Crush

by Michele Grant, Lutishia Lovely, Cydney Rax

Genres: Romance

Synopsis

In Crush, three of today’s hottest romance authors offer tempting tales about crushes that compel women to risk it all for love. “Wanted: You” by Lutishia Lovely features a man receiving erotic letters at his place of employment that shock his assistant. In “White Mocha” by Michele Grant, a woman who’s normally conservative about romance gets all fired up after enjoying an eyeful of a handsome coffee shop owner. And Cydney Rax’s “From One Lover to Another” stars a woman who shows her bad-girl side when her ex refuses to take no for an answer.

Release date: January 5, 2015

Publisher: Kensington Books

Print pages: 368

Sample

“You need to do something,” my assistant, Kim, said from the doorway of my office, propping a hand up on her hip.

I glanced up from the report I wasn’t really reading. “What do you mean?”

“Girl, you are dragging.”

“It’s eight o’clock at night.” I tried to justify my sluggishness.

She pursed her lips. “Um-hmm, but you looked like this at eight o’clock this morning.”

I reached back and lifted my hair off my neck, kneading the knotted muscles there. I sighed, knowing she was right. I’d been lethargic, restless, and listless for days. I hadn’t been sleeping well either. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me; maybe I need some vitamins, a protein injection, some caffeine or something.”

She laughed. “Oh, you need a protein injection, all right. How long since you and Say-It-Ain’t-So Joe broke up?” The lovely nickname she had for my ex, Joseph.

“Nine months.”

“And since then?”

I sighed again. “No one.”

“No one.” She shook her head in disgust. “Not a peck on the cheek or a hand grazing your hind parts. Jayla, get some already!”

I laughed. “Kim, there’s more to life than sex.”

“How would you know? You have no sex nor life to speak of.”

“That’s harsh. I’m career focused, I am woman, hear me roar.”

“Ya lonely and cranky. Fix it.”

“So you want me to just jump on the next guy I see?”

She turned to leave on her crocodile stilettos and smiled at me over her shoulder. “There’s an idea!”

“Yeah, right—that is SO me. . . .”

“Seriously,” she called out as she strode toward the elevator. “A little spontaneity wouldn’t kill you.”

“That’s what people say to excuse rash behavior.”

“Nothing wrong with cutting loose every once in a while. You don’t have to make it a lifestyle choice. And don’t stay here all night—you cannot snuggle up to income projections when you’re old!” Her final words caused a few of the other late-night stragglers to stick their heads out of their cubes and offices to see whom she was addressing.

“Good NIGHT, Kim.”

“ ’Night, boss.”

The thing of it was, she was right. Since Joseph and I had split (okay, since I had kicked his lying, cheating, wallet-“borrowing” ass out) I had funneled all of my energy into my career and little else. I stopped into the coffee shop every morning (specialty mocha and zucchini muffin), I visited my grandmother once a week, I went out with friends once a month. Everything else was work related.

I had been working at a nonstop pace for months. And I was well on my way to being the youngest chief financial officer this company had ever seen. Granted, BeniCareCo was a small, independent health insurance company, but I was making my mark. As the Assistant Vice President of Financial Operations, I was two steps away from my goal. But I was tired. Maybe the listless, restless thing was my body’s way of telling me to slow it down.

Slow down for whom and for what? What was I in a rush to get home to? Most of my friends were either married or on the same crazy cutthroat corporate merry-go-round I was. I was too restless to curl up with a book. Maybe I’d watch a movie, soak in a long bath. Irritated with myself, I closed the folder that was in front of me and turned away.

As I swiveled my chair toward the window, I looked out on the late summer night. Chicago was on the tail end of a heat wave. Downtown Chicago was full of people enjoying the balmy, breezy weather. Across the street, I saw a couple coming out of the new coffee shop on the corner. The couple looked happy and carefree, clutching each other with one hand and their coffee with the other. The sign reading JAY’S COFFEE CAFÉ bathed them in an electric blue and green light.

Suddenly I wanted what they had—their togetherness, their apparent happiness, a shared jovial moment. I sighed. You have to give to get. You have to look to find. And I hadn’t been doing much of either lately. Maybe I couldn’t get that “happy couple” vibe right away but for now I’d settle for their coffee.

