All’s Fair in Love and Chocolate

by Amy Andrews

  “You could have woken me.”

  “But you looked so adorable lying there stretched out all naked and snoring.” Truth was, it’d been exceptionally hard not to wake him for round five.

  “I was not snoring.”

  Viv laughed at his affront. No, he was not. Although given his stupendous performance he could have snored like a train for all she’d have cared. “Damn it,” she said with a sigh. “I knew I should have recorded it.”

  He chuckled then at her teasing, his affront dissolving before her eyes and God…it would be so easy to suggest he come back to her place and prove he wasn’t a snorer. But. Picking up her wineglass she took another sip as she regarded his laughing green-gray eyes.

  “Just so you know from the get-go, we’re not going to sleep together again.”

  “We’re not?”

  If he was disappointed at her pronouncement he didn’t show it, a small smile still tugging at his mouth. Viv shook her head slowly. “Nope.”

  “Okay.” He shrugged. “Sure.”

  Viv narrowed her eyes at his easy capitulation. Too easy. “That doesn’t sound very convincing.”

  He laughed at her obvious skepticism. “I believe that you believe we’re not going to sleep together again.”

  “But you don’t?” Viv’s fingers paused on the stem of the glass. “You’re going to…actively pursue picking up where we left off?” Ordinarily the mere thought of that would have annoyed the living daylights out of her but the buzz in her blood at the prospect of being pursued by Reuben could not be denied.

  “Nope. Not if you don’t want me to.”

  “I don’t,” she said a little too quickly if his amused, faintly mocking expression was any indication.

  “Okay. But…we have chemistry and I don’t know about you, Vivian, but I’ve been around long enough to know that shit does its own thing.”

  God…even the way he looked at her as he’d said chemistry was full of snap, crackle and pop. Viv wished she could deny it but he was right. They had enough chemistry to explode an entire lab.

  “Just as well our brains are bigger than our libidos then, isn’t it? I’m a fully grown adult who doesn’t let chemistry rule my life and is capable of impulse control. What about you?”

  He nodded, still looking a little too amused for Viv’s liking. “Sure. I’m happy to take the pledge.”

  Her brow crinkled. “The pledge?” This ought to be interesting.

  “The Vivian pledge.” And then he laughed, clearly impressed with his play on words.

  Viv rolled her eyes. Whatever worked for him. “Me too.”

  Holding up his beer bottle he said, “We should drink to that.”

  “Good idea.” It was hardly a binding contract but she’d keep him to it nonetheless. Viv lifted her wine and they met halfway, his bottle and her glass clinking. “Here’s to impulse control.”

  “And chemistry denial.”

  There was a faint note of derision in his tone that Viv chose to ignore. It could be done and she intended to prove it.

  “Reuben! Here you are. I’ve been looking for you all over.”

  Viv dragged her eyes off Reuben’s sexy, scruffy face to the woman stopping alongside them at the booth. She looked vaguely familiar.

  “Your mom asked me to drop this in at the office for you but you’d already left and Hal thought you’d gone to the diner but then you weren’t there and Jenny from the nail boutique thought she’d seen you heading for Java Café but then Elise said she hadn’t seen you and maybe you’d come to Grey’s and here you are.”

  Reuben smiled. “Hi, Mrs. Phillips.”

  The woman handed over a small brown paper bag. “Be a doll and give this to your mom. I know you’ve been going over for supper every Friday night since you’ve come home.”

  “That’s right.” He nodded politely as he took the bag. “I’ll see that she gets it.”

  Mrs. Phillips’s attention turned to Vivian for a beat or two before turning back to Reuben with a pointed look and a raised eyebrow. Reuben complied with its imperious direction. “Mrs. Phillips, this is Vivian Dawson. She’s new to town.”

  The name was also vaguely familiar as the older woman turned back to Viv and Viv dutifully stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Phillips.”

