Love, Chocolate, and Beer

by Violet Duke

  With a groan, she dragged herself up off the couch. “But that’s not fair,” she managed around a stifled yawn. “You cooked, I should do the dishes.”

  “Next time. Go on. I’ll let myself out when I’m done.”

  “Nooo,” she protested even as she was slowly shuffling toward the hallway. “Don’t leave without saying goodbye. Promise? Even if I’m out cold?”

  His own reply was muted out by the blood rushing in his ears—a reaction he was helpless to stop at the sound of her words getting muffled behind clothing.

  Clothing she was taking off.

  Without him.

  No amount of adjusting could stop the zipper tattoo that was forming behind his jeans. Quickly turning on the faucet to mute out any more stripping noises, he started scrubbing the cast iron pan in the sink like it owed him money, damn near making it shine until finally, finally, he heard the bathroom door close and the shower turn on.

  But then his imagination got the best of him. The hot water, the dish soap bubbles, hell even the damn rubber dish gloves next to the sink all made him think of sex. And wet, naked woman.

  His wet, naked woman.

  Not twenty-five feet away.

  What was it about a woman in a shower that could make the male brain turn to mush?

  His hands gripped the edge of the sink unsteadily as he counted backward from a hundred, willing his mind to focus on something else. He was in the single digits when he decided to start back from a hundred when he heard the shower shut-off and quiet, feminine footsteps padding across the hallway. The sound of a door opening, but not closing shut all the way made him almost drop to his knees in surrender right there.

  It wasn’t until complete silence echoed back at him that he leaned way the hell over and finished the rest of the dishes, surprised he hadn’t managed to drill a hole in the cabinet paneling in the process. When he felt at least partially sane, but still not at all under control, he headed down the hall to Dani’s bedroom to say goodnight.

  No dallying, no thinking. Definitely no touching. Just get in and out—

  Freak-in-A.

  Definitely none of that.

  Knocking gently before he pushed the partially ajar door open, he came to a full standstill and just stared. He’d expected Dani to be asleep.

  He hadn’t expected to find her asleep in her towel.

  Hair still damp from the shower, tiny goosebumps across her skin from the cold, and her expression wholly relaxed in sleep, she was the sexiest thing he’d ever laid eyes on. A beautiful sleeping angel.

  Wrapped in a towel that was two, maybe three breaths away from falling open.

  His legs were moving him closer before her lungs filled again.

  He grabbed the right side of her comforter and draped it over her so she was encased from neck to toe. Statues of his sainthood would be built in honor of him in this moment years from now, he was sure.

  Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. “Luke?” she murmured sleepily.

  “Hey, sweetie. I’m going to take off. Just wanted to say goodnight.”

  She shuffled up a bit toward the left side of the bed.

  Thank God he’d covered her up. That didn’t stop his eyes from roaming over the comforter as if he’d suddenly developed x-ray vision, however.

  “It’s late. Don’t drive. Sleep here tonight,” she offered drowsily, but firmly, one tiny hand reemerging from under the covers to reach out and intertwine their fingers together.

  And just like that, he lost the battle before even putting up a fight.

  Meanwhile, Dani slipped right back into sleep with a soft smile on her face, her hand holding his.

  With a sigh—and a prayer—he laid down on the bed beside her, not even bothering to get under the sheet, what with his entire body running the equivalent of a fever. One hot, aroused fever. He was going to hurt for days after this one.

  Smothering another grimace, he undid his jeans to get some strangled blood flow moving back up to his brain. But he left them on. No way in hell was he strong enough to get this close to Dani in bed without at least a layer of denim between them. Throwing his free arm over his eyes, instead of sheep, he counted his throbbing heartbeats down south until he somehow managed to fall into a restless sleep.

  His hand still held securely in hers.

  And a contented smile on his face to match hers as well.

