Naughty and Nice

by Sarah J. Brooks

  But right now, it was bedtime. I should have stayed up a little longer and gotten a little extra work done so I could get a jumpstart on tomorrow, but I didn’t care. I was going to bed. After all, a guy had to pamper himself every now and then, right?

  Chapter Five

  I hung my purse up on a hook before changing and heading out. This didn’t happen very often. I was actually one of the later starting shifts, which meant I had the entire morning to wake up and relax. Of course, Dean had been at work when I woke up, but he had left me a note and kissed me goodbye before leaving.

  “Hey ...” I poked my head into his office before I had to start my shift. “I brought you a snack.”

  I’d done some baking since I had time to and handed him a Tupperware filled with cookies. He looked me up and down.

  “Thank you, that was so kind of you.” He beamed. “I always love getting baked goods.”

  “Really?” I raised an eyebrow. “What’s your favorite?”

  “Chocolate chip cookies.” He grinned. “Really, Becca, thank you. It means a lot.”

  My heart skipped a beat. He was being really appreciative. I returned his smile feeling kinda awesome, actually. My smile widened as I realized what was going on. “You read the first page, didn’t you?”

  He looked at me blankly and then laughed.

  “Yes,” he admitted.

  I chuckled. Stepping into the room and closing the distance between us, I placed a kiss on top of his head. “Well, so did I. I hope you like the cookies.” I lowered my lips to his ear. “They’re chocolate chip.” I placed a quick kiss on his cheek before straightening myself. “Let me know if you need anything else! I get off at 5:00, so I can stay late to help or just to keep you company.”

  I turned around, determined to make this work. I was going to use every single one of those five tips today and was going to prove to him that I was dedicated to making this work.

  My smile widened upon catching Melina’s eye. She actually looked startled by it for a couple seconds before returning my smile as I passed her and headed for the bar. I almost froze seeing the horde of people, and poor Natalie was the only staff member there. She looked like she was running herself into the ground. By this time of day, it wasn’t abnormal for the bar to be busy, but I’d never seen it this busy before.

  Natalie caught sight of me, and I saw her let out a deep breath of relief.

  “Hey! Please tell me you’re here to help.”

  “Yup, my shift starts in five, but I think I can start a little early.” My eyes sparkled as I stepped behind the bar and instantly had three men come up to me.

  I took a deep breath and cleared my throat, looking at all the people in front of me. There had to be at least a dozen.

  “Alright!” I put my childhood acting lessons to use and spoke from my stomach to project my voice. “Let’s get ya’ll drinks! Who wants a beer?” I counted out three men with their hands raised and nodded before turning my back to them and reaching for the fridge. There were four kinds of beer; I grabbed one of each between my fingers and spun around. I went up to one man and held my hand out to him; he took one before paying me, and I turned to the next guy. “If you’re brand specific, let me know, and I’ll be sure to grab that brand for you,” I said, speaking loudly enough that they could hear me.

  “What can I get you?” I heard Natalie asking another customer. She already sounded so much calmer, and I grinned to myself, alright. Today was going to kick ass. No, I’m going to kick ass today.

  My therapist always said I should use more positive self-talk, that counted, right?

  Within a couple of minutes, the crowd at the bar was gone.

  “Thank you, so much.” Natalie looked whipped.

  “Go take a break,” I suggested, giving her a smile.

  “Break isn’t for another fifteen.” She glanced at the clock.

  “Take it early if you want. If Dean tries to give you shit, let him know I told you to do it and that he can take it up with me.” I laughed softly.

  Natalie stared at me wide-eyed. “Thank you,” was all she said, and I could tell she really meant it. As she walked away, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pulled up Dean’s number.

  Natalie taking break early. I told her to, she looked whipped—had over a dozen customers when I came over here. She was worried she would get in trouble, be nice.

  I sent the text and looked around. Now there wasn’t a single person at the bar who wanted a drink. Damn.

