“Thanks for having my things here,” she said shyly. He must have seen the blush stealing across her cheeks because he answered her earlier question.
“I went to your room and picked up what I thought you might need.”
“Thank you, Crew. I don’t know if many men would have been so considerate,” she said and followed him to the living area.
“Would you like a cup of coffee and a pastry before we go?”
She sat down and happily poured herself a cup, then added cream and sugar before taking a sip. Sighing with pleasure at the much-needed caffeine, she pulled a foot up and hugged her leg while taking small sips and briefly attempting to interpret the clouds in her coffee.
Passing on the pastry so she wouldn’t ruin her lunch, she took a moment to study Crew as he conducted a phone call. She didn’t understand how the two of them had reached this place so quickly, how she’d had the boldness to make love to him, but she found that she had no regrets. Even if their time together turned out to be short, she knew she’d carry the memories with her for years to come.
Haley had the feeling that getting over a man like Crew wouldn’t be an easy task. It didn’t matter, though, and it wasn’t worth dwelling on. She was living in the here and now, and it was a great place to be. Whatever happened, happened. That was going to be her new motto.
At the very least, she’d walk away with more confidence and knowing she’d been well satisfied and treated well. Her grandmother had always said that all men were only after sex and they didn’t care about who they slept with. Even if that was true, she had him in this moment, and that was surely worth something. Besides, she was after sex, too, she thought wickedly.
No one could predict tomorrow with perfect accuracy. All you could do was make a guess, throw in your wager, and hope for the turnout you wanted. And that was what she’d do every day as long as this lasted.
“Are you ready?” he asked as he disconnected his call.
“Yes. Let’s see if this café is as good as you think it is.”
“Your faith in me is humbling,” he said, chortling, and Haley added one more item to her list of things she liked about Crew. He could laugh at himself.
“It may look like a dive, but I’m telling you, Aunt Mae makes the best food I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve traveled a lot.”
“You haven’t lived here very long, have you? I thought you moved here only two years ago.”
“I did move here two years ago, but my family owns a home on the other side of the island and we spent at least a couple of weeks a year here. I discovered Aunt Mae’s café when I was sixteen, and I’ve been coming back ever since.
“Well, I hope it’s as good as you say because right now I feel like I could take a knife and fork to a grizzly.”
Crew stopped and laughed before opening the restaurant door. He was relieved to see her want a decent meal, for too often she just picked at her food. If he’d thought for a moment it was because she was putting on airs or worried about her figure, he’d be disgusted. Women who did that irritated him.
With Haley, he suspected that stress was the biggest problem. If she was worried about something, or frightened, she didn’t function right. When she was happy or sated — he’d done a good job with that last night — then she seemed to have a bottomless appetite.
Well, he’d brought her to the right place. Aunt Mae liked to pile on the food. He didn’t even bother ordering when he came here. Whatever she decided to bring him was always top notch.
He could see the surprise in Haley’s eyes as they walked through the rickety door with tall, lush plants framing it. The building needed a fresh coat of paint and was in desperate need of new furnishings, but no matter how many times he’d offered his help, pleaded with her to accept it, or even tried to force it upon her, Aunt Mae had turned him down flat.
The tables were scarred, but she said that just added to the atmosphere. He knew that one of these days, the rickety chairs were going to leave him with his ass on the floor, but the food was divine and the décor just added to the experience.
Crew and Haley were lucky to find two bar stools open, and they sat down and rested their arms on the worn yet squeaky-clean counter. Behind it was an open window with a behemoth of a man wiping his brow with his forearm as he flipped burgers in the air.
Crew watched Haley eye the colorful posters announcing various menu items; there wasn’t a handheld menu in sight. The pies sat in a small display case on the end of the counter, and the oven-baked aromas drifted out to torment them, making Haley’s stomach rumble loudly.
“I guess you are hungry,” he said with a grin as Aunt Mae approached them.
Haley’s eyes widened at the stick-thin figure who couldn’t reach five feet tall if she were wearing heels. Aunt Mae planted her hands on the counter, then leaned forward and gave Crew a kiss on the cheek before turning suspicious eyes on Haley.
Crew had never brought another woman in here, so he could see the surprise in the woman’s eyes and knew she was judging Haley. He wasn’t worried. There was something about Haley that drew others to her, and he was sure that by the end of their lunch, Aunt Mae would be trying to coddle her and send her home with a doggie bag loaded with food.
“You haven’t visited me in weeks, Crew Storm. What makes you think I’ll serve up anything for you to eat?” she pouted, and Crew could see the surprise in Haley’s eyes at the deep, husky voice that didn’t match her petite face and body. Years of hard booze and cheap cigarettes had given her what was just one of her many charms in Crew’s eyes.
