Dreaming Eli Page 2

  Becky tucked a thick strand of red hair behind one ear and shrugged. “It’s not like I loved the jerk.”

  “Still.” The server brought her glass and Caro held it aloft. “Girl code.”

  Becky smiled, and then glanced over her shoulder for a second. Pursing her lips, she deliberately stirred her drink. “And just what is your type?”

  Caro sipped her beer. “Hmm?”

  “Tall, gorgeous and blond?” Becky went on. “Maybe he was hanging around Cypress a few months ago, taking his dazzling smile and broad shoulders with him when he left without a trace? Is that guy your type?”

  Caro’s silly heart fluttered. That guy. The blond guy from Chapman who’d flirted and teased whenever she’d run into him at the coffee shop or around the town square. Elijah Graham. Eli. Yum.

  “What was his name, Caro?” Becky mused aloud. “Elliot?”

  Caro swallowed. “Eli.”

  Becky smacked her hand on the table. “That’s it! And just look who’s back in town.”

  Turning her head slightly, Caro saw it was him. And he was just as gorgeous as she remembered. His gaze met hers and the flutters in her heart settled in her belly. Yeah, this guy. This guy was definitely her type. He sure wasn’t the answer to her problems. But at the moment?

  She couldn’t even remember what they were.

  Chapter 2

  Eli glanced around the interior of the End Zone. It was dim inside but the large dining room to the right was lined all around with TVs set high on the walls broadcasting fishing shows and Ultimate Fighting matches. The scent of French fries and buffalo wings hung in the air, making his mouth water. There were few families seated at the wooden tables and booths, he supposed that was to be expected on a Friday night after all, but plenty of couples and pairs of couples. The singles? Belly-up-to-the-bar, mostly. Maybe he should make his way over there, too.

  The drive from Orlando International Airport had taken about half an hour, but that was after the ridiculously long lines at the rental car place. He and Derek had come to the sports bar a few times back in the spring, and as he’d faced the choice of a left turn toward Cypress Corners or a right turn toward the bar it had been an easy decision. He could check into the Cypress Inn later. It was almost seven, and he hadn’t eaten anything since grabbing a sub at Logan Airport.

  He’d left his jacket in the SUV he’d rented and now he reached up to loosen his tie. Smiling absently at the waitress with a ponytail who passed a little too close to him, he headed toward the long bar stretched along the back wall. The wait staff buzzed around with round trays of food and drink. Some country pop song was playing on the digital juke box and the crack of cue against ball could be heard through the wide opening toward the room to his left.

  “Hey, there,” ponytail said as she returned, tilting her head to one side. “What would you like?”

  He brushed off the obvious double-entendre and settled on a stool. “Bottle of Bud.”

  She clearly wanted to stay planted in front of him but several calls of “miss” drew her back to her job.

  “Be right back,” she said as she hurried behind the bar.

  His beer appeared before him less than a minute later and he lifted it to his lips as he turned on his stool. The place was crowded and loud, and he ran his gaze around the room. There was the usual collection of dude bros and rednecks, as well as guys dressed in business casual like he was, obviously looking to blow off some steam at the end of the work week. Eli could sympathize. He didn’t get much chance to just chill back in Boston. Bill Chapman kept him on speed dial, and a short leash if Derek’s dark opinions could be believed. As if on cue, his phone chirped in his pocket.

  He drew it out with one hand and saw he had a text from Bill.

  Did you arrive okay?

  A smile teased Eli’s lips. Guys Bill’s age tended to text in full sentences.

  Yes. Okay.

  Good. Text me Monday after work.

  Check in, he clearly meant. Report on Cypress and his son Rick. Maybe even the rest of his children too.

  Will do, Eli typed back.

  There wasn’t an answering text from that one, and Eli didn’t expect one. Bill was concise. To the point. He said what he wanted and that was that.

