Mesmerized Read online

  Upon interviewing him, however, I’d discovered he was very much a believer and was pursuing a career in pharmaceuticals because he wanted to explore all avenues of healing. Aside from that, he was a responsible and level-headed guy, and I felt perfectly comfortable leaving him in charge of the store for a few hours.

  The beaches of Lake Michigan, or at least this particular one, were a fifty-fifty mixture of sand and stone. Seaweed, fish bones, and broken shells littered the shore where the waves only ventured in on the windiest of days.

  It was impossible to comfortably do yoga on the bare ground without risking a foot laceration from a craggy rock piece, so I laid out my spongey mat on the sunniest patch of sand. Already, the pink foam surface was growing warm to the touch, but I enjoyed the delicate burn and commenced with stretches.

  Gentle swooshing sounds of rippling water started eroding the tense thoughts I’d been harboring, and I eased down onto the mat to begin my session. I started in Lotus position as usual, propping bare feet over bare thighs and meeting hands at center. The sun kissed my cheeks as I upturned my face with closed eyes. It was a warm enough day to get away with wearing a light jacket over a soft camisole and comfortable shorts, and the breathy lake breeze licked my uncovered skin like a dog softly licking its wounds. I inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of freshwater and forest as a tonic to the soul, then exhaled and started to move.

  I rolled forward onto my knees and pushed myself upward at the middle. Palms flat, feet flat, and rear end thrust high into the air, it was the perfect Downward-Facing Dog. While I was never embarrassed to do yoga in a public space, one of the reasons I chose the beach in the spring and fall months was because it was almost always isolated.

  When others were around, I tended to accrue a series of strange looks, and in some cases, men took the various poses as openings to discuss sex positions and invite me back to their place. I was wonderfully alone today, though, and I gave myself over to the Downward-Facing Dog without a care in the world for the opinions of onlookers.

  His face popped into my mind.

  Dark eyes, a jawline to murder for, the mouth that poured forth a panty-soaking accent…

  “Stop it.” I spoke out loud, hoping the sound of a human voice would jar me from thinking of him and return me to my Zen.

  Hiking my legs up, I rested my entire body weight on my forearms and pointed my toes to the sky until my figure was as straight as a pole. From this angle, I couldn’t see the lake anymore, just the stalks of shin-high weeds that sprouted along the entire Northwoods coastline, already faded to brown. I closed my eyes, breathed in, and exhaled slowly. I had to get myself rejuvenated for the next round of Pennington’s versus Auras.

  A loose hair falling out of place to sweep across a regal forehead…

  “You’re such an idiot!” I snapped at myself in frustration.

  “I don’t know how you do things up here, darlin’, but where I come from, we don’t often greet people with insults.”

  My eyes flew open. There he was, upside-down and strolling straight out of my head to manifest in person. I lost my balance and dropped onto my back, landing hard enough to knock the wind out of myself for a moment.

  He quickened his pace across the beach toward me with a walk slightly reminiscent of a duck. I registered that he was wearing a steel-gray suit of the same cut and style as the blue one he’d worn for our first meeting, and he was wading through the sand in a pair of black leather shoes that were probably going to end up ruined after this foray.

  When he reached me, he extended a hand to help me up. “Here.”

  I waved him away. “I’m fine.” Sitting up, I scooted away from him to the edge of the mat and tucked my knees up to my chest. “What are you doing here?”

  “Trying out a new line of swimwear.” I didn’t crack a smile at his sarcasm, and he held out a white paper bag. “I brought lunch.”

  “Why?”

  “Because some people get hungry between breakfast and dinner.” Again, I wasn’t amused, and I wasn’t about to falsify humor for the sake of politeness. He motioned to the end of the mat opposite where I sat. “May I?”

  I chose not to respond to his request, instead shooting an inquiry of my own his way. “How did you know where I was?”

