I would go say hi as soon as I clocked in. I was running late. Damn rain. I hoped my boss wouldn’t be too mad.
I sneaked in the back door, weaving my way through the kitchen before making my way to the counter area of the bakery. I noticed Colleen’s back toward me, but even more noteworthy was Jolie, looking absolutely divine in her tightly corseted red velvet dress. The only thing missing from her usual ensemble was her crown.
I had the sudden desire to take her while she wore nothing but her jewel-encrusted tiara. It would be fucking sexy as hell.
I stopped short when I overheard their conversation.
“—that’s another thing we’ll talk about at our next meeting,” Jolie said.
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to make it? Everything is okay at home?” I detected worry in my boss’s voice.
Jolie let out a sigh. “As far as I know. There’s too much at stake at this point...”
Colleen nodded. “I know it’s hard.” She rested a hand on Jolie’s shoulder. “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help?”
A lump formed in my throat. What is going on with her? From the way her brows were bunched up and her lips pursed, it seemed like it was something pretty serious.
“No, but thank you, Colleen. I hope everything comes together like we’ve all hoped. I know we’re not alone. It’s good that there’s so much support for this, not just here but...more broadly.” Jolie’s cheeks rose as a hopeful smile spread across them.
“Amen to that,” my boss agreed, patting Jolie’s arm again. “Well, we’re going to keep the faith and keep fighting.”
“Always,” Jolie responded, her face brightening ever so subtly. Her eyes jerked up to find me in the shadows. “Well, if it isn’t Marcus!” She shot a warning glare at Colleen, but I couldn’t read my boss’s reaction as I stepped out into the main service area of the bakery.
“Good morning, ladies,” I said, dusting off my British accent, which had gotten rather rusty over the weekend. I’d nearly forgotten my glasses when I left my house today. Thank god I remembered at the last minute.
“Did you have a nice weekend?” Jolie questioned, but she didn’t really wait for an answer. Instead, her eyes flitted toward the clock before flashing back to Colleen. “Shit, I have to go. I’ll catch you guys later.” With that, she gathered up her full skirts and scurried across the bakery, exiting out the side door into the castle.
I aimed my thumb in the direction she went. “Is everything okay with her? I noticed she was gone a few days last week.”
Colleen sighed, her worried look only deepening. “I hope so...” is all she said, her voice trailing off somewhere that her words didn’t want to follow.
I shrugged. “So what is this big meeting about?” I tried to slide that question in there as nonchalantly as possible.
But my boss waved her hand to dismiss it. “Oh, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
But I was worried about it. I had a feeling Colleen was hiding a great deal of valuable intel from me. I tied on my apron and told her I’d be right back.
I was on the way to the bathroom, but my plan was to stop any Sweetopia employee I saw and ask if they knew anything about some “meeting.” Strategery and all that.
First guy I encountered was a janitor of some sort. He was running one of those manual vacuum thingies (no idea what they are called; my knowledge of household appliances is sorely lacking) down the carpet runner that led to the throne room.
“Hey,” I said as casually as I could.
He looked up at me with a blank expression on his face. He was young, maybe eighteen, and wore braces.
When it became apparent he wasn’t going to return my salutation, I asked, “Do you know anything about the next meeting?”
“Meeting?” he repeated. He scratched a bit of sparse scruff on his chin that had nothing on the sexy beard I was currently cultivating. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay, thanks.” I gave him a smile, and his only response was to raise an eyebrow at me before shifting his gaze back to the carpet runner.
I continued down the hall until I came to the gift shop. This place was about to be overrun with children, so I felt like I was on the clock. Hopefully I could swoop in and out and not have to deal with a massive stampede to buy a plush Donut Dragon, which was the friendly dragon that lived in Cotton Candy Castle with The Red Velvet Queen and who’d helped her defeat the evil sorceress and save Sweetopia from peril.
I spotted the manager of the store, but then a bit of panic flashed through me as I considered asking her about the meeting. I was pretty sure I had met her a few summers ago. Would she recognize me? It was a risk I was going to have to take.
I ambled up to the counter deliberately channeling my inner Marcus Young, trying very hard not to swagger like I was Cy Sweet and practically owned the place. I coaxed the British accent into overdrive as I asked, “Hello, I’m Marcus Young—over in The Bard’s Bakery. Just trying to get around to meet everyone else in the building. How are you?”
The way she smiled at me, it was obvious she was checking me out. She was several years older than me, but she had good taste, that much was clear. “I’m Ellie Martin.” She extended her hand for me to shake, the interest in her honey brown eyes unmistakable.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ellie.” The words slid out of my mouth with so much charm and sex appeal that I was practically making myself swoon.
“We don’t get too many Brits in these parts,” she said with a wink. “What brings you across the pond?”
“Oh, you know, university...” I smiled at her, hoping I could use her attraction to my advantage to leverage some information about this mythical meeting.
“Florida Gulf Coast?” she mentioned the closest school to our location.
“Oh, sure,” I agreed, hoping she didn’t ask me any specifics.
