Page 9 of One Sweet Taste (Love with a Price)

Foster reached for his jeans, yanking them on as he looked at Linzee. Her face was bright red with embarrassment, and he could see tears in her eyes. Fuck! He was going to kill Ethan.

Tori stepped forward and yanked on Ethan’s arm harder this time. “Ethan, we are waiting outside!” This time his brother paid attention and followed her out the door, grumbling. But it was too late. Linzee was practically sprinting out the door.

“Linz! Wait!” He tried to grab her arm to stop her, but she pulled away from him, a tear spilling over.

“No, Foster. Just … don’t.” And she turned and ran.

Chapter Nine

The next morning, Linzee sucked down her third cup of coffee. After a sleepless night of tossing and turning—and way too much thinking—she was pretty sure there wasn’t enough coffee in the world to wake her up.

She sat at the ledge counter at the Cup o’ Joe coffee house. The counter lined the large bay window that faced Main Street. She told herself she wasn’t sitting there because it faced F. Price Photography. She told herself she wasn’t hoping for one glimpse of the god of a man who had been inside of her last night.

Warmth flooded her at the thought. She’d tried to tell herself it was wrong and that the whole thing was a mistake, but her body disagreed. Her nipples pebbled at the thought of his mouth on her, and she could feel liquid pool at her center as she thought about how amazing he’d felt. The only man she’d been with was her husband, and in eighteen years of marriage, she’d never felt so wanton, so consumed with need.

She lifted a shaking hand to her coffee cup.Pull it together, Linzee.

The thought of facing her boss was enough to sober her up. While she’d ignored fifteen phone calls and texts from Foster, she hadn’t received one from Ethan. The thought of facing Foster might be a moot point since Ethan could very well fire her, and she might have to leave town anyway.

The bell above the door jingled, and Marnie Peters walked in. Linzee had run into Marnie around town, and the older woman was so engaging that Linzee had found herself volunteering to help at the animal shelter Marnie owned.

“Linzee!” Marnie came over and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m so glad I ran into you. I just got the most wonderful news. My daughter is moving back to town.”

Linzee smiled, but she couldn’t help feel a small pang of jealousy. She’d give anything if her own daughter lived closer. “That’s wonderful, Marnie.”

“You’re just going to love her. She was friends with Becca in school. Those girls sure knew how to have fun, let me tell you.”

Linzee couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “I have no doubt.”

Marnie chatted for a few more minutes before she said, “Well, I’d better get. I’ll see you Friday at Becca’s little soiree.”

Before Linzee could answer that she might not be going, Marnie was already making her way over to the front counter to place her order.

Turning back to the window, Linzee took a sip of her coffee and watched a couple of twenty-something women breeze through, deep in conversation. She wouldn’t have given them a second glance until she heard Foster’s name.

“So let me get this straight,” the young brunette was saying. “You made an appointment for Foster Price to take a Christmas card picture of you with your dog just so you could spend some time alone with him?”

Linzee glanced at the blonde, who flipped her hair back as she giggled. Not only was the blonde way younger than her, but Linzee would bet the girl still had a warranty on the double-D breasts she sported on her tiny body. Why did men like women who displayed two massive water balloons on their chests?

“I know Foster is into me,” the blonde was saying. “He flirts with me all the time.”

Her friend rolled her eyes. “Foster Price flirts with everyone. Duh, Heather.”

The woman named Heather planted perfectly manicured hands on her hips and glared at her friend. “Not like this. I know what I’m talking about. Foster is into me. He just needs a little push. So when I go in with Princess, I’m going to make my move.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up. I hear he has a thing for Ethan’s new chef. Some gal from Chicago.”

Linzee’s ears perked up, but the women paused their conversation as they placed their order. When they sat at a table behind her, they picked up where they’d left off.

“So have you seen this woman?” Heather asked her friend. “The one Foster supposedly likes?”

“Nope, but I heard she’s pretty,” the brunette said.

Linzee heard a harrumphing sound that she assumed came from Heather. “Well, I heard she’s old. People can talk all they want, but it’s not like Foster would ever choose some cougar when he could have this.”

Cougar. She’d always hated that term. But that was what she was, wasn’t she? Since she’d struck up a friendship with Rebecca Price, Linzee had learned a lot about the Price clan, including their ages. Foster was thirty-two, eight years younger than she was.

Linzee had heard enough. The air seemed to close in on her as the women continued to speculate about all of her faults.

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