  I perked up seeing an old man come into the room. He looked around before ambling to the bar and sitting down.

  “Hi!” I beamed. “What can I get for you?”

  “Whisky, please.” He looked me up and down. Despite the fact that he had gray hair and thick glasses, it seemed like he was going to creep on me. Yay.

  My phone buzzed as I was pouring the man his drink. I handed it to him and checked the phone quickly.

  If she was working hard, she deserves the early break. Glad to know the girls are working hard. Thanks, wouldn’t have wanted to give her shit after she just busted her ass. Love you.

  I tucked my phone back into my pocket, thrilled I’d made the right choice.

  Natalie returned before her 15 minutes were up, with a smile on her face. “Thanks,” she said again. “I really needed that.” I nodded, letting her know I’d heard.

  “Excuse me.” The older man was still sitting at the bar. “Could I get a refill?”

  “For sure.” I grabbed his glass and filled it with whiskey before he handed me a bill.

  “Keep the change.”

  “Thank you so much!” I tucked the bill into the cash register and glanced up at the clock. Despite the fact that I’d only been here for a little while, it felt like I’d gotten a lot done.

  “Could I get a burger and fries, too?” the man asked.

  Without a second’s thought, I headed to the backroom where the kitchen was. Normally, I didn’t have much to do with the kitchen. I grabbed a menu and returned to the bar, handing it to him. “We’ve got some awesome gourmet burgers that were even featured on National TV.” It was sorta true. Dean was using the same recipes that he was at his other casinos, and those had been featured. “Would you like to take a quick look?”

  “Sure.” The man smiled as he took the menu from me.

  *

  I stayed a little late to help Natalie with a late night rush, but I was still in Dean’s office by 5:30.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”

  “I’m sure.” He gave me a smile. “You must need some time to yourself. I don’t mind.”

  “But … I thought it would be nice if I stayed.”

  Why did I feel so upset about this? It was stupid. I shouldn’t be upset, but I was. I tried to mentally shake myself; after all, I was being silly. But he said he wanted someone to stay with him while he worked.

  Dean chuckled softly. “Look, we’re both trying to do something nice for each other. Why don’t you go home tonight and let me win? Tomorrow, I’ll expect you to stay, though; how’s that sound?”

  A smile touched my lips. “Sounds perfect.”

  There was something on that list about compromising, right? I made my way over to Dean. Without a word, he stood and pulled me into his arms, placing a soft kiss on my lips. “I love you, Rebecca.”

  “I love you too.” My arms wrapped around his, and I pulled him close to me; my teeth grazed his lower lip as I realized how much I missed this. Desire pooled in the pit of my stomach, and I swallowed dryly, our kiss growing more passionate.

  Dean’s fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me closer as he pulled away from our kiss, his lips trailing their way down my neck. I let out a soft moan as his free hand slid down my body, resting on my innermost thigh. My heart skipped a beat as I reached for his belt.

  Knock, knock.

  My heart leapt as Dean pulled away from me in half a second flat. The door opened. Melina’s cheeks flushed.

&
nbsp; “I’m sorry, did I—”

  “No.” Dean shook his head, perhaps a little too vehemently.

  “I was just saying goodbye to him before I headed home.” I couldn’t bring myself to look Melina in the eye as I gave her a smile and headed for the door. Glancing over my shoulder just once, I gave Dean a smile before closing the door behind me and heading out for the car. I’d changed before I went to go see Dean.

  “So,” Natalie’s voice took me off guard. “You two are really into each other, aren’t you?”

  I laughed. “Yea.”

  “You know, you’re actually really cute together.” She fell into pace with me as we left the building. “And I can tell how much you like him.” She grinned. “Although, I’m totally jealous. I don’t know what it was he saw in you over everyone else.”

  “I didn’t flirt with him,” I admitted.

  “That’s what does it for him?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “Yea, I mean, look at all the girls who hit on him.” I didn’t mean it to sound like a shot, and I really hoped it didn’t.

