章節 2: The Flour Pot

Working an eight-hour shift at The Buzzed Bee, especially on a Saturday night, after ten hours working at her bakery, The Flour Pot, wasn't Jessie's idea of fun. It was all about survival and making sure Steph and Liam remained in their family home, where they had lived their entire lives. At least until Steph graduated high school. That was the dream.

The house was no longer affordable since David walked away, but Jessie tried. If she could stretch their savings just a little further and keep working two jobs while raising teenagers for just two more years, Steph would graduate and go away to college. Then, she could sell the house and live in the studio apartment above The Flour Pot.

But right now, Jessie felt like she would be lucky to last long enough to make it out the backdoor and to the car. Her legs felt like Jell-O. Her feet ached, and her shoulders were knotted so tightly that she could only imagine she looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Her brain had shut down an hour ago, and a haze clouded the edges of her vision.

Jessie promised herself a catnap in the car before driving home if only her body would hang on a little longer.

The crisp autumn air acted as a quick pick me up as she opened the backdoor and stepped outside into the spotlight hanging above the door. Brighter than anything she had seen in hours, Jessie's eyes watered. She paused to clear her vision.

Her pause was cut short when a hand grabbed her wrist, and she found herself twirled into an embrace, pressed between the concrete block wall and a man's body, a body that smelled oddly familiar. Almost as suddenly, lips covered hers and cut off the scream that instinctually bubbled to the surface. The lips also felt vaguely familiar, and while the arms around her were strong, they obviously weren't there to restrain her as much as hold her close.

Jessie found herself staring at closed eyes beneath a fringe of dark hair. Hands trapped against pecs of steel, she tried to push her assailant off, but she might as well have been pushing the wall behind her.

Those lips. She knew them. She liked them. She knew them as well as she knew her own name, only right now that had escaped her as she fought between giving in and fighting off her attacker. After all, this wasn't her idea, no matter how right his lips felt on hers.

When the initial shock wore off, anger set in. There was no way Jessie was letting this guy get away with this, no matter who he was. Invigorated by the sudden adrenaline rush and anger, Jessie reacted with a knee aimed at his groin, praying she made contact, followed by a stomp to his foot and another hard shove.

With a grunt, the man stepped back. She must have missed the target with her knee because he was still standing. No man could stand upright after a knee to the groin.

"Hey, what gives?" He asked.

With the added distance and time, Jessie could put a face with the kiss. This was her birthday gift to herself—the sexy makeout session stranger.

"You! What the hell?"

His hurt expression transformed into a sly smile as the look of recognition crossed Jessie's face.

"Sorry. I wanted to surprise you. I didn't expect to upset you so."

"Upset me? You attacked me outside my place of employment, and I'm not supposed to be upset?"

His grin grew into a full-fledged smile so strikingly perfect that, for a moment, Jessie had to fight the urge to pull out her phone and take a picture. This man was truly walking, breathing art as real as anything hanging in a gallery.

"You attacked me in your place of employment," he shot back.

"That was different, and you know it."

With a tilt of his head, he asked, "How so?"

As if it really explained anything, Jessie said, "It was my birthday."

The backdoor banged open, and out walked Jackson. Jackson owned The Buzzed Bee and also acted as bartender and sometimes bouncer. Jackson, who looked more like a shaggy bearded biker than a cop, had a long history in law enforcement and personal security. He retired when he was forty-five and opened The Buzzed Bee. Max and Jessie had worked for him since the beginning. Jackson's daughter, Jordan, joined them last year when she graduated from the culinary academy. Jackson added a grill to the establishment just for her.

Jackson spotted the couple. His gruff voice broke the silence of the night, "Jessie, Min Jun, everything okay here?"

Min Jun spoke first. "All good, Jackson. Are we still on for basketball Tuesday?"

"Yup." Jackson nodded and walked away, leaving them standing there alone.

"Min Jun?" Jessie asked. The name was foreign on her lips.

With another dazzling smile, he said, "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Min Jun Park, formally of the K-pop group Bext and now proprietor of the soon-to-open Keepin' It Real Dance Club and Studio."

He gave Jessie a head nod as if he were royalty, acknowledging her presence in court.

"You know Jackson?" Jessie realized the conversation was jumping around, largely thanks to her, but she was tired and still trying to process this weird chain of events.

"Yes. He worked security for BEXT whenever we performed stateside."

"Wait. You're a performer?"

That explained his Adonis looks. Not so much why he was hanging out at a small neighborhood bar.

"Was a performer. I retired from music a few weeks ago. Twenty years in the spotlight was long enough."

Looking at him now, it was hard to imagine him much older than twenty now.

"You started performing as an infant?"

That earned Jessie another killer smile so big that his eyes disappeared into crescent moons over stunning cheeks.

"My professional training began when I was twelve."

"Wow." Jessie forced her dropped jaw closed as she mentally shook herself back to what was important. "Wait. Why are you here?"

"To see you, of course."

"Why?"

"Why? Was it just me, or weren't we having a great time together last time? I mean before the interruption."

His expression was so open and honest that Jessie believed his motives, but why? She was eight years his senior. A mother of two young adults, poor as dirt, and she hadn't felt truly put together and attractive since Steph was born.

This man, this Min Jun, was some sort of rock star who could easily double as a model. More than likely wealthy and single. He could have any woman he wanted. Why her? Was this a cruel joke?

"Why?" Jessie asked again.

Min Jun closed the distance between them with one hand pressed to the wall next to her head. He moved even closer until their lips would touch if only she would tilt her head up a few degrees to compensate for the height he had on her.

"The why is simple, Jessie. You set my blood on fire, and I want more of you. I want you out of those shorts and straddling me with my cock buried inside you. But honestly, I'd bet my life that no amount of sex with you will ever sate my need for you.

"I intend to pursue you until you agree to marry me, Jessie. Whatever it takes, I'll make you mine."

Min Jun rubbed a thumb seductively over her lower lip. Her breath caught in her chest, and then his words sank in. Jessie shook her head.

"You're crazy. Did someone put you up to this?"

She slipped under his arm and sidestepped away from him, praying a little distance would add clarity to the situation.

"Jessie, don't be like this. No one put me up to anything. I, honest to God, am infatuated with you as surely as if we had known each other for years. I don't know why you specifically. I simply know how you make me feel."

Eyes wide, Jessie's mouth hung open. No one had ever said anything as romantic to her—ever. Not even David back when they were young and in love. But that night in the storeroom wasn't supposed to lead to romance. She didn't have the time or energy for a romance.

Slowly, she shook her head as she freed herself from his vicinity. She had to. She couldn't speak with him so close, not with her heart pounding in her ears.

Once she had feet instead of inches between them, she turned to face him, still walking backward toward her car.

"I'm sorry, Min Jun, you misunderstood me. That night was a one and done, you know? It was fun, though. You're a great kisser and hot as fuck, but no. No getting to know me. No relationship. Absolutely no romantic confessions.

"You don't know me, and that's the way it's going to stay."

Jessie felt her car's grill against the back of her legs. It was time to make a hasty exit. There went her catnap, not that she could have possibly slept now. This was her cue.

"Bye." She gave Min Jun a double-handed wave and hurried to climb in the car and leave.

This type of encounter never happened to her. It had to be a dream. She sighed. It if was a dream, she would forget it within ten minutes of awakening. She always did. She had to this time as well. Min Jun was one too many things for her to juggle.