Love, Chocolate, and Beer

by Violet Duke

  The video had already racked up an exorbitant number of hits. Clever girl that she was, Quinn had asked Rylan’s permission to use one of the songs he’d sung during the concert scene as music for the entire commercial. She smartly put the band and song in the video description and in doing so, managed to piggyback off the band’s popularity to steal fan views.

  What made the video hype take off from there, however, was her second genius idea of asking viewers to comment on the whole Valentine’s Day / White Chocolate Day package deal. That was all it took for folks to start debating the pros and cons. With way more pros. By this morning, the two-part holiday idea was trending on Twitter and headlining on Facebook pages and blog feeds. From teen lovebirds to silver anniversary couples, support for this holiday revolution was growing and spreading like crazy. It was a holiday revolution in the making.

  And it was all thanks to Quinn. Due to her enormous web presence, a ton of attention was being drawn to what was being dubbed ‘the most unlikely romance battle of the season,’ aka the Desert Confections vs. Ocotillos throwdown. Remarkable. Something that had begun as a little town wager between two business owners was escalating into a colossal showdown. With the cyberstorm Quinn was detonating across the internet, a frenzy of folks from all over were starting to declare their dogged allegiances between Luke and Dani, chocolate and beer.

  Dani felt the excitement brewing in her. For her, competition was worse than chocolate and almost better than beer. She thrived off it. All this couldn’t have come at a better time. A healthy battle like this was just what she needed to forget about failed winery ideas and the like.

  Her eyes narrowed. That reminder provided the creative jolt she needed for a fun idea to take shape—well, fun by Luke’s standards at least. Soon, a slow smile spread across her face.

  Xoey’s eyes rounded. “Tell me!” She sat down excitedly. “I know that look. It’s your evil genius grin. What do you have planned?”

  She simply raised her brows in a way that had Xoey doing a cackling fist-pump. Dani reached for the town phone directory to look up Desert Confections’ phone number.

  If she wasn’t mistaken, Quinn would be the one manning the shop right about now...

  DANI HUSTLED AROUND the deck of Ocotillos, rushing to add final touches for the last scene of their commercial shoot. Aidan, Rylan’s drummer and the band’s resident video guru, had translated her vision perfectly, capturing the fun, sexy marketing angle she was going for—first date romance, laid-back style. And because his day job consisted of shooting and editing wedding ceremony videos on site in time to be viewed by the guests at the reception, he was fast. Aidan had the first half of the video edited within an hour, which allowed Dani to watch it while he set up the equipment for the second half.

  Hitting play, she smiled when Rylan’s voice crooned out her favorite love song to start off the scene capturing Rissa and Evan’s first date:

  Evan fusses with his tie, repeatedly adjusting it until the sound of knocking at the door causes him to nearly strangle himself. Thankfully, he’s able to loosen the death knot cutting off his air supply as he races to open the door.

  The moment he sees Rissa, his breathing is halted once again.

  Mesmerized, he smiles and greets her with a gentle kiss on her cheek. Little bowl vases of red roses line every furniture piece in the living area of his bachelor studio, and tealight candles flicker on the romantically adorned coffee table. The ambiance is quietly elegant.

  As is their conversation.

  Stilted chitchat on current affairs segues to an awkwardly hushed wine glass clinking, followed by her faint cringe and his choking cough when they actually taste the fancy wine.

  Evan runs a finger under his collar in growing despair at what’s looking to be the most uncomfortable first date ever.

  The kitchen timer dings.

  With visible relief, he rushes off to retrieve the plates of food he left warming in the oven. They were plated to perfection, like something off a Food Network show. His brief smile of confidence quickly fades, however, when chirping crickets mock his return to the living room. Even more nervous than before now, he puts the two plates of risotto-stuffed Cornish game hens and seasoned baby vegetables on the low table.

  Eyebrows raised, Rissa quietly compliments him on the lovely meal.

  And with that one brief, shining moment of promise, their sporadic dinner talk over tidy bites of the fancy food quickly goes from clumsy to nonexistent. They even begin a horrifically boring discussion about the unusual weather lately.