  * * * * *

  “HEY, DANI. Why isn’t the coffee started? Breakfast is getting—OH!” Xoey dropped the box of bakery fresh doughnuts in shock at the foot of Dani’s bed.

  Dani estimated the level of Xoey’s shock was pretty high up there. Not just because she was still in bed this late in the morning, but more so because she wasn’t in said bed alone. “Get out!” Dani launched a pillow at her.

  Xoey shot out of the bedroom. “I’m so sorry!” she shouted as she closed the door behind her. “I figured it was safe! I thought you two were waiting till your fifth date to...hey, wait a sec, did I count wrong?”

  “Just stop talking and go wait outside! Or better yet, wait down in the brewpub!” Dani jumped out of bed, and instantly dropped flat as a pancake onto the carpet.

  Good lord, she was naked.

  And, criminy, she was totally just gave herself a carpet burn on her belly.

  Where the heck did her towel from last night go?

  At the soft whoosh of falling terry cloth landing inches from her face, she muttered, “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” came Luke’s amused reply.

  Dani tucked the now dry bath towel around herself securely before peeking just her eyes and the bridge of her nose up from behind the tangle of goose down comforter lined-up like a trench barricade on her edge of the bed.

  “Good morning, beautiful.”

  She popped her head up fully like a prairie dog, and asked the first burning question that swirled around in her head. “Did we—ˮ

  The look he shot her stopped her from finishing that sentence.

  “Honey, if we had, the trench barricade my soldier is failing to hide behind wouldn’t be taller than yours right now.”

  Oh my. A quick glance toward the center of her bed had her rising to her feet quicker than the sound of the national anthem had ever inspired. Furthermore, she wasn’t the one saluting the flag in this case.

  Before she could do so much as gape, however, he dragged the comforter over himself, and pulled her back up onto the bed beside him in one easy swoop.

  With a sleepy morning growl, he gathered her into his arms and laid warm, rumbly kisses down the side of her neck. “Believe me Dani, the next time you wake up next to me in bed, you won’t be wondering if we did, you’ll damn well know it, remember it, and want more of it.”

  All evidence in front of her would certainly suggest so.

  He nipped at her earlobe. “I can practically see your thoughts, sweetheart. Before you slaughter my control even more than you already have, put some clothes back on me in that pretty little head of yours and go take care of Xoey. I’m going to see how cold I can get your shower to run.”

  As she rushed out of the room to go demand her spare key back from Xoey, it registered belatedly that Luke had spent the entire night lying next to her, fully clothed and on top of her bed spread, just holding her hand.

  A total gentleman.

  With whom she fully intended to renegotiate the intolerable terms of their pesky five-date waiting period. Seriously, whose crazy-ass idea had that been anyhow?

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  IT WAS ONLY seven p.m. and there was already a line at the entrance to Ocotillos for tonight’s festivities. Impressed, Luke followed Dani as she headed up to the roof deck. After a no-holds-barred game of strip rock-paper-scissors, not only had Luke won his choice of afternoon activities earlier today, but he had also gotten Dani to agree to let him nosily tag along to see what was going on in enemy camp this evening.

  He had absolutely no idea what to make of what he was seeing.

  It wasn
’t just the vastly different set-up on the roof deck that was puzzling. There were games of every variety laid out all over as well. He did a double take. “Is that a Twister mat?!”

  Dani nodded proudly. “Welcome to our second singles mixer.” He’d heard about their inaugural mixer last Sunday; by all accounts around town, it had been a rip-roaring success.

  According to his various spies who’d been in attendance, the night had kicked off with beer tastings where everyone sampled various beers and beer-food pairings. From there, folks got to chat and hang out via cooking stations set up all around where they each chose unique beer-based recipes to prepare together. Nothing fancy—more casual and fun than anything else.

  “Some of them were great cooks, others comically disastrous,” Dani had detailed joyously the next day. “But really, none of it mattered. It was just a means to get the singles to have fun, connect, and take pleasure in the other’s company, along with the fruits of their labor.”