“Nice, what are you studying?”
Shit. I should have known she would make this meeting about me. “Hey, I have to get back to the bakery. I was just wondering something, though?”
“What’s that?” Her eyes sparkled as though she was waiting for me to ask her out. Yeah, right!
“Do you know anything about a...meeting...coming up?”
Her nose, which was a little too large for her face, wrinkled up, showing her extreme disappointment. She swallowed it down and forced a smile to lift the corners of her lips. “Yeah, why?”
Oh, fantastic, now we are getting somewhere!
“Where is it? Who is organizing it?” I pressed, trying not to seem too anxious for the answers. Even though I totally was.
She giggled. “It’s by invite only. Can’t reveal my sources.” She gave me a wink that was too flirty to be anything but an invitation.
“Oh, how do I get on the invite list?” I smiled as if I understood what she was getting at but still wanted to play along.
“I might be able to give you some info about it. Come back and see me tomorrow. We’ve gotta open the doors now.”
“Great, thank you.” I blew her a kiss on my way out. Won’t hurt, right?
I wasn’t above a little man whore action to get to the bottom of this employee uprising thing—and to get my 25 Gs, of course.
“He’s going to have to go back to the doctor,” my mom sighed as she met me at the door. I hadn’t even taken off my crown yet, that’s how fast I rushed home.
“He’s still running a fever?” I checked. When she nodded, I brushed past her to get to River, who was sprawled out on the sofa watching his favorite cartoon. I pressed my lips to his forehead and immediately felt the heat soak into me.
“Can you take tomorrow off?” Mom asked in the vocal equivalent of a tiptoe.
I whipped around. “No, I’m already in enough trouble. Fucking Sweet Enterprises.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I closed my eyes as I bit my lip in frustration. “Sorry, guys. Don’t use that word, please.”
“Why the fuck not?�
� my son Reed quipped. Of course. At ten he was always pushing my buttons. And Lord knew he didn’t get enough attention with his brother’s issues always shoving him aside.
“Look,” I shot him a warning glare, “I’m doing the best I can. I have an appointment tonight, and I can’t cancel it, so I have to go get changed.”
“But you were gone last night,” my mother reminded me.
I huffed, trying to blow out my growing exasperation. Maybe if I stripped out of this corset, I would be able to breathe again. But I was only going to be exchanging this corset for another. My clients wouldn’t know what to think if I didn’t show up in my black latex corset and boots, my expected Domme attire. At least I’d be able to get this godforsaken wig off.
I marched off to my room to execute my costume change. My mother always had to help me with the corset I used for my sessions with my subs. She would be in shortly. I might have had two or three seconds to take a deep, unrestricted breath before being laced up again.
“Jolie,” Mom started up again as she closed my bedroom door behind her, “you’re going to have to find a job with better benefits and leave. River needs his mom around. So does Reed, for that matter.”
She reached for my hand and squeezed it in hers. I knew she was trying not to cry, but I could see the tears glistening there anyway, threatening to fall. At least the boys couldn’t see or hear us. If there was one thing I tried my damnedest to do, it was to keep them from knowing how tough things really were for our little family.
“You think I don’t know that?” I argued with her. “But I haven’t been able to find anything else that pays as well and offers any benefits at all. Or something that might actually help my acting career. It’s not like I haven’t tried.”
She shifted her gaze to the floor and sucked in a steadying breath before looking up at me again. My mom had given me my unique gray eyes, but hers were lighter than mine. They seemed to have faded at the same time her hair lightened into a silvery blonde. She was washing out before my very eyes, and I felt like she was trading her youth for more time with River.
“River’s not going to be here forever,” she said as a tear streaked down her cheek. Her tears were reserved for me in private. And mine were reserved for her. In private. We couldn’t let those two young men in the other room know of our despair. Of our constant pleadings with God for more time, more strength, more money.
“Mom...” I couldn’t bear for her to start up the waterworks right now. Not when I had to change clothes and leave for my other job. “I’m doing the best I can. We have some things in the works at Sweetopia. We’re having a big meeting soon, and we’re about to go to the media with our demands. I think things are on the cusp of changing. Everything’s coming together...”
“You said that three months ago,” my mother fired back. Her lips pursed as her eyes bounced back and forth between mine. “And last year when you were still at Barney’s.”
“What is it you want me to do, Mom?” I begged of her. “Please, tell me. Because I can’t help that I’m a single mom who gets zero support from the two loser sperm donors I fucked. And I can’t help that my kid has cystic fibrosis. There’s literally not a damn thing I can do about any of that.”
“Jolie...” My mom took my hand into hers again. “I know you’re doing the best you can. You’re so beautiful and talented...I just feel like you should be able to find an employer who really respects you and will compensate you accordingly—and not make you feel guilty when you need to take off a few days to care for your sick kid.”
“Yeah, it takes a lot of talent to sit on a throne and pose for pictures all day.” I rolled my eyes. “Please.”
