Nordic Heroes: In the Market and a Wholesale Arrangement (18 page)

“It’s not me, it’s the cat. He’s on my back. Ouch!”

With a final indignant meow, Scratch parted company with them. He stalked toward Rainer’s car, only the tip of his tail visible above the tall grass. With a single perfect leap he landed on the bright red hood and sat, calmly cleaning his paws.

“I’d get up and kill that cat if I wasn’t so comfortable,” Rainer said. He braced himself on his elbows.

Jordan took a deep breath, instantly recognizing her mistake. Every inch of her pushed against every inch of him. Her body fit his in perfect alignment, an alignment that felt perfectly marvelous. She stared at him, her eyes wide with wonder.

Rainer smiled. “Feels good doesn’t it?” He brushed her hair away from her face. His lean fingers and her thick dark curls and the long sweet grass became deliciously entangled. Taking his time, he sketched a path from her cheek, along the pearls encircling her neck, to the strap of her dress. He hesitated briefly, then eased it slowly to one side, baring her shoulder. His hand spread across the exposed skin, his fingers stroking her with a light, delicate touch.

“Rainer,” she moaned. “Someone will see.”

His lips replaced his hands. “No one will see. The grass is too long.”

“Uncle Cletus—”

He nipped the curve of her shoulder, his tongue caressing the slight indentations, “He’s probably asleep, like the rest of the world. They’re all asleep, except us.”

Jordan trembled, desire slipping beneath her defenses, invading and conquering. Her heart pounded against her ribs and she strained to draw breath. A burning heat gathered in the pit of her stomach and she wished with an intensity born of desperation they were someplace else, anyplace else, where they could assuage this urgent need building within them.

Rainer levered upward, the muscles of his forearms bulging with the effort. For several long, compelling seconds, he studied her flushed face, then slowly, so slowly she thought she’d die before he reached her, lowered himself again. Finally, his lips found hers.

Her mouth parted beneath his, welcoming him. She slipped her hands around his waist, thrusting them beneath the cotton polo shirt he wore. The heat of his skin practically blistered her palms. She ran her fingers along his rib cage, lingering over the hard, sculpted muscles of his chest and shoulders.

She squirmed down into the grass, the uneven ground hard against her back. A low rumbling noise sounded near her ear. Startled, she dragged her mouth from Rainer’s.

“What’s that?” she whispered. She turned her head and looked directly into the unblinking stare of Scratch. His rumbling grew louder, and she realized in astonishment he was purring.

Rainer muttered a curse and swatted at the cat. It was a major mistake.

An earsplitting howl erupted from the indignant animal. An instant later, the back porch light flickered on.

“What’s all that noise? What’s going on there?” Uncle Cletus called out.

“Don’t make a sound. Maybe he’ll go away,” Rainer whispered in her ear. Obediently Jordan kept quiet.

“Jordan? Is that you? What are you doing on the lawn there? Have you hurt yourself, girl?”

Rainer rolled off her and she sat up, brushing bits of grass and twigs from her hair. “Uh . . . no. Not exactly.”

Walker poked his head out from behind Cletus, observing them with an unblinking stare identical to the cat’s. He held a papaya in one hand and a passion fruit in the other. “Huh,” he said.

Uncle Cletus glared at him. “You don’t have to overstate the matter.” He cleared his throat. “Being a traditional sort of man,” he announced, “I’ll assume the best and close the door.”

“What’s the best?” Rainer muttered from beside her.

“You don’t want to know,” she assured him.

“I’m closing the door now. Walker and I will just go on with our checker game, and you can go on with . . .” He appeared slightly nonplussed. “I’m closing the door.” And finally did so.

“Dare I ask what we do now?” Rainer asked.

“You daren’t. I have maybe ten seconds to get in there if our reputations are to avoid—”

“Being sullied?”

“More like being further sullied.” She started to reach for him, but stopped herself in time. “And as much as I like the idea of your sullying me, this is neither the time nor the place.”

Rainer stood and offered his hand, pulling her to her feet. “Come with me tomorrow.” He brushed the bits of grass and dirt from her dress. Diligently. By the time he’d finished, she was trembling so much she could hardly stand. “The store’s closed Sunday. We could have all day. Alone. Together.”

She didn’t give herself time to think. “Yes,” she said quickly, before she could dream up a thousand reasons to say no. She glanced at the back door and then stood on tiptoe, planting a swift kiss on his lips. He didn’t let her get away with it. He swept her into a tight embrace and gave her a kiss she’d dream about for a long time to come.

Jordan practically floated into the house, her uncle’s expression bringing her down to earth with a thump.

“You two are getting awful cozy,” he said in disapproving tones. He gestured toward the back lawn. “Just where is all that leading?”

“Where?” Walker echoed.

Guilt swamped her. What had she been thinking? How could she have forgotten Cornucopia and Uncle Cletus and Walker? “Don’t you worry,” she assured her uncle stoutly. “My loyalties are with you through thick and thin.”

“Hmph,” he snorted. “More like thin and thin.”

“Hmph,” Walker added.

Jordan slowly climbed the steps to her bedroom. One week remained of Rainer’s time at Cornucopia, she realized dismally. One week to reach an agreement, something they weren’t even close to accomplishing despite their growing relationship. She refused to sell out, and the only way for Rainer to win was to drive them out. Either way would ruin their relationship.

