Honey felt like he was walking on clouds as he strode through the tiny, mismatched kitchen to make two cups of tea. Everywhere he looked there were reminders of Elle, her touch in every small detail. The way the porcelain tea cups all had flowers on them, but didn’t match. The handmade labels affixed to bottles and jars of various sizes, all penned in her meticulous script, and all filled with spices and seasonings, all the things she used to bake with.
She was a notoriously good cook. He could attest to that fact as he inhaled deep, drawing in the sweet and spicy aroma of cinnamon rolls coming from the 1950’s looking oven. It even had the speckled ceramic interior.
“Honey, can you take the cinnamon rolls out of the oven? I think they’re done!” she called from the back room, the one she called the music room. She had to reschedule some of her piano lessons for first thing in the morning since so much of her time had been taken up with the farm. Honey had a feeling this particular student wouldn’t mind having to wake up a little earlier once he got a taste of one those rolls.
A second after Elle’s words reached him, the timer in the shape of a tomato started to beep on the counter next to the stove and he hastily quieted it. Grabbing a kitchen towel, he gingerly pulled out the hot pan, turned the oven off, and inhaled again. Heaven.
This must be what heaven feels like, he thought to himself as he looked out at the sunny morning just outside the small kitchen window that hung over the sink. This is what paradise must be.
He couldn’t remember ever feeling so…happy. That was the word. That was the feeling that bubbled up like golden light, that made him want to laugh for no reason. The water in the tea kettle started to boil and he quickly poured the steaming liquid in the cups, adding extra honey for himself and juggling three still molten hot cinnamon rolls.
Honey was still juggling them all precariously as he made his way back to the music room. They were just finishing up their lesson. It was a little girl in a pink dress and long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was furiously focused on watching Elle’s fingers as they swept across the keyboard of the piano, a seriousness in her expression that reminded him so much of Elle that it made his chest hurt. In that moment, it was so easy to imagine that she was their child, that this was what every morning was. Simple. Sweet. Honest and heartfelt. And most of all, good.
Whoa! Get a fucking grip, man! His inner voice chastised him and he had to shake off the fantasy. Because that was all it was. Just a fantasy. Nothing real. But maybe it could be, one day. Another voice whispered, a soft, sad voice that lived deep inside him, a voice that he’d thought had died long ago. Hope.
Honey watched her for another ten minutes, entranced, as she finished up the lesson, congratulating the girl on learning so fast and assigning a new piece for her to work on during the week before sending her on her way.
Elle started playing around on the piano, her hands playing instantly, easily, some soft happy tune that reminded him of a lullaby.
“What?” she finally asked, noticing his stare that was trained on her. He just shrugged, handing over a roll and the extra cup of tea he’d made for her.
“You really love them, don’t you?”
“Who?”
“Kids,” he said, tilting his head to examine her, “You really love working with kids.”
“I do,” Elle said simply, smiling up at him as she took a bite. His own was long gone. “I’ve always loved kids. I thought that maybe one day I’d be a teacher but…” she trailed off, looking down at her fingers as they trilled out a tiny melody. The sound turned sadder, more wistful, “I couldn’t, not with having a panic attack every time I was around more than five people.”
“But it’s better now, your anxiety,” Honey added when she looked at him questioningly. But then it was her turn to shrug.
“I suppose it is, yeah, I’ve worked hard over the last ten years to get better, to not let it affect me so much. But, I would still have to go to school and get a teaching degree and this is…this is enough,” she said as she slowly ran her hands just over the keys, not making any noise now.
Elle took another bite of the cinnamon roll, leaving a little crumb of sugary sweet spice on the corner of her lip and he couldn’t resist. He held out a hand, simultaneously holding his breath, letting it out in a whoosh as she reached out her own and placed it into his. He could still see the wariness in her dark eyes, but for now, that was enough.
Slowly, he drew her up from the piano bench, turning her as his hands fell to land on either hip and his eyes went to her lush, all too kissable lips.
“You have something,” Honey said, his voice hoarse, “Just there…” his words trailed off as he leaned down, sweeping his lips light and teasing over hers, licking his tongue out to taste the sweetness, and groaning at another flavor. The taste that was all her, all Elle, and pure sin. Honey deepened the kiss. He hadn’t meant to, he’d just kissed her because, well, because he had to. But now he was pulling her hips hard against his and pressing them both back until they landed with a jarring, jangling sound against the keyboard of the piano.
He loved the way Elle melted against him, her curves sinking weightlessly against all his muscle, her soft against his hard and it made him groan out again as he kissed across her jaw and down to the sensitive curve of her neck.
Honey could feel her tremble in his arms and all he could think about was having her again, being buried so deep inside her that she would never forget the feeling of him filling her, of being joined together into one being.
