Love, Chocolate, and Beer

by Violet Duke

  “We’ve already got dozens of entries, some of places I never even heard of.” Quinn’s eyes danced with excitement. “Everyone wants to win the ‘Chocolate Foreplay for Two’ kit.”

  He arched an eyebrow in question, but before he could ask, she jumped up and grabbed the basket of assorted chocolates he’d started assembling yesterday.

  At least he thought it was the same basket.

  “What’s the ‘Chocolate Foreplay for Two’ kit you ask?” she offered animatedly. “Why, that’s the new name for this product gift basket you were working on, which I took the liberty of spicing up. It now includes an assortment of bonbons with classic aphrodisiac fillings, a chocolate mint drizzle to be served first cold then hot, and a strawberry wine cordial / whipped truffle duo to be, errr, ‘shared’ creatively.” She beamed. “I was thinking it’s high time we show folks how chocolate can be sexy as well as sweet. What do you think?”

  Luke whistled in admiration. “Geez, woman. Did you even sleep the last few nights?”

  She leaned back in her chair like a satisfied cat. “I’m just doing my part since you’ve been working your ass off in the kitchen. By my calculations, you’ve made more chocolate in the last month than you used to make in four months at our old place. Oh, which reminds me—” She picked up a colorful brochure with several photos on it circled. “I think it’s time.”

  Luke looked at the brochure, unsure whether to be surprised or stressed. Going into this relocation, he’d promised Quinn she could dictate when it was time to upgrade their equipment. And he’d keep from whining until then. While the scale of their new shop, in terms of both shop size and product output, dictated they get five new display cases specifically made for chocolate refrigeration, they’d been managing to get by with the two secondhand pie cases they’d used in their old shop in Mesa. Even with their smaller output back then, which was a fifth of what they were generating now, the pie cases still hadn’t been ideal for keeping the chocolates at the optimum temperature for very long. Luckily, they always used to sell the chocolates quickly enough that it wasn’t ever really an issue. Now, however, with the volume of daily traffic and the number of distributors they now had, keeping the old equipment wasn’t really an option.

  In retrospect, Luke was thankful she’d had her reservations about getting new equipment right off the bat because though Quinn didn’t know to what degree, the costs for renovating and remodeling had far exceeded the loan they’d gotten for start-up costs. To cover the difference, Luke had tapped into his savings…which was why he was now thirty grand poorer.

  But now here they were, with the green light from Quinn to do that which she had been so against just months ago. This was huge.

  Just one problem.

  In attempting to secure a small-business loan for this very day—knowing without a doubt it was coming—he’d already gone to several banks after their current bank had denied his request to add an equipment loan of forty grand to their existing loan. Only four banks had given his application serious consideration, and only one of them had interest rates that didn’t make him feel violated.

  But even that was too high for them to afford.

  Though they’d never kept things like this from each other before, Luke simply didn’t have the heart to tell her. So instead, he just smiled and tugged on the tail of her blond French braid affectionately. “Sounds like you’re a little pleased with our relocation now.”

  Her expression held nothing back. “Much more than a little.”

  Luke saw the mist gathering in Quinn’s eyes, and he drew her in for a tight hug. No one deserved financial security as much Quinn did. He still remembered the night she’d shown up at his door after the jackass wanna-be-rocker she’d been dating disappeared without a trace, leaving her alone, scared, and pregnant. From there, the universe had decided to be really cruel and give her newborn son fatal organ complications right at birth. When the hospital bills first began pouring in, Luke had felt helpless; the situation had seemed so impossible. But Quinn had rallied, fought like a bat out of hell. He was so incredibly proud of her, and utterly grateful that the business they’d created finally seemed poised to be able to help her as he’d always hoped.

  Plopping a kiss on her forehead, he said honestly, “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

  Quinn was absolutely right. It was time. Their expansion and relocation was quickly proving itself to be a success. They needed that new equipment. Short of stealing it, however, there was just no way he saw that happening. Then his eyes snagged on a town newsletter of some sort on Quinn’s desk. On it, he saw an article about their landlord, Noah, and some multi-million dollar project he was working on. That’s when a faint memory snuck up on him. Dani had once mentioned Noah loaning some money to her friend to help with the start-up of her shop in town.