  Remembering her excitement, Luke smiled and looked around at yet another showing of Dani’s creativity. “So instead of cooking stations, you’ve set out board games this week?”

  “Yep!” Dani led him around the deck eagerly. “Seeing a few of the couples get a little competitive with the cooking last week gave me the inspiration. Aside from the beer tastings again, we set up buffet food along with different games all around the deck so the feel was like game night at a house party. There are a bunch of games to choose from, all of which require pairing as a couple.” Her eyes danced. “This way, they’ll get acquainted faster.”

  “Really acquainted.” He nodded over at the colorful Twister mat.

  She sighed. “That one was Xoey’s idea.” She picked up a few more boxes and handed them over to him. “Here, these too...”

  Luke chortled loudly when he saw that Xoey had typed out and taped her own set of adapted, spicier directions and playing cards for Charades, Taboo, and Pictionary. Seeing no adapted directions on the board game I Never, however, he looked over at Dani questioningly.

  “That one doesn’t need adapting.” Her crooked grin was laden with firsthand innuendo.

  “Really?” He made a mental note to get a set for their own personal research.

  Luke sifted through the large pile of board games, nodding in approval over the family and friend favorites he’s played over the years. “Great selection for couples to play. You even have Scattegories for the more reserved folks. Good thinking.”

  “Yeah, I had to pry that one from Xoey’s creative clutches.” Dani rolled her eyes. “You can’t imagine what category prompts she wanted to put in her adapted edition.” She gave a theatric shudder. “The English language is seriously dangerous in Xoey’s brain.”

  Luke picked up a game called Consensus and studied it with interest. “This one sounds perfect for the whole group to do as an icebreaker activity to kick things off.”

  “See, you can always tell who went to business school.” She chuckled her approval. “We already have an icebreaker planned—a quirky beer-based scavenger hunt for them to do while they eat. I was thinking of doing one of those reality solve-the-mystery games but I couldn’t organize something that elaborate in such a short amount of time.”

  The deck tour ended in the corner where Rylan usually sang. “The chocolate massacre area, I presume?” Luke shook his head tragically at his chocolates sitting next to blowtorches.

  Her shoulders lifted in humor. “Yep, the make-your-own-dessert bar of beer fondue and beer cracker s’mores, along with beer-flavored floats and sundaes.” Pausing for a second, she bit her lip and turned a questioning gaze his way. “Does the game theme seem too juvenile? I just thought it would be fun for couples to work together to annihilate the other couples, but...”

  He pulled her into his arms. “I’m sure everyone here is as bloodthirsty as you, my dear.” Kissing away the worry lines on her forehead, he pointed over to folks amusedly discussing the selection of games. “Look, it’s already a hit. I think you’ve got a winner here, sweetie. Really.”

  She let out the breath she’d been holding in relief. “You know, even after our little wager is over, I’m thinking of keeping a scaled-down version of all this up here—weekly beer pairings and tastings along with some games or activities.” Her eyebrows hopped up excitedly as she got yet another idea. “Oh, I could hook up one of the popular motion-activated video game systems to the big screen!”

  An indulgent grin tilted his lips.

  “What? It’ll be great. Your parents play those kinds of video games.”

  True. Quite competitively, in fact.

  Her eyes rounded with inspiration again.

  She was just too cute. He smiled in anticipation.

  “Dance contests!” she exclaimed.

  He arched an eyebrow. “Dance contests?”

  “Sure! Nothing intense like Dancing with the Stars. Just basic, fun partner dances like the Tango or a spicy Latin number. Xoey could teach them and they could all have a dance-off. Or maybe I’ll just have Xoey choreograph a new, sexy line-dance for them to do in groups.”

  “That does actually sound like a fun way to get to know people,” he admitted.

  She looked at the couples all around. “I just really want everyone to have a good time.”

  Christ, she was a sweetheart.