  Pocketing his phone, he caught a woman’s laughter and lifted his head. There, over by the jukebox, sat two girls he remembered seeing in Cypress Corners. Two hot and pretty girls, actually. The redhead worked at the Institute, he thought. The hotter one, the one with honey-colored curls, worked in the bakery and sometimes the coffee shop. His nostrils flared. She always smelled like cupcakes, he recalled. Warm and sweet. Stepping down, he made his way over to their table.

  The redhead saw him first, and her lips curved in a smile. The other girl must have caught her friend’s reaction because she turned her head. His breath caught. Damn, she was prettier than he remembered. Her face was heart-shaped, her lips plump. Her eyes looked green tonight, but he’d thought they were blue.

  “Hi,” he said. Brilliant starter.

  “Hi, there,” the redhead said, straightening in her seat. “Eli, is it?”

  “Eli Graham.” He nodded. “And you’re…”

  “Becky.” She stuck out her hand and he shook it. “Becky Rollins. I work at the Cypress Institute.”

  He nodded to her, but his gaze was drawn to her friend again. That girl flipped some of her curls over her shoulder as she turned to face him and he caught that familiar scent of vanilla.

  “Hi,” she said.

  Whoa. Her voice was sweet and a little husky. His belly tightened a little.

  “You’re Caroline Richmond right?” he asked.

  Her brows rose. “Yes. Caro, actually. To everyone but my family.”

  He didn’t know why he’d remembered her name, but her nickname seemed to fit her better. It was on the short side, like her. She probably wasn’t taller than five foot four inches. And spunky. Also like her, unless he missed his guess.

  “Caro,” he repeated.

  He watched her chest rise as she took in a breath. Her breasts were round and full beneath a soft-looking T-shirt that was worn in all the right places.

  “Yes,” she said again.

  The redhead, Becky, snorted as she finished her drink. “Do you shoot pool, Eli?”

  He nodded. “I can handle a stick.”

  “The tables are all taken,” Caro rushed out.

  He couldn’t argue with that. From his vantage point he could see people standing around waiting for tables to open up. Still, it bothered him that she was giving him the brush-off.

  “Another time?” he asked her.

  She licked her lips as she lifted her glass of beer. “Maybe.”

  Now that, he liked to hear. He was always the guy who could turn a maybe into a yes. It was how he made his living, after all.

  Ponytail came back with a big plate of wings, which she set on the table between the two women. She shot him a look of interest. “Are you joining them?”

  He watched Caro bristle and Becky grin, and made a decision. “That might be fun.”

  Ponytail dragged a chair over to him, brushing really close again as she set a stack of three small plates and some napkins down on the table’s scarred surface. “It’s a tight squeeze.”

  He glanced down her low-cut shirt and silently agreed. She left them and Eli faced Caro. “May I?”

  Leaning her arms on the table, she shrugged. “Sure.”

  He wedged himself closer to her side of the table and watched as Becky tried without success to hide her smile.

  “So what are you two ladies up to tonight?” he asked.

  “Drowning our sorrows,” Becky said.

  “That seems pretty dark for a Friday night,” he said.

  “It’s nothing that serious.” Caro fingered the condensation on the side of her glass, and he watched her slender fingers for a long minute. “I had to escape a family dinner tonight.”

  “A family dinner featur
ing a fix-up with my ex,” Becky added as she served herself some wings.

  Eli might have envied the family part of this conversation, but not the fix-up. He dug into the wings himself. “Seriously?”

  Caro took a couple of wings to place them neatly on her plate. “My mother had heard some great things about the guy.”

  “Lies!” Becky laughed. “The guy is a slug, which my good friend here knew already.”

  “What did slug man think about your escape?” he asked.

  “I didn’t hang around to find out.” Caro wiped her fingers on a napkin. “I can’t believe they tried that.”

  “I can’t believe you need a fix-up,” he said.

  Both women gaped at him and he realized what he’d said. Becky crossed her arms and leaned back as Caro continued to just look at him. What was she thinking?

  The server came back. “Are you doing okay?”

  “Let me get the next round,” he said.

  “No more for me,” Caro said.

