Charm This! Read online

But he would not.

  Nearly shaking from the restraint it took not to chase his own satisfaction, Jack eased a finger against the delirious heat of her.

  Rachel went still as he pressed his finger deep inside.

  When he began to lick around his finger she cried out, her legs shaking with pleasure.

  He continued to tease and toy with her a little longer until the sound of her cries told him it was time.

  At last he licked his way to the tiny pyramid at the top of her sex. He caressed it gently with his tongue, a feather-light touch.

  Rachel whined and he felt her tighten around his finger.

  God, she was so sexy.

  He licked her clit again and listened to her moan.

  He could do this all night.

  But she was already straining against him, her body begging for release now.

  And Jack was not going to deny her.

  He lashed her clit firmly with his tongue, each stroke wrenching a moan of pleasure from her. On and on he went, faster and faster, sending her further and further toward the edge, until at last she was tightening around his finger, crying out as her whole body throbbed with an ecstasy that seemed to go on and on.

  When she stilled, he crawled up beside her, his blood pounding in his ears and his wolf half-insane with lust.

  He would take no satisfaction from her tonight. He was determined.

  But his heart was full.

  He had pleased her. It was enough.

  10

  Rachel

  Rachel awoke before her alarm went off for the first time in forever. She tended to suffer with insomnia that had her flipping and flopping until sunrise, but last night she’d slept like…

  Oh yeah.

  She closed her eyes and tried to sense whether or not Jack was there with her.

  She couldn’t feel his weight on the bed beside her.

  She opened her eyes and looked around.

  No Jack.

  Seems about right.

  Mortified that she’d had an ill-advised one-night stand with her contractor, Rachel shuffled to the bathroom.

  She brushed her teeth and hair while discussing the matter with herself inwardly in the mirror.

  Does it count as a one-night stand if all that happened was that he made me come so hard I thought I was going to black out?

  I’d say no, except that he took off afterward.

  Good point.

  She wandered into the kitchen. For some reason the whole apartment smelled fantastic. The neighbors must be cooking next door.

  But when she reached the little cafe table in the corner, she found the source of the heavenly scent.

  A plate of blueberry pancakes, the butter still melting on top. Next to it was a folded piece of paper.

  She opened it.

  * * *

  I sure wish I could stay and watch you eat these pancakes, but I’ve got to get to work. (My boss runs a tight ship. Haha!) See you downstairs.

  * * *

  -J

  * * *

  She smiled and refolded the paper, rubbing it back and forth against her lips as she thought about the fact that he had gotten up and made her pancakes.

  She was very, very tempted to dash downstairs and find him.

  But that wouldn’t do. No, she would shower, get dressed and go downstairs like a civilized person. It was a plate of pancakes not a proposal.

  But first she was going to eat this breakfast while it was still warm.

  She pulled up a chair and took a bite. The blueberries melted in her mouth. Unbelievable.

  Was there anything he couldn’t do?

  Half an hour later, she noticed a happy sound as she descended the spiral stair to the shop. When she got closer she realized it was Jack, literally whistling while he worked.

  “Good morning,” she said, pushing the curtain aside.

  “Good morning,” he grinned at her. “How did you sleep?”

  “Very, very well,” she said. “And I had the most incredible breakfast.”

  There was a bang and a jingle as someone rattled the door to the shop.

  “Wow, early customer,” Jack said.

  “Guess so.” She shrugged and headed to the door.

  It was a guy who worked at the diner looking for a Love Charm his wife wanted. Rachel let him in and helped him. She felt for anyone who had to cook for the breakfast crowd at the Barry White Diner.

  By the time she had the shop properly opened, there was a slow and steady trickle of customers that lasted right up until lunchtime.

  Just like yesterday, Jack managed to keep things quiet when she was with heavy-duty customers.

  Today she wasn’t surprised, but rather appreciative.

  Just as she was considering closing shop for ten minutes so she could run to the Co-op for a bowl of soup, the door jingled again.

  It was Evangeline Harkness-Chambers, Jack’s sister. She had married the firefighting Ethan Chambers around this time last year. Rachel remembered when Ethan had come in to select the rings that encircled Evangeline’s finger.

  Evangeline held a rosy-cheeked baby.

  “Hi there,” Rachel said, trying not to ogle that gorgeous little one.

  “Hi Rachel,” Evangeline said shyly.

  “Ethan was just here yesterday,” Rachel said. “I mean, on firehouse business.”

  “I heard,” Evangeline said. “I was really sorry to hear what happened.”

  “That’s okay,” Rachel said. “I’m lucky the fire department came and helped out. And your brother is fixing everything up for me.”

  “I heard about that too,” Evangeline said, then promptly blushed pinker than the baby.

  There was no way she could possibly know what had happened last night.

  Was there?

  “Eva,” Jack said, coming out from behind the curtain just in time. “I thought that was you. Hey, sis.”

  Evangeline grinned. “Hey, Jack.”

  “What are you two doing here?” he asked, a suspicious note in his voice.