  Then silence again.

  Finally, one sterile, overlong minute later, Evan reaches for Rissa’s hand. “You want to pack all this up and go hang out at Ocotillos instead?”

  Her eyes widen and a grateful smile emerges. “YES!”

  They blow out the little candles and the room fades to black.

  Dani was thoroughly pleased as the first half of the video ended, and not at all surprised that Aidan had decided to follow Quinn’s lead of using the band’s music in the video. But he took it a step further by laying a great remixed track with a few of their most popular songs, edited to fit the vibe of the commercial and each of its scenes perfectly.

  Turning around, Dani located the real-live Evan and Rissa standing off to the side of the dance floor on the roof deck of Ocotillos amongst customers who, since this was a closed shoot, were really just every spare friend Dani could wrangle at the last minute. Rylan was already belting out their newest song from the stage, and on Aidan’s cue, everyone began dancing as the cameras started rolling.

  Then the live recording continued where the video had left off:

  Hands entwined, Evan and Rissa walk through the crowd to grab an open pub table up front near the band just as a friendly server comes by to get their drink orders.

  Not hesitating in the least, Rissa orders an Irish Car Bomb and a dark lager.

  Evan looks smitten. “Nice. I’ll have the same.”

  As they wait for their drinks, the couple launches into an animated discussion filled with nonstop laughter. Their fun conversation flows easily as the music pulses around them and starts building to a sultry, fevered pitch.

  Rissa shoots Evan a shy smile. “Do you want to dance?”

  Grinning, he removes his stuffy tie completely. “Since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

  Out on the dance floor, Rylan’s deep, heady alternative rock music is the soundtrack to their flirting, as their dancing turns into a fast, seductive ride. With her back against his chest, their bodies fluidly aligned, Evan lays his chin against her shoulder and murmurs something in her ear that makes her elbow him playfully in the gut. He chuckles and wraps his arms snugly around her waist as the velvety rich tune on stage strums to an end.

  While everyone else is making their way off the dance floor, Rissa drops her head back against his chest, and this time it’s her mouth at his ear. Her words were brief, but it’s enough to inspire him to spin her around and draw her in close.

  Their eyes lock.

  “We’re not going to discuss the weather again, are we?” whispers Rissa against his lips.

  Evan smiles and leans in.

  For their first kiss.

  “That’s a wrap!” called out Aidan. “Thanks, guys. We got it. You all did great.”

  Dani beamed from ear to ear. Not just because the video was a slam dunk, but because from the looks of it, neither Evan nor Rissa wanted to finish their kissing scene. So cute. She’d seen their interest in each other grow throughout the shoot. They’d been inseparable all afternoon, flirting like no one else around them existed.

  That’s why, along with their paycheck for doing the video, Dani also included a rather generous Ocotillos gift certificate for them to use together. On a real first date.

  Okay, so she enjoyed moonlighting as cupid from time to time. It wasn’t a big deal.

  It certainly did not mean she was a fairytale romantic like Luke.

  CHAPTER FOURr />
  LUKE COULDN’T stop staring at her.

  While some might pass off Dani’s girl-next-door looks as just ‘sweet’ at first glance, she exuded a simple, feisty grace that made her his specific brand of gorgeous. And in her faded Dobson’s softball shirt and wash-worn capri jeans tonight, both tumble-dried to its current body-hugging fit, she was just the sexiest little thing to boot. All combined with that quick wit and room-stopping smile, she was easily the most appealingly wholesome, tempting woman he’d ever met—a whole-package-deal that had every bit as much to do with how attractive she was on the inside. Caring to a fault and so infectiously lovable. He simply couldn’t get enough of her. Even when she was driving him crazy.

  Speaking of crazy… After weeks of attempting to sneak past the defenses of the most stubbornly guarded, obsessively self-reliant woman he’d ever met, during which, he’d given her a truckload of assurances that he didn’t in fact have any grand expectations for some epic love story, he and Dani were finally out on their first meal outside of the brewpub—dinner at a Mediterranean café followed by a walk through town for dessert.