  Maybe he’d consider doing that for Desert Confections as well.

  “So are you actually going to make me say you were right?” huffed Quinn, breaking into his thoughts. “Or will you just get the loan and order the damn machines already? I’m pretty sure the bigger one is on its last leg. I swear it’s not staying cool the way it used to.”

  Smiling at the woman who’d become closer than a sister to him, he nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to need to hear you say I was right.”

  As he blocked Quinn’s assault with a deadly file folder, Luke made a mental note to call Noah first thing in the morning. He was going to get that loan no matter what.

  * * * * *

  “JAMESON.”

  “Good morning, Mr. Jameson. This is Luke Bradford. I’m the one leasing—”

  “Yes, hello. You’re our resident chocolatier in Cactus Creek,” the voice cut in, no-nonsense and roughly cultured. “I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about your shop lately.” The man expressed a few more pleasantries that were clearly not rehearsed or fed to him. He sounded every bit the high-powered, hard-earned, and directly-connected business man he was reputed to be. The kind that didn’t care one iota about prestige, and worked damn hard for his money. Luke had run into a few men like Noah Jameson during his business school days. A small and formidable few.

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Bradford? My secretary said you wanted to schedule a meeting to discuss something regarding the property you’re leasing. I’ll be out of town for a few days; is this something we can discuss on the phone before I leave tomorrow morning?”

  “Well, Mr. Jameson—”

  “Call me Noah. Mr. Jameson is my father to everyone in Cactus Creek.”

  “Oh, of course. Well, Noah. I talked to Dani and—”

  “Wait a minute, you talked to Dani?”

  Man, the guy sure did like to interrupt. “Yes, we’re…friends.” Every day, that measly description of his relationship with Dani was starting to rankle more and more. “She and I met over the holidays and hit it off, I guess you could say.”

  “I see.”

  “So as I was saying, I talked to Dani and she mentioned you’d helped one of her other friends who had a small start-up shop in town by giving her a small loan.”

  At the silence from the other end, Luke found himself missing Noah’s interruptions.

  “Because our chocolate shop has been doing so well,” he trudged forward with confidence. He wasn’t a Noah Jameson, but he knew how good his shop was doing as far as small businesses go. “We actually need to acquire new and larger equipment to keep up with our now booming sales. The cost for this equipment is quite substantial—”

  “And no banks will give you a reasonable loan,” finished Noah matter-of-factly. “The kind of equipment I’m assuming you’re talking about, based on what I saw of your set-up, will cost you tens of thousands of dollars. I have to say I don’t blame them, mainly because of how young your first loan is and how much you’ve levied in your personal savings account the past few months to cover renovation and remodeling costs.”

  “How did you know about my—”

  “Y
ou’re a tenant leasing out one of my bigger real estate holdings in Cactus Creek. It would be irresponsible of me not to know your financial situation.”

  Luke sighed. “So I take it your answer is no?”

  The lack of an immediate response from Noah gave Luke a flicker of hope.

  That was extinguished a second after that.

  “Unfortunately, my answer is no, Mr. Bradford. That is, if you’re asking for a simple business loan similar to the one I gave Dani’s other friend Lia. I have the same reservations as the banks you’ve approached, I’m afraid.” He paused. “However, I can offer you a collateral loan.”

  Luke frowned, confused. “But we’ve already established I have little to no assets.”

  “You have your chocolates,” continued Noah as if Luke hadn’t even spoken. “They’re quite good. I’ve tasted a few myself.”

  “You have?” Somehow he didn’t see a Phoenix big shot like Noah eating truffles.

  “Yes. I’ve had my assistant order several boxes from your premiere line. I try to support Cactus Creek businesses where I can. And in your case, you sell something I can actually give to my colleagues and business contacts without them thinking I’m off my rocker.”

  Luke chuckled at that. Cactus Creek wasn’t exactly teeming with corporate-friendly gifts.

  “The loan I’m suggesting is similar to a patent collateral loan, but instead of a patent to an idea or product, you’d put up a few of your premiere recipes for the life of the loan.”