  “Aw, come on,” Becky said. “It’s early.”

  “I have to get up at four tomorrow morning, Becky.”

  “Why?” Eli asked.

  She leveled a look at him. “So you remember my name but not what I do?”

  He blinked at her, and then snapped his fingers when it hit him. “The bakery.”

  “Got it in one try,” Becky said.

  He knew when a strategic retreat was necessary. Caro was giving off a serious leave-me-alone vibe. This wasn’t the time to turn on his charm to try to get the pretty blond in his bed at the inn.

  “I’ll let you two talk, then. Thanks for letting me crash.” He grabbed his beer bottle and stood, and then put a twenty on the table. “I guess I’ll see you around Cypress.”

  “You will?” Caro’s cheeks turned pink.

  “I sure will. I’m going to be working there now.”

  ***

  Caro stared at the man standing very close to her. Perched as she was on the tall chair, she didn’t have to tip her head too far back to meet his pretty blue gaze.

  “You’re going to be working at Cypress?”

  “Yep. At the Sales Center.”

  “Cool,” Becky put in. “You’ll be working with some great people.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.” He held his bottle up with a nod. “Have a good night.”

  When he started to walk away, she couldn’t help but watch. He looked truly fine in his expensive clothes. Wide shoulders and a sculpted butt, not to mention long strong legs. He really was going to give her and Becky their space tonight. Then he turned to face her again, and the view improved exponentially. Oh, he looked yummy.

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Caro,” he said.

  “What?” She gaped at him for the second time tonight. “Why?”

  He shrugged and flashed the sexiest smile she’d ever seen. “For a cupcake.”

  He turned away again and Becky snickered.

  Caro shot her a look. “Don’t start.”

  “He likes you,” Becky sang softly.

  “Stop that,” Caro whispered.

  The server came back, eyeing Eli’s vacant chair with a smirk before looking at her and Becky. “Another round?”

  Caro shook her head but Becky nodded.

  “Just for me, thanks,” Becky said. “My friend here has to make cupcakes in the morning.”

  Caro chuckled as the server left to get Becky’s drink. “What was that, exactly?”

  “Hey, Eli has a sweet tooth.” She winked as she rattled the ice in her glass. “And I’ll bet it’s not just cupcakes he wants.”

  Caro chose to ignore that little tidbit.

  Her alarm buzzed her awake at four o’clock on the dot. She’d gotten home from the End Zone right around ten, which was early as far as Friday nights out went. It was par for the course where she was concerned, however. She laughed to herself at that thought. Kent the slime ball would have liked that one.

  “Ick,” she grumbled as she quickly showered and got dressed for work.

  Darkness still pressed against her windows, but she’d grown used to that. There was only so much prep that could be done the afternoon before, especially when you wanted to offer fresh-baked treats to the visitors and residents of Cypress. Dressed in her usual work attire, another pair of capris topped by a spring green T-shirt emblazoned with the bakery’s name, Sweet Escape, in pink and white scrolled letters, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, tied her Keds and headed downstairs.

  The morning was humid and dark, and the security light snapped on the second she stepped out onto the drive. Dew blanketed her car, so when she started it she ran the wipers a couple of times before heading out to the bakery.

  Sweet Escape, her own tiny slice of independence, sat in a prime location next to the coffee shop in the town square. It had picture windows on either side of its front door, and was just a couple of storefronts in from the corner. This made it convenient to both the Sales Center and the restaurants across the street. For nearly two years now she’d been in business, and everyone at Cypress had been very welcoming. It didn’t hurt that she was supplying their ever-growing demand for sweets both decadent and, more and more often, vegan or gluten-free.

  She parked in the space reserved for Sweet Escape employees at the back of the row of shops, right next to where Jane’s bicycle was chained to the sign declaring it so. Jane, her invaluable baking assistant, had beaten her in. Again.

  Caro opened the back door to find the alarm shut off and the overhead lights flickering on. Locking the door behind her, she walked into the kitchen to find Jane humming to herself as she began to prep for their day.

