WhiskeyBottleLover (7 page)

Did all the men look like him back then? Of course they’d be
muscled, but so perfectly? Every once in a while he pushed his hair back,
tucked it behind his ears, only to have to repeat the process a few seconds
later. Chance looked over on her workbench and found a thin leather strap. It
would work nicely to hold his hair back.

She picked it up, rubbed her thumb across the worn leather
and then looked back at him. “Hayes, would you like to use this to keep your
hair back?”

He turned, ran his fingers over the top of his head, pulling
the hair out of his face. “Sorry?”

“Your hair, it keeps getting in your face. Would you like to
tie it back with this?”

He glanced at the leather strip in her hand and smiled.
“Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”

She walked forward, he reached out and when his fingers
touched the palm of her hand a current of tingling warmth raced up her arm. The
same thing she felt when she picked up his bottle. Even Hayes noticed it this
time, jerking slightly and blinking rapidly like he didn’t understand what
happened. A few ticks of the clock passed as they stared into each other’s
eyes. A hazy vision flickered in her memory, one of him standing before her,
naked, hard and ready to please her. She could smell him, not the musty whiskey
odor, but the pure male musk of a man ready to rut.

Even his name rang in her ears. When the vision faded she
stood there, holding his gaze. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he’d
experienced the same thing. His lush lips were parted and he breathed heavily,
causing his chest to heave. Simultaneously they jerked their hands back. Hayes
gripped the strap of leather tight in his fist and she rubbed her tingling hand
on her jeans.

They both ignored it, pretending it didn’t happen. Hayes
pulled his hair back in a ponytail.

“That should work. Thanks.”

Chance couldn’t look away from his broad chest. If just a
few buttons popped she could see what he looked like beneath that black shirt.
She bet he was all planes and angles, hard as concrete.

“Chance?”

“Huh?” Finally her gaze snapped to his face. “Sorry, what?”

He took a deep breath, causing his chest to rise and fall
like a breathing mountain. Those dark of eyes of his, was it her imagination or
were they darker now, and why were his nostrils flaring?

“I said thank you.”

His voice rumbled, not loud or menacing but soft and erotic.
Her eyes did a quick roll back in her head as she swayed. What the hell was it
about this guy? Did he cast some kind of spell on her? Had to be. She never
acted like this with men.

“You’re welcome,” she quickly replied and then turned and
made a hasty retreat back to a safe distance.

The next hour they both worked quietly. It appeared the lamp
would be finished in time for the weekend tourists and a few of the knickknacks
were all ready to go. She looked around for the old hand-carved horse she’d
found at the bottom of a junk box she purchased. The instant she picked it up
she knew it had been hand carved and was at least one hundred years old. A
piece like that needed to be preserved.

Chance searched around the workbench, beneath it, turned and
scanned the floor as she slowly moved. It had been lying on the workbench for
weeks. What the hell happened to it? She intended to put it up on her website.

The moment her gaze settled on the little wooden figurine
lying on the ground against the far wall, her heart broke. Frantic, she ran,
knelt down and gently picked up. “No, no, no,” she whined as the front leg separated
from the rest of the carving.

“Chance? Everythin’ all right?”

“I don’t understand. How did this happen?” It didn’t matter
that she couldn’t sell it like this. The money didn’t matter. She loved the
piece, the careful detail and time put into creating it. It was priceless.
“Damn it, I bet an animal got in here and carried it around.”

Hayes came up behind her, looking down over her shoulder.
“That’s a nice carvin’.”

“It used to be. Now it’s broken.”

“What’s that stuff you put on broken things to fix ’em? Ya
know, a sticky concoction?”

“Glue?”

“That’s it. Glue it. It’ll be right as rain.”

She could glue it but it would be obvious and ruin the look
of the piece. “This is all natural, old and a lot of time put into it. Slapping
glue on a work of art like this would be so disrespectful.” Chance inspected
the broken leg, pushed the two pieces together and frowned. She could glue it
but it didn’t feel right. “I’ll worry about it later.”