He was about to lift her up and carry her back towards the bedroom but he couldn’t wait that long. He thought about taking her to the nearest wall, the nearest hard surface that he could bend her over and bring her to a screaming orgasm but a tiny, tinkling alarm started to sound. It took Honey a long moment for the sound to break through the red haze of lust that clouded his minds and sent all his coherent thoughts fleeing south but then Elle was pulling back.
She gave him a look, have humor half frustration as she pulled the old flip phone from her back pocket.
“It’s my alarm,” she said breathlessly as she fumbled to stop the still ringing thing, “We’re going to be late. We’ve got to go.”
Honey sighed, resting his forehead against hers for a long moment as he fought every instinct in his body that was telling him to forget the farm and spend the day in bed with Elle. It sounded like paradise, and the best idea he’d had all year but he could tell by the serious look on her face that she wasn’t about to break her promise to Carla. Honey understood needing to stay true to her word, and he respected her for it.
Finally, he sighed in resignation, pulling back after he gave her one last, quick, passionate kiss that had them both breathless again.
“I’ll go get the car started,” Honey said, forcing himself to take a step back, and then another. He had to get out of there because he knew if he spent another second alone in the same room as her he would have her stripped naked and pushed up against the wall in no time. With another heartfelt sigh, he turned and walked out of the room.
***
Elle looked over as Honey slowed the car to a stop in the parking lot at Honey Bud Farms. She was still trying to get her bag together and her seat belt unbuckled when all the sudden he was there, opening the passenger’s side door for her and helping her out. He leaned close, breathing deep against her ear before planting a quick, casual kiss on her lips, leaving her even more flustered.
“Have a good morning in the office, baby. I’m in the greenhouse all day. I brought lunch for us so I’ll see you then?”
Elle couldn’t get out a single word, she could only nod dumbly as he shot her a radiant smile that had his dimples winking at her before running off in the direction of the greenhouse and disappearing inside.
What the heck was that? her inner voice asked, sounding as confounded as she felt. And why did it make her feel so warm and content inside? Only Honey could wrap her up and tangle her emotions so thoroughly, then kiss her as if they’d been doing the same thing for a lifetime, rather than barely a day.
With a sigh Elle turned and trudged up the small hill to the little farm house that had been converted into the office. She walked inside and headed straight for the newly added secretaries desk that was pushed into the only available corner. It was small, but it was enough for her to do work at, entering receipts and tallying up profit and loss statements. She’d always been good with numbers, with problems of logic. Anything that she could reason out.
And that was exactly the problem with Honey. Nothing about the man was logical and reason couldn’t even begin to untangle the puzzle of him. At first he seemed like nothing but a too charming for his own good womanizer and hopeless flirt. But there was so much more than that to him. There were layers of mystery that she hadn’t even begun to uncover, but the question was, did she want to?
You already know the answer to that question.
She sighed again, distracted as she shuffled around files and folders but not really accomplishing anything. Because that voice was right. She wanted to know him. She wanted to learn all of his secrets. She wanted to be the one he confided in. And that thought terrified her. Because it would be so easy to come to rely on him, to need him. To lo–
“Oh my god, Elle. What was that?!” Carla’s voice broke into her thoughts for which Elle was eternally grateful. That was one question that she didn’t want to have to answer.
“What was what?” Elle asked, turning towards her best friend, her voice still distant and distracted.
“What was that kiss?” Carla all but shrieked the question as she grabbed Elle’s hands and pulled her over until they were both sitting in two overstuffed armchairs, “With Honey!”
“I know it was with Honey. I was there, you know,” Elle said softly, flustered once more.
“But…but…you! And Honey!”
“It’s not– Carla, wait a minute. It’s not me and Honey,” Elle trailed off, and then finally shrugged in defeat, “Okay, maybe it is, but–”
“I knew it! I knew from the first night that you two met and you threw your drink in Honey’s face that there was something between you. Oh, I’m so happy for you!” Carla leaned forward and gave Elle a quick, sisterly hug.
“It’s not…I mean, it’s not official or anything, or at least I don’t think it is.”
“That kiss looked pretty official, Elle. It looked…nice,” Carla tilted her head to one side, “That was Honey right? Our Honey? Because he’s a lot of things but nice isn’t really one of them.”
“I know. It was Honey. It was definitely him, but, I don’t know. After last night–”
“Oh my god. What happened last night?” Carla asked with a sly grin, leaning forward intently.
“Well, we, uh–”
She was saved from having to answer as the morning air was filled with the roar of a loud motorcycle engine revving just outside.
“That must be Joel…” Elle started before the sound of raised, angry voices reached them from inside the office. She watched Carla jump up and peek out the front window. When she turned back to Elle, her expression was hard and fearful.
“It’s not Joel,” Carla said, throwing the words over her shoulder as she rushed outside, Elle following just a few steps behind her.