put the syrup in the microwave.
I stood up, took out two plates, and set them on the island. She put French toast on each plate, and then she took a spoonful of powdered sugar and sprinkled it on top. She turned and stood on her tippy toes to get the syrup out of the microwave.
I smiled as I looked down at her tight-ass jeans. Motherfucker, she has a nice body. No way is this girl still a virgin.
I made my way over toward her. I leaned against her as I reached up and grabbed the syrup. When I pushed myself into her, she turned around quickly.
“I never understood why they placed that microwave so damn high,” she said as a flush spread across her cheeks.
I couldn’t help myself. I reached up and pushed a piece of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. She quickly touched the side of her face.
“You’re just short,” I said with a wink.
I backed away when I noticed her chest was heaving up and down quickly.
Yep, she felt it, too.
She let out an awkward laugh. “I guess so. Anyway, um…dig in!”
We sat down on the bar stools and ate at the kitchen island.
“Damn girl, this is the best French toast I’ve ever had.” I shoved another bite into my mouth.
She giggled. “Thank you. I’ve always loved to cook. I get to do a lot of baking with my business,” she said before taking a bite.
“What do you do for a living?”
She smiled, and my breath was taken away when her beautiful eyes lit up.
“I own a coffee shop called Rise and Grind. It’s right outside of Austin in Wimberley.”
I laughed. “I like it. Cute name.”
She smiled. “Thank you. It’s been a dream come true…well, at least for me, it has. My father, on the other hand, is still upset with me for not coming and working for him. He keeps telling me that my degree was a waste of his money—even though the coffee shop has done so well this last year. This is the first time I’ve left it. My mother has a business degree, so she has been helping me out with it.”
For a moment, she almost looked sad.
What is it about this girl that is getting to me?
“What is your degree in?” I asked.
“Ocean engineering,” she said with a weak smile. “My father is a petroleum engineer, and he owns his own company.”
I let out a small laugh. “Well, hell, why open a coffee shop when you could be building dikes and flood control systems? If you worked for your dad though, I guess you would be exploring offshore gas and oil fields,” I said.
Her mouth dropped open.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with a smirk.
“No one ever knows what an ocean engineer does. I always have to tell them,” she said with a small smile.
I smiled and gave her a wink. “Well, you’ve finally met someone who knows.”
I heard Jessie and Scott come in, and I turned to see Jessie barreling through the door. She stopped the moment she saw us. She smiled when she saw Azurdee, and Jessie immediately walked over to her. She took Azurdee in her arms and hugged her.