The Secret Ingredient Read online

  She smiled. With a touch to his beard-stubbled cheek, she noticed a weariness lurking in his deep green eyes. Becca recognized it. She’d seen it in herself. That need to come home and let Mountain Meadow work its magic.

  “You’re staying,” she whispered softly.

  It wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway. “I’m planning on opening a sports bar.”

  Becca’s eyes widened. “Brave soul.”

  “I just got into town a little while ago. Luke and Rachel are putting me up until I find a place of my own.”

  Becca leaned her head against his shoulder. “It’s so good to see you,” she told him again, embarrassed when her voice broke ever so slightly.

  “Becca?” Caleb questioned at the same time she heard Jake’s chair scrape back. God, they were going to go all older brother protective on her. In the background, she heard Rachel tell Jared to help her with something in the dining room.

  “What’s the matter, baby?” Jake asked from behind her. “Luke told me about Eli.”

  Becca pulled back from Caleb to see that he was now scowling ferociously. “Eli? What about him? He knows better than to try anything with my sister.”

  “I don’t think there’s any try to it,” Jake said with a frown, “judging from the pretty thin story now making the rounds on Facebook about Becca giving him the Heimlich maneuver Saturday night in the back of her store after hours.”

  Becca’s momentary fragility bubbled over into irritation. “Stop it! Both of you. What is or isn’t between Eli Mercer and me is my business.”

  Jake snorted. “Not when you live in Mountain Meadow, it isn’t.”

  “I’ll pound him,” Caleb growled just as the door opened and Luke walked through.

  Oh great. They were packing up now like a bunch of wolves ready to go after an interloper. Luke took one look at the expressions on his siblings’ faces before his narrowed gaze settled on her.

  “What did he do, Becca?”

  “Who?”

  “Mercer. I told the shit when I saw him yesterday morning to watch his step.”

  Bad was getting worse. Now Jake’s hazel eyes had narrowed on her too. “Yesterday morning? I thought you’d slept in after that early morning call.”

  Luke simply leveled a look on Jake, and Becca groaned when she saw the instant connection he made.

  “Becca?” Now three pairs of eyes, ranging from dark hazel to Luke’s lighter gray-green bored into her.

  “I’m twenty-eight,” she started defensively. “It’s my life...”

  Jake arched a brow. “Okay, which church lady caught you?”

  Becca scuffed the toe of her sneaker, feeling like she was about five again and had just gotten caught swiping cookies from her mother’s kitchen. She sighed.

  “Betty Gatewood.”

  “And, uh, what were you doing?” Caleb inquired blandly.

  “None of your...” she began, but Jake cut her off.

  “Enough apparently that him giving her the Heimlich maneuver seemed like a plausible tale.”

  “It was me giving him the Heimlich maneuver,” Becca countered, “and Betty Gatewood and her fleet of do-gooders fell for it.”

  None of her three brothers looked either mollified or amused by her speech.

  “I’ll talk to him,” Caleb rumbled.

  She spun on him. “No you will not! From what I understand, the three of you and Noah, too, have already done all the interfering you’re going to do. It’s my life.”

  Caleb dropped an arm around her shoulders. “And you’re the only sister we have, Becca. None of us wants to see you hurt.”

  She looked from one to the other of them. “Then stay out of it. Let Eli and me figure it out on our own.”

  * * * *

  As Eli unlocked the front door, carrying Bash piggyback, he muttered, “Lean over and grab the mail out of the box there, would ya sport?”

  “Sure, Daddy.”

  He felt Bash wiggle sideways followed by the metallic clank of the box lid opening and shutting.

  “Only one letter.”

  “Hang onto it for right now.” Eli negotiated the door while juggling Bash and an armful of groceries. Once through, he set the groceries down. “Slide off, Bash. I’ll get dinner started.”

  “Okay. Here’s your letter. Can I go to my woo...room?”

  “Sure,” Eli said it absently, his eyes boring into the envelope he now held in his hand. He recognized Heather’s handwriting. “Yeah. Uh, yeah. Play in your room for a while. I’m going to have to make a couple of phone calls before I start dinner.”

  Once Bash had bounced down the short hall to his room, Eli left the groceries in the front hall as he hurried into his office. All he could think over and over was that she had found them. His mouth thinned and his jaw tightened. Not again. Hell would freeze over before he let her anywhere near Bash.

  He sat in his desk chair and slowly tore open the envelope. His fingers trembled ever so slightly as he slipped the paper from it. Seeing that tremor pissed him off. Heather was not going to give him one moment of worry. Not one.

  He flipped open the paper and read:

  Eli, what makes you think you can just take our son and disappear? I have rights too. I am his mother after all.

  Yeah. He’d seen exactly what her style of motherhood involved. The picture of Bash filthy, crying, and at the mercy of her latest lover while she was passed out was burned into Eli’s memory.

  I’ve been thinking about getting away from the beach for a while, maybe trying to move closer so I can see Sebastian, because things have just been so tough financially.

  She wanted money.

  You can call my cell phone at 252-555-3421. If you can help out, I can keep my place here, so maybe Sebastian could come visit this summer, but if I don’t hear from you, I guess I’ll just have to visit in person. You know I miss him so much.