  At least Rachel knew he hadn’t said anything to his sister about… whatever was going on between the two of them. She made a mental note to figure out what exactly that was.

  “I’m looking for a gift for Ethan,” she said, turning to Rachel in a very businesslike way.

  “Great,” Rachel said, happy for the distraction. “What did you have in mind?”

  But the baby chose that exact moment to suddenly burst into heartbroken tears, as if everything she had ever loved had been taken from her, like the narrator in a country song whose wife and dog both left him, and they weren’t ever coming back.

  “Oh, Katie-bear,” Jack crooned at once. “Come see Uncle Jack, come on. Uncle Jack will make everything better.”

  The baby ceased her cries and looked up at him, tears still shining in her eyes.

  “Really?” Evangeline asked.

  “Of course,” Jack crooned to Katie. “Tell mommy she’ll be lucky if I ever give you back.”

  Evangeline shrugged and handed off the baby.

  Rachel tried not to look, she really did.

  But her eyes were drawn to the huge man as he cradled the little baby in his arms, singing softly to her, assuring her that she was the best baby in the whole world, and dancing her around the store as if he were the happiest man on the planet.

  Rachel felt her heart constrict and she swallowed down the lump in her throat.

  I can never give him that.

  Never.

  “So, I didn’t have anything in mind in particular,” Evangeline was saying. “I just want to get him something cool.”

  “Something cool,” Rachel echoed stupidly, still smarting from the pain of seeing Jack with the baby in his arms.

  “Yeah,” Evangeline said.

  “You mean like a knife or a sword?” Rachel forced herself to concentrate on the conversation.

  “No.” Evangeline shook her head. “Nothing like that. His favorite thing he owns
is a bear carving. Do you have anything like that?”

  “I’ve got some pretty cool miniature animal carvings,” Rachel said. “They can be put on jewelry. It’s unisex. You could choose an animal and then a cord or a chain to put it on.”

  They went to the case and Evangeline pored over the little carvings.

  Rachel would have enjoyed the visit, she really would have, if she hadn’t been mentally counting the seconds until she could get alone someplace and have a good cry.

  She had thought she’d cried herself dry about not being able to have babies back when she was a teenager. But it was a pain that kept on giving, a bottomless ache that could be turned on without warning at any moment.

  At last Evangeline choose a tiny bear on a leather cord and Rachel wrapped it up slowly.

  Jack came back over with the baby and returned her to her mother.

  When Rachel leaned across the counter to hand over the package the baby noticed her and squealed, reaching out for the long sparkly earrings she was wearing.

  “Hi, baby,” Rachel said solemnly.

  The baby blinked at her then squealed again in delight.

  “Looks like you’ve got another fan, Rachel,” Evangeline quipped.

  Rachel laughed, though she wasn’t sure who her first fan was supposed to be.

  “Tell Ethan I said thanks?” Jack asked Evangeline. “He’ll know why.”

  “Sure,” she said and winked at him broadly. “Thanks again, Rachel.”

  The door jingled on their departure and Jack shook his head.

  “You have such a great family,” Rachel observed.

  “You don’t even know,” he told her. “I love them all so much. I don’t know what I would do without them. Family is what life’s all about.”

  Pain washed over Rachel. She felt as if she had been punched in the stomach and might never get another breath.

  She cared about this man. She respected him. He was kind and he seemed to care for her too.

  And he might as well have a neon sign over his head that said:

  Not for you, Rachel DelGato.

  11

  Rachel

  Rachel managed to get through her business with the next customer who mercifully came in before she had to respond to Jack’s treatise on family.

  Jack came out from behind the curtain once it was quiet. He was covered in plaster dust, but smiling broadly.

  But he seemed to sense Rachel’s blue mood and paused in the doorway.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Just tired,” she lied.

  “No,” he said. “That’s not it.”

  She looked up at him, wondering if he could actually read her mind.

  “You’re hungry,” he said triumphantly. “I always get quiet when I’m hungry too.”

  Rachel doubted very much that Jack was ever quiet, but she kept her opinion to herself.

  “I’m going to get us some sandwiches,” he said. “What kind do you like?”

  “I’m not really hungry,” Rachel said.

  “Tell you what, I’ll surprise you,” Jack said. “Are you a vegetarian or anything?”

  She shook her head.

  “Excellent,” he said. “I’m on the job.”

  Rachel wondered if there was any job the man wasn’t ready to jump into. But he was already leaving, the bells jingling on the door in his wake.

  At least she would have a few minutes to recover.

  Although last night had been unbelievable, and playing house with pancakes this morning was divine, Rachel had to get back to herself. She had never thought she would want a serious relationship, especially with a big goofy lug like Jack Harkness. With a guy like that in her life, she’d never have peace and quiet again.

  She tried not to think about the baby thing.

  Just adopt, Belinda would say blithely, the same as everyone in her life who knew about her troubles said.

  It seemed such an easy decision when it was being made for someone else.

  But Jack Harkness had been a foster kid himself. He, more than anyone, probably longed for a biological connection. And he deserved it, all that and more. She could picture him with a baby of his own, gazing up at him in wonder with hazel eyes the same shade as his.