  “Mmm,” the older woman said as she gave a brief shake before returning her attention to Reuben. “And you’re just being—” She stared disapprovingly at the beer bottle and wineglass. “Neighborly?”

  Viv could see that Reuben was struggling to keep a smile in check. “That’s right.”

  Mrs. Phillips glanced back at Viv, giving her a more thorough once-over this time and Viv clocked the exact moment she spotted the Delish logo. The woman practically went into a tetanus-induced rictus she stiffened so visibly. Then she narrowed her eyes and frowned as something else had obviously just occurred to her. “I know you,” she said, her voice not exactly hostile but not exactly friendly either.

  Viv shrugged. “I’ve been setting up the store all week. Maybe you’ve seen me around town?”

  “Nope,” Mrs. Phillips declared, “that’s not it.” She stared a little longer like the memory was just on the edge of her conscience. “Yes.” She snapped her fingers. “You were with Reuben at that hotel in Bozeman the weekend of the rodeo.”

  Vivian blinked. That’s where she knew the name and face. Mrs. Phillips had mentioned something about fabric.

  Jesus. Did she have Reuben lojacked?

  “Oh yes, that’s right.” Viv smiled because she was the face of Delish and she would act with calmness and serenity.

  And then the woman’s face changed, turning to glare at Reuben. “Oh my goodness, Reuben Price. She’s the one, isn’t she?”

  Viv frowned. The one? What one?

  “Um…I’m not sure what you mean, Mrs. Phillips?” Reuben looked as confused as Viv felt.

  The older woman drew herself up and puffed out her chest. “Don’t act dumb with me, young man, you know who I mean. I saw you kissing her.” Then she turned to Viv. “I don’t know how you can dare even show your face around these parts. It’s bad enough that you’re trying to run Sage out of business but breaking up Reuben and Clementine is unforgivable.”

  And then with a flick of her head and a loud huff the woman departed.

  Viv’s eyes met Reuben’s. “What the hell was that about?”

  “Oh shit.” He shook his head. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

  “Well that depends.” She was very aware of the curious looks being thrown in her direction but mostly Viv could feel the slow simmer of anger in her gut. “I thought you and your girlfriend had split before we’d slept together?”

  Viv didn’t screw around with unavailable men.

  Okay, sure, it had only been a couple of days before that according to Reuben and, if Viv had been after something more than a quick roll in the hay, she wouldn’t have touched Reuben with a barge pole. Men on the rebound were not good dating potential. But she hadn’t wanted to date him, which had made Reuben perfect one-night stand material.

  It had been win-win for both of them.

  “We had.” He sighed. “It’s a long story.”

  Viv folded her arms. “I have time.”

  Pressing his beer to his lips again, Reuben drained the bottle before placing it down in front of him. “Quite a few people who know me saw us together in Bozeman. They didn’t know about the breakup. So our Bozeman…liaison got around Marietta quicker than the news that Clem and I had split and some people put two and two together and got—”

  “A million and six.”

  He nodded. “Right.”

  “And did your ex set them straight?” Viv was going to have a hard-enough time in Marietta with the whole Sage thing without being pegged as some kind of homewrecker as well. It was fine, she could abide anything for six months, but she still wasn’t keen on being the other woman.

  “Yes. She asked me about the rumors. I told her I had hoo
ked up with you on Sunday night two days after she’d dumped me. She said good for you, Reuben, and wished me well and tried to set the record straight but when she left town a few days later a lot of people assumed she was brokenhearted and that her denials had been an attempt to save face.”

  “She left town?”

  “Yeah.” He shrugged. “She decided to go on a six-week Contiki tour of Europe with some of her friends from California. She’d always wanted to do it and had never gotten around to it and she just…went for it.”

  “So…not brokenhearted?”

  “Nope.” He shook his head. “Not even remotely.”

  “But still…you’re the one left behind here dealing with all the flak.”

  “It’s fine.” He smiled then. “Let them talk. I know what happened. You know what happened. That’s all that really matters. And besides, the gossip had just about worn itself out. It will again.”

