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Knowing that they’d be awhile, Caroline moved onto the next tent to give her friend a chance to haggle. She’d go pick over the fruits of Joel’s labor in a bit.
Shaking her head, Caroline crossed over to a tent offering free samples and picked up a small triangle of wheat toast and drizzled a little of the honey on it and placed it on her tongue. The flavor was incredible.
Barely covering her mouth before she spoke. “That is amazing.”
The woman in the tent beamed at her. “Oh, thank you, Miss Franzen.”
Caroline stepped into the shade of the tent and started to peruse the offerings in earnest. “What kind of honey is that?”
“My family has several hives that we maintain in the agricultural areas surrounding town. Different flowers, different tastes.” Stepping closer, the woman working the tent tugged at the hem of her pastel-colored plaid blouse. She picked up a tall mason jar with a rustic label on it. They all had the same images, but each section of jars had a different color background. “The one you tasted was Apple Blossom Honey.”
Taking up another tray in her hands, the older woman held it out. “Try this one. It’s the first time we tried chive blossoms. The bees loved it and so far it’s been a big hit with vendors and customers.”
Caroline picked up a bit of wheat toast and reached for the honey dipper, but the purse she’d slung up onto her shoulder slipped down her arm to her elbow and she narrowly avoided disaster by leaning away. The vendor had turned to answer a question from another customer and Caroline realized she was going to have to adjust how she carried her bag to get a sample of the honey.
After her first taste, heaven help her, she didn’t want to wait.
“Here, love. Let me help with that.”
It took her all of a second to identify that delicious accent and the voice that had haunted her dreams for years.
Drawing in a steadying breath she turned to look at the man standing at her side.
“Lucas.”
“Caroline,” he mimicked her pointed tone, “fancy meeting you here.”
As she watched, Lucas Brierly, Celebrity Chef & Multiple Michelin Star winner, drizzled a liberal portion of honey onto the piece of wheat toast she was holding.
It didn’t escape her notice that some of the honey traced over her skin and slowly slid down along her knuckle.
He gave her a smile as he effortlessly set the tray down on the table. “Sorry about that,” his tone and the look in his eyes said he was nothing of the sort.
She shrugged. “They have napkins.”
Her words struck him in an odd way, she saw his reaction.
And it was no hardship to look, with nearly a dozen successful restaurants under his belt, and a bevy of TV shows that have featured him as a judge or mentor, Lucas was very easy on the eyes.
And still, as his gaze swept over the honey that was oozing down over her finger, she thought she recognized the look in his eyes.
She’d only seen it directed at her once in her life, but it had been enough to fuel thousands of delicious, heated dreams.
As quickly, and surreptitiously as she could manage, she turned her hand until she could lick the excess honey from her finger a moment before she placed the small square of toast into her mouth.
The taste of the honey, raw and unadulterated against her tongue, had been a heavenly thing and yet it felt sinful as well. The rough scratch the toasted bread offered her a bit of relief from what could have been a cloying taste, but she was still savoring the unique flavor when she looked up into Lucas’ expectant gaze.
“Well?” He licked his own lip before he continued to speak. “Was it as delicious as you made it look?”
She was taken aback by the husky tone in his voice, the cool light of his blue-grey eyes focused on hers. “It was the best I’ve ever had.”
She knew how odd the words must seem at that moment, but truth had always served her best, no matter what.
“That’s something,” he replied as he took a bite of his own slice of toast.
She watched as he thoughtfully chewed and then swallowed the sample before licking what seemed to be an invisible drop off a fingertip.
Caroline pulled in a breath through her nose as heat pooled between her thighs.