  Bitch. The only time she ever remembered Bash was when she was in need of money. He was so fed up feeling like she had him by the short hairs, but if paying her would keep her away...hell, he’d find some way to do it. Buying the restaurant from his folks had made his cash flow tight. But there was no way he’d let Heather anywhere near Bash. No. Way.

  He stared at his cell phone for a couple of minutes while he tapped his fingers on top of the letter from Heather. No way was he talking to her. It was bad enough that she had somehow discovered his address, but to give her access to his phone number? Not happening.

  He would talk to his attorney. As much as it grated to give her money, he had to keep her away from Bash.

  It was a relief to get back into the kitchen following his phone conversation. The routine of putting away the groceries, making dinner, and making sure Bash had his hands washed before they sat down helped calm him.

  “Are you okay, Daddy?” Bash asked about midway through the meal.

  His son’s blue eyes were straight from Heather, but Bash’s shone with love and trust, not avarice and deceit. He ruffled the boy’s hair.

  “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

  “Your letter. It was fwom my mommy, wasn’t it?”

  Eli quickly schooled his expression to cloak his surprise. It was tempting to lie, but he’d promised he would never do that. One of the ways he tried to protect Bash was to make sure the little boy knew what was going on. And right now, he needed an accurate gauge of Bash’s feelings.

  “Yes, it was. She mentions maybe seeing you some this summer.”

  His son’s expression told Eli everything he needed to know. He’d done the right thing when he instructed his attorney to pay her. It was coming out of Bash’s college fund, but Eli hoped he’d be able to replace whatever he had to take as college drew closer.

  “Daddy?” Bash’s voice was small.

  “What, baby?” Eli slipped back into what he’d called him when he was just a toddler.

  “I don’t want to see Mommy. I want to stay here wif you.” A tear welled in his eye and slowly rolled down hi
s cheek.

  Eli scooted his chair back from the table. “Come here, Bash.” When his son clambered off his chair and shot over to his lap, Eli wrapped the boy in his arms and held on tight. He rested his cheek against his son’s golden curls. “If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.”

  Bash rubbed his face. “She don’t weally want to see me.”

  “Son...”

  “She don’t!”

  “Doesn’t,” Eli said automatically. “Things are complicated with her.”

  Bash stuck out his lip. “I don’t want to see her. I want a ‘vorce like you got. You don’t have to see her.”

  In other circumstances it might have been funny, but not at the moment. Eli rubbed his hand over his heart and leaned down to kiss his son on the forehead. “I don’t think you can do that, Bash, but I can make sure you don’t have to see her unless you want to. The judge already said that was okay, so before she can see you now, she has to see the judge.” If she kept it legal.

  And that was his biggest fear of all.

  Chapter 6

  Becca refused to tidy herself up for her meeting with Eli. That would be too much like she cared. And she didn’t. Not at all. She watched him stride along the sidewalk toward her door and instinctively smoothed her hands over the flowing cotton skirt she had on. And she hadn’t put it on for him. It was comfortable, that was why she’d chosen it that morning.

  The bells over the door tinkled as he stepped through from the warm spring sunshine into the relative coolness of The Secret Ingredient. Her last customer had left just a half hour earlier. While the open sign was still displayed, they were no longer selling food, just items from the bakery.

  “Becca.” His deep voice rumbled, sending a shiver of awareness down her spine.

  Just business. Right.

  “Have a seat, Eli. Coffee?”

  “That would be great.”

  He had his hair back in a braid today, but she remembered all too well what it felt like flowing through her fingers or trailing along her skin...better not to go there.

  She set the cup in front of him before placing hers on the opposite side and taking the chair across from him.

  “I want to apologize.” She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry for being such a witch the other day.”

  He shook his head. “Becca...”

  “No. Let me get this out so we can talk business. I don’t like secrets, and I don’t like to play games. There is more than business between the two of us, at least on my part. I...I’ve always felt that. I had such a crush on you when I was a kid, and I guess I still do.”

  She spread her hands on the table top and began smoothing the cloth. “You hurt me, Eli. You just have no idea the look on your face when I invited you and Bash over. Suddenly it was as if I’d turned into Medusa. I’m not trying to get to you through him, if that’s what you think.”

  He reached for her hands, but she slid them away and leaned back in her chair. She wasn’t ready for that. It was too easy to forget what she had to say when he touched her.

  He leaned back too, his right hand tugging at his earring.

  “You accused me of trying to mess with your head, Becca,” he murmured. “It’s not that. It’s me. When it comes to Bash, I’ve already had my head so messed with I find it hard to react normally. And Bash has had his own head job done on him.”

  “His mother?” Caleb had mentioned Heather last night. Not so much to give her any real information, but as a way of warning her that Eli had a lot more going on than what appeared on the surface.

  “Heather.” His voice hardened as he said her name. “I’d say she was the biggest mistake of my life, but that would be a slam to Bash. Maybe it would be better to say that Bash was the very best thing, the only good thing, to come out of our marriage.”

  “I’m not her.”