  With a tender gaze, he threaded a hand through her hair and looked in her eyes. “You really do, don’t you? You just want them to enjoy their dates.”

  “Of course.”

  Huh. If it were Quinn at the reins, customer happiness would be important, sure, but their experience would still be congruent to the bottom line. Not so for Dani though—she simply wasn’t built that way. He pulled her in close. “You’re amazing. Have I told you that lately?”

  “Not in the last hour.” Her hand flew up to cover his mouth. “And not again for another few hours, please. Before we end up doing a lot more than what we did that first night in the storage closet.”

  The woman was just arguing against herself at this point.

  He tried convincing her without words to take a stroll down to that memorable closet now. She inhaled a shuddering breath and covered his heated eyes with her other hand. “Enough of that too. When you look at me like that, my clothes tend to want to fall off.”

  Her eyes dilated when his teeth gently scored her palm. “Okay, that’s it,” she muttered. “Out you go. You need to take your sneaky enemy distractions back to your turf.”

  He tried his best to look wounded.

  “Save that look for after Valentine’s Day when Ocotillos declares victory,” she poked with oodles of sass. “You have seen the preliminary online voting tallies, haven’t you?” She blinked prettily with a patronizing pat on his arm.

  His gorgeous foe was having the time of her life rubbing it in and egging him on. Yes, according to preliminary feedback online and around town, it did seem Ocotillos had a slight edge in the throwdown voting, but only by a slim margin. “Don’t get too comfortable on top, honey because you just gave me an idea for one last romantic promotion that’ll be our surprise sprint to the finish this week.”

  When her competitive curiosity at what had him so confident put a little extra flare in her eyes, Luke grinned, deciding her take on life was right. Competition was the devil’s aphrodisiac.

  And boy, was it intoxicating.

  He could see the thrill of the new hurdle in their game already hitting Dani as well. Eyes glinting in challenge, she unconsciously touched the tip of her tongue to one of her canine teeth, almost as if testing its sharpness, the way she did whenever he goaded her. So sexy.

  “Okay, well you all have fun with this little event of yours. I’m going to get started on this new idea of mine.” He dropped a kiss on her lips and left before she could pry any details out of him. As he headed to the stairs, he could feel Dani’s curious, hot gaze on his back.

  A few steps down the stairwell, he chuckled when he overheard Xoey’s comment
to Dani: “You two have the most bizarre form of foreplay.”

  * * * * *

  LUKE HOPPED ON HIS office computer to check the shop’s blog page to see if there had been any activity since he’d launched his little challenge yesterday.

  Thirty-one replies. Not bad. He skimmed through the response threads to peruse what people had posted so far. A smile hit his lips when he saw exactly what he’d hoped to see today.

  Random acts of romance.

  Last night, seeing all that Dani was doing to make magic happen between perfect strangers at Ocotillos had made Luke realize he’d been focusing more on his ‘new’ Valentine’s Day rules and less on the root of the holiday itself, the people Dani had been focusing on all along.

  Hence, his little late-in-the-game play.

  When he’d first come up with the idea, he’d gotten a little high off the holiday spirit as if it were Christmas, wanting eagerly to spread the holiday cheer of punch-drunk romance far and wide. This intoxicated buzz of his was what had led to the decision that February 13th would see not just this challenge, but every customer getting two free chocolates of their choosing to share with someone special in the spirit of random romance.

  A Valentine’s Day fluffer, if you will.

  He called it the Random Act of Romance challenge. Today, on the day before all the teddy bears, roses, and lace-scalloped gifts, he was challenging folks to take some time to do a simple, random act of romance from the heart. No purchases necessary.

  Further, he was encouraging folks to post their stories on the Desert Confections blog in hopes that one random act would inspire another. Of all who posted, five random posters would get a certificate for a couple’s massage at a popular Scottsdale spa that specialized in gender-perfect pampering. That they’d already gotten a few dozen posts overnight was great news.