Sweet Persuasions

“Hello again, Xavier,” she said in greeting.

His eyebrows lifted. “So, you remembered my name.”

Selena’s smile grew wider. She wanted to tell Xavier Eaton that not only had she remembered his name but also his gorgeous face and magnificent body. The man was the walking, breathing personification of everything exquisite about the male species.

“I remember all of my regular customers.”

He took a few steps bringing them only inches apart. She had to tilt her head to meet his eyes. “What makes you think I’m going to be a regular customer?”

“Don’t play yourself, Mr. Eaton. You’re here two days in a row.”

Xavier felt his pulse quicken when she lowered her seductive voice. “Yes.”

Selena forced herself not to look below his neck. Today he’d worn a long-sleeved pale blue shirt with a pair of black tailored slacks. She’d noticed with his approach the corps insignia on the buckle on his black leather belt. It was apparent Xavier Eaton was a marine in every sense of the word. It was as if he’d taken the service motto, Once a Marine Always a Marine, quite seriously.

“Did your mother and sister like their gifts?”

Xavier nodded again. “That’s why I’m here. They both loved them. My sister tried calling you to place an order, but got a busy signal.”

Selena pointed to the man on the pole. “That’s why they’re here. My phone has been out all day. I can’t call out or receive incoming calls. Of course, the disruption also affects my internet service.”

“Can’t you access the internet on your cell?”

“No! Once I leave the shop I try and distance myself from business, if only for a few hours. Having internet access on my cell is a temptation I’m not willing to risk.”

“Are you still taking orders?”

“Sure. Please come inside.”

Xavier found himself watching the gentle sway of Selena’s hips as she turned and walked into the shop. She hadn’t worn a hint of makeup, and he found her natural beauty refreshing. He wasn’t into women who wore fake hair, nails and eyelashes because he didn’t know whether he could touch them or not.

He’d dated one woman who wore makeup to bed, and even after several washings the stains from the makeup were still visible on the pillowcase and sheets. Another wouldn’t let him touch her hair, and another one didn’t want him to touch her breasts. To say that those relationships ended before they began was putting it mildly. All of the women were intelligent and attractive, but they’d come with a boatload of issues. When he shared a bed with a woman, nothing was off-limits.

Selena stared over her shoulder at Xavier as he glanced around the patisserie. Her last customer had left fifteen minutes ago, and in another hour she would close the shop. She doubted whether she would get too many more customers with the street blocked off to traffic. She would’ve closed earlier, but she was waiting for someone to pick up an order for a restaurant.

“What time do you close?” Xavier asked.

Her smile was dazzling. He’d read her mind. “Normally at six, but with no phone and the street closed to traffic I’m going to close early. I’m waiting for a pickup and then I’m out of here.”

Xavier walked over to the table with the shipping slips, and retrieved his BlackBerry. He jotted down the Brandywine Valley address of the Tuckers in the delivery section. “I’d like to order a brownie-fudge cheesecake and a pound of chocolate-and-peanut-butter pretzels.”

“When do you need them and where are they being shipped to?”

Selena stared at Xavier; he met her curious gaze with a penetrating one of his own. It had been a long time since she’d found a man intriguing and was uncertain why she felt strangely connected to him. Maybe it had something to do with his being in the military service. She wasn’t superficial, so her attraction to him wasn’t simply because of his handsome appearance. That was something she’d done as a teenager. At twenty-six she wanted to believe she was beyond the goo-goo-eyes stage in the presence of an attractive man. Yet the man standing in her shop, Xavier Eaton, had proven her wrong.

“They’re to be shipped to…” Xavier’s words trailed off when the bell above the door chimed. He stood straighter, his eyes widening in surprise. “Bell?”

The tall dark-skinned man with a shaved pate, mustache and goatee stopped short. “Holy…” He swallowed the expletive at the last possible moment. “Eaton?”

Xavier took a step, finding himself in a bear hug that nearly crushed his ribs, and making it difficult for him to breathe. He pounded the broad back of the man he hadn’t seen since they’d graduated from The Citadel. He rarely read the alumna updates online and had lost contact with many of his former classmates.

Robert Bell pulled back, released Xavier and shook his head. “What the hell are you doing in Charleston? Wait, don’t tell me. You’re Selena’s mystery man.”

Chapter 3

Xavier stared at Bobby Bell as if he’d taken leave of his senses. What was he talking about? And why did Bobby believe he had a connection to Selena. Today was only the second time they’d been seen with each other. His gaze shifted to Selena, his instincts suddenly on alert. There was something in her eyes that wordlessly communicated not to say anything.