By the time I packed up my desk, got downstairs, crossed the street, and entered the coffee shop, there were no other customers. Actually, looking around, there didn’t appear to be any workers there either.

“Hello?” I called out.

“We’re closing up,” a deep voice called out from the back.

I was inexplicably disappointed. As if the promise of that light-hearted moment could truly be found in a cup of coffee. “Story of my life,” I said to no one in particular and pivoted back toward the door.

“Excuse me?” The voice sounded closer.

I swiveled back around and stopped dead in my tracks. A flash of pure heat passed through me, awakening nerve endings and receptors that had been long dormant. In front of me stood a specimen of maleness that could only be described one way: “hotness.” The kind of hotness that burned right through common sense and rational thought.

In the times I had visited this coffee shop, I had never seen him. And believe me, I would have remembered. He was gorgeous in an “Oh-My-GOD, where-did-you-come-from” kind of way. The kind that takes your breath away and leaves you just slightly off-balance. He was a beautiful, exotic blend of European and African-American ancestry and had a Derek Jeter kind of vibe without all the unnecessary polish. Raw, earthy, and did I say brutally hot? Light green eyes framed with thick lashes, wavy brown hair closely cropped to his head, full lips set into a square jawline currently softened with a smile. He was a solid block of a man, at just six feet tall with the muscles of a gym regular. Flat front khakis and a navy polo with the shop’s logo imprinted stretched easily across his frame. He had the look of what I’d call a man’s man, even while wearing a bright pink apron and clutching a purple mug decorated with green hearts.

The longer I studied him, the more he studied me. I knew what he saw: a curvy woman, busty with hips that could politely be called “generous”—a true hourglass figure no matter how hard I fought against it. I was taller than average, with caramel-colored skin and thick wavy hair of the same color curling past my shoulders. A rounded face often referred to as “cute” with wide, light brown eyes and a pouty mouth with no gloss left on it from this morning. And there we both stood, somewhat intrigued by instant chemistry, that undeniable energy—after thirty-three years of living it was happening to me. That primal spark calling out from male to female and back again.

I stood staring at him as though he were the last shrimp on the buffet table and I hadn’t had fresh seafood in a while. Clearly I was deprived of far more than sleep when the mere presence of a male made me jittery and breathless. Get a grip, Jayla, I told myself sternly, determined to raise my eyes above his waist and act like I had some good sense.

When I finally lifted my gaze back up to his face, his eyes had gone from casually friendly to heatedly curious. It wasn’t until the drool was literally pooling at the corners of my mouth that I regained any semblance of composure. “Oh, I’m sorry, long day,” I lamely explained. “I’ll just get out of your way so you can close up.” I smiled sadly, tentatively as I turned back toward the door. Was I so starved for male attention that I had manufactured chemistry with the coffee guy?

“Hey,” he said softly, his voice deep, velvety, and smooth.

I looked back. “Hey?”

“I can always make just one more.” He smiled with a flash of pearly white teeth that sent a tingle straight up my spine. “Do you mind if I make you my last customer?”

I don’t mind if you make me your concubine. “No, no, that’s fine. I appreciate it. I’m sure you’re ready to get out of here.”

His look was pensive. “Don’t worry about it, you’re a customer.”

Right. Customer, here to buy coffee. “Well, thanks.”

“Not a problem. Will it make you uncomfortable if I lock up?”

“Not at all, do what you need to do.” I stood primly, clutching my case in front of me.

He brushed past me to lock the door and switch the OPEN sign to CLOSED. He slowly circled the store, pulling down shades and closing the drapes. It suddenly felt like a close and intimate space rather than a storefront. Walking back he paused beside me, close enough that the scent of him wafted to me. I took a deep breath. He smelled like coffee, cinnamon, chocolate, soap, and some sort of spicy musk. “So, what’ll you have?”

You on a platter, please. . . . I looked up at him and saw by the slight glint in his eyes that he had heard me loud and clear, even though I hadn’t said it out loud. Okay, maybe the chemistry wasn’t so manufactured after all. “What’s your specialty?”

“White mocha.” Two words, innocent words at that, but I instantly shivered and flushed. His nostrils flared and his jaw tightened as he watched me.

