One Sweet Taste Read online

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2016 N.J. Young

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-731-0

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Amanda Jean

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  For S.E.A.N.—My non-judgy, supportive, loving group of sisters. I couldn't love you more, you hookers!

  ONE SWEET TASTE

  Love With a Price, 2

  N.J. Young

  Copyright © 2016

  Chapter One

  Walking down Main Street from her apartment, Linzee Felton took in the Christmas decorations. Garland and red bows lined the quirky little shops, and the lampposts along the street were adorned with large decorative snowflakes.

  She was thrilled to have scored the job of head chef at Price Bar & Grill, the much-anticipated new Ethan Price restaurant, but she’d been a little wary about moving from Chicago to the small town of Oakville.

  Stopping for a moment despite the cold, Linzee gazed through the window of a shoe store as she absently ran her finger along the sturdy brick building. The shopping possibilities were just one reason Linzee was pleasantly surprised to find she loved the quaint little town.

  Before moving to Oakville, she’d had no idea it was a haven for artists. The eclectic culture of the little town made moving a few hours away from her daughter a little more bearable. Not that her daughter Georgia needed her mom now that she was a sophomore at Northwestern.

  The wind picked up a bit, bringing Linzee’s attention to the chill in the air. She wrapped her coat a little tighter around herself with her free hand and clutched her heavy coffee mug with the other. Since she lived so close to work, carrying her giant coffee mug down the street had seemed reasonable. Well, it had in her early-morning, pre-caffeinated brain fog.

  A middle-aged woman passed her, and offered a large smile as she said good morning. Linzee smiled back. Everyone was so friendly here. She was enjoying being able to take a breath since she didn’t have to worry about running into her douchebag ex-husband every time she turned a corner in Oakville.

  A light flurry of snow swirled around her as she started back down the street. Cupping both hands around her mug for warmth, she stopped to gaze at the beautiful pictures in the front window of a photography studio. Christmas was in less than two weeks, and the studio featured a display of holiday photographs including one of the Kansas City Plaza Lights, as well as a photo of a little girl hanging an ornament on a small tree.

  That was the photo that struck her. The photographer captured the child’s beauty, innocence, and wonder. The name in the corner said F. Price. Price, hmm. Was the photographer related to her new boss?

  “Ahem.” The deep voice startled Linzee, causing her to spin around so fast that she stumbled backwards. Strong arms reached out to steady her. The feel of hard muscle and the scent of woodsy aftershave combined with virile man gave Linzee an immediate warm feeling. She looked up ... and up ... into sparkling blue eyes.

  The warm feeling immediately gave way to a swarm of butterflies as she took in the man in front of her. Dark hair peeked out beneath a blue knit cap, and a five o’clock shadow adorned his strong jaw even though it was only nine in the morning. When he smiled, revealing perfect white teeth, Linzee felt as if she were looking into the sun. My God, it should be illegal for a man to be that freaking gorgeous. He left her breathless.

  “Are you okay, sugar?”

  His sexy rumble of a voice was like a cherry on top of six feet of perfection. Reluctantly, Linzee pushed away from the stranger, feeling every day of her forty years. This man was obviously much younger than she was. And the last thing she wanted was to be known as the new town cougar ogling hot young guys.

  “I’m fine. You just startled me is all.” Crap, did she really sound that breathless? She tucked a red curl behind her ear and really wished she’d done a better job that morning of taming her frizz.

  “You sure? You sound a little ... out of breath.” His eyes lit with amusement, and Linzee felt her teeth grit. He was laughing at her. If it’s one thing she couldn’t handle, it was a man making fun of her. She’d had to deal with that enough when she was married.

  “I said I’m fine.” With one hard shove, she backed away, startling the man in front of her as the coffee in her cup sloshed all over his navy coat.

  “Crap.” She sighed. This was not starting out to be a good morning.

  “You’re lucky it’s thirty degrees outside. If that coffee had been steaming hot, I might’ve sued you.”

  “Sue me? It was an accident. Are you ...” He was teasing her. Calm the fuck down, Linzee. He’s just teasing. She took a deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry. I’d be happy to pay to have your coat cleaned.” Her humiliation growing by the second, Linzee was afraid to look up into the man’s eyes. Instead she was mentally crossing her fingers for the sidewalk to just open up and swallow her whole.

  A strong hand reached out and cupped her face, tilting her head up. How could his hands be so warm when it was so cold outside? The man looked into her eyes, his amusement gone. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll forget about the cleaning bill if you tell me your name and agree to have dinner with me tonight.”

  Her brows rose in surprise. Dinner? This man was obviously out of her league. His full lips curled into a flirty little smile, and his eyes—those blue eyes that could draw you in and never let you go—held an emotion she couldn’t quite recognize. Desire?

  Oh God. Realization hit Linzee. Of course. This was a man who snapped his fingers and had women falling at his feet. If he wanted a woman in his bed, it probably didn’t take him two seconds. Turn on the charm, and women would be lining up to take their pants off for him. Well, not her. If he thought she was some sort of charity case—a chubby older woman who would just give him a quick lay—he was wrong.