  “Your employee told me. Barney, I think. I went to the shop to see you, but he said you’d taken the afternoon off. He asked if I wanted to leave a message with him, but I told him it was important, so he let me know you usually spent your nice afternoons on the beach.” Cash grinned. “Barney didn’t mention which beach, though, so I’ve gotten to see a little more of Fawn in the last hour than I anticipated.”

  I didn’t correct him on Benji’s name, but I was already mentally planning a stern talking-to with my employee as soon as I got back to the store. “Yeah, I come here to get away from people and clear my head, especially from all things business. Your being here sort of steps on that.”

  He curved a brow. “It’s a public beach, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  He spread his arms out to either side and tilted his head. I stared at him, waiting for him to say something, but he just looked at me with a whisper of a smirk on his lips. Annoyance bubbled in my belly.

  “Would you go away, please?”

  “I’ve got as much right to be here as you do.” The smirk was more prominent as it spread on his mouth and up to his eyes.

  My lip curled of its own doing, and I tempered the flash of anger that rocketed through me. “Fine. Do what you want. Just don’t touch my mat.”

  In a huff, I yanked my feet up into my lap by the ankles and started from the beginning in Lotus position. Whatever little bit of peacefulness I’d managed to garner for myself in the short time I’d spent on the beach had already dissipated with Cash’s arrival, but I refused to give him the power over me to prevent me from relieving my spiritual, emotional, and physical tension. I closed my eyes, pressed my palms together, and began counting each thump of my heart as I took slow, calming breaths.

  It was difficult to center myself with his eyes bearing down on me. I could feel them, hot and penetrating and intrusive, staring at me and stealing my namaste. To combat him, I emitted a low, monotonous hum.

  “I’m surprised it’s as warm as it is here near Halloween.” His voice — the sexiest voice I’d ever heard, as much as I hated to admit it — cut through my hum with casual lightness. “I thought I’d have to wear one of those puffy jackets y’all have on all the time, but it’s actually pretty nice. Might be nicer than Oklahoma, even, because it’s humid as all get-out down there right now. I wouldn’t want to be here in the wintertime, though.”

  I opened my eyes the tiniest bit, looking at him through a minuscule slit with my lashes marring the clarity. He was watching me meditate, and he was wearing the biggest cat-ate-the-canary smile he could have without splitting his face entirely in two. I was floored. This guy was no different than a kid in junior high school looking to get a rise out of the wallflower. He intended to irritate me into compliance.

  What an asshole.

  “Do you ever go sailing? This lake looks like a great one for sailing.” Despite the heart-twisting accent, he was grating on me. I didn’t want to reply because I did not want to let him win, but meditation was utterly impossible as long as he carried this on, and I felt stupid sitting there listening to him with my eyes closed and my hands in prayer pose. “I took up sailing years ago, but I don’t get the chance to do it as often as I’d like these days. Hell, the last time I took the boat out had to be six—”

  “Oh my god, Mr. Pennington, will you shut up if I let you sit down?” The exclamation burst from me before I could stop it, and the seconds of silence that followed were filled with surprise from both Cash and me.

  Suddenly, he started laughing. It wasn’t an appreciative chuckle or a derisive snicker, but a full-blown guffaw of pure entertainment. The paper bag he held crinkled as he slapped it against his midsection and tilted his
head back. I observed the scene with wary pleasure, smiling despite myself at the sight of his glee, while remaining alert to the true intentions of his unannounced visit. He lowered himself onto the unoccupied half of the mat and dropped the sack lunch into his lap.

  “Do you know the last person to talk to me like that was my father?” He shook his head. I couldn’t help admiring the way his hair had become tousled by the lakeside breeze. “I’d forgotten that not everybody kisses my ass.”

  “Glad to jog your memory,” I replied dryly.

  He pointed to the bag. There were still remnants of laughter on his devastating features. “So… lunch?”

  I considered my options. He was already sitting down, which I’d only offered because I couldn’t take any more of his incessant yammering, and I had the sneaking suspicion he was going to continue chattering idly if I didn’t accept.

