Sugar Baby
by
Fiona Shinn
He grinned, and I decided that I liked his smile, with the single dimple digging deep into his left cheek. Of course, I liked everything about him, from the bottoms of his sensible sneakers, to the top of his shoulder-length jet-black hair which glimmered almost navy blue in the lights. I had a sneaky suspicion that Mr. Dominic Marlow had at least a tiny pinch of Asiatic blood in him. "No, Mrs. Alston. I'm afraid I've just arrived here last night, so you're the first person I've seen besides my landlady."
Whoever his landlady was, she was probably going to die happy. I knew I would.
Ducking behind the refrigerated counter, I pulled out the slice of Tiramisu I'd been saving for my closing time treat. Eh, what the hell. I could do with reining in my sweet tooth, if only for one night.
I placed it before him, along with the shiny silver spoon that I always kept in my apron pocket. "Then allow me to be the first to welcome you to Camden, Mr. Marlow."
The expression on his face was priceless, and I wished that I had a camera handy so that I would never forget it. Surprise and joy...I couldn't remember the last time seeing someone's unbridled pleasure at receiving such a small thing like a slice of cake. Unfortunately, it made me fall a little bit in love with him. But, I barely knew him! Clearly there had to be something wrong with me, if I was going to go gaga-eyed over the first handsome man I'd met since the disastrous breakup with Nathan.
"This is for me, Mrs. Alston?"
For the first time in weeks, the laughter came easily to me. "All for you, Mr. Marlow." I felt the old stirring of something within my body, something coming back to life, after being comatose for so long. "But only if you promise to call me Julia. I'm not married."
Did I sound nonchalant enough? I wasn't coming off too desperate, was I? I tried to make myself feel better by thinking that I was just correcting him. No problem. Just a minor correction.
He smiled. It was just the slightest tilt of the corners of his lips, but I felt the effect like a sack of flour tossed on the top of my head.
"Yet. You mean, you're not married yet," he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, and I shrugged, feigning a complete lack of interest in his statement.
I watched with baited breath as he took the first bite of the cake. For a moment his body went completely still, eyes closed shut, and my heart threatened to jump all the way up my throat.
His eyes opened slowly, and I received the sort of smile that could warm a woman, even in the middle of a snowstorm. |
