CHAPTER FIVE 

PEPPER

I stayed away from the stall until Reagan finally left. 

I hated leaving Maddy alone but fuck, I couldn't stand just talking to him and being around him. It felt incredibly weird, like some kind of limbo between magnetic attraction and utter revulsion. 

He made my heart and my body go to war at each other. I hated how he just dropped into my life and tried to steamroll over me like my four generations of farmland meant nothing. He was making everything about money and trying to ensure he got a deal that would put him on top. If I gave an inch he would surely take a mile. 

But when I watched his full, smirking lips move as he talked, I felt my own lips tingle in response. From the coffee shop, I watched his hands caress over the watermelons which sparked an image of those hands wandering over my own curves. 

I shook the image from my head as I packed up the truck with the last of my unsold produce while the market wound down to its end. 

It had been years since I'd been with a guy. Since high school, really. Ever since graduation, I was just too busy with taking care of the farm and Dad as his cancer came back. 

Not that I had a ton of experience anyway. It didn't take long for me to figure out that most guys liked petite, delicate women. Not tall and strong farm workers like me.

A guy like Reagan probably had armfuls of perfect tens at his every beck and call. He was only trying to charm me to get his greedy hands on my land. With one look, he could probably tell that I didn't get attention from guys often and sought to exploit that. 

Too bad, Reagan. I'm not falling for it. No matter how often you pop out of thin air and bug me.

So what if he happened to produce pheromones that spoke directly to my brain chemistry, an incredible body and green eyes that made my heart skip a beat? He was probably just as selfish in bed as he was in every other way. 

I drove home from the market repeating all these justifications in my head, trying as hard as I could to make myself not attracted to Reagan but it didn't seem to work. 

The day was still young by the time the market was over but I still had a long day ahead of me. Leonard's, our local supermarket, would be picking up an order from me tomorrow that I had to prepare. Dahlia would also be picking up herbs and sunflowers for her flower shop. 

The work never stopped. 

Somewhere in between unloading my truck and stacking crates of tomatoes, peppers, and cherries, I felt an awful twinge in my back. Still, I couldn’t stop until I was done. 

The sky was a deep purple and the sun had dipped below the hills when I finally closed the door to the walk-in refrigerator and headed for the house. 

At some point, someone needs to open a yoga studio or chiropractor’s office downtown, I thought, stretching and twisting my back as much as I dared.

Until that point, I did have something that would do the trick in the meantime. 

I opened the fridge and took out one of the two Tupperware containers. One was mine. The other was for Solomon, who I just missed at the farmer’s market today thanks to Reagan screwing everything up. 

I pulled open the lid on the container to reveal a grid of brownies cut into perfect one-inch squares. My latest creations and my best work to date, in my own humble opinion. 

I popped one brownie into my mouth and chewed slowly before washing it down with a glass of water. After brushing my teeth and getting undressed for bed, I laid down, spread out like a starfish and closed my eyes. 

It would take an hour or so for the effects to take place, but I tried to relax and mentally melt the day away. 

Just before I drifted off to sleep, I felt the telling tingling in my fingers and toes and deep relaxation of my muscles. A smile came to my lips as a wave of euphoria drifted over me like a gentle ocean wave lapping at my body. 

My bed became a pillowy soft cloud supporting me. All the soreness and stiffness in my muscles seemed to untie their knots and give me sweet relief. 

Something was different this time though.

Goosebumps raised on the surface of my skin despite the warm, late spring night. Every inch of me felt especially sensitive. My hair tickling under my ear and the back of my neck almost felt like fingertips. My nipples stiffened into tight, pointed little buds under the sheet and they yearned for more sensation. Some pressure or even a little bit of pain. 

A dull ache pulsed between my legs and I spread them wide for some relief. But that only made my body crave something more between them. Something hard and big to penetrate through my softness, to fill this hollow emptiness I suddenly felt.  

My skin yearned for weight on top of me, for teeth and hands to fire off my nerves that ached for touch. 

I drifted my hands down along my body but it wasn't enough. The need for contact was overwhelming. I never felt this horny after an edible before and I found myself incredibly frustrated. I'd gone years without needing to be physically touched by a man and now it felt like I couldn't breathe without it. 

My hand slid further down to cup my pussy, dying to relieve that building sensitivity and pressure. My entire vulva was soaked, my tender flesh swollen and eager. 

An image of Reagan flashed through my mind and I found myself gasping. My body responded immediately, grinding my clit into my hand while the other flew up to pinch my nipple. 

The orgasm came fast and shuddered through me. I writhed on the bed like a demon was escaping my body. My pulse pounded in my ears and I felt so incredibly sensitive all over like my flesh had been stripped away and my nerves were exposed.

I never felt like that before. As my breathing steadied and relaxation came over me again, I told myself it had to be the THC in the brownie. 

I flopped over onto my stomach and half moaned, half sighed into my pillow. 

Who was I kidding? 

My body never felt this way until Reagan Sells walked into my life.