  Then again, I didn’t want this man to get the impression he was making any headway on the issue of my selling Auras, and a friendly lunch on the beach had the makings of an unfortunate misinterpretation that would lead to hairier difficulties in the near future. It was a matter of relieving the burden of now or later.

  My brain was too foggy with stress to analyze the situation, which gave me my answer.

  “Okay, but only if you leave as soon as we’re done eating.”

  That damn smirk reappeared, and Cash unrolled the top of the bag with a wink.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Cash

  When I’d arrived at the beach to find Gretchen bent over with her perfect, pert ass up in the air, I was sure the sight would completely derail me from the reason I’d hunted her down with the bribery of lunch.

  She was living sex, from her reddish-blonde locks shining in the sun to the shape of her toned, naked calves. The primal part of my mind instantly summoned a picture of my hands on her waist in place of the hip-hugging shorts and our bodies moving in synchronization as I pummeled myself into her, but I kept it together. I was a businessman, after all, and I certainly wasn’t a creepy letch looking to take advantage of a woman all alone on an isolated shore.

  Somehow, I’d not only maintained my gentlemanliness, but I’d also managed to find myself sitting down with her about to partake in a meal. With her large eyes and sweet mouth, the woman was nothing short of a graceful doe, and I’d gotten her to approach my outstretched hand.

  The hunter in me was awake. No sudden movements…

  I didn’t want to scare her off, to undo whatever work I’d done to find myself in a somewhat amicable position with her. Deer were skittish creatures, and once they ran, they didn’t turn back. I needed to move carefully.

  Except this deer probably bites.

  “Turkey or ham?” I held up two sandwiches wrapped in plastic. “Hopefully, you like Sherwood Subs.”

  “They put all the chain sandwich shops to shame.” She gestured toward the turkey, and I handed it to her.

  We unwrapped our sandwiches wordlessly, and I watched as she removed the turkey with a wrinkled nose, leaving only the cheese, lettuce, and tomato. A vegetarian. Figured.

  I mulled over how best to approach the topic of selling as she took a dainty bite. In a business class I’d taken in college about sales and consumer relations, we’d learned the importance of creating interest by displaying interest. Developing a relationship with the customer, even for just a few moments, exponentially increased the chances of making a successful sale. By the same logic, I was likely to get the result I wanted from our meetings if I invested a personal interest in Gretchen and her store. It was one of the few times I’d actually called upon my collegiate learning for real-life application.

  “So, tell me, Ms. Laughlin.” I chewed and swallowed the mouthful of ham I’d bitten off while contemplating. She was right about Sherwood Subs. They did put all the chains to shame. “Why did you decide you wanted to make a career out of owning a…what is it? A metaphysical store?”

  She nodded, but her nose wrinkled at the same time. “I know calling me Ms. Laughlin is professional and polite and all that, but I’d rather you call me Gretchen, if it’s all the same to you.”

  I chuckled. “If you like.” I pointed my sub at her. “Only if you call me Cash, though. I still consider ‘Mr. Pennington’ to be my father.”

  “Okay, Cash.” Hearing my name on her tongue was like an orgasm to my ears, and I snuck a glance downward to make sure I didn’t have a visible erection poking up in my trousers. “Well, as you clearly know, I bought the shop from Madam Adam a few years ago. I worked for him all throughout college, but I was a frequent customer during my high school years too.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “You were?” I couldn’t imagine a high school student spending free time in a store like that. Hell, during my high school days, I’d been bumming around with my friends in the back of pickup trucks and trying to score with girls at bonfires whenever I managed to wriggle out from beneath my dad’s ever-present thumb. “What did a teenager want in a place like that?”

  It didn’t occur to me that the wording of my question could have been taken offensively until I noticed the ice cloud her eyes. “There’s a lot more substance to Auras than an arcade or a bar.”

  “I’m sure there is.” It wasn’t entirely true, but I wanted to placate her back into friendliness. I’d startled the doe a little. “I guess what I meant was that teenagers aren’t even usually aware of what’s going on in the real world, let alone the ghost world or whatever it’s called.”