  In other words, if she hadn’t shown up in town, this accusation against Reuben might have all died a natural death. But here she was, living evidence of his supposed indiscretion. She wondered how long that would take to get around town.

  “I mean, my mom is still pissed at me. So is Clementine’s.”

  Oh-kay. Cross them off as potential customers then. Possibly their friendship circles as well.

  “Not because they believe the rumors,” he hastened to add. “But they’d been picking out china patterns for us for a while so they’ve taken the split kinda hard.”

  China patterns? “I thought you said you and your ex weren’t really that hot and heavy.”

  “We weren’t but…mothers…” He shrugged. “Whatcha gonna do?”

  Viv’s mother had never pressured her to settle down or marry. She was already a grandmother five times over and she loved that Viv was a well-traveled career woman, something Viv always suspected her mom had dreamed about until a teenage pregnancy had pierced all those aspirations and life had taken her down a different path.

  “Don’t worry,” he assured, “they’ll get over it eventually.”

  Eventually. Right… Viv wasn’t worried per se—she was here for six months then moving on. But it was all the more reason for her and Reuben to keep things platonic. She didn’t want any overly invested momma pinning her hopes on Viv and being chased out of town with a rolling pin when her secret marriage-and-grandbaby-plans failed to launch.

  Viv didn’t have a problem with marriage and babies—she’d just never seen them as part of her picture. Never met someone who’d even tempted her to rethink.

  Picking up her wine she swallowed down the last couple of mouthfuls, the glass making a slight scraping noise as she set it down on the wooden tabletop. “Well, this has been—” Educational “—lovely. But…” She scanned the bar area quickly, the feeling of eyes on her not pleasant. “I think it’s time I headed back to the cottage.”

  “Okay.” He pushed his empty beer bottle to the center of the table. “I’ll walk you.”

  “No. It’s fine. It’s a five-minute walk.”

  That smile was back on his lips as he made a chicken noise. “Bok, bok, bok.”

  “Really?” Viv shot him an impatient look.

  “I’m offering to walk you home like a perfect gentleman. That’s it. If you had schoolbooks I’d offer to carry them.”

  Viv laughed at the old-fashioned notion. “You shouldn’t be seen out and about with public enemy number one and I think we’ve caused enough gossip for one day, don’t you?”

  He gave a half laugh. “Look…this will blow over. Sure, Marietta has its share of gossip and those who peddle it. But, trust me, you’ll quickly find that it’s a really friendly little town that will welcome you with open arms. If you let it.”

  Except letting people in was Viv’s problem. Her transient lifestyle had been antithetical to forming relationships and she’d become a self-fulfilling prophecy, holding herself aloof from getting too close to anyone.

  “Okay.” She slid out from the booth and stood. To her relief Reuben didn’t push the whole walking home thing. “Opening day is Monday if you’re interested.”

  “I can’t wait to sample your delights,” he said, his smile full of innuendo that gained him another eye roll.

  But, the truth was, Viv couldn’t wait for him to sample them either. She just wasn’t sure despite their Vivian pledge that she was thinking about the chocolate.

  Chapter Three

  Monday was slooooow.

  The slowest opening day Viv had ever been part of and this was her eleventh store in the past decade. She’d become their youngest ever manager at twenty-two. She’d applied to dozens of colleges near and far during her final year of high school. Denver had been the first to offer and she’d taken it without thinking twice or waiting for any other colleges to throw their hat into the ring.

  Viv hadn’t cared where she went as long as she went.

  She’d been in Denver for ten days when she landed a part-time job at Delish and had worked there all through her college years and, when she’d had her brand-new sparkling business degree in hand, she’d been promoted to assistant manager. A year later, the top spot had become hers when the manager had left permanently to have a baby.

  She’d spent two years at the store and taken two trips to Belgium to see how the chocolate was made in that time and, when the second Denver store had opened and the regular new store representative had taken ill the night before, Viv had been the closest manager to step into that role and she’d done it with aplomb and pizazz and had been doing the role ever since.

