Just One Sip

  Just One Sip

  Copyright 2015 Scarlett Dawn

  First Edition

  All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of these publications may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the Author. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Cover by ShoutLines Design and Jennifer Stevens

  Formatting by ShoutLines Design

  Edit: Rogena Mitchell-Jones Manuscript Services

  To Aunt Debbie,

  Thank you so much for opening your home to me when I needed it the most.

  And to all the times you did when I was a child.

  Just One Family,

  S.D.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  About The Club

  Preview of Fall

  Preview of the Obsidian Liquor

  About the Author

  January 10, 2015 – Present Day – Age 24

  Jet Mak stood on my welcome mat. The one man I could never say no to. He appeared a few years older than when I had last seen him—when I had left for college. But at twenty-four years old, he was still as strikingly handsome as I remembered.

  Staring at him, I wondered if he would say the same about me.

  His expression remained impassive while he leaned against the doorframe to my small apartment, his hands buried deep in his pants pockets. He hadn’t said a word yet. The only indication he was here to see me had been his rough knock on my front door. His ice blue gaze ran over my features as I self-consciously patted at my shoulder length blonde hair. I knew it was a mess, having just woke from an afternoon nap.

  Still, he said nothing. Just waited.

  I cleared my throat and nudged a moving box to the side with my foot, allowing him room to come inside. “The place is a disaster right now.” He had found me. I had only been back in Karim, Texas for two days…and he had already tracked me down. It scared me. And thrilled me. “You can come in if you want, though.”

  He hummed quietly, keeping eye contact as he stepped inside. It was difficult to breathe when he looked at me like that. He hadn’t forgotten about me in the six years I had been gone.

  With only our phone calls to hold us over, I had feared he would.

  This man…he was it for me. I knew that now.

  Shutting the door behind him, I rubbed at the back of my neck. “How have you been?”

  He deigned to speak. “Fine.”

  I stared. It was my turn to wait. He had come here after all. He could give me more than a one-word answer. I even crossed my arms and raised a blonde brow.

  He snorted, taking the hint. “My people said they’d spotted you.” Ice blues, so cold and analytical, gauged me. “If you were back in town, why didn’t you call?”

  I sighed and waved my hands around my small apartment. “I’ve been busy unpacking.” My brows slowly furrowed as I brought my gaze back to his. “Your people?”

  His attention altered from mine to the many boxes lying around my living room. He began walking the room, eyeing items I had unpacked and peering into open boxes that I had yet to find a home for on an empty shelf. “You know my father died last year. Things have changed. Shifted.”

  My lips pinched. “You’ve taken over the family business?”

  He did glance at me then. “You knew I would.” He shrugged a shoulder under his pristine suit jacket, his blue tie gently swaying across his crisp white shirt. “I’ve started a few of my own companies, too—expanding on the Mak legacy.”

  I barely kept from rolling my eyes. “Only you would say legacy as if it were a prize.”

  No reaction. “It is what it is.”

  I inhaled slowly and quickly pulled the hair tie from around my wrist and dragged my hair up into a short ponytail. I realized what I had said was rude too late. “I am sorry about your father passing.” Of course, I was. Jet had loved his father.

  So emotionless. “Thank you.” He glanced at my hair now sitting high on my head, then slowly down to my neck. His first reaction…his black brows puckered. “And I’m sorry that your grandmother died.”

  No, he wasn’t. I knew that. He knew that I knew that.

  Her death had brought me home to Karim—where he was.

  I still managed to say, “Thank you. I’m gonna miss her.” I would. Terribly.

  Before my grandma had become sick with cancer, she had been a bright beacon of light. She had offered me her home to stay in while I went to college out of state in Kansas.

  I had graduated…and she had taken a turn for the worse.

  I stayed to take care of her until her last breath. It hadn’t been easy. No one should see their loved one’s body break down like her’s had. It wasn’t an experience I wanted to repeat anytime soon.

  His eyes tracked over my features. “Hmm.”

  The quiet that descended upon us wasn’t uncomfortable. It never had been. He was content with it, as was I. One of the reasons why we had always…clicked.

  My head tilted the barest bit in question while he continued peeking in boxes. “Did you come by to see me or to check out my goods?” As meager as they were.

  He opened a small trinket box on top of the fireplace, evaluating the inside. “Both.”

  I blinked. “Oh.” My gut churned, making me nauseous. I kept my voice from wavering at the slight hurt his answer had caused. “What are you looking for?”

  His gaze slammed to mine. He had always been able to read me. “I wanted to see you.”

  My lips tugged up at the edges, a small smile. “Good.”

  Again, his brows puckered as he glanced at my neck. “But I do need something back I gave you a long time ago,” he pointed at his neck, and then to mine, “although you don’t seem to be wearing it any longer.”

  I lifted a hand to my neck…feeling where the necklace no longer lay. My jaw dropped, and I hurriedly peered around the living room floor. “The clasp has been slipping on it. It must have come off when I was sleeping. I’ll be back in a second.” I walked quickly to my bedroom, holding my stomach the whole way. He wanted it back. He had never asked for it back.

