Free Taste of Candy by Shoshanna Evers Page A

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    Candy’s head popped up . It was Dave Roads, in the flesh. He was wearing a tight black button down shirt with straight legged jeans and scuffed sneakers. His hair was dark and shaggy, and man oh man did he look good. And his lips…she blushed as a rush of desire swept through her body.
    Candy stood up and put her hand out , her knees trembling. “It’s so good to meet you! I’m Candace Bryce. Candy for short.”
    Dave ignored her hand and leaned in to kiss her cheek instead, his stubble-roughened face touching hers for one delicious second. He pulled her chair back for her before sitting down himself.
    “Candy,” he said slowly, as if he were trying out her name for size . “I like it.”
    Candy giggled and then stopped abruptly, blushing . He was going to think she was some star-struck fan. Which, since she had bought and downloaded all of his albums this past week, she sort of was now. Dave ordered a scotch on the rocks and then leaned back in his chair, his eyes raking over her as if he was sizing her up.
    “So, have you had a chance to check out the menu?” He picked one off the table and flipped through it.
    “No, I just got here,” she lied . “What looks good to you?”
    Dave tossed the menu on the tablecloth and looked up . A waiter came rushing over with his scotch. “On the house, sir. I am a huge, huge fan.”
    “Thank you,” Dave said with a grin. “What’s good here?”
    “Tonight’s special is filet mignon with butter braised asparagus tips and seared portabella mushrooms, sir.”
    Dave nodded. “Rare—still bleeding rare. Candy?”
    Candy just nodded, hoping he couldn’t tell she was practically salivating at the description of the food . “That sounds great. Thank you.”
    The waiter hurried off and Dave sipped his scotch, watching her from across the table as the candlelight flickered across his handsome face .
    “You know what I do,” he said, “but I know nothing about you.”
    “I don’t want to bore you.” Still, it was sweet of him to ask.
    He raised an eyebrow. “Come on, that’s not fair. Spill. I promise I’ll stop you if you bore me.”
    “No pressure, then,” she joked. “I’m a graphic designer. I make websites, logos, that sort of thing.” She paused, trying to gage his response. “Bored yet?”
    His laugh eased her tension. “So you’re an artist, like me.”
    “Yes!” Candy grinned.
    Most people didn’t recognize the importance of an artist’s eye when designing logos. For some reason, most of the people she met thought that being a graphic designer was all about using special computer programs. But ultimately, her success depended on her artistic abilities.
    “You got any tattoos, Candy?”
    Candy could feel the warmth spread to her cheeks and she knew she was blushing again . “No. I almost got one in college, but…I didn’t.”
    Oh man . If she kept up like this he wasn’t going to stick around through dessert.
    “But I like tattoos,” she said . She knew he had several. “Do you have any?”
    Dave laughed . “Just my whole back. And full sleeves. I’ll show you later.”
    Candy laughed , too. “Yeah, right.”
    Suddenly Dave clasped her hand in his, capturing her wrist and running his finger over her rapidly fluttering pulse .
    “This is my human lie detector, right here,” he said softly as he kept his warm fingers on her wrist . He looked up as if he were calling on the spirits. “Does sweet Candy want to see my tattoos?”
    Candy laughed but she knew her pulse gave her away . She’d give her right arm to see Dave Roads’ tattoos live and in person. She’d already seen them in a picture on the internet.
    “So you do like tattoos,” Dave said, still holding her hand. “What else do you like? What turns you on?”
    “I —I don’t know.”
    Suddenly his mouth was on her wrist, pressing his warm lips against her pounding pulse . “Do you like kisses?”
    Candy nodded, her mouth gone dry . She lifted her wine glass with her