Chapter Fourteen

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

It took effort not to skip toward the restaurant when her belly was already doing somersaults from the giddiness that consumed her.

It was probably ridiculous that she felt this way about an impromptu breakfast date with Simon, but Violet couldn't help herself. Ever since she woke up to find the text message invite, she'd been humming a happy tune.

"Good morning!" Violet called out, waving at Mr. and Mrs. Brown as they strolled out of the diner, having just enjoyed their one-millionth breakfast together.

Okay, maybe they hadn't had that many, but since they'd been married for almost fifty years, it was at least in the tens of thousands.

Hmm. Would she ever be able to claim that she'd had breakfast with someone thousands of times and it be true? Would Simon be that someone?

Her belly flipped with excitement.

With the Browns behind her, she swung the door open and resisted singing good morning to the entire restaurant. Somehow, she managed.

However, she was unable to erase the smile from her face.

"Mornin', Sue. I'm meetin' someone," she told the waitress who started her way as the bells jingled overhead.

It took only a second to locate Simon sitting in a booth near the front windows overlooking the parking lot.

Good thing she didn't skip. He would've seen her and likely thought she was a little looney.

As soon as he saw her, Simon got to his feet, a smile forming as she approached. "Hi."

"Hi," she replied, feeling somewhat shy. She hadn't seen him since Sunday evening when he went back to the B and B, both of them mindful of how fast things seemed to be moving. She'd missed him enough that she found herself staring out the bookstore window to see if she could see him coming or going from the bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, she hadn't.

Violet found herself staring up at him, not sure what to say next.

Thankfully, he filled in the silence. "I'm glad you could make it."

"I'm glad you invited me."

They stood there for another few heartbeats, probably looking like a couple of idiots. When he finally gestured for her to sit, she slid into the booth, surprised when he joined her on the same side.

"Are you expectin' someone else?" she asked.

"Can't a guy sit by his girl?"

His girl .

God, she liked the sound of that. More than she should.

"What can I get you?" the waitress asked, setting a glass of water down in front of her.

"Oatmeal with brown sugar," Violet answered quickly. "And extra brown sugar."

Sue laughed. "Got it. To drink?"

"An orange juice. Thanks."

"And you?"

Simon looked up at the woman. "Two eggs, over hard, and a piece of toast. And coffee, please."

After she jotted it down, she hurried off, stopping to refill coffee mugs with the pot she was carrying around.

"Oatmeal?" Simon prompted as he slid his arm across the back of the booth behind her. "You know the high today is ninety."

Violet grinned. "I do know that. But it's September, and I like oatmeal. If I put it off until it's weather-appropriate, I won't get any until January."

His eyes glittered with amusement. "Fair enough."

They sat there like that, staring at one another for what felt like an eternity.

"I really wanna kiss you right now," Simon whispered.

"Then why don't you?"

"Because I might never stop."

"Oh. Well." She tipped her head. "That could be a problem. Then I couldn't eat my oatmeal."

His eyes remained locked with hers. "No. You couldn't."

"I might starve to death."

"You might."

Her smile grew wide because she liked this. The teasing, the romance of it all. She'd never had that before. Not that she could remember. It was like they were in their own little world.

She registered the bells jingling behind her, but Simon didn't look away, and neither did she.

"Maybe we should eat first," she whispered, leaning in.

"And then…?"

"And then we could—"

"Hello, kids," a deep, booming voice sounded nearby.

Violet noticed Simon roll his eyes a second before he turned away from her. "Archer."

It took a second for the name to register as Violet peered up at the giant standing at the end of the table.

God, he was so freaking tall. He made Beau Bennett and Reese Tavoularis and Travis Walker—the tallest men she could think of—all look like average men when they were anything but.

"I told you I'd be back in a bit," Simon told Archer.

"Don't be rude, boy," Archer said, his drawl prominent and, yes, sexy. "Introduce me."

Simon glanced her way. "Violet, this is Archer Halligan. Arch, this is Violet Anderson."

Archer reached over Simon. Amused by the gesture, Violet put her hand in his. His handshake was firm but gentle, his hands the size of baseball mitts.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Violet Anderson." He held on a little longer than was probably socially appropriate, but Violet got the impression he was doing it to get a rise out of Simon.

It worked.

"Let her go, asshole," Simon said without heat.

Archer barked a laugh, releasing her hand before taking off his cowboy hat and sliding into the booth across from them. Good thing he didn't bring a companion because there was no way anyone was fitting in the seat beside him. His chest and back were so broad he spanned the width of the space.

Not to mention, he captured the attention of everyone in the entire place. Like, seriously. Everyone.