She carried it back to her workbench, put it inside a
plastic tote and sealed the lid so nothing else could come in and run off with
it. Now all she had to do was load her car and get to the shop. Jenny would be
expecting her soon. Filling her arms with the finished pieces, she pushed
through the door and headed for the car.

“Where ya goin’ now?”

“I need to take these to my store and do some work there.”
She had pieces that needed to be shipped out and some rearranging to do inside
the shop.

“We’re goin’ into town?”

“We aren’t. I am. You are staying here.” That’s all she
needed. She could barely keep her mind focused as it was. Add in the game of
twenty questions from Jenny and she’d be useless.

“Ah, how far is it?”

Chance laid her pieces in the backseat and closed the door.
“About fifteen miles, why?”

“That’s stretching it,” he muttered.

“Stretching what?” She watched him rub his jaw as deep
furrows set into his brow.

“The thing is, I can only be so far away from you.”

Not liking the sound of this, Chance crossed her arms,
popped out her hip and scowled. “Come again?”

“You’re my master and until you’ve made your wishes I can’t
get too far away from ya. Understand?”

“No.” Not at all, what did this mean, she had to tote him
around everywhere? Nope, that wouldn’t work.

“I don’t think you’re tryin’.” Hayes crossed his arms over
his chest and returned her scowl.

Oh no, he didn’t get to be frustrated with her. He’s the one
who popped into her life uninvited. He’d simply have to do things her way. “I’m
going to work. You are staying here. I don’t need people looking at me funny
and asking questions. I have a business to run.”

“Chance.”

She threw her hand up. “Nope. End of discussion.” She opened
her car door, slid behind the wheel and started it. After pulling the door
closed, she stole a quick side glance at him still standing there with his arms
crossed and a slightly ticked-off look on his face. Too bad.

She needed some time away from him to think. Regardless of
how comfortable he seemed to be with this genie business, she wasn’t there yet
and probably wouldn’t be ever. Chance put the car in reverse, backed up and
drove a little too fast down the lane. Each passing mile helped clear her
brain.

It didn’t matter how handsome, sexy or handy and polite the
man appeared, it all boiled down to her perfect, peaceful life being
interrupted. She had a rhythm going. Work, sleep, eat when she remembered to,
more sleep. Damn it, she liked it like that. Maybe today she could come up with
a few meaningless wishes that would end this bizarre twist in her life and
everything would go back to normal.

As Chance pulled up to the first red light entering town,
she noticed more people walking down the streets. It looked as though people
were getting an early jump on their weekend. Damn, she should have been in the
shop earlier.

When the light turned she drove a little faster than normal,
hoping to make the next light. No such luck. She sat there drumming her fingers
on the steering wheel, her mind racing with all that needed to be done, when
BAM! Hayes appeared in the seat next to her.

Chance screamed, jumped, pushed back into the seat and hit
the horn. The sheer fright of the man materializing out of thin air had her
heart hammering against her ribs. Ten years of her life slipped away in that
moment.

“Damn it!” She fought to catch her breath as her muscles
quivered and adrenaline filled her bloodstream. “I told you to stay home!” Why?

“If you woulda given me a chance to explain,” he spoke in a
deep, dark voice, “I woulda told ya, I have no choice. You can only go so far
before I’m pulled to ya.”

“Are you kidding me?” He had to be kidding. “This isn’t
going to work.”

Hayes turned his head and gave her an “I’m not amused
either” look before staring straight out the windshield with his arms folded
across his chest. What the hell was he pissed about? She didn’t scare the
living daylights out of him.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make myself invisible. No one has to know
I’m around,” he told her in a flat tone.

“You can do that?” Well, in that case. This bit of news
helped quell the panic rising inside her. The light turned and she eased out
into the intersection. Her shop sat only two blocks up. “Can you do it soon?”

“Of course, Master,” he replied in that monotone voice and
in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Chance gave a relieved sigh, pulled up along the curb and
parked her car. Jenny sat out in front of the shop in that stupid, broken-down
chair. The woman must have dragged it out of the dumpster this morning. That
did it, she was taking it home and throwing it on the burning pile.

