Page 3 of Just This Once

I’d done that once and was in absolutely no hurry to do it again. Besides, I had a successful and fulfilling career as a middle school teacher. In my previous district, I had joined every committee and was a force to be reckoned with in the teachers’ union. I was going to be principal one day. I had big plans. Dreams. None of which hinged on a man. Especially one with aflavor saver.

I needed only a minute to collect myself, defrost for a moment while I waited for Dickie to leave, and then I could headback toward the restaurant and find my car. As I stepped deeper into the store, the sticky-sweet smell of creamy milk chocolate hit me like a wall. Pink-and-red stuffed animals were strewn across the metal shelves, clinging to each other with hopeful eyes. As I passed a pair of monkeys, I flicked one in its plastic eyeball.

Down the aisle, I spotted the half-off Valentine’s Day candy and decided that drowning my sorrows in sugar was the only logical choice. My stomach rumbled as I stepped up to the barren shelves. Most of the good stuff had been picked over, leaving conversation hearts and a smattering of chocolate oranges. I scanned the shelves, crouching down to see if there was any hint of dark chocolate hiding somewhere. Frustrated, I shoved aside the boxes, sending a few tumbling to the floor.

My eyes caught on a small, hidden bag of individually wrapped chocolate squares.

Dark chocolate caramel with sea salt? Yahtzee!

I clutched the package to my chest before lifting on my tiptoes to peer over the metal rack. Thankfully the employee behind the register had lost all interest in me as he flipped through the pages of a magazine. I just needed a minute.

Sinking to my butt, I smoothed my skirt over my tights and kicked off my heels. I opened the package as discreetly as I could and slipped one decadent square out of the bag. After unwrapping it, I closed my eyes and let a bite of chocolate melt on my tongue. The bitterness and salt warred with the creamy caramel.

I moaned.

Looking at the morsel of salted dark chocolate, I sighed. “Looks like you’re going to be the only pleasure I’ll be getting tonight so... damn it, I’m going to enjoy you.”

I rolled my tongue around the salted caramel coating my mouth. “Oh my god, you’re good.”

Throat clearing jolted my attention away from devouring the chocolate. A steady rhythm of heavy boots walked up the aisle, and my eyes landed on a pair of scuffed-up work boots as they stopped at my side. My gaze followed the long trail, up well-worn denim, over trim hips, and across a broad, masculine chest before landing on the face of the man from the tattoo shop.

His eyes were piercing, so blue they looked almost gray. It was a stark contrast to the thick mop of hair that hung across his forehead. His features were strong, but not severe. The lift at the corner of his mouth confirmed he’d definitely overheard me nearly coming to orgasm from a piece of dime-store chocolate.

My heart caught in my throat as the handsome stranger looked at me with a devastating smirk. “Theft is a punishable offense, you know.”

TWO

WHIP

The last thingI expected to see was a heart-stoppingly gorgeous woman on Valentine’s Day tearing apart the candy aisle like a feral raccoon digging through trash.

I recognized her as the stunner who’d stopped in front of my brother’s tattoo shop before scurrying away. After she dipped into the general store, I used the opportunity to make a little detour on my way home.

From the end of the aisle, I had watched her aggressively push candy aside until she clutched a bag of chocolates on the shelf with a triumphant smile across her face. When she sank down and tore into the package right there on the floor of the general store, I was more than intrigued. The moan as the chocolate slid across her tongue shot straight to my cock.

She definitely wasn’t a townie. I had lived in Outtatowner my whole life, and I would have recognized someone as achingly pretty as her.

I crossed my arms to keep from laughing as her wide eyes stared up at me at being caught. Her eye color pulled me in. Not quite blue, but not quite green either—more of a smoky hue.Very interesting.

“Um...,” she mumbled around the chocolate before wiping at the corners of her mouth with a shy laugh.

I lifted a hand, and she moved to get up. “Oh, don’t mind me,” I said. “But I plan to pay for my discount chocolate.” I stepped closer, scanning the near-empty shelves before frowning down at her.

I harrumphed and crossed my arms.

“What?” she asked around a mouthful of chocolate.

My scowl deepened. “You stole the last one.”

The woman swallowed, the muscles working in her delicate neck as her throat bobbed. “Not stolen, impending purchase.”

“Ah.” I nodded, dismissing the sad variety of half-off candy. I reached for a plastic container full of red-, pink-, and white-striped candy corns and held it up. “What do you think Valentine Corn is?”

The woman glanced up, her shy smile simmering with humor. “I was too afraid to find out.”

I flipped the container back onto the shelf next to a box of conversation hearts and sighed. “Probably a safe bet,” I said.

She shook the bag in front of me. “Want one?”

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