Chuck, the morning cook, stood at the door of the kitchen, his eyes on Archer. Sue, the waitress, stood a few feet to his right, holding a pot of coffee and was dangerously close to pouring it on the floor. Every single patron was looking their way. At the moment, there were mostly women, and Violet was almost certain you could hear the appreciation humming in the air around them.

"What's good here?" Archer asked, the full brunt of those turquoise eyes pinned on her.

Not that she would admit this out loud, but Archer Halligan was a breathtaking man. From the dirty blond hair, the scruff on his jaw, the perfection of his nose, the sinful arch of his eyebrow, and the smirk that pulled at his rather lovely mouth, it was almost impossible not to think so.

He wasn't quite as appealing as Simon, but he was definitely eye candy.

"Everything's good," she told him, placing her hand on Simon's thigh to reassure him. Or maybe to reassure herself. "If you're lookin' for suggestions, I'd go with the Bacon for Breakfast meal. It's two eggs and six slices of bacon."

"Sounds like the perfect appetizer," Archer teased, his attention shifting when the waitress approached.

"Hey, girl," Archer greeted like he knew her personally.

Sue giggled, which made Violet giggle, which earned her Simon's firm hand on the back of her neck.

Oh, man. She liked the possessive gesture so much she sighed as she met Simon's eyes.

"Control yourself," he said softly.

Violet grinned. "I'm tryin'."

While Archer and the waitress discussed his order, Simon leaned in until she could feel his breath against her ear.

"Remember that spankin' I owe you?"

She nodded, warmth pooling between her legs.

"I'm gonna deliver very, very soon if you don't behave."

When he sat back, she turned to meet his gaze. "Promise?"

·····

The gleam he saw in Violet's eyes made his dick hard.

Hard er , he should say. Simon had been hard from the moment she walked in wearing that form-fitting black T-shirt and the flouncy black and purple skirt. Up to this point, he'd seen her in jeans or leggings. The skirt was his favorite.

Well, technically, naked Violet was his favorite, but this was an easy second.

"I promise," he assured her, forcing himself to look away. It was hard enough keeping his hands to himself when he wasn't staring into that beautiful face. Her teasing wasn't helping.

Archer cleared his throat.

Simon rolled his eyes.

"So what's up, kids?" Archer prompted.

"You do realize we're both older than you, right?" Simon countered.

"Sweet Violet doesn't look a day over beautiful," Archer said, his grin widening.

Violet's cheeks turned pink. "Aww. That's sweet of you to say."

"I only speak the truth, doll."

Simon wanted to punch his best friend in the face. The asshole knew exactly what he was doing.

Instead of reprimanding him and feeding the flames, Simon said, "Where's Paige?"

Archer leaned back and spread his arms across the back of the booth. "Last I checked, I wasn't her babysitter."

The man was enormous, and either these booths were smaller than normal, or Archer had put on some bulk in the past couple of weeks. Since he wasn't sure the man was capable of getting any bigger, Simon figured it was the former.

"When did y'all get in?" Violet asked, her hand moving gently over his thigh.

Simon gritted his teeth, ignoring the steady pulse of his dick. Ever since he left her house on Sunday evening, he'd been eager to see her again. Rather than push too hard, too fast, he'd fought the urge last night and stayed at the B and B. But this morning, he'd been jonesing so hard that he knew he wouldn't make it another day without spending a little time with her.

And here he thought the diner would be a safe space.

"Not sure about Paige," Archer answered. "But I got in a little after midnight. Bailey—that's her name, right?"

"Yes," Violet confirmed.

"She was kind enough to let me grab a nap in one of the rooms if I promised to be out early."

"They don't have any vacancies," Simon told Violet. "The wedding party's startin' to come in today and tomorrow."

"Well, I wish I had a guest room," she told Archer. "Or even a couch that was long enough."

Archer winked. "Thanks, darlin'. I'm good. I'm gonna kick Simon outta his bed."

"Where will you stay?" Violet asked, her hand sliding higher on his thigh when she turned to look at him.

She looked so sweet, so innocent. Unless they had a camera under the table, no one would know that she was now rubbing her pinky along the ridge of his dick.

He grunted, not sure he trusted his voice at the moment.

Simon could feel Archer's eyes on them and knew he was going to get hell for this later. They didn't just work together; they were friends, so he didn't doubt for a second that Archer could tell Violet wasn't a passing fancy for him.

"I'll figure somethin' out," he assured her, gripping her wrist and halting her hand.

The smile she flashed told him she knew exactly what she was doing.

He gave her one in return, and the glint in his eyes offered the promise of punishment.

"How's your grandmother?" Violet asked Archer.

"Nana's fantastic," Archer said, his love for the woman who raised him evident in his town. "I finally got her deck finished. Now she's lookin' forward to watchin' the deer."