  So…she’d seen a lot of opening days and this one was a real doozy.

  She’d come in on the weekend to make sure every shelf sparkled, every display lured and invited. This morning she’d come in early to cut her samples and place them temptingly on the main counter, which was an elegant, brushed pewter trimmed with polished brass that she could see her face in. All the fixtures were smoky glass with brass trim, which was elegant and understated beneath the warm yellow lighting that glowed overhead.

  Viv had placed bunches of rich, matte, honeycomb-gold-colored helium balloons in the window and at various spots around the store. Not tacky dime store balloons, the kind to be found at expensive society weddings and sophisticated photo shoots. And there was, of course, the normal discounts and loss leaders on offer as there always was the first week of any store opening.

  But…there’d only been three people in all morning. And they’d not been locals.

  There’d been plenty of frowns shot at her through the windows, the odd small groups of two and three standing outside clearly gossiping and saying loudly they were off to the Copper Mountain chocolate shop. Or people walking slowly by with the distinctive copper-colored boxes from Sage’s shop with audible exclamations as to its utter deliciousness.

  Best chocolate in Montana seemed to be a particularly popular line. As if it was all being coordinated. Oh yes, such a friendly little place.

  Still, Viv couldn’t help but smile at the antics. She didn’t know if it was the jezebel factor or the big corporate factor but, either way, it was amusing to witness.

  She wasn’t worried. Viv was fine to let everyone blow off a bit of steam because she knew sooner or later, the locals would become curious and all she needed was to get them through the door. The product, the price and her canny way with customers—even if she did say so herself—would do the rest.

  At least the slow pace gave her the opportunity to get some advertising copy together for the job’s vacant ads. Just two roles to start with, a manager and a shop assistant who would run the store in tandem. The staff would grow by a couple more over the months, part-time workers to ensure there was enough to cover for weekend trade and leave allowances but for now just the two full-time staff were required.

  The fact that Delish was going to employ locals—as it always did—was another tick in the pro column and something Viv felt sure would improve the store’s standing within the community. S
mall-town economies were doing it tough all over the country so employment opportunities were always welcome.

  Which was why the planning commission had given Delish the green light.

  Viv looked up as the little brass bell over the door dinged at close to midday. It was probably the last person she expected to find coming through the door.

  Sage O’Dell.

  “Hi,” Sage greeted warmly, a huge bunch of flowers in her arms. “I meant to get here earlier to say welcome and congrats on opening day.” She crossed to the counter and handed over the flowers. “But it’s been one of those mornings.”

  Yeah…and Viv knew why with every local in Marietta making a point of shopping at Sage’s this morning. But Sage hadn’t said it with any malice so Viv took the flowers and said, “Thank you.”

  “I’m Sage,” she said holding out her hand.

  “Yes, I know.” Viv laughed as she took the other woman’s hand and they briefly shook. “I’m Viv. Viv Dawson.”

  “Yes.” Sage also laughed. “I know.” She looked around for a beat or two. “It’s lovely in here.”

  Coming from Sage, Viv took that as a compliment. The other woman didn’t have to be in here congratulating her and welcoming her to the town when Viv was her direct competition but Sage seemed utterly genuine in her intent.

  If it had been a city flush with chocolate shops, Viv might have been suspicious of Sage’s motives. Checking out the competition and all that. It was smart for sure—the first thing Viv had done in Marietta was head to the Copper Mountain chocolate shop. But it didn’t appear that was the impetus for this visit from Sage. There seemed to be nothing underhand about the visit.

  With such a loyal customer base, Viv supposed Sage didn’t have to worry too much about Delish and it wasn’t Viv’s intention to put Sage out of business. She knew from her research they could peacefully coexist in Marietta otherwise it’d have been foolhardy to suggest a store here in the first place.

  And besides competition was always good. It kept businesses on their toes.