  “Good morning, Jane.”

  Jane, a trim woman of about fifty years, waved a hand and straightened. “Good morning, boss.”

  “You know, you don’t have to get here when I do.”

  “I don’t.” Jane winked. “I get here before you do.”

  Caro smiled. “Never mind.”

  Jane went about her very-efficient business, her humming soon mingling with the sounds of mixers whirring and the ovens clicking on and off as they maintained the optimum baking temperatures for the incoming sweets. The woman was dressed as Caro was, trading sneakers for the crocs she kept at the back door. As Jane stirred bowls and filled cupcake tins, Caro woke up the computer in the tiny back room that served as an office and supply closet and double-checked the orders that would go out to their distributors.

  Cardboard and string and tape and stickers shared the space with her computer. Several refrigerators in the kitchen held their most important supplies though, along with ventilated metal shelves to hold dry goods and decorations.

  It was all matter-of-fact to her now, but in the beginning Caro had a tough time getting the hang of things. She’d never run a business and, despite her degree in hospitality management from the University of Central Florida, she’d had to find her own way to make this particular little business work. Luckily she’d yet to meet a person here, living in or visiting Cypress, that didn’t have at least a little bit of a sweet tooth.

  The thought made her think about Eli. Would he really come by this morning, or was he just trying to get laid? She’d been around a couple of times, after all. She knew she possessed certain physical attributes attractive to the superficial male. She’d bought into a guy’s pick-up line a few times, too. Her slime-ball radar was pretty good now, though. Hadn’t she known Kent for a slug right away? Eli didn’t set her radar off, but that could be because he was quite possibly the hottest guy she’d ever seen. Even his voice was delicious.

  “Cupcakes in the oven,” Jane said, poking her head into back room. “I’ll go ahead and start on the s’mores brownies. Are you making them the special today?”

  Caro thought for a second. The brownies were a Sweet Escape specialty, done with marshmallow creamed swirled throughout and sprinkled liberally with graham cracker crumbs. Their secret was a wave of the torch to the uppermost marshma
llows to give them a real campfire s’mores taste.

  “Sure.” She wondered if Eli would like them. “Make plenty. With the afternoons at least a little bit cooler now, we might be busy up until closing.”

  Jane gave her usual firm nod and took herself back into the kitchen. The bakery was open from seven in the morning until three in the afternoon, and Sunday was their day of rest. It had nothing to do with religion, but her father had told her that you had to build in free time to breathe when you ran your own business. He should know. Richmond and Richmond (and let’s face it, Richmond) was a very successful law firm yet he and both Robbie and Sherry managed to have family lives outside of the firm. Her youngest brother Phillip, ten years older than she, often bragged that as a professor he got the whole summer off. She hadn’t seen much of him or her other siblings this summer, though. The holidays would bring them all home to roost, and wouldn’t Phillip tease her about how she still lived at home.

  Putting the overachieving Richmond children out of her mind, she joined Jane in the kitchen and tied on one of the full aprons hanging on hooks fresh and ready for the new day. She set on the task of putting the finishing touches on a little boy’s seventh birthday cake. It was to be decorated for a party at the main lakeshore, so she’d already frosted it a blue-gray like the water of the lake and had the trees to fill in this morning.

  “Blue-gray?” Jane clicked her tongue. “I never would have thought of it, but it is pretty.”

  “It’s the lake, Jane.” Caro turned the cake board to show her. “See? I’ll add more rippling waves for depth.”

  “Don’t forget the alligator.”

  Caro laughed. “I wouldn’t think of it! Cypress might have its own Wildlife Tech on staff to make sure no real ones wander into the little guy’s party, but they still love the sweet ones.”

  “You make their faces so cute,” Jane said. “All of the animals you make. They’re friendly-looking but also realistic. At least, I assume so. I’ll take your word on that, thanks.”

  “Not my word. I’m so not an outdoors kind of girl.”

  “You and me both.”

  “You ride your bike to and from work, Jane.”