  I stalled in my actions to search my bed sheets when he came into my bedroom. He surveyed my room, the one area I had actually been able to unpack. His gaze caught on the prescription bottle on my dresser, but he swiftly looked away to find my gaze. “I recently found out it was a gift from my father to my mother. I had no clue when I gave it to you.”

  My eyes widened. “She told you about it?”

  “In one of her lucid moments.”

  I went back to searching. “Jesus, I’m sorry.”

  He was quiet, and when he spoke, his words were soft. “I’ll buy you another.”

  My hands faltered just as I found the necklace under my pillow. I couldn’t look at him, not yet. I might be testing him. His feelings. “You don’t have to, Jet. You gave this to me when we were just kids.”

  “Lucy, it’s always been you. And when you’re ready, I’ll buy you one ten times more grand.”

  Gradually, I lifted. My hands shoo
k so badly that it was embarrassing as I pulled the ring off the chain. Silently, I gave the blue sapphire ring to him. The hue of the ring matched his hair color. With his dark Italian ancestry, his constant change of hair color—the one outrageous action he allowed himself—was vivid against his bronze complexion. His fingers were warm as they curled around mine, gently accepting the ring from me.

  And there it was. The break in his stony countenance. One of the reasons why I would never be able to say no to him. He only gifted me his smile. Small it might be at times, but his lips would curl up on one side, flashing his white teeth…and the dimples he had. Sweet, so sweet. His tone was tender as he murmured quietly, “I’ve missed you, Lucy Plume.”

  I pulled my hand back to the safety of my pants pockets. “I’ve missed you too, Jet Mak.”

  December 20, 2005 - Age 15

  “What?” Jet asked as his cheeks flushed a deep crimson. “You aren’t coming with me again?”

  Ice pricked between my shoulder blades. I would much rather be holed up under my blankets than have this conversation. My voice was small, just like I felt at this moment. “No, I can’t.”

  “Give me a goddamn explanation, Lucy! For once, just give me an answer!”

  I didn’t have one to give him. I was at a loss. I felt lost. “I just…can’t.”

  He ran his hands through his pink hair in frustration. “I don’t understand.” He paced the living room, my mom in the kitchen trying to give us privacy. Though, if Jet became any louder, I feared she would come in to intervene. He shook his hands at me, showing the most expression I think I had ever seen from him. “It’s just my family and their friends.” He pointed a sharp finger at our tree decorated with homemade ornaments. “It’s a Christmas party, for fucks sake!”

  I closed my eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay. “Jet, it’s not you. Or your family.” I held a hand to my head that was screaming at me to run up to my room. To hide. To be alone. “I just can’t be around so many people right now. I need my space.”

  He growled under his breath. “My family will start to take offense to this, Lucy.”

  His family was frightening, their ties to this city strung so tight even the Mayor was sitting nice and pretty in the Mak’s back pocket. That was what money and long-standing Karim heritage will do. The Mak’s owned damn near half the city. Too bad it was my own fears that took precedent, even over the fact that I would piss off his family. I whispered, “I’m sorry, Jet. I just can’t go tonight.”

  Rubbing his hands over his face, he stared, his ice blue gaze tracking over my upset features. Then his feet were moving, stalking toward me. I held still as he stopped right before me. In a sweet and tender motion, his hands cupped my cheeks like I would break. His thumb brushed away a tear that had escaped. Quietly, he pleaded, “Lucy, my mom… She’s been acting different lately. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She’s been forgetting things.” His ice blues beseeched me to give in. “I need you there with me tonight. I don’t know what to do when she’s like that.”

  My lips thinned, hearing him beg. He never did that. And still…the ice crept over my shoulder blades up to my neck. I needed to get away. From him. From everyone.

  I shook my head. “I just can’t.”

  As if I had burned him, he pulled his hands away from my face. He took a step back. Then another. Then one more. His brows furrowed so deeply that they touched. Gradually, he shook his head. “Space? You say you want space, Lucy?” He took another step away. “Well, you’ve got it.” He turned and prowled to the front door.

  I raised my right hand. “Wait!”

  Not peering back, he paused, his shoulders hunched and tight in his silent fury.

  My mouth bobbed and fresh tears began streaming down my cheeks. I fisted my hand and let it drop down to my side. “I don’t want to break up, Jet. I just…can’t…go with you tonight.”

  In a quiet beat, his chest heaved, and then his feet were moving again. Away from me. He opened the front door and glanced at me once over his shoulder, I saw the pain radiating there in his eyes. He shook his head and stated softly, “That’s too bad. I think we do need a break.” The door shut soundlessly as he left.

  My mouth hung open in a silent plea. He had actually broken up with me.

  He was mine.

  I was his.

  Shit like this wasn’t supposed to happen to us. We had been together longer than any of our friends had. We were made for each other.