  The frost thawed, and she shrugged. She was still holding her sandwich, but she’d stopped eating and just waved it around as she gestured with her hands while she talked. “The crystals fascinated me. Every time I went in there, I was called to the ones I needed most at the time. I was in desperate need of healing.” A sliver of iceberg lettuce dropped onto her thigh, but she didn’t appear to notice. “I already knew about tarot cards and such because I’d done so much research online about them, but the crystals were an enigma to me.”

  “From an outsider’s view, though, don’t you think the whole idea of cards telling you your future and crystals being able to heal someone is a little hokey?”

  “Why? Because it’s unconventional?” She set her sandwich down on its wrapping in front of her and leaned back, burying her hands in the spread of sand behind her mat. “Crystals and stones have been used as healing tools far longer than pills and vaccines. And divining is an ancient practice dating back millennia.”

  I fought to meet her eyes rather than let mine roam down the curves that she was displaying with her arch, but something low in my abdomen tightened.

  “Is that why you decided to buy the store? Because the history of metaphysical practices fascinates you?” I was genuinely interested in her answer. The entire concept of ghosts, spirits, fortune-tellers, and the like was something I’d always considered to have little value outside of Hollywood, but it was obvious by the confidence and assuredness of Gretchen’s tone that she found great value in the subject.

  She tilted her head and gazed past me as if she was deep in thought. “I guess that’s part of it. Mostly, it’s because I think we as humans are extremely ignorant by nature to the depth of the universe around us, and the metaphysical provides us more insight than we could ever gain ourselves. There’s power everywhere. We just have to know how to use it.”

  I cast her a teasingly suspicious look. “You’re not a witch, are you?”

  She turned her eyes back to me, and to my surprise, she laughed. It was a sound more pleasurable to the ear than the peaceful whispers of the breeze on the water. “You’d be surprised how often I get asked that question, doing what I do.” She shook her head, coppery hair rippling around her face. “No, I’m not a witch. I’m a regular person who believes in the possibilities of utter existence.”

  This was the first time I’d seen an honest smile on her face, and I was startled by how it affected me. My insides rolled, and my skin tingled, and I felt a strong urge to make that s
mile happen again and again. She was a beautiful woman even when she was glaring at me like I was the Antichrist, but the smile made her absolutely glow, and the fact that it was directed at me was as energizing as a B12 shot.

  Nevertheless, my question reminded me of the dream I’d had. That lovely face had become the face of a witch, and I was suddenly overcome with sheepishness. Who dreamed about witches anyway, little children? It was embarrassing. It was also arousing, though, because it had been in the same dream that I’d had my hands on Gretchen’s naked body and made her cry out with exquisite passion.

  I propped up a knee to hide the bulge in my groin.

  “So, is owning the store everything you expected it to be, or has the fantasy collided with the reality of business?” I figured my safest move was to shift away from anything related to my dream and ease toward the topic of selling.

  “It’s been great.” She shrugged bare shoulders, and I tried not to stare at the way her breasts bounced with the movement. “There’s been a few surprises, of course, and some things I’ve had to learn. But, all in all, I’ve loved waking up every day to run the shop.”

  “Sounds familiar.”

  She made a noise of disbelief in her throat. “I’m not sure what you do and what I do are in the same league.”

  “Why not?” I finished the rest of my sandwich before explaining myself. “You own a store. I own a lot of stores.”

  “No, you own a corporation. There are thousands of people beneath you who have to handle the things I deal with.” She was picking apart the bread on her sub, tossing chunks off to the side. I wondered if it was a nervous behavior or if she was leaving an offering to the seagulls who were currently zooming over the lake. “I’d bet your job on the day-to-day is drastically different than mine.”

  I couldn’t argue with that, but I fully disagreed that we had nothing in common. “Yes, but we both have to make important decisions for the well-being of our businesses. We analyze our numbers and choose new inventory and come up with marketing plans.”