“I’ll take it extra large, extra hot.” After the words left my mouth, I realized how they sounded. I was a little bit out of control.

He swallowed and blinked as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard me correctly. “I beg your pardon?”

I took a step back and grabbed the last remnants of my composure. “The white mocha extra large, extra hot. To go.”

He stepped back as well. “Oh, okay. Will that be all?” He started to move away.

I paused. What if I did what Kim suggested? What if I decided to be a little spontaneous, proposition the first guy I saw . . . this guy? Not ask his name, not care what his circumstances are, just ask for what I want in this moment, for right now. I trembled a little just in contemplation.

He saw the tremble, stopped walking, and looked me over from head to toe. Those ivy green eyes clearly missed nothing, noticing my tension, my fluttering pulse, and my parted lips. Green eyes heated to laser intensity before sending me a clearly appreciative look. He raised one brow, saying slowly, “Is there anything I can get you to go with that mocha?”

“Would you mind terribly if I had it here after all?” I said breathlessly, almost panting with anticipation and nervousness. I’d never propositioned a barista before; okay, or any stranger. What if he said no? Oh God, what if he said yes?

“The mocha?” He tilted his head and gave a look that said if you want it, ask for it.

“Yes, the mocha and . . .” I set down my purse and my laptop case and stepped to him in my black, figure-hugging sheath dress and peep-toe heels. “Listen, you don’t know anything about me or what I’m going through and I don’t know anything about you—”

“I do know something about you,” he interrupted, meeting me until we stood toe to toe. “I know you are sexy and beautiful and you like coffee. I know you don’t hook up with strange men often.”

“Ever. I don’t hook up with strange men ever,” I corrected him. “And how do you know?”

He reached down and touched the fluttering vein pulsing at the base of my neck, caressing the area in soft strokes. “Because you’re nervous and unsure. It’s cute, sexy.”

Cute. Sexy. I nodded with no clue what to say next. Should I, shouldn’t I? I had re-engaged my brain and it was getting in the way of what the rest of me wanted.

He grinned at me. “Let me get you that coffee.”

Coffee. Yes. That is what I came in here for. I stood there and continued to argue with myself. Was I really going to make a move on some strange guy at the coffee house? I mean, really? I sighed. I was bold, but I wasn’t that bold. Tonight, the only craving I was going to assuage was for flavored, expensive caffeine. I watched while he measured beans, steamed milk, and mixed syrups in a cup. I could watch him all day and feel it was twenty-four hours spent productively. I sighed again.

He looked over at me with a look that sizzled. “So . . . just the coffee?” He was giving me every opportunity to make a move.

Wimpy Jayla beat Wanton Jayla down. I shrugged. “Just the coffee.”

With a final stir, he capped the beverage and handed me the cup. “Tell me what you think.”

I took a sip, my eyes slid shut, and I moaned. It was the best white mocha on the face of the planet: sweet, fragrant, hot, rich, and strong. The chocolate flavor didn’t battle the coffee; it was a heavenly marriage of taste, texture, and spice. I took another sip and enjoyed the flavor of it exploding on my tongue and sliding down the back of my throat. “Oh my God.” When I opened my eyes, his face had taken on a predatory gleam. “What?” I asked him.

“Your face when you drank the coffee . . . that was a look I’d like to see again. And again.”

I took a shaky breath and vowed to maintain some semblance of control.

“It’s okay, you know.”

“What’s okay?”

“I’m not going to do anything you don’t want.”

Ha! If he only knew.... “Thanks.”

“Do you work around here?”

“Across the street. Are you new here? I haven’t seen you before.”

“I’m just helping to close tonight; I’m usually at one of the other stores.”

I nodded. “This is the best white mocha I’ve ever had. There’s something different about it. It’s not like the others I’ve had here.”

“I added a little something extra. It’s my own private formula.”

“Is that right?”

“Indeed.”

“What would a girl have to do to get the formula?”

“What would a girl be willing to do to get it?”

I let a slow smile spread across my face. This guy was trouble. In all caps and bolded. I liked it. I took a final sip of the brew and set the cup down. “What do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

“Come back and see me. That’s payment enough.”

I flashed a grateful smile and gathered up my things. Nothing like stellar coffee and harmless flirting with a good-looking man to reinvigorate you. He came around the counter to unlock the door for me. As I walked past I said, “Thanks. For everything.”

