AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Slipping in the door, I made my way to the counter, reached over, and flipped the latch on the half door she used to block off the back area.
“Morning, Sam.”
“Hey, Dana. Boss is in the back, stressing out.”
“Roger that, thanks.”
“Cindy-lou-whooooo,” I sang out as I walked into the back of the building. There were chocolate-filled molds everywhere. I stopped, taking it all in. “Good god woman, did Willy Wonka visit you in your sleep or what?”
“I wish, that would mean I’d have a load of oompa loompas to help with this. I got a big order. Five hundred candies for a convention that is starting the day after tomorrow.”
“The one at the Marriott?”
“Yeah.”
I made a face. “Yeah, one of the fellas in charge of it hit me up too. They wanted to go with local suppliers, which is great, but whoa. I hope this wasn’t more than I could handle. It’s why I decided to close tomorrow. I have a ridiculous amount of croissants to make. Not that I mind, the money and exposure was too good to pass up. With our cards on the boxes, we might get some extra business. I’m looking at it as a win-win.”
“I need to get some extra help when I have big orders like this. But, I have that counter and this one to finish, then it’s done. They’re picking everything up tomorrow afternoon.”
“I have a 4:00am pick-up for the morning of. I won’t be getting much sleep. Probably going to crash on the couch in my office. Nich will be on nights for the next three nights anyway.”
“He’s on days today?”
“No, he’s off. Should be resting up, but knowing him, he is either cleaning the house or outside working on something manly.”
Cindy laughed, causing me to laugh as well. God, I loved Nich; he was a damn good man and too good for me.
“I am dropping off some fresh fruit from Charles. Enjoy. I’m going back over so I can finish off the last few trays of today's goodies. If you hear a lot of racket outside in a bit, don’t panic. I’ve got a big supply order coming in. I had to buy so much butter…” Laughing, I gave her a hug then headed back to the shop.
The case before the counter had a group of women bent down, looking at the pastries when I came back in. I loved the sight of hungry, happy customers in my shop. They were the reason I did this. I’d always wanted to be a success at something. Baking just happened to be my happy place. Least this way I wasn’t the only one having to watch my hips. Sweet buns and croissants were delish, but boy, they could make a girl have to do a fair bit of walking or running. Or playing keep away with a very naked, sexy cop… Nope, if you started that, we would get nothing done today. Just knowing Nich was home in bed… Yikes. I was in trouble.
There really was a lot to do today to be ready for tomorrow. It was going to be a long couple of days. I needed to focus on the long game this weekend. I would conquer him then. Climbing Mount Nich was going to be my goal. That and not getting out of bed for anything other than food, drinks, and potty breaks. It would be the best weekend we’d had in a while.
Loving him would let me forget the past and just live in the moment.
Chapter 11
Cindy
I had the best sleep of my life last night. Who would've thought confronting your own personal monster would do that for you? It was wonderful. I needed it too, because I had my hands full today, making chocolates for an upcoming convention. Two days to make hundreds of them. Talk about a time crunch. This called for all the caffeine and sugar I could muster. Good thing I had my own personal supply of all the sugary goodness I could get. It was a blessing and a curse owning your own sweets shop, let me tell ya.
One of my and Dana's lovely customers, Charles, brought Dana some berries this morning, and she was nice enough to share with me. Not sure what I was going to do with them yet, but I’d better decide quickly or else I was going to eat them all myself. I was thinking truffles or fudge swirls with jams, made from the fruits. Yeah. Sounded good enough to eat, if I did say so myself.
Speaking of—I thought my brunch date had just arrived. Spencer was looking fine as hell today, dressed in a pair of ass-hugging black jeans and a black tank top, which showed off his bright and beautiful tattoos and muscled arms. Okay, maybe I was hungry for more than just scrambled eggs and bagels. His momma knew what she was doing when she created this sexy human being. Thank you, baby Jesus.
"Good morning, sweets. How are we feeling this morning? I must say, you look sexier and more fierce than ever. Your inner goddess is fucking shining."
Yep. I just melted into a puddle of goo, right here in the middle of my shop. The man had a way with words. Hell, all he had to do was look at me and I was a full blown goner. All the years I’d spent with Stefan meant nothing compared to Spencer. He treated me like a woman should be treated. Like a goddess, just like he said.
"Good morning to you too, sexy. I'm actually feeling pretty damn good. I'm thinking a certain tattooed, hot as hell man may have a little something to do with that. Would you agree?"
He looked around the shop, then pointed at himself, saying, "I seem to be the only one in here, at the moment, so I'll take it upon myself to agree with you. I am feeling quite sexy today. It must be the influence of my gorgeous girl."
Yeah. I thought I'd put him in my pocket and keep him forever. Forever. I liked the sound of that. It had a nice ring to it. Ring. Okay, now I was just going overboard with my girlish thoughts. He kissed me and tasted like freedom, and it was the best taste in the world.
"Sweets? I think you should close up shop for your lunch break. I'm hungry, and I want to devour every inch of your body."
Fucking hell. Was I ready to give myself to Spencer completely? Yes, we'd had some pretty hot and heavy make-out sessions, but it never went any further. He'd respected that and had never pushed me into giving him more. He knew I wasn't ready, but I saw the want and need in his eyes, and it was the same feeling I had in my heart. I walked over to the front door and turned the open sign over to closed. Grabbing his hand, I all but dragged him to the back kitchen area and pushed him towards my metal prep table. I thought we were about to dirty that bitch up.