She slumped onto her bed. She still had tomorrow’s date with him. If she were smart, she’d enjoy their few remaining hours, because they’d soon be over. For come week’s end, he’d be out of her life permanently. To her utter astonishment, a solitary tear crept down her cheek.

J
ordan slipped out of the house at the crack of dawn. She intended to make the most of her day with Rainer. By unspoken agreement, Uncle Cletus and Cornucopia weren’t mentioned.

“Where to first?” Rainer asked.

“Let’s go into Seattle and walk down by the piers,” she suggested. “We can have breakfast and then stroll through Pike’s Place Market. I’d like to look at the produce stands there and compare prices and quality.”

“Can’t resist, can you?”

She gave him an impish grin. “No.”

“And the fish markets? Shall we pick up some crab or gooey duck?”

She considered it, then shook her head. “Not today. Because after Pike’s, I thought we’d wander around Myrtle Edwards Park and ride the ferry to Bainbridge Island.”

“Full day you have planned there.”

Their gazes met and locked. “I want a full day with you,” she said.
It might be our last
, she added to herself.

He nodded. “Then let’s get started.”

Walking along the nearly empty piers fronting Puget Sound worked up their appetites. By mutual consent, they stuffed themselves on hot buttery cinnamon rolls while they wandered through Pike’s Place Market.

The vendors there were fiercely competitive, and Jordan studied their stalls with equal parts envy and scorn. They displayed their produce beautifully, she’d give them that, and the quality was top-notch. But none of their stalls came close to comparing with the beauty and distinctiveness of Cornucopia.

Several of the vendors called out greetings, and more than a few seemed astonished to see Jordan and Rainer together. One of the hawkers tossed them each an apple. With smiles of thanks, they moved on to examine the craft booths.

At one jeweler’s stall, a dainty solid gold tomato charm caught Jordan’s eye. The stem and leaf curled onto the vegetable, forming a loop for the chain.

It reminded her of the day Rainer first visited Cornucopia and the double-edged conversation they’d conducted with Mrs. Swenson. She remembered his hands, moving with exquisite delicacy over the plump red tomato. She shivered, staring at the trinket for a long time.

Later, they lunched at an open-air restaurant by the piers, dining on crab salads and sharing a bottle of locally made wine. Jordan couldn’t take her eyes off Rainer. She loved him. That hopeless knowledge haunted her, filling her with sorrow. Even so, she didn’t regret her feelings.

It was a moment out of time and she knew he savored it every bit as much. The afternoon flew by. They rode the trolley cars, strolled through Myrtle Edwards Park, and sat in the grass, watching the ferries make their leisurely way back and forth across Puget Sound.

After a spaghetti dinner they headed for Pier 52 and boarded the ferry for Bainbridge Island. The moon, still full and benevolent, glowed down on them as they stood in the bow. Jordan huddled in the protective warmth of Rainer’s arms. There was no place on earth she’d rather be.

He reached into his pocket and to her astonishment pulled out the gold tomato charm. Without a word, he fastened it around her neck. Then he kissed her, with only the moon and the stars looking on. Jordan knew she’d remember that moment for the rest of her life.

The ferry returned them to Seattle just after midnight, and they called it a day. Walking arm in arm, Jordan snuggled against Rainer, touching her charm with gentle fingers.

“I’ll meet you at Constantine’s,” Rainer confirmed on the drive home. “You’re going to be beat. I almost regret keeping you out so late.” He pulled in front of her house and switched off the engine.

“I don’t.” She slid closer to him, wrapping her arms about his neck. “I can sleep any time.”

T
he days flew by. All Jordan could think about was Rainer, the swift passage of time, and the threat that stood between them. She worried constantly and slept little. She knew it showed in both the darkening circles beneath her eyes and in her forced cheerfulness.

She had to find a way out of this mess. She clutched her tomato charm as though for inspiration. If only she had an angle. Just one. But nothing came to her.

Releasing the charm, she pushed her hair from her face and looked around. At least setup continued to go smoothly. That should count for something. The employees rarely fought, Uncle Cletus hadn’t mentioned politics in days, and Walker actually smiled. So why couldn’t she be satisfied with that?

Rainer’s voice interrupted her musing. “Jordan, did you hear what I said?”

She looked at him blankly. “What?”

“I said, there’s a huge crowd gathering outside. What gives?”

It took her several moments to understand what he meant. Finally, clasping her by the shoulders, he steered her to the front of the store. There she found an ever-growing line of customers waiting impatiently for Cornucopia to open.

“Oh. It must be Wednesday. Our ad broke today.”

“What ad?”

“We decided to run some ads to see if we couldn’t—”

“Circumvent the Thorsen threat?” he suggested.

She smiled weakly. “Something like that.” She glanced at the crowd, a small frown wrinkling her brow. “I know we have some good prices, but this is better than I ever dreamed. Okay, everybody,” she called out. “Let’s get ready. We’re going to be very busy this morning.”

She opened the door to a veritable tidal wave of people. Knowing Michelle and Uncle Cletus couldn’t handle the registers on their own, she manned a third one. Within minutes a woman she’d never served before approached her counter, two baskets in hand, one overflowing with grapes, the other with nectarines.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw your ad this morning,” she gasped, setting down her burden. “I decided to give your store a try and rushed right over before you ran out.”

Jordan smiled. “Not much chance of that.”

She glanced at the woman’s basket, a little disappointed to see it contained only sale items. She wished she could have tempted her new customer with a few things not on special. Jordan brightened. Maybe the woman would come again. Maybe she’d start coming on a regular basis.