“You’re welcome.” He took a step toward me and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Just so you know . . . I would’ve given you anything you asked for.”

I paused midstep and shifted toward him a little. “Anything?”

“Absolutely.”

I lifted my eyes to his and we shared a smile as though we knew far more about each other than we really did. I nodded. “Good to know.” I moved forward.

“Have a nice night.”

“You do the same.” I strolled out into the night wondering if I’d just dodged a bullet or missed out on something potentially great. Only time would tell.

“What do you mean you walked out? Are you crazy?” My best friend Celeste was never one to mince words. Today was no exception.

It was a week after meeting Cute Coffee Guy and I had just finished sharing the story over cocktails.We were at a trendy new bar and grill that was ridiculously packed for a Thursday night. “Celeste, I’m not one for the casual sharing of body fluids.... You know this.”

“No one is asking you to sleep your way down Michigan Avenue. I’m saying just once, do something outrageously fun and satisfying without thinking it to death.”

Celeste was tall and willowy, and could’ve been a model if she hadn’t been determined to save the world, one cause at a time. Currently, she was running a nonprofit to bring free fitness centers to areas of Chicago in need.

She was also a serial man-eater. She devoured them like potato chips and disposed of them like Kleenex. She was very much like the Samantha character in Sex and the City: a great friend but you would not want her to date your brother. Best friend or not, I would not be taking dating tips from her. Instead of sharing those thoughts, I diplomatically replied, “You aren’t the first person to tell me that recently.”

“How hot was he?”

“Blazing, smoking, evaporating-panty hot.” I couldn’t get the look of him out of my head.

“And yet yours stayed on.”

“That they did.” I finished my drink and pushed the glass away.

“Well, what held you back? He was giving all of the ‘green means go’ signals.”

I had asked myself that question a time or two in the last seven days. “I don’t know. Maybe that was the problem. Who knows how many women he’s mixed a special mocha for? Maybe I’m just not that girl.”

“Was he giving a smarmy ‘notch on my headboard’ vibe?”

“He really wasn’t. Truthfully, I made the first semi-sort of move. And then I changed my mind.”

“Or lost your nerve.”

“Or both. But I can’t stop thinking about him.”

She arched a brow. “You’ve got a bad case of coulda, shoulda, woulda.”

“Along with what-if-itis.”

“Next time at least get the man’s name, marital status, criminal history, something.”

“Next time? I hardly think so. That was one of those now-or-never moments, I think.”

“You never know what’s around the next corner. Chicago is a big city but a small town.”

“True.”

“Speaking of which, remember that guy Wayne who hits on you every time he sees you?”

I groaned. “Ugh, yes, why?”

“He’s approaching on your right in 3—2—1 . . .”

“Hey Jayla, looking good.” Wayne, an accountant from the company where I used to work, was the very definition of persistent. No matter how many times I told him “no, thank you,” he just seemed to pursue me more. He was a good-looking guy, great credentials, but . . . he was trying too hard. It made me uncomfortable.

Looking at Wayne made me realize one more thing that had attracted me to Cute Coffee Guy. He didn’t try to engage me or attract me, he just did. It was effortless and that much more sexy because of it. Wayne suffered in comparison. “Hi Wayne, what’s good?”

His smile broadened. “You and me given half a chance.”

I exchanged a look with Celeste. She rolled her eyes. I was spared having to respond by the arrival of another man at Wayne’s side. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Larry. Larry, this is Jayla and her friend Celeste.”

Inwardly, I sighed. I saw the look Celeste gave Larry. She was going to invite him to sit down, which meant Wayne would sit down. Which meant I’d have to pretend to be interested in whatever he had to say. I wasn’t in the mood. “Larry, why don’t you take my seat? I have to head out.”

“Where are you headed? I’ll walk with you,” Wayne offered.

“Oh, that’s okay, Wayne. I’m not that far away. Larry, Celeste—have a great evening.” Celeste was already giving Larry her patented spider-to-fly look.

“No way am I letting a fine lady such as yourself walk these streets alone.”

I’m positive my face resembled a trapped deer in headlights at that point. Thankfully, Celeste stepped into the breach. “Why don’t you catch a cab since you have that thing to go to way across town?”