  “Good point, maybe I’ll try that with the next guy I think is cute.” She laughed softly as she came to a stop. “Well, I’ll see around, Rebecca! And thanks again for all the help today.”

  “Any time!” I called over my shoulder as we parted and headed for my little car, looking forward to it more than I realized.

  I didn’t listen to music or anything on the way home, just focusing on the road ahead of me and taking in the total silence. The casino gets kinda loud around the end of the night and not having background noise all the way back to my place felt really nice.

  As I pulled into my parking space, I took a deep breath feeling so much calmer than I had when I got into my car without realizing how I’d calmed down.

  I grabbed my purse, turned my car off and stepped out of the car. I guess it had been for the best that I went home instead of staying late at the office; though I still felt a little bit bad for it. I began climbing the stairs.

  “Hey!” Jake grinned as he spotted me down the hall.

  “Hey, how’s it going?”

  “I haven’t seen you around much; is everything okay?”

  “Yea, I’ve just been super busy with work and everything. I haven’t been home all that much, and when I am, I’m sleeping.” I laughed softly. “How are you doing?”

  What I really wanted to know was how he was handling his recent breakup, move, and new job, but I didn’t want to quite word it that way.

  “I’m actually doing really good thanks.” He straightened his jacket. “I’m off to work right now.” His grin widened. “And I met someone. She just got out of a bad relationship, so we’re taking things slow. We’re just hanging out as friends right now, but she’s really sweet, and I really like her.” His eyes sparkled.

  “That’s great! I’m glad to hear things are going well.”

  “And don’t worry, I remember I still owe you a pizza. We should try to get together sometime. Hell, I can even have you and Katie over to my place now that I’ve got a couch and a table.” He laughed before glancing down at his phone. “Well, I’d better get going. I still don’t have a car so, I’m bussing, and I don’t’ want to miss my bus.”

  “See you later.” I grinned as he headed off down the hall and towards the street, unlocked my apartment door, and blew out a deep breath.

  Instead of doing what I really wanted to do, and that was get some sleep, I went into the kitchen and pulled down my hot chocolate mix. I’d been thinking about it last night and knew exactly what I needed to make it just a little bit better. I stared down at it before searching through my cupboard.

  “Shit,” I muttered. I could have sworn it was there. My mom must have taken it back sometime. “Oh, well.” I was going to see her sometime this week anyways, so I would just have to steal it back. I wasn’t actually sure if it would help, but I had this nagging feeling that it would, so I was going to test it out.

  With my hot chocolate mix to play around with, I kicked off my shoes and padded into the bedroom before dropping onto the bed and letting out a deep breath. I rubbed the back of my neck gently, trying to get a hold of myself.

  I hope Dean doesn’t mind me leaving. I know he had told me to, but that didn’t actually mean he was okay with it.

  Pulling my phone from my pocket, I sent him a quick message to let him know I loved him before pushing myself up from the bed and sauntering into the bathroom. I cranked the tap to hot, put the plug in, and then made a quick stop at my bedroom where I grabbed my silk robe, my fuzzy slippers and a good book. I tied my hair up, so I didn’t have to worry about it getting wet, and then I grabbed myself a bottle of water since for some reason I always got dehydrated in the tub—it probably meant they were too hot, but that wasn’t going to change how hot I made my tubs.

  I returned to the bathroom, added some bath salt and stripped out of all my clothing. My phone buzzed, announcing an incoming text, but I didn’t bother getting it. Instead, I just slipped into the tub and closed my eyes.

  I was way past in need of relaxing and was going to take a little time out of the day for myself. I grabbed the book and opened it, letting the warm water fill up around my body.