  He leaned forward again. “I know that. The two of you are nothing alike in looks or personality. But, baby, having been through what she put us through—is still putting us through—sheltering Bash from other people is a gut reaction I have trouble controlling.”

  Becca’s heart sank. He was warning her there was no room for a woman in his life because he still wasn’t over his ex-wife. Just sitting close, her body responded to the sight of him, the scent of him. The ache she felt told her just how much she wanted him.

  “So whatever’s between us...what do we do about that?” she asked. His brown eyes warmed so instantly it felt like hot fudge pouring over her skin. “Don’t. Don’t look at me like that.”

  He leaned forward. “Don’t look at you like I want nothing better than to spread you on this table and use my mouth to taste every inch of you? But that is what I want. I can’t give you everything right now, Becca, but I can give you that.”

  Could she take sex without the rest? Already she felt the pull of desire, her nipples tightening beneath her shirt. The sudden narrowing of his eyes told her he saw it too. He shifted in his chair and made her wonder. Was he as affected by her as she was by him? She shied away from it.

  “We should get our deal done.” Becca cleared her throat and pushed the papers she had toward him. “This is what I’ve come up with. Look it over and tell me what you think.”

  Eli shook himself, cleared his throat, and picked up the papers. He scanned the figures.

  “Are these prices your wholesale?”

  “Yes. It covers all my costs, including labor. My profit will come in the advertising I get from it. As you can see, I’ve asked you to include our name on the menus and use some additional signage at your register to promote The Secret Ingredient’s bread and dessert items.”

  “You have a request in here for a thirty days’ notice if I wish to terminate?”

  Becca nodded. “I think that’s fair. For right now, you will be a major client. If you abruptly terminated the contract, you could ruin me.”

  “All right.”

  “That’s it?”

  His dark eyes twinkled. “Yeah. It looks fair to me. You want me to sign anywhere or can we seal it with a kiss?”

  “I thought it was a handshake.”

  He grinned. “I’d rather start with a kiss so maybe we can move on to the rest of it a little faster.”

  She grinned at him. “It is closing time.”

  “Isn’t Jared here?”

  She shook her head. “I gave him the afternoon off. What about you?”

  “I have a couple hours free.”

  Becca walked to the front door, flipped the closed sign over, and locked it. Without another word, she started up the stairs to her apartment.

  Eli watched her. His cock was already hardening at the sway of her hips and skirt as he followed. He itched to cup her ass in his hands and taste the silky sweet skin of her nipples. When he reached the top of the stairs, he shut the door behind him, never taking his eyes off her. She slowly pulled the T-shirt over her head, her dusky nipples visible through the thin lace of her bra. When her fingers went to the waistband of her skirt, he groaned, his hand absently massaging himself through the material of his khakis.

  “Strip for me.”

  When she was dressed only in her bra and panties, she turned her back to him. His eyes devoured the creamy globes of her butt until she reached behind her to unfasten the snaps of her bra. She shrugged off the straps and let the scrap of material fall to the floor. Her thumbs hooked into the silky material of her thong.

  “Wait,” he growled. Moving forward, he slid his arms around her and pulled her back against him, nestling his erection against her ass. “Bend over the back of the chair.”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Why?”

  “I’ll show you.”

  He knelt behind her, kissing and nibbling all that tender, creamy skin. Eli hooked his fingers in the waistband of her panties and eased them over her butt and down her thighs, licking and kissing as he went. Her breathing accelerated. On his return journey, he used his fingers as well as his tongue. His cock jumped
when she spread her legs for him.

  “That’s it,” he growled, his fingers stroking the smooth, wet folds of her sex. “Do you have any idea how much I want to be inside you?”

  He slid two fingers in and moved them slowly in and out.

  “Eli!” Her voice shook just as her body quivered for him. While he continued to ease his fingers in and out, he undid the snap and zipper on his pants, releasing his thick cock into his hand. His breath caught. If he didn’t fuck her soon, he’d explode.

  “I’ve fantasized about this. Ever since I realized someone saw us doing it downstairs,” he growled. “All I can think about is having you bent over like this in front of the window while we make love.”

  She came hard right then. No more games. He stripped off his clothes.

  “Imagine, just your thin sheers between us and anyone down on the square looking up.”

  He pushed forward. Her body opened for him, and the fact that she could take all of him was such a turn on he had to stop. She was made for him. Her fingers dug into the chair back. Eli reached around and caressed her breasts.

  She laughed softly.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I’m about to come again. It’s never been like this before.”

  His nuts tightened. Eli forced himself to slow down. He stroked his hands down her sides, over her back and along her thighs before reaching around to smooth one palm over her belly while he used the fingers of his other hand to tease her.

  Resting his cheek next to hers, he whispered in her ear. “Come for me, Becca. Let me hear you, feel you.”

  Her body convulsed in his arms. She turned her head, and he kissed her, taking the cry on her lips into his own mouth. His hands went to her hips, and he held her in place as he pounded into her. Just in time, he realized he hadn’t put on a condom and pulled out, holding himself as he released.

  “Jesus, Becca. I’m sorry. I got carried away.”

  She turned her face sideways on the chair back and smiled lazily. “It’s all right. We’ll just hop in the shower.”