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in the rear mirror and cringed. She’d been in front of all of them; Chris, his perfect wife, their parents, her old friends, all with a smudge of dirt on her face and mud on her skirt. Perfect.
She’d lied about getting back to work. She’d started closing up the shop early on Sundays to save a bit on money. The sun was setting by the time she got back to her little slice of the world. She’d moved into the apartment over the shop after the wedding that had excluded her. She hadn’t wanted to be around any of the people from her past. She wanted to fixate solely on the future.
The problem was, the shop was having financial problems. She couldn’t keep buying saffron to use in pies that no one but a few wanted to buy. At this rate, she’d be reduced to making pot pies in a food truck if she couldn’t turn things around.
Jan pulled up behind the shop and put the car in park. She was ready to call it a day, but she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. Slamming the car door behind her, she fiddled with the keyring for the key to the shop’s door. But once the jangling of the keys stopped, she heard movement in the gravel surrounding the back of the shop.
She had no weapon. What she did have was a kitchen full of blunt objects and sharp points. Jan turned the key in the lock. She reached inside the door and grabbed the first thing she could make out. A rolling pin.
She raised the pin. With all her might, she crashed the wood down on the intruder, hearing a satisfying crack like an egg’s shell breaking. Her would-be assailant went down with a groan. Jan turned on the outside light and gasped.
“Alex?”
Chapter Five
Pain radiated from the crown of Alex’s head. It was much like the pressure and pinch from wearing the crown jewels on his head. But, surprisingly, not worse.
Wearing the crown put pressure on his entire head. That particular misery went down his back as the type of ache that made legs restless. It weighed his arms causing him to want to free himself of the extra load and fly free. The crown had the added effect of blinding anyone in sight of it rendering them speechless. Or if they could speak, they’d blubber and stutter and spew abject nonsense to remain in its glaring light.
“Alex, are you crazy? What are you doing here?”
Alex blinked up at the blonde assailant that hovered over him. Jan smelled of warm bread and honey. Her hair was pulled back into its haphazard bun which she kept it in while she was cooking. But he noted a few artful braids and twists she’d never done before. There was a smudge at her cheek, but it was dark brown instead of the white of flour.
His gaze traveled farther down and noted the bodice of the dress she wore. It lifted her breasts and cinched her waist. Alex had only ever seen the pie maker in jeans and a T-shirt covered by an apron. He had no idea that beneath that fabric was a sweet, bountiful treat that would make a man’s mouth water.
“What am I doing here?” He wet his lips. “Late night pie craving.”
“That’s not funny.” Jan held up her weapon. “I could’ve seriously hurt you.”
Alex winced at the sight of the rolling pin which had felled him. “Oh, I’m pretty sure you did.”
“Probably gave you back a few brain cells.”
She bent down and made a come hither motion with her hands. Her chest was right level with his gaze. That luscious bounty was only an inch from his mouth. Alex’s stomach grumbled as though she’d presented him with a perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned steak.
When her deft fingers ran through his hair, he yelped.
She frowned at him like a mother would a child with an owie. She made the come hither motion again. He knew now that he was meant to give her his head. The problem was he didn’t want to bow his head and give her the back of it where the injury was. He wanted to tilt his head up and give her …
He shook himself. This was Jan. She was not some actress or model only interested in a photo opportunity. Since the day they’d met, Jan Peppers hadn’t been blinded by the glare of his royal status. She’d squinted at the bright light his title afforded him. But in suspicion, not in awe.
“Why aren’t you in your palace?” she said as she carefully ran her fingers over the bruise on his head. “Or on a paradise island sipping cocktails? Or lounging on a yacht eating canapés with sorority girls.”
Alex jerked his head up and out of her grasp. His frown was filled with indignation. “Really, Chef Peppers? Sorority girls would never eat canapés. They’d be too worried about their bikini lines.”
Jan crossed her arms and huffed at him. She was entirely immune to his charms. It was what he liked second best about her.
He saw a hint of a smile crack her serious expression. It had to be the canapés bikini joke. It was a rather good one, and only she would appreciate it.
She only ever smiled when he suggested they combine two spices together or mix herbs with edible flowers. Her eyes would light up when he showed her dishes he’d encountered from around the world. The few days they’d spent together a month ago, Alex had lived for those small glimpses into the real Jan. The Jan who was as fascinated and obsessed with foods as he was.
The other Jan, the business Jan, she kept herself closely guarded. Except when she was in the kitchen. Over mixing bowls and cutting boards, Alex saw the real Jan Peppers. And he liked her immensely.
“I swear you’re a menace,” Jan said as she straightened, but her bark held no bite. “That still doesn’t tell me what you’re doing here, sneaking up behind me.”
She stepped over him, and Alex realized she was wearing heels. He couldn’t look away from her long, lean legs. He’d never seen Jan in heels. Just sensible, flat shoes. He’d never seen her calves either. Those, too, were on display. Along with a spot of dirt at her knees.
That slight imperfection broke his trance and made him smile. Jan was a tornado in the kitchen. By the time the dish came out of the oven, she was a ragged mess. The first bite of food whether sweet and savory, or salt and honey, or sage and hibiscus hit the tongue, the chaos in her wake was well worth it.