  What the hell had just happened?

  My heart splintered into a million pieces, aching so much that I sat heavily on the couch and yanked the afghan over my shoulders. Holding my head in my hands, furious tears poured down my cheeks. My stomach ached with each inhale, and I jerked when I felt my mom sit next to me.

  Why couldn’t I be like a normal person?

  I had always been shy, but whatever this new introversion was, it was ruining my life.

  Silently, my mom pulled me against her, holding me close as I wept.

  Stuffing my face against her neck, I sobbed, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  Gently, she rubbed my back and used the cover to brush away the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing. “We’ll figure it out, hun.” She placed a soft kiss on my sweating forehead. “And Jet will be back. You know he will. He loves you.”

  Present Day

  Waving my hands in front of my face, I choked heavily on the marijuana smoke that filled my mom’s—and now my—bakery downtown. “Mom?” For the love of god, she was smoking it in the shop now. “Mom, where are you?”

  Her soft tenor rang from the kitchen. “In the back, hun!”

  Coughing twice more, I locked the front door to the shop. It was still an hour until opening time. Hopefully, it would air out by then. Maneuvering through the small tables of display cases, I noted she hadn’t filled them yet this morning. Sighing heavily, I opened the swinging door behind the vintage cash register. There she was—long blonde hair, not a gray in sight, cooking…and munching…in the kitchen like normal. “Procrastinate much?”

  She took a drag from her joint before pounding it out into the sink. The windows were open in the back, the smoke wafting out in the breeze that ruffled her soft cotton skirt. “Don’t harp at me. I was up all night with a large order for the Brandles.” She waved her hands, and her various bracelets jingled with a soft tinkling. “I could actually use some help—”

  “Nope,” I interrupted. “I’m back in Karim as your partner. Your business partner. The one who takes care of the books at Plume Bakes, not an employee to cook for you.”

  Her nose crinkled. There was a smudge of chocolate on it. “I know. I know. You don’t have to keep telling me. We signed the papers. My memory isn’t faulty—yet.”

  My lips twitched. “Then why do you keep asking?”

  “It’s only been two times.” She sifted flower onto the cooking board she was using. Her brown eyes peeked up at me through her dangling bangs. Where she was a real flower child down to her core, I was a mixture of professionalism and free love. “Has Jet been by to see you?”

  Taking off my suit coat, I started to wave it through the air to dissipate some of the lingering smoke toward the windows. “He stopped by my apartment two days ago.” I hadn’t heard from him since. “He wanted his ring back. Said it was his mom’s ring.”

  Her abrupt laughter caused me to pause. “That ring probably cost twenty grand. Of course, it belongs to his mom. Do you know how many times I was tempted to make you give it back?”

  I chuckled quietly, enjoying our conversation. She had spiraled down into a horrid depression when Grandma died a month ago. Mom hadn’t been able to be there as much as she would have liked, having to run shop. But seeing her now, in her ‘place’ behind the cooking counter, and smiling… Well, it made me smile. “His mother has enough jewelry to pay for an entire country’s starving children. I didn’t think it would hurt to keep it.”

  She nodded, still grinning. “True
enough, daughter. True enough.” She pointed a flour covered finger at the small office in the back. “There’s tons of paperwork back there.” Her grin only increased. “I’m so glad you’re home. Now you can put that fancy business degree of yours to use. Aren’t you thrilled?”

  I giggled outright as I made my way back to my office. “You know I am.”

  It was good to be home.

  I peeked back into the kitchen and tried to give my mom my best glare. “And don’t even think about lighting up when customers are here.”

  She winked. “Of course not. I’m a certified angel once the sign says open.”

  Oh, my God. This was going to be a wild ride.

  “Mom!” I shouted…glaring daggers at the order that I gripped in my hands. It was a miracle that the paper wasn’t ripping. “Mom!” I was going to throttle my tree hugging mother. “What the hell is this?”

  Wholesome innocence stepped into my office. Oh, she could win an award for transforming herself into a light spirit made just for a church statue. “What are you talking about, dear?”

  She even pulled out the dear card. Her face was going to meet bark in a hurry. I shook the paper in front of her nose. “You aren’t supposed to interfere with Jet and me! You know that!” I pointed to the scheduled catering employees for a Mak event. “And that’s my name on there.” My brows arched as I glanced once more at the name of the location. “And what the hell is The Club?”

  Delicately, she lifted the paper from my hands. Her brown eyes surveyed the sheet, and then she shrugged a thin shoulder. I wish my shoulders were that small. Whereas I had received her smaller height, I was a tad more round around the middle. Probably from my dad’s side…if my mom even knew who my dad was. Definitely a free loving woman down to her core. She hummed quietly and handed the paper back to me. “It’s a new club of Jet’s. I think he co-owns the place. I’ve catered there once before.” She waggled a finger at the notes section of the order. “Make sure you wear the correct attire. It’s totally upscale.”