"He got the deck finished," Violet said, shaking Simon's leg with excitement.

God, she was adorable. "I heard."

Simon pretended not to notice all the people staring their way. He knew from experience that they were watching Archer. The man turned heads no matter where he went. Part of it was due to his size, the rest due to his overwhelming personality. The guy was like a giant teddy bear. A lethal giant teddy bear, mind you, since he'd spent six years being trained by Uncle Sam. His time as a Marine scout sniper had hardened something inside him, but most people never saw that side of him.

"I take it you listen to the podcast," Archer said.

Violet shrugged. "From time to time."

Simon grinned. Based on their conversation on Sunday, Violet had listened to every single episode.

An hour later, after they finished breakfast and Violet managed to drag every detail she could from Archer, Simon was walking into the bookstore with her. He'd sent Archer back to the B and B, assuring him he would be there shortly. Then, he'd purposely ignored the knowing smirk on his friend's face.

"You didn't have to walk me to work," Violet said, reaching for the sign hanging on the door.

Simon grabbed her wrist. "Leave it for a minute."

He then flipped the lock, ensuring no one could interrupt, before leading her to the back of the store.

The fact she was giggling told him she was well aware of what she'd done to him.

"I think you should wear skirts to work every day."

"Why's that?"

"Because it makes for easy access," he said, turning her so that she was standing by the highest end of one of the chaise loungers.

Violet moaned.

"Did you paint these?" he asked, running his hands over the backs of her thighs. Her skin was so damn soft and smooth.

"I did," she confirmed.

"You're quite talented, Ms. Anderson."

Violet peered over her shoulder. "I could say the same to you, Mr. Jennings."

Simon leaned in, pressing his lips close to her ear. "I'm glad you think so. Bend over."

Violet frowned. "Here?"

"No one can see you." He knew because he'd scoped this area out the last time he was in here.

She planted her hands on the chair but didn't bend over.

"Bend over, Vi."

"What're you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna leave my handprint on your ass so you'll think about me all day."

"Oh."

When she didn't turn around or attempt to walk away, Simon placed his hand in the center of her back and urged her forward. She went without resistance, telling him she needed that extra nudge.

He knew this was going to hurt them both. Not physically, since he didn't intend to spank her hard. It was merely foreplay. The problem was, he intended to hold out on fucking her until later. Which meant the potential for blue balls.

"Do you have plans tonight?" he asked as he lifted her skirt.

"No."

He slipped his fingers into the waistband of her panties and started to pull them down. When she moaned, he continued, dragging them down far enough to reveal the rounded globes of her beautiful ass.

"Jesus, baby. You're fuckin' wet."

She moaned again.

"Was this from Archer?" he asked, praying she didn't break his heart and say yes.

"No," she whimpered, spreading her knees wide when he slid his finger along the seam of her pussy.

"Are you sure?"

"Mmm-hmm."

It wasn't easy, but he managed to refrain from fingering her tight little pussy. He wanted to. Damn, did he want to, but it wasn't in the plans for the day. He had a meeting to get to, and she had a store to run. If he weren't careful, he'd have her under him; if he did that, he'd keep her there for the rest of the day.

"Simon, please…"

He caressed her ass with one hand briefly before pulling back and landing one firm swat on her ass cheek.

His dick kicked so hard it was a wonder he didn't bust his zipper.

"Simon!"

"What, baby? You want another?"

He didn't wait for her answer, spanking her again.

"Oh, God," she groaned, her hips rocking.

"You're a dirty girl. You like havin' your ass spanked."

He spanked her three more times in rapid succession.

"Simon … please."

It would've been so easy to unzip his jeans and slide his cock into the tight heaven of her pussy, but he didn't. He wanted her more than he wanted anything else in the world, but he wanted to build her up this time.

He caressed her ass again, liking that he could feel the heat and the slightly raised welt from his hand. When she started to spread her legs, he stopped so he could pull her panties back up.

"Seriously?" she grumbled, standing tall.

He turned her to face him, cupping her cheek. "Invite me over tonight."

She narrowed her eyes, and he thought for a moment that she would deny him. "Come over tonight."

He chuckled softly. "Are you sure you want me there?"

Violet shook her head but said, "Yes."

Simon leaned in and kissed her, unable to resist. The kiss wasn't quick, and it wasn't chaste. It stirred the heat and need until it churned violently inside him, but he ignored it.

"What time will you be home?" he asked when he pulled his lips from hers.

"Around four or so."

"I'll be there at five. With dinner."

"You don't—"

He pressed two fingers to her lips to quiet her. "I'll bring dinner, and after I fuck you, I'll feed you."

She gasped, her eyes dilating.

"See you tonight, Violet," he whispered, kissing her mouth before forcing himself to walk away.