It wasn’t until Denise enrolled in school herself that she understood what her brother did when he went away to school. The guilt had bothered him for years. Ever since then he was helpless upon seeing a woman cry. It was the reason he’d remained friends with some of his former girlfriends. If they called to ask whether he would escort them to a social event he always agreed. That’s what friends were for.
Returning to Charleston meant starting over for Xavier. It wasn’t about looking for a woman as much as it was discovering who he was. For years he’d been a cadet, a first and then second lieutenant, captain and eventually a major. In Charleston, and away from military school, he could be Xavier Eaton—someone not bound by rules and regulations.
He left Munroe through a side door, leading directly into the faculty parking lot. Ninety minutes after driving away from the academy he maneuvered onto a side street behind Sweet Persuasions. Crews and trucks from a utility company had blocked off King Street to cars. It was apparent they were there to restore telephone service to the area.
Xavier walked around the corner and when he approached the shop with the blue awning he saw Selena standing outside watching a workman scale a telephone pole. His penetrating gaze lingered on her hair pulled into a ponytail before it traveled downward to a white camp shirt she’d tucked into the waistband of a pair of skinny jeans. The outline of her breasts under the shirt and the roundness of her hips quietly shouted her obvious femininity.
He slowed his approach, studying her delicate profile as she tilted her chin to watch the man perched atop the pole. Xavier didn’t know what it was about Selena Yates, but there was something special about her. Xavier was less than a few feet from Selena when she turned and stared at him. Her expression of uncertainty gave way to recognition as her lips parted in a smile.
“Hello again, Xavier,” she said in greeting.
His eyebrows lifted. “So, you remembered my name.”
Selena’s smile grew wider. She wanted to tell Xavier Eaton that not only had she remembered his name but also his gorgeous face and magnificent body. The man was the walking, breathing personification of everything exquisite about the male species.
“I remember all of my regular customers.”
He took a few steps bringing them only inches apart. She had to tilt her head to meet his eyes. “What makes you think I’m going to be a regular customer?”
“Don’t play yourself, Mr. Eaton. You’re here two days in a row.”
Xavier felt his pulse quicken when she lowered her seductive voice. “Yes.”
Selena forced herself not to look below his neck. Today he’d worn a long-sleeved pale blue shirt with a pair of black tailored slacks. She’d noticed with his approach the corps insignia on the buckle on his black leather belt. It was apparent Xavier Eaton was a marine in every sense of the word. It was as if he’d taken the service motto, Once a Marine Always a Marine, quite seriously.
“Did your mother and sister like their gifts?”
Xavier nodded again. “That’s why I’m here. They both loved them. My sister tried calling you to place an order, but got a busy signal.”
Selena pointed to the man on the pole. “That’s why they’re here. My phone has been out all day. I can’t call out or receive incoming calls. Of course, the disruption also affects my internet service.”
“Can’t you access the internet on your cell?”
“No! Once I leave the shop I try and distance myself from business, if only for a few hours. Having internet access on my cell is a temptation I’m not willing to risk.”
“Are you still taking orders?”
“Sure. Please come inside.”
Xavier found himself watching the gentle sway of Selena’s hips as she turned and walked into the shop. She hadn’t worn a hint of makeup, and he found her natural beauty refreshing. He wasn’t into women who wore fake hair, nails and eyelashes because he didn’t know whether he could touch them or not.
He’d dated one woman who wore makeup to bed, and even after several washings the stains from the makeup were still visible on the pillowcase and sheets. Another wouldn’t let him touch her hair, and another one didn’t want him to touch her breasts. To say that those relationships ended before they began was putting it mildly. All of the women were intelligent and attractive, but they’d come with a boatload of issues. When he shared a bed with a woman, nothing was off-limits.
Selena stared over her shoulder at Xavier as he glanced around the patisserie. Her last customer had left fifteen minutes ago, and in another hour she would close the shop. She doubted whether she would get too many more customers with the street blocked off to traffic. She would’ve closed earlier, but she was waiting for someone to pick up an order for a restaurant.
“What time do you close?” Xavier asked.
Her smile was dazzling. He’d read her mind. “Normally at six, but with no phone and the street closed to traffic I’m going to close early. I’m waiting for a pickup and then I’m out of here.”
Xavier walked over to the table with the shipping slips, and retrieved his BlackBerry. He jotted down the Brandywine Valley address of the Tuckers in the delivery section. “I’d like to order a brownie-fudge cheesecake and a pound of chocolate-and-peanut-butter pretzels.”
“When do you need them and where are they being shipped to?”
Selena stared at Xavier; he met her curious gaze with a penetrating one of his own. It had been a long time since she’d found a man intriguing and was uncertain why she felt strangely connected to him. Maybe it had something to do with his being in the military service. She wasn’t superficial, so her attraction to him wasn’t simply because of his handsome appearance. That was something she’d done as a teenager. At twenty-six she wanted to believe she was beyond the goo-goo-eyes stage in the presence of an attractive man. Yet the man standing in her shop, Xavier Eaton, had proven her wrong.
“They’re to be shipped to…” Xavier’s words trailed off when the bell above the door chimed. He stood straighter, his eyes widening in surprise. “Bell?”
The tall dark-skinned man with a shaved pate, mustache and goatee stopped short. “Holy…” He swallowed the expletive at the last possible moment. “Eaton?”
Xavier took a step, finding himself in a bear hug that nearly crushed his ribs, and making it difficult for him to breathe. He pounded the broad back of the man he hadn’t seen since they’d graduated from The Citadel. He rarely read the alumna updates online and had lost contact with many of his former classmates.
Robert Bell pulled back, released Xavier and shook his head. “What the hell are you doing in Charleston? Wait, don’t tell me. You’re Selena’s mystery man.”
Chapter 3
Xavier stared at Bobby Bell as if he’d taken leave of his senses. What was he talking about? And why did Bobby believe he had a connection to Selena. Today was only the second time they’d been seen with each other. His gaze shifted to Selena, his instincts suddenly on alert. There was something in her eyes that wordlessly communicated not to say anything.
Selena breathed an inaudible sigh when Xavier clamped