  Never mind that her mouth watered at the thought of feeling those strong lips on hers. Never mind that the thought of wrapping her legs around him made her insides go all melty.

  She backed away, out of his reach, and hoped her voice sounded firmer than she felt. “Are you serious right now? I do not pick up strange men!”

  That damn smile was back. “Well, maybe you should try it, Miss...?”

  “Miss None of Your Damn Business. I have to go. I’m late for work.” With that, she turned around and stalked off down the street. Don’t look back, Linzee. Don’t look back.

  Chapter Two

  Foster Price grinned wider as he watched the redhead stalk down the street, admiring the way her round ass swayed in her jeans. He’d love to get his hands on that ass. Well, more than his hands. He’d cup those beautiful round cheeks and pull her close as he sank into that sweet pussy. He’d been close enough to her to know she smelled like strawberries. Did she taste like strawberries, too? Damn, he’d bet that pussy was sweet. And so fucking hot.

  He wanted to hear the sounds she made when he had his mouth on her. She sure was a little firecracker. She’d do more than whimper. Foster would bet anything he could make her scream.

  And she was so cute. More than cute. She was fucking beautiful. She had to be new in town. He certainly would have remembered seeing her walk down Main Street with all those curves that made a man forget his own name. Her creamy skin, rosy lips, and
fiery green eyes stirred his insides in a way he didn’t quite recognize. When he’d seen the curvy woman standing in front of his studio, he’d stopped to admire her for several moments before he’d finally said something. She was enough to brighten his moody morning.

  He’d watched her as she studied the photograph in the window. Her eyes had been wide with wonder, and he’d immediately found himself wishing he had his camera to capture the look on her face.

  Foster sighed as the gorgeous woman disappeared around the corner before he fished the keys out of his pocket to unlock the studio door. Yeah, finding out who the firecracker was? Definitely going at the top of his to-do list.

  He shrugged out of his coat as his eyes strayed to the photograph on the far wall, and his good mood evaporated in an instant. The photo of a woman holding her premature infant was good ... but apparently it hadn’t been great. Before Foster could sink any more into his self-pity, his phone rang. Recognizing his brother’s ringtone, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and answered as he walked to his office in the back of the spacious studio.

  “Ethan, you’re up early. It’s only nine.” Since his brother had moved back to town, he’d spent every moment with his girlfriend, Tori Bennett. The two were holed up in Tori’s apartment most of the time. It was a wonder the poor girl could still walk.

  “Did Tori come to her senses and decide she fell for the wrong brother?” Foster smiled as Ethan growled over the phone.

  “Fuck you, Foster. If you come near my girlfriend, I will kick you square in the ass.”

  He laughed. Tori was his sister Becca’s best friend, and he viewed her as a little sister as well. But it sure was fun to flirt with her, especially now that it had the added benefit of annoying his younger brother.

  “Look, man,” Ethan continued before Foster could goad him any more, “I was hoping you could come over to the restaurant this morning and take some pictures. Luke and his crew are going to be there, and I really want to capture every step of the renovation for marketing. We need all the promo we can get before it opens on Valentine’s Day.”

  Damn. Foster had completely forgotten he’d promised Ethan he’d take pictures today. “Uh, this morning?” He was really hoping to get the few photo shoots he had scheduled out of the way and then head down to Quigley’s for a drink. “I have some family holiday shoots, so I—”

  Ethan cut him off. “Look, I happen to know your shoots aren’t until later. Becca checked the calendar on your phone.”

  Foster made a mental note to flick his nosy little sister in the back of the head. She never could stay out of his stuff.

  “Foster, you can’t just pull back. I know how sensitive you are, man. If you don’t want to talk to me about it, talk to Dylan.”

  Out of his four siblings, Foster had been the closest with Dylan. However, all of the Price kids were a tight-knit bunch.

  “There’s nothing to talk about, man. I didn’t win.” Again. “End of story.”

  He heard Ethan’s frustrated sigh on the end of the line. “Whether or not you win the Donovan Photography Award doesn’t prove anything. You’re a brilliant artist. Are you really going to let a group of people you don’t even know define your worth?”

  “I don’t want to talk about this. No offense, but I’d prefer not to start my morning discussing my failures.”

  “Fuck, Foster,” Ethan growled, and then conceded. “Fine. Get over here, then, and take some damn pictures. You can meet my new head chef. She’s probably already there, working up a menu for the festival next week.”

  Foster shook his head, and decided having a distraction this morning was probably a good thing.

  His brother was crazy. As if the holidays weren’t stressful enough, Ethan was organizing a holiday food-and-wine festival. Foster had to give it to him, though. It really was a great way to build anticipation for the new restaurant. People would be lining up before the doors opened.

  He said good-bye to his brother before he went to get his camera bag and choose the proper lenses. He grabbed his jacket on the way out, figuring he’d just walk over to the restaurant and try to get his head in the game. It was just right around the corner in the same direction the redhead had walked. Foster’s mouth tipped up. Maybe he could figure out exactly where she worked.