  Besides, adoptions were expensive, probably more than she could afford with a shop to run. And there was pain at the heart of it all. Was it really right that Rachel’s joy could come only at the cost of another woman’s heartbreak?

  And what birth mother would ever choose a woman who lived in an apartment over a jewelry store to mother her child anyway? The whole idea was just a giant set up for rejection.

  Enough.

  There was no reason to go down that well-worn path in her mind.

  Rachel got out her spray bottle and began to clean the glass in the shop until it sparkled, reflecting the Christmas lights from the window display.

  The work made her feel better, as it always did.

  She had made her way almost back to the main counter when the door jingled again. She looked up, mildly curious about the type of sandwich Jack thought would be a good choice for her.

  But the man who stood in the doorway was not Jack Harkness.

  He was tall, with dark hair that had just enough silver in it to be sexy, and clean-shaven with a strong jaw. He wore a long black coat over a white button up shirt and slacks. Everything about him screamed sophistication and money.

  “Hello,” Rachel said.

  “Hi there,” the man replied. “Are you Rachel DelGato?”

  “I am,” Rachel replied guardedly.

  “A pleasure to meet you,” the man said, striding over and offering her his hand. “Anderson Hughes.”

  That name was familiar.

  “Nice to meet you,” Rachel replied, racking her brain to place the name. “What can I do for you?”

  The man tilted his chin up and laughed. It was a deep masculine laugh in spite of his elegant movement.

  “I think you’ve already done it,” he told her. “I created Love Charms. And I believe you’re my most successful east coast suburban sales person.”

  Oh.

  “That can’t be right,” Rachel said. “What about the big retailers?”

  “I don’t supply the big retailers with larger inventory than the smaller mom and pop shops,” Anderson said. “I hope you aren’t offended by the term.”

  “Not at all, I like my little store,” Rachel told him.

  “I like it too,” he smiled. “My grandparents actually ran a little shop. It was my favorite place as a child. I like to think of customers poring over the charms in a sweet homey place like this. Something about the mall is just too cold for Love Charms.”

  Rachel had to hand it to him, he talked a good game.

  Of course the other reason not to send too much stock to the retailers was scarcity marketing - the philosophy that customers would buy more and pay more for things that were hard to lay hands on. It was human nature to see more value in products that were scarce.

  “You’re dubious,” Anderson said.

  “I was just thinking about scarcity marketing,” Rachel said, not giving a hoot if she offended him.

  “I appreciate your honesty,” he said. “And your sophistication. Yes, scarcity plays into Love Charms sales, though it was inadvertent at first.”

  “But now you can make as many charms as you want, and you still don’t,” Rachel offered.

  “I can make more than I could before,” he allowed. “I’m committed to producing the charms in the US, which makes it tricky to ramp up production quickly. I’m also committed to offering variety even if it means less quantity.”

  “I see,” she replied. “So why are you here today?”

  “I like a woman who cuts to the chase,” Hughes smiled. “I’m here to find out what you’re doing, to see what it is that keeps a nice variety of charms moving from this location.”

  “To what end?”

  He looked momentarily t
aken aback and she almost regretted the bluntness of her question. But she held back an apology and waited for him to answer.

  He gazed at her assessingly and then shrugged.

  “I suppose I may as well tell you now,” he said. “I’m opening a flagship shop in New York. It’s not going to be in a retail store, it’s an actual shop, like this one, only in Chelsea. We think the community there would enjoy Love Charms and engage with them better in a village shop environment.”

  Wow.

  “And you wanted an idea of how I move product so you can try to replicate it there?” Rachel was impressed. “I mean this is kind of a low-rent area compared to Chelsea.”

  “Also low population with comparatively low income,” Hughes pointed out.

  “True,” Rachel said, trying not to be offended.

  The bells jingled at the door and two women came in.

  “Go on,” Hughes gestured. “Don’t let me disturb you.”

  Rachel got back to work, and soon she forgot that Anderson Hughes was sitting in the window seat watching her.

  Customers trickled in one after the next and she patiently showed them charms and other items, rang them up, sent them on their way.

  When it got quiet again twenty minutes later, Anderson approached the register.

  “I think I’ve seen what I need to see,” he said.

  Rachel noticed for the first time how blue his eyes were.

  Just then the bells jingled again and they both jumped a little.

  It was Jack, and he was carrying a white paper sack.

  Anderson made a move as if he were going back to the window seat. Rachel realized he thought Jack was a customer.

  “No, Anderson, this is Jack,” she said. “He’s renovating the other half of my store front for me.”

  Jack waved to them, and headed toward the curtain. She’d join him for lunch whenever Mr. Love Charms was finished with her.

  “You’re renovating?” Anderson asked, ignoring Jack.

  “I wanted a bit more space,” Rachel said.

  Anderson pressed his lips together.

  “What’s wrong?” Rachel asked.

  “Oh, nothing,” he replied. “It’s wonderful that you’re doing so well. But the reason I came to see you, the real reason, may complicate your plans a little. If you decide to take me up on my offer.”