“I’ve been busy getting the new resort running, Aunt Mae. I’ve noticed you haven’t taken up my offer of staying a night and testing out my chefs,” he countered, and she blushed.
“I can’t stay in your hoity-toity resort. I’d never be able to sleep again in my shabby little room upstairs. I will make it over some night to get a free meal. I’m not telling you until it’s over, though. I don’t want you telling them to fix something special. The best way for me to see if they’re good enough to be cooking for you is for them not to know who I am.”
Though it wasn’t widely known, Aunt Mae had been a top-rated food critic when she was younger. Getting fed up with all the terrible dishes she had to endure, she’d given up her high-paying job and settled down to open her own place nearly thirty years before. The building had been old then, but in better shape.
Hard economic times had made the years rough, but she still had a steady stream of regular customers. One way or another, Crew would make sure she kept the place as long as she liked, even if he had to tie her down while the workers came in and made repairs.
“I wouldn’t dream of trying to fool you, Aunt Mae. You are far too wise a woman.”
“Don’t get cheeky with me, boy! Now, who’s this pretty little girl you’ve brought in?” she asked, turning her full gaze on Haley, who smiled big at her.
“Haley Sutherland. It’s nice to meet you.”
Crew was shocked by the ease with which Haley spoke to Aunt Mae. A lot of folks were intimidated by her at first, despite her diminutive stature. Haley seemed right at home.
“Well, well. What are you doing out with this hooligan?”
Haley’s grin never faltered. “He told me he was going to feed me the best meal I’ve ever had. I could hardly resist,” she said easily as Aunt Mae pulled out a cigarette and lit it, the smoke swirling in the air.
A man from a nearby table grumbled and Aunt Mae’s eyes turned to fire as she looked right at him.
“This is my place. If you don’t like the atmosphere, you know where the door is,” she said pleasantly as she took another drag.
The fellow looked down as he speared a piece of battered fish and continued eating. It appeared he was willing to risk his life with secondhand smoke for the food...that must be some food, Haley thought to herself.
“So, Haley, what do you do?”
“Nothing at the moment. I quit my job so I could find a good enough man to teach me how to be the perfect seductress,” she replied as if she were speaking of nothing more casual than going to the post office.
Crew’s eyes rounded in shock, and he choked on the water he’d just drunk. As he sputtered, he looked from her to Aunt Mae, wondering what his longtime friend was going to say to that remark. After a short pause, she put out her smoke and then laughed. The sound was raspy and a bit wheezy and asthmatic, and he always worried she was going to keel over when she did it.
“I like this one, Crew. I like her a lot, much more than some of those broads I’ve seen you with in town. I notice you’ve been smart enough to never bring one of them in here,” she said knowingly.
“I didn’t like them enough to give them the treasure of your cooking, Aunt Mae.”
“That’s a good answer, boy, a good answer,” she said. Haley’s stomach rumbled again and Aunt Mae turned her eyes back to her. “I’d better feed you before you turn into a skeleton right there in that chair.” With that she turned and scribbled something on her notepad before seeing to another customer, who had managed to snag a spot at the end of the counter.
“I like her,” Haley commented, making him glow.
It shouldn’t have mattered to him what Haley thought of Aunt Mae, but it did. Without realizing it, he’d been testing her. Shyness he could understand, but if she’d turned her nose up at a woman Crew cared about deeply, he wouldn’t have wanted to be with her.
“She’s a spitfire. Though she’s in her sixties, you’d never know it. I think she’ll outlive us all,” he said as Aunt Mae slapped down a plate between them.
At the look of lust in Haley’s eyes over the sizzling cheese, artichoke and spinach appetizer, he fell a bit in love. She’d barely touched his five-course meal, but Aunt Mae’s secret menu was making her drool. Haley polished off most of their appetizer, then dug in when her shrimp pasta was placed in front of her.
When she looked at his seafood sandwich with longing, he offered her a bite, then felt himself turning hard at her deep moan of pleasure when she swallowed.
No sex today, he reminded himself. Tomorrow. He’d have plenty of sex with her tomorrow. And somehow he’d better keep her away from his bed for the day if he wanted to keep that promise to himself.
When their plates were cleaned, Haley leaned back with a satisfied grin. “You were right. That’s the best meal I think I’ve ever eaten. I’m going to have to come here over and over while I’m on the island. But right now, I don’t think I could eat another bite.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he answered with a chuckle since she’d polished off her meal, then eaten a quarter of his sandwich. It was nice to see her cheeks flushed and a relaxed look in her eyes.
“Here’s your dessert, Ms. Haley. This is my special cobbler. Don’t even try and guess what’s in it; just enjoy the heavenly taste,” Aunt Mae said as she placed a warm bowl in front of both of them with sugary berries beneath a perfectly browned crust and vanilla ice cream melting on top.