Selena breathed an inaudible sigh when Xavier clamped his jaw. “Did you think I really didn’t have someone, Robert Bell?” she drawled sarcastically.

“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Xavier asked.

Bobby crossed massive arms over a broad, deep chest. “I run a restaurant with my dad and uncles, and on Fridays we have date night with a live jazz combo. I’ve been asking Selena to come, but she says she doesn’t go anywhere without her boyfriend. Whenever I ask about her ‘boyfriend’ she always says he’s busy. So after a while I started calling him her mystery man.”

Bobby told Xavier more about Selena Yates in less than sixty seconds than he would’ve learned if he’d continued to come to her patisserie a dozen more times. She was single, wasn’t dating anyone and no doubt a very private person. He took several steps and put his arm around her waist.

“I hope you’re not calling my woman a liar, Bobby.”

“No, no, no, man,” Bobby countered, holding up his hands defensively. “It’s just that I didn’t know you were back in Charleston, that’s all. One of the guys from school told me about you saving three of your men after they’d driven over an IED and—”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Xavier interrupted when he felt Selena’s back go rigid against his arm. He didn’t know if Bobby knew that her brother had served, as well.

Bobby’s boyish round face softened when he winked at Selena. It was apparent Xavier didn’t want to talk about the war in front of her. “I’m going to have to pick up those trays and head back to the restaurant. The kid who usually does all the runs sprained his ankle playing football, so yours truly is standing in as temporary gofer. Am I going to see you two tonight?” he asked Selena.

Xavier stared at Selena, lifting his eyebrows questioningly. “I’ll come, that is if Selena isn’t busy.” He felt conflicting emotions. On the one hand he had hoped she’d be busy, since he’d never liked being manipulated into situations. But on the other hand, he’d hoped she wasn’t busy, and going out with her would satisfy his curiosity.

Selena felt the powerful arm around her waist. She also enjoyed the way Xavier’s body pressed against hers and the tantalizing scent of his cologne. She’d tired of Bobby Bell asking her to come to his family’s restaurant for date night, because there wasn’t any man she’d seen or met since moving to Charleston that she’d wanted to accompany her. It wasn’t that men hadn’t asked her out. But her involvement with a man who’d threatened her life if he couldn’t have her, made her overly cautious when it came to dating. However, there was something about Xavier Eaton that reminded her of her brothers, and there was never a time when they hadn’t protected her.

The boys in her West Virginia town knew if they messed with Selena Yates then they had to not only deal with her father but also her brothers. If their father hadn’t been sheriff, there was little doubt either one or both would’ve spent several nights in the local jail. They’d protected her at home, but they were unable to protect her once she’d moved away.

“What about it, Selena? Do you want to go?” Xavier said when she gave Bobby a blank stare.

“Yes,” she replied as if coming out of a trance. Her eyelids fluttered wildly when she realized what she’d agreed to.

Bobby’s head bobbed up and down. “Good.” He slapped Xavier’s shoulder. “Mama is going to lose it when she sees you.”

Xavier smiled. “Let your mother know that I’m looking forward to seeing her again.”

Selena plastered on a smile. “Bobby, your order is in the back.” She waited until Bobby made his way to the rear of the shop before rounding on Xavier. “Don’t you dare say anything until after he leaves,” she whispered.

Narrowing his eyes, Xavier pushed his face close to Selena’s. “You have a lot of explaining to do, Ms. Yates.”

Bobby emerged from the back, clutching four white shopping bags with Sweet Persuasions and the street address stamped on the sides. “Try to get there before seven, because Ma Bell’s gets real crowded around eight.”

“You named the restaurant Ma Bell’s?”

Bobby laughed, the sound coming from deep within his wide chest. “Ma is short for Emma. We were going to call it Bell’s, but my dad overruled his brothers. He said if his wife was going to cook alongside them, then the place would also bear her name. She cooks on Fridays and Saturdays, while they take over the kitchen from Sunday through Thursday.”

Xavier nodded. “Good choice.” He’d lost track of the number of times he’d sat at Emma Bell’s table devouring everything she’d put in front of him. She was one of the best, if not the best, cook in the low country. He took his arm from around Selena, and opened the door for Bobby. “We’ll see you later.” He closed and locked the door, turned over the sign to Closed in the shop window, then turned to face Selena. “Please tell me why Bobby thinks I’m your mystery man?”