Rayne shook his head. “She’s a friend, that’s all. And what about you, Miss Hunter, and your hunky bartender? Hiring all the hot guys these days?”
“What, you looking for a job?”
He chuckled.
I shook my head. “No, he’s just a friend.”
“Someone quoted me a great line today: ‘all things have their season.’ Do you agree?” Rayne asked, setting his hand on my back, gently stroking me between my shoulder blades.
His touch felt like lightning. An intense sensation shot down to my toes, and I felt like my hair was standing on end. I looked up at him, meeting those sparkling eyes. I inhaled deeply. I caught the light honey scent that always seemed to effervesce off him. How many times had I wondered how his kiss might taste? Would it be as sweet as he smelled?
“Here we go,” Rick said then, setting down the cups of coffee. I saw his eyes flick toward Rayne’s hand. Rick looked away, quickly turning his attention toward Cassidy. “So, how are they?”
“Oh my god, to die for. Is the chef still here? Tell him they’re awesome. Someone has some talented hands.”
“Indeed,” I whispered, shooting a flirty glance at Rayne.
He smiled gently at me, stroked the length of my hair.
“Okay,” Cassidy said then, turning back to Rayne. “Let’s chug this coffee and head out. I still need to get my van from your place. I’ve got sunrise yoga at the beach tomorrow morning.”
“What? And leave your desserts?” Rayne asked.
“Hell no,” Cassidy said, scooping up the list bite of the crème brulee. “Almost done. Just give me a sec.” She then turned serious as she got to work on the last of the desserts.
Once again, jealousy shot through me. Why was her vehicle at his farm? Where had they been?
Rayne sipped his coffee and looked over my scattered mess of books and notes. “So after your degree, then what?”
“Assuming I finish, we’ll see. I need to pass this test first,” I replied, looking back at my book. I was also mindful of the note lying to the side of my papers about Monsieur Beaumont, yet another duty I still had to attend to.
“You’ll be fine. I’ve never seen you fail at anything.”
“Well, the harder I work, the luckier I get. And I do tend to get what I want.”
“Of course you do. You’ve got beauty, brains, and you’re a hard worker. And besides, who could ever resist those eyes of yours?”
“Me? I’m not the one with the sparkle.”
“You have plenty of sparkle.”
“Done!” Cassidy announced.
Rayne chuckled then pulled out his wallet.
“On the house,” I told him, setting my hand on his.
He shook his head. “Don’t want to set a precedent. By the way, that crème brulee really needed some organic honey, don’t you think?” he said, turning to Cassidy as he set a bill on the bar.
“Definitely. But otherwise, it was kinda like the food of the gods.”
I nodded to Rayne. “I’ll be sure to order some. Need to find a reputable vendor first, not some kooky hippie.”
“Of course not. Don’t want those types around,” Rayne said with a good-natured laugh then slipped off his seat. “Catch you tomorrow?”
I smiled. “Hope so. I’m packed up with stuff, but I’m sure I’ll see you around,” I said, knowing full well that seeing Rayne was something I always managed to juggle into my schedule, not that he needed to know that. I turned to his friend. “Nice to meet you, Cassidy.”
“You too,” she said then turned to Rick. “Night!”
From the glass washing stand, he nodded to them. “Goodnight.”
Rayne shot me the softest of smiles, winked at me, then headed out behind Cassidy.
All I could do was stare at the door after they’d gone.
A few minutes later, I heard the click of a glass on the bar in front of me. I looked back to realize Rick had set out two shot glasses, one for him and one for me. Wordlessly, he poured us both a whiskey. He lifted the glass and motioned for me to do the same.
“Here’s to sizing up the competition,” he said with a wink.
I couldn’t help by laugh. Indeed. I couldn’t tell if Cassidy was really my competition or not, but she sure seemed to know more about Rayne than I did. And I hated it. And I hated that I hated it. I suspected that Rick was feeling the same way about Rayne that I was feeling about Cassidy, about which I felt very sorry. But what could I do? After all, Rayne hadn’t actually taken anything beyond flirtation and a vibe. You couldn’t count on a vibe. I sighed then lifted my glass. “Cheers,” I said then, clicking glasses with him.
At that, we both drank. And as the warm liquid slid down my throat, I couldn’t help but close my eyes once more and dream about honey-sweetened kisses.
Chapter 7: Rayne
The bees hummed softly as I approached the row of straw bee skeps sitting alongside the back wall of my barn.
“Good morning,” I called to them.
A few of the workers buzzed around me excitedly. While we faeries looked like humans, we had skills beyond the reach of most mortals. Speaking to the natural world came quite easily. Even when I was a young boy, I had a special affinity for speaking with winged creatures: bees, butterflies, birds, dragonflies. As it turned out, the bees and I understood one another best.
I chuckled good-naturedly then listened.
“In Chancellor?” I asked as they told me about a man they had spotted who had a glow that matched Alice’s. The bees could see each person’s aura, the colorful magnetic hue that surrounded people, and every person had a vibrational match. Finally, they’d spotted someone who was right for my girl.
I nodded as they shared their last bit of inteclass="underline" “Lavender Fields Bed and Breakfast. Well, then I guess it’s time to make a call on Genevieve. Surely her guests need some honey with their morning tea. Have anything for me?”
The bees rushed off to one of the skeps that was positively glowing with golden light.
“Pardon me,” I said politely as I set my hand on the little straw dome.
With that, the bees left the straw hive, flying like a torrent out of the little straw skep. The queen was the last to exit.
“Your majesty,” I said, inclining my head. “I’ll be just a moment.”
She turned and flew off to join the others.
I gently lifted the straw skep. Pulling an old bone tool from my back pocket, I removed the honey-laden combs, setting them into a well-worn wooden collecting tray. When I was done, I returned the skep to its upright position.
Most of the bees had gone back to work in the apple orchard. I gazed at the trees. The orchard was a beautiful sight, row after row of apple trees loaded in pink and white blossoms. Dandelions, forget-me-nots, and new violets sprang up like a watercolor patchwork under the lovely canopy. I loved spring in Chancellor. I hoped Ziggy was right, that when my work was done, I would be able to stay. And not just for the view.
“All done. Bright blessings and many thanks to you,” I called to the bees, then went to the barn with the honeycombs.
Once inside, I grabbed my wooden uncapping tool. Working quickly, I uncapped the wax, revealing the amber-colored honey underneath. Dabbing the honey with my finger, I took a taste. The sweet flavor filled my mouth. I could taste an undertone of apple in the honey. Once all the combs were uncapped, I dropped them into the honey extractor and turned it on. In no time, the honey was ready. I filled up a dozen jars, mindful to slip some fresh honeycomb into the old mason jars as Genevieve preferred. She wanted her guests to know they had authentic honey on their breakfast table. I then washed up and got ready to go.