  Their first official ‘non-date.’

  Which was what the sanity-stealing woman was insisting on calling it.

  Ridiculous name for the perfect evening aside, he was having a great time. The best part was that even though they’d been getting to know each other for over a month now, it took this non-date for him to discover that his adamantly non-mushy brewmaster was an unconscious hand-holder. Squeezing said hand, he smiled. “Alright, I give. What’s with the impish grin?”

  Dani blinked innocently. “What do you mean? This is just what my face does when I’m having fun. It’s a smile. Look it up.”

  “You know, I’d buy that if I didn’t already recognize that as your special little Dani grin that makes me crazy.”

  “Xoey calls it my evil grin. Figures it’d make you all hot and bothered.” She smothered a cute nose-scrunching smile.

  Yet another adorable turn-on for him. Then again, nothing about Dani seemed to turn him off. He smoothed a thumb along her knuckles affectionately. “Okay, so if you weren’t flashing that insidious grin to raise my blood pressure, could it simply be that you’ve been thinking about the video you just launched?”

  Dani’s face was a mask of restrained curiosity. “Oh, so you’ve seen it?”

  “I kind of figured you wanted me to. What with your blatant twitter taunt this afternoon.”

  When he provided no further comment, she jabbed him in the ribs. “C’mon! I gave you feedback on your video. Tell me what you thought of ours.”

  “Eh.”

  Her eyes narrowed to annoyed slits.

  God, she was fun to tease. He continued military silence until she unleashed a piqued kitten growl. “Okay, okay.” He kept a straight face and lied outrageously, “It was abysmal.”

  In disbelieving amusement, her lips quirked to the side. “That bad huh? And yet our abysmal video still managed to acquire nearly as many hits as yours already. Go figure.”

  “Ah, but let’s give credit where credit is due. That was mostly Quinn and you know it. When she turned this little wager of ours into the online frenzy linked to our promotional events and videos, she put us on the cyber map. With the amount she’s been tweeting, facebooking, and blogging, the Arizona college population alone is putting in hundreds of views a day.”

  “You’re right,” admitted Dani. “I saw all the cyber buzz she’s been getting out there. She’s really firing everyone up for this throwdown.”

  “And you’re providing some particularly flammable fuel.” Humor colored his tone. “The shot of the Desert Confections chocolate box just as Evan blew out the candles on their crappy date? Nice touch.”

  “Caught that, did you?” An effervescent giggle rippled out of her as she patted her back.

  “Yep. And somehow tricking Quinn into practically demanding that you allow Rissa and Evan to star in your video? Very impressive. Superhero caliber, even.”

  “I remember you said she has a younger sister.” She grinned. “Being one myself, I just dusted off the old techniques I used to annoy my brother with. Quinn never stood a chance.”

  He laughed. “So far, you’re proving yourself a worthy adversary, Miss Dobson.”

  “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.” Her eyes danced.

  The woman could even make unrelenting competitiveness look sexy. Bewitched, Luke leaned over, eyes locked on her simpering lips in an I’m-about-to-kiss-you sort of way.

  …Only to have her shift away at the last second.

  Not without a spark of hunger in her eyes and a soft, frustrated sigh, however.

  “I’m sorry,” he apologized immediately, kicking himself for not holding to his own assurances that this wasn’t a date. He wanted her trust. But dammit did he want that kiss, too.

  “Don’t be,” she said quickly, quietly. “It’s not that I don’t want to. Believe me. It’s just… Well, besides that first night in the storage closet… Basically, this would be our first official...even if it’s not a date…” She trailed off with a frustrated huff—tongue-tied and gaze locked on her shoes.

  His eyes widened in understanding. She’s nervous. With first kiss jitters. The woman was just so unbelievably cute. Not allowing her another second to retreat back into her head, back over that wall she’d erected after their careers and the throwdown got in the way of what they’d started back in that storage closet, he circled his arm around her waist and drew her body flush against his. He drank in the tail end of her gasp as he bent down to quickly brush his lips over hers, nearly growling when she responded like a lit fuse.