  Chapter Three

  Linzee sat her laptop down on the big butcher-block workspace and powered it up. The kitchen in Price B&G was a dream ... and much bigger than the kitchen in her little Chicago restaurant. A pang of sadness went through her as she thought about her former restaurant. Her rat-bastard ex had called in the loan he’d given her to open the place. He’d known it would bankrupt her. It had almost killed her to close her doors when her name had just been starting to get out there, but she hadn’t had a choice.

  Her ex was just lucky their daughter had stopped her from figuring out creative ways to kill him and hide his body.

  Linzee moved around the kitchen, admiring the new stainless-steel appliances. She hummed as she made a pot of coffee, trying to keep her mind from drifting to a stranger with dark hair and blue eyes. And strong, smiling lips. And stubble that would scrape along her chin to cause an erotic little bite of pain when he kissed her. What would it be like to kiss those strong lips? He wouldn’t be tentative. He’d be sure, firm. His mouth would easily probe hers open and his tongue ... Mmmm, what would he taste like? Would he taste as good as he smelled?

  She shook her head to clear it. Snap out of it, Linzee. What is wrong with you? It’s just been too damn long since you’ve been with a man, that’s all. When she got home tonight, she’d have to unpack some more boxes and see if she could find her bullet vibrator that she’d named Albert. Yep, Albert never let her down. If a vibrator could do dishes, then he’d be the perfect man.

  Taking a sip of coffee, Linzee pulled up the recipes on her computer, scrolling through the finger desserts to make note of the ones she’d picked out that would be perfect for the festival.

  While she was highlighting ingredients she needed to order, she heard the bell jingle over the front door. Ethan must be here. That was odd. He usually came in through the back. After sliding off her stool, she refilled her coffee cup and then pushed through the swinging door that led into the main dining area.

  “Good morning, boss. I was just making a list of—” she stopped and gasped at the man in front of her who lowered the camera from his face to look at her. His eyes widened in surprise.

  Oh, holy hell, what was he doing here? She tried to recover from her shock, but the raven-haired man from earlier was already grinning at her. “Well, well, it’s my little firecracker. Don’t tell me you’re Ethan’s new head chef.”

  “I—yes, I am.” Stay firm, Linzee. He shouldn’t be in here. “Would you mind telling me what you’re doing in here taking pictures? We’re not open yet, as you can see.”

  “Yes, I can see that.” But he made no move to put his camera away. In fact, he lifted his camera and pointed it directly at her, clicking away.

  “Are you taking my picture?” Linzee asked, horrified. “Stop that!”

  He chuckled. “Why, sugar? You’re the prettiest thing in here.” Click. Click.

  “I said stop!” Why couldn’t he just be gorgeous instead of gorgeous and frustrating?

  “You shouldn’t be in here. If you don’t leave, I’m going to call the police.” She crossed her arms, which was an awkward move with her full breasts, and raised her chin in defiance.

  The man glanced down, and she realized that crossing her arms only managed to push her breasts upward, making her cleavage visible over the V-neck of her sweater. The man’s gaze latched right onto her breasts. When he stepped closer, she saw that his ice-blue eyes held so much heat they practically scorched her. When he dragged his eyes up to her face, she saw something there that made her knees weak.

  “Leave, huh? Are you sure you want me to leave?” His voice had turned husky, making her mouth go dry. She ran her tongue over her lips and could
have sworn she heard him let out a low groan as he focused on her mouth.

  “Uh, yes, you have to leave. You’re not supposed to be here.” She could have kicked herself for sounding so breathy.

  When the man’s hand came out to twirl one red curl around a finger, Linzee felt transfixed by his hypnotic stare.

  “Actually, I think I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

  As if in slow motion, he lowered his head. She could have stopped him. Should have stopped him. Should have pushed him away. But she didn’t.

  His lips brushed across hers, sending a shiver down her spine. She told herself not to kiss him back, but his lips were insistent. When she felt the tip of his tongue trace the seam of her lips, Linzee couldn’t help the little whimper that escaped.

  That was all the invitation he needed. His tongue slid forward, caressing hers as his hand slid to her hair, angling her head the way he wanted it so she was closer. He claimed her mouth again, his tongue probing deeper, dancing and exploring.

  Linzee felt drunk. She couldn’t seem to think straight. Part of her said push him away, but when she lifted her hands to his chest to do just that, her hands fisted instead, grasping his sweater. She pulled him closer. His free arm snaked around her waist pulling her to him, gathering her body against his, and there was no mistaking the rigid line of his erection pressing against her stomach.

  When a door in the back slammed open, Linzee’s senses came rushing back at lightning speed. Her eyes flew open and she shoved the man away from her. What the hell was she doing?

  The kitchen door swung open and her boss stepped through. She was about to tell him this stranger had been taking pictures of the restaurant, but then she noticed it: the strong resemblance between the two men. Her stomach sank. Oh no.