“I was hoping you’d show up soon,” Jenny shouted as Chance
crawled from the car. “Already sold a dozen items. People are in a hurry to
spend their money today.”

A dozen? “It’s your gorgeous, smiling face that does it,
Jenny.” Chance unloaded her car and carried the items inside. “I’m gonna burn
that chair tonight and you won’t be able to recover it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with this chair. It’s just old.”
Jenny came in behind her. “I thought you liked old things?”

Jenny had a way of turning her words on her. Chance grinned,
turned and shook her head. “That’s not going to work.”

“Does that mean I’ll get thrown out soon? I’m old and my
parts aren’t working so well anymore.”

Chance gave a heavy sigh, emptied her arms and then gently
placed her palms against Jenny’s cool cheeks and smiled. “I love old things,
yes, but that chair is going to hurt you and that would break my heart.”
Deciding some concessions needed to be made, she dropped her hands and jammed
them on her hips. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take it home tonight and see what
I can do to fix it. If I can’t it gets tossed. I’ll get you another one.”

“Suit yourself. That chair has good miles left on it
though.”

The front door opened, ending the chair conversation. Jenny
proceeded to do the friendly meet and greet, leaving Chance to put out her new items.
Another couple entered, followed by a male couple. After a few easy chats and
sales, Chance took a moment to pop back into her small office to check her
online store.

Sales were going well today. If business stayed like this
she’d actually have a little money in her savings before the snow started
falling. Things only got better when she saw five sales pending on her webpage.
A few clicks of the mouse and Chance had the shipping information sitting in
front of her.

“People seem to like your store.”

Chance kicked back in her chair with a jolt, papers flew and
a strangled squeak emitted from her throat. As her heart skipped, hammered in
double time and skipped again, she struggled to catch her breath. Giving Hayes
one of the nastiest scowls she could twist her face into, Chance sat there
until she could pull herself together enough to speak.

“Stop doing that.” He’d give her a blooming heart attack if
he didn’t quit with the sudden appearances.

Hayes grinned, a sort of lopsided, mischievous smirk that
pissed her off and made her stomach flutter all at the same time. “My
apologies. I forget myself sometimes.”

“You don’t look all that sorry,” she whispered in a hot,
snarky tone. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were going to be
invisible?”

The smirk slipped away and for a moment a hint of pain,
maybe even sadness appeared before it vanished. The man standing before her now
wore a blank expression. Even his dark eyes were void of emotion. Guilt flashed
through her along with a sudden memory of hearing similar words spoken to her.

Chance pushed that memory away with force and allowed her
irritation to ride a second or two longer before taking a cleansing breath.
With her heart and mind settled, she gathered her papers and said, “I’m sorry.”

“No, you have nothin’ to be sorry for,” he spoke simply.
“I’ll stay outta your way until you summon me.”

“Hayes, you startled me.” She looked up to find the small
room empty except for her. She had no idea if he could hear her or not so she
simply let her apology drop. Well, no time to brood over it, she had customers
to attend to.

The afternoon rushed by, customers coming and going, sales
being made, and business cards handed out. She didn’t have to look at her books
to know this year’s would be far better than last year’s. People genuinely
seemed to like her wares. Especially the items she made, and to her, that was
worth more than money.

By the time she and Jenny closed down the shop the sun had
started to set. She dropped Jenny off at her house since the temperatures were
slipping and then headed home. In the quiet of her car she finally allowed the
thoughts she fought so hard all day to come forward. Where was Hayes and what
was he doing?

Her mouth tasted bitter after snapping at him the way she
did earlier. He didn’t mean to scare the life out of her, at least she didn’t
think he did. He couldn’t actually help who he was either, like she couldn’t
help being plopped in a home that undoubtedly didn’t want her. An overwhelming
sense of hurt welled up in her chest and made her eyes misty.

Before leaving town, she stopped at the local diner and
ordered two specials to go. She’d make it up to him—how did he put it—share her
meal with him. He seemed to like that. Maybe if she explained to him that she
wasn’t used to being around people so much he’d understand and stop giving her
cardiac arrest. Yeah, it would all work out.