  After half an hour, I was much more relaxed and had managed to get some quality reading time in. I put my book down as my toes started to form that raisin-like outer layer that always meant I’d spent far too much time in the tub and grabbed my vanilla body wash. I lathered my legs in it, and then my feet. I grabbed my luffa and scrubbed away any of the dead skin I could get off before dipping my legs back into the water and watching it turn a murky gray from all the soap and dirt I had washed off—see this was why I’d always hated tubs. They made me feel dirty like I was soaking in my own gross dirt. But I knew they were meant to be relaxing, not for washing. I finished covering myself in the vanilla body wash and pulled the plug, letting my body rinse off a little before pulling out of the water. Drying off quickly, I slipped into my silk robe that was probably just a little too short. A grin spread over my face. I should send Dean a picture of this, I thought, heading into the bedroom after slipping into my slippers and picking the book back up. I tossed the book on my bed and grabbed my phone, noticing one new message.

  I flicked the screen up to unlock it and went into my messages. Of course, the message was from Dean.

  I hope you have a good time in the tub.

  I know things have been rough right now, but I just wanted to let you know that I do really love you, Rebecca. I love you more than I really want to admit even to myself, and I know I’ve done a lot to make you lose trust in me, but I want to gain it back; I want to keep trying to prove to you that you’re the only woman I want.

  Thank you for offering to stay at work with me tonight, but I’m so glad you were able to go home and spend the night in the tub. I hope it was relaxing; God knows you need a little bit of pampering time!

  I will see you tomorrow.

  Love you,

  Dean

  I read the message a couple times, my heart getting lighter and lighter every time I read it. I smirked, typing out my reply.

  You’re really laying on that romance thing, eh? Well, just FIY, I like it.

  I had a really nice tub, but would have been more relaxing with you ;) I love you lots, babe.

  Along with the message, I sent him a quick picture. If he had it in his head, he was going to make me feel like I was in a romantic movie; I was going to make him feel like he was in a porno.

  Although my picture wasn’t that sexy—it was a work in progress. I’d make him feel like he was in a porno tomorrow.

  Chapter Six

  “Hello?”

  Since my dad had been in the hospital, I never thought about not answering my mom’s calls. My heart raced as Dean and I made our way out of the casino. I hadn’t had my phone on when she called, which just left me worried as fuck.

  “Hey, honey.”

  “Is Dad okay? You ca
lled earlier.”

  My mom laughed softly. “Your dad is fine. You’re worse than I am.”

  Oh, gee, that was a compliment.

  “So, Dad is okay? Then why were you calling?”

  “Because you told me that we’d get together sometime so you can meet Mark!” She sounded disappointed that I’d forgotten, and I took a deep breath.

  “Right. Sorry.” I bit my lip. “How about tomorrow night?” I met Dean’s gaze, and he nodded. I smiled my thanks. “Why don’t we take you guys out to dinner?”

  “No, no, you can come over! It’s been so long since you’ve been over.”

  “Alright.” Because everyone loved going back to their childhood home. I swallowed dryly. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, okay?”

  “Perfect! I can’t wait for you to meet Mark.”

  “I can’t wait to meet him either,” I lied. I really wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about meeting my mom’s boyfriend, but after a few months, it was long past overdue; I just wish she had told me sooner. “I’m going to let you go, though; we’re just about to head back home. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “Alright.” My mother was thrilled; I could hear it in her voice. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you!”

  “Love you too, Mom.” I hung up and slid into the passenger seat of the car.

  “Just for the record,” Dean gave me a grin as he turned to look me over. “We’re not going home.”

  “We’re not?” I raised an eyebrow as he sped out of the parking lot and headed away from home.

  Dean grinned the whole way to wherever it was we were going. I tried to pay attention to where we were going but just kept turning my attention back to Dean. “Where are we going?” I would ask every couple of seconds.

  “Okay, this is really fucking cool,” I admitted as we came to a stop in front of a building.

  “I thought you might like it.” Dean shut the car off and stepped out. I followed him quickly as he held his hand out to take mine, and we entered the building. “Like, really cool.” I looked around. “I know we’ve done some cool stuff, but this is like up there with Italy.”