  His recipes? Luke’s stomach plummeted so fast he felt nauseated. He couldn’t possibly do that. Not his recipes. No way would he ever—

  The rising wave of objections in his head was squelched by a sudden chirp from his cell phone.

  A text message from Dani.

  >> GUESS WHAT? WE HAVE YOUR FAVORITE ON LUNCH SPECIAL TODAY! SAVING YOU A PLATE.

  Instantly a grin split across his face. Soon, a second voice in his head, calmer than the one earlier, began reasoning with him. Was putting up his recipes for collateral really that great a risk? It was a necessary expense so he’d see the benefits from it not just in sales but in his taxes the following year. As long as sales kept up, everything would be fine. And it’s not like he was going anywhere. He already knew he wanted to stay in Cactus Creek for the long haul; this was just one more firmly planted root to keep him here.

  All good reasons.

  And the follow-up chirp from his cell phone reminded him of another big reason that was surely rooting him there as well. Seeing Dani’s avatar grinning at him on the screen alongside her second text, this one even more playful than the last, Luke felt his lips begin to move, seemingly independently from his brain. “Could you send me the collateral loan papers to look over?”

  “By all means. I’ll have my secretary email you some information and we can have a sit down sometime over the next few days. If you agree to the terms, we can get the process started after I get back next week.”

  While the extended timeline to think about this should have made him relieved, on the contrary, it left him unsettled. He didn’t want the added time to talk himself out of this. He believed in his chocolates, and he had faith that their marketing plan for the shop was going to succeed. He didn’t get this far in the business by not taking chances. This was a risky one, for sure, but no riskier than relocating to Cactus Creek in the first place. Shoving down the last of his doubts, he asked instead, “Actually, why don’t I just come in later today? Then we can get the loan paperwork started immediately before you leave for your trip.”

  LUKE FINISHED the call just as Quinn returned to the office from her meeting with the printers. Perfect timing. He didn’t want Quinn knowing anything about the loan; there was no way she’d ever let him put up his recipes as collateral.

  The longer the idea settled, however, the better it sat with him. Just imagining his shop with legitimate chocolate display cases was enough of a motivating factor.

  “Is the dopey smile going to become a permanent thing?” inquired Quinn, as she went to go sit at her desk. “I swear, you weren’t ever this annoyingly happy with any of your exes.”

  No, he hadn’t been.

  “I wasn’t thinking about Dani.” He was now. The resulting smile came without warning.

  She flicked him a look. “My mistake. That’s the goofy look I’ve been talking about. You’re right. This one’s far worse.”

  He chuckled. Knowing Quinn well enough to know she was in one of her witchier moods today, he should have backed away slowly. Instead, he decided to poke the lioness with a stick. “Hey, I talked to your sister today.”

  “Yeah?” replied Quinn, clearly only half-listening.

  “Yep. She mentioned she was going to be watching Coop tomorrow since Coop’s district has a teacher workday.”

  “Mmm-hmmm.”

  He was losing her fast. Time to reel it in.

  “I asked her to just watch him until nighttime as well to free up your night.”

  She glanced up finally from her laptop. “Why? Did you need me to do something here?”

  “Nope. I was thinking you should have a night off.”

  Her grudgingly appreciative, almost tickled look told him she was already picturing a super fun night of laundry, ice cream, and DVR catch-ups. The wild woman. “And since Dani has a group night out planned, I told her you’d be able to make it.”

  When she snapped him a narrowed look, he gave her a one-dimple smile that immediately had her rolling out every excuse in the book.

  He cut her off at the pass. “So, your sister is going to take Coop and the twins up north to see your mom all day. Everyone is thrilled. Especially Coop. And your date for the night.”

  “Why you sneaky—ˮ

  “Best friend,” he interjected a substitute for the more colorful name poised on her lips. He patted her head with an utter lack of sympathy. “No excuses, babe.”

  “But—”

  His teeth glinted in a seriously fiendish grin. “Don’t worry, I didn’t make it a sleepover babysitting gig or anything. Don’t want you psyching yourself out. I’ve instructed your sister to bring Coop home around midnight, since that’s how late you let Coop stay up sometimes.”