“Right, right.” I smiled an insincere apology at Wayne. “I’m just going to grab a cab. Don’t worry about me. Great seeing you, though!” Before he could answer, I had my tote bag on my shoulder and was out the front door. Stepping out into the humid night, I decided a cab wasn’t a bad idea. The suit and heels I’d put on hours earlier were great for the office, not the best for a long stroll. I flagged a cab and slid into the back. On a whim, instead of giving my home address, I said, “Grant Park, please.”

It took less than five minutes to get there even in happy-hour traffic. For some reason, I just wanted to walk around for a minute. I switched into some ballet flats I had in my tote and started my stroll. I came to a hill overlooking the softball fields, sat down, crossed my legs, and closed my eyes. It was the first time in weeks that I’d just done nothing. Deep breath in, deep breath out. I could feel the tension melting away.

I’m not sure how long I sat there in the moment and at peace. But I liked the feeling. It seemed like I had spent the majority of my life just trying to get to the next, better place. I grew up as an only child raised mostly by my grandmother in the less than enviable neighborhood of Englewood, and scrapped and clawed my way through public schools before landing a scholarship to Duke University.

Duke had been both a blessing and a curse. For the first time I was surrounded by people who were unfamiliar. They didn’t look or sound like the people I’d grown up with. But I was in an atmosphere of learning, excitement, and growth. I blossomed. I soaked up alternative cultures and ways of life, understanding that I could live any one of them that I wished to live.

I had wanted to pursue an advanced degree, but my grandmother had fallen ill. I came back to Chicago and took an entry-level position at a nonprofit company, where I met Celeste. She assisted me in finding live-in care for my grandmother.

Then came the men. The string of “looked good on paper, just okay in bed, and not ready for prime time” boyfriends. By the time I met Joseph, I was ready to be dazzled and swept off my feet. He did just that. As my career was progressing and taking off, he was there with the encouraging word. Mostly, he was just there. In my house, eating my food, “borrowing” my money without my knowledge.

The last straw came after a grueling two-week period on the road meeting my people in the BeniCareCo field offices. As I sat in the airport waiting to get home, my phone rang. It was American Express, curious to know why I was charging business expenses in Denver and pleasure expenses at a five-star resort in the Dominican Republic at the same time. I had no idea what they were talking about. They gave me the resort name, phone number, and the room number I was supposedly staying in. When I called down there, Joseph answered the phone and there was the sound of girlish giggles in the background. I was too through. I called the front desk and let them know that none of the charges would be honored. I called the airlines and let them know the tickets were fraudulent. I called my bank and had them begin a fraud investigation.

When I got home, I packed up Joseph’s stuff. I didn’t realize that he had virtually moved in. I suspected he didn’t even have a place of his own to go to. I sent his things in a prepaid taxi to his mother’s house, changed my home number and locks, advised the doorman to never let him back in, and decided that was that. I had no idea how or if he got back from the Dominican Republic with his beach mate and I frankly didn’t care. That let me know the reality of that relationship. I never missed Joseph, I just missed having someone there.

I heard a loud cheer go up below and I was startled out of my reflection. The sun was starting to set as I opened my eyes to see someone sprinting around the diamond. The cheers amplified as he slid into home. With a smile, I gathered my things and started to turn away. The logo on the front of one of the team shirts caught my eye: JAY’S COFFEE CAFÉ in a familiar blue and green. Impossible. But now I had to take a closer look.

I walked to the edge of the field and peered over at the players. In the center of the celebratory group was Cute Coffee Guy, wearing the number 00 on his uniform. He wore the baseball shirt and athletic shorts well. Yeah, he looked just as good as I remembered. I watched him laughing and talking with his co-workers before I reluctantly turned back toward the path.

Walking away briskly, I started talking to myself. “You are the biggest idiotic wimp on the planet! Seriously. I mean the man was right there. Did you NOT see that man? You couldn’t even wave, say hello, and see if he remembered who you were? No, not you. You have to slink away into the night all safe and stupid. This is how it’s gonna be, huh? Look but don’t touch? Coulda, woulda, shoulda INDEED.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt while you are clearly in the middle of an important discussion with yourself b. . .