  Finally. He’d waited over a month to feel her in his arms again. And it was every bit worth the wait. Tilting his head, he deepened the kiss, knowing it was already far deeper, hotter, just…more than the ones they’d shared as strangers the night they met.

  Christ, it was sweet.

  When Luke eventually lifted his lips away—almost needing to see for himself that this wasn’t just one incredible wet dream—an accidental confession slipped out from under her breath. It was quiet, but he heard it: Best first kiss ever.

  With a groaned sigh born of pure tenderness, he leaned in to collect a second kiss. Then a third. Soon, he lost count. He slid his hands through the silken strands of her hair, reveling in the fantasy of that simple touch as well. It had been torture over the weeks watching those smooth, sleek espresso rich strands barely kiss the tops of her shoulders whenever she moved, remembering the feel of the satin waterfall against his jawline when his teeth had scored over her collarbone.

  Jesus. So much better than his memories. Every apple-scented square inch of her fit in his arms even better than his memories.

  Breathing heavily, Luke looked down to see that her eyes were still closed and his imagination swiftly whipped to an image of her looking like that in bed. His bed. “You’re killing me, sweetheart.” Her shivery cat-content smile didn’t help any. “Unless you want me to throw you over my shoulder and head to my place—if we make it that far—you need to open your eyes.”

  She did.

  And he swallowed another deep groan.

  Pure pleasure mingled with unabashed desire in her eyes. He blindfolded her with his hands. “Never mind. Keep ‘em shut. If you keep looking at me like that, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself from jumping you.”

  This time, when he peeked at her eyes, they were twinkling with amusement.

  “You’re forever amused at getting me all hot and bothered,” he mock complained.

  “About that,” cut in Dani, hesitantly. “Errr, our hot and bothered tendencies, that is…”

  “Yeah?” His voice was tighter now, just this side of gritty.

  “I know we’ve established that you’re a recovering serial monogamist and I’m...”

  “Not?” he supplied helpfully.

  “Yes, thank you. I am enjoying this non-date, however. And I’d really love nothi
ng more than to drop the ‘non’ part from the title…”

  A smile stretched across his face. “Yeah?”

  “But,” she interrupted quickly. “I think you and I look at dating far differently. So, I’ve been thinking about some sort of casual, preliminary trial runs first. I mean we work next door to each other, so if things go sour, life would start sucking pretty quickly around here.”

  He frowned. “So…you’re suggesting ‘pre-dating’ dates?”

  Blushing scarlet, she shrugged and looked at the ground. “I guess so.”

  Cautious woman. He tilted her face back up so she could see his eyes when he answered her truthfully. As long as he got to be with her, he didn’t care how they labeled their time together. “I don’t need a trial run to know I want to be with you. But if you need us to go out on some friendly pre-dates to test the waters, I’m on board. Whatever you need.”

  Holding her hand up, she clarified, “Friendly, meaning no sex.” She paused, avoiding his eyes for a second. “Just because I’m not into serious relationships doesn’t mean I’m easy.”

  He jerked back, startled. “Dani, I never once thought that.”

  She turned away. “Considering the way we met, I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

  He cupped a hand against her warm cheek. “I don’t.”

  “Then you wouldn’t mind being totally chaste for a few friendly pre-dates?”

  “Few, meaning two?” he teased with a fair measure of hopeful seriousness.

  Her shy laughter effectively shot that suggestion down. “I was thinking more like ten.”

  Ten?! He blinked at her as if she’d gone insane. It wasn’t about not wanting to wait, but rather, not being able to. After a beat, he sighed and kissed her lightly on the lips. Chastely. “However many you want to have is fine with me, sweetheart.”

  When he promptly stepped back to keep things from getting too friendly, he saw her frown. Her eyes were locked on his lips as she waffled, “Of course, I’m willing to negotiate…”