  “Midnight? But that’s only on holidays!”

  “Believe me, Quinn, you going out on a date is a bigger holiday than the Fourth of July.”

  The venomous look she shot him was loaded with shrapnel.

  His humor deflected the detonation. “Dani’s actually planning the whole thing so I have no idea what we’re doing. But, she told me we’ll be done by eleven-ish. That’ll give you a full hour to...say goodnight to your date.”

  Quinn looked ready to hyperventilate—and kill him. A long second later she asked finally, “Who’s my date?”

  The evil big brother expression he gave her said loud and clear that she already knew the answer to that one. He handed her a paper bag to breathe into as he left the office. “You should wear a skirt,” he added from the hall. “Your date apparently thinks you have killer legs.”

  A balled-up paper wad nailed him in the back, and his laughter echoed throughout the shop.

  * * * * *

  ABOUT THIRTY-SIX HOURS and two more unsuccessful attempts by Quinn to bail later, Luke was pulling in to Dani’s secret destination. To one of his two passengers’ delight.

  Quinn got out of the back of his car and gaped in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” She spun around to face Luke with a flash of actual anxiety in her eyes.

  He almost took out his camera phone to capture the unprecedented moment.

  Dani, oblivious to Quinn’s distress, hopped out from the front seat and flung her arms out in flourish. “Isn’t it great? It’s the biggest indoor rock climbing arena around! Oh look, the guys are already here!” Smiling wide, she scampered across the lot to collect Isaac and Rylan.

  “You told me to wear a skirt!” growled Quinn. “How am I supposed to climb like this?!”

  “I
didn’t think you were actually going to listen to me. You never do. Plus, how was I supposed to know that Dani was going to pick something so off-the-wall for this date?”

  “Because it’s Dani!” she hissed.

  Dani’s laughter chimed out from behind them. “She has you there, Luke.”

  Luke glanced back and saw her in tow with Rylan, who was doing a horrible job of trying not to stare at Quinn’s legs, and Isaac, who looked even more nervous than Quinn at the moment.

  He sighed. His friends really needed to get out more.

  “Dude, seriously, you’ve got to chill the hell out.” Luke could’ve been talking to all three of them, but mostly, his advice had been directed at Isaac, who was busy checking first his watch then his phone for the time. Oh yeah, the guy had it bad. When Dani first suggested they all gather some friends together for a group date, Isaac had practically offered her business shares in his gym if she’d bring Xoey and let him be her date. Dani, diabolically okay with pimping out one friend for the benefit of another, of course negotiated until she brokered a deal wherein Xoey would be Isaac’s date if and only if Quinn agreed to be Rylan’s.

  Yep, his woman was a wily one.

  “Xoey is going to stand me up, isn’t she?” Isaac frowned.

  “And miss out on watching you fall on your ass?” asked Xoey from behind him.

  The woman certainly did know how to make an entrance.

  Isaac whipped around and grinned. Luke had seen that very grin break a string of hearts over the years. If he wasn’t mistaken, it looked like that grin was ready for a permanent home.

  “Them’s fighting words, babe,” said Isaac, lowering his eyebrows playfully. “Care to wager I’ll run circles around you in there?”

  By the time they got inside, Isaac and Xoey were up to some pretty hefty stakes. Rylan, on the other hand, was gently pulling Quinn off to the side, away from the group. And though Luke knew she didn’t need brotherly protecting, he still eavesdropped, just in case.

  Rylan nodded at Quinn’s skirt, “Sugar, you pulling at that thing isn’t going to make it any longer.” He stepped back to study Quinn’s frame, and not in a lewd way. “I’d lend you one of the spare gym shorts I keep in my truck but they would fall right off you, you’re so tiny.” Tilting his head sympathetically, he asked quietly, “If you want, I can drive you home. You don’t need to stay if you’re not comfortable. But, if you’re game, we could also just sit and talk here on the floor while the others climb. I’m not one to brag but you’re looking at an undefeated champ in thumb wrestling here,” he added, only looking like he was partially kidding.