“You’re selling yourself short. You’re playing a role you were born to play. You make an amazing queen, Jolie. No one would guess in a million years you’re this single mom scrounging up her last few dimes to fill up the gas tank and supporting a household of four on two jobs. When you put on that crown, you become The Red Velvet Queen. Through and through. The Sweets would never be able to replace you. They’d never be able to find someone who embodies the role like you do.”
“Thanks, Mom...but I don’t need a pep talk. I need to get changed for my other job.”
But my words didn’t deter my mother, who was at least three times more headstrong than I was. “And even though it still weirds me out, I bet you are amazing in that—other role—you perform too.”
I rolled my eyes. She couldn’t say the word “dominatrix.”
“You need a real acting job,” she insisted. “A TV show, a movie. Hell, even commercials to start with. You’re not getting any younger, Jolie. You need to look for an agent again and put yourself out there.”
“And how do you propose I do that when I’m already working sixty hours a week? Besides, if I play my cards right, I can take this Red Velvet gig right onto the big screen. You know they’re talking about a live action movie... What else can I do but wait it out?”
My mother shook her head. She didn’t have an answer for that one. Sure, I’d always dreamed of being an actress, but I’d never made it any further than the stage at my high school and one or two community productions. None of those roles paid, anyway. What I did now were the only two roles I could take on that actually did pay a salary. It was the best I could do under the circumstances.
And on that note, I needed to get going before my sub left me for a mistress he could rely on to show up on time.
That night as I lay in bed, I was overcome with sadness. There was just no way in hell I could make everyone happy: my bosses, my sons, my mother. Someone always got the short end of the stick. The stick being me, of course. I was always the biggest loser.
I had no friends outside of coworkers. I had nothing for myself. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had fun.
And then, I did remember. The memory slammed into me so hard that I nearly fell off the bed. It was Marcus the week before in my dressing room. He’d appeared out of nowhere, and all he wanted to do was see me writhing in ecstasy. And he was so damn talented.
Seeing him today at the bakery, how he looked so confused and concerned when he walked in on me discussing my situation with Colleen, it was so sweet. He seemed like such a giving, sensitive guy. I needed a guy like that in my life. Even if it was just to have fun with. He was obviously younger than me, but he was definitely into me. There was no denying that. What if I asked him on a proper date? What if I let him see the real me? The me minus the crown and plus a hell of a lot of baggage?
Would he still want me then?
Five
I needed something to get me through the day, and coffee was just not going to cut it. My mother was taking River back to the doctor, and I couldn’t go because Sweet Enterprises was headed by the devil himself: Corden Sweet. Oh, and his evil fucking wife, though I couldn’t remember her name. I heard their three sons also worked in the park, so apparently nepotism was A-OK, but allowing the mother of a sick child to care for said child was not.
Fuck them. Fuck all of them.
I did briefly consider dumping some Bailey’s into my coffee, but it wasn’t like I had any. I didn’t have any alcohol in the house and no time to stop for some. I didn’t even think I could find a liquor store open this early. Not to mention the problem of showing up in full costume to buy some damn booze—it didn’t seem like a good idea. So I went to work, and I knew damn well what I needed to do.
It’s like he knew. He was waiting for me in the hallway right outside my dressing room. Marcus Young, propped all tall and lean against the concrete block wall that was painted cotton candy pink like half the other surfaces in Sweetopia. It was a color that made my stomach churn at this point.
“Well, good morning, beautiful.” His lips curled up as he drank in the sight of me. “Where’d you run off to last night? I wanted to talk to you.”
“Did you?” I tried to keep my own mouth from mirroring his smile, but it was a pointless endeavor. He made me smile against
my will, especially the way he enunciated “beautiful” in his sexy as fuck accent.
I fumbled with the key in the lock. Men didn’t make me nervous. I told them what to do—I made them nervous. But that didn’t hold true for Marcus. Even though he was younger than me. Even though he was just a summer temp in the bakery, he had a commanding presence, one that seemed completely incongruous with that blasted pink polo he was wearing.
Well, there was one way to solve that problem. I’d rip it off him the first chance I got. I couldn’t deny I’d already been thinking about doing that for days.
“Need help?” I could feel his eyes on me, boring into me as I finally got the key to engage and managed to swing the door open.
“Not with the key,” I fired back as I whirled around to meet his gaze. His eyes were doing that smoldering thing again. You’d never imagine it was only eight in the morning. He looked ready and raring to go. Giddy up!
“Have you been thinking about our little encounter the other day?” He reached up to brush some of my hair back away from my face. His accent was so thick and raspy, it was proper and gravelly all at the same time. How did he do that? It was fucking magic.
“As a matter of fact, I have been thinking about returning the favor,” I admitted, locking my eyes with his.
“Do you often get fucked in your dressing room?” I could practically see the wicked thoughts swirling in his head as the question left his lips.
“No. I’ve never been fucked in my dressing room. Not unless the lunch you had last week counts...”
He pulled me into his arms, capturing me before whipping me around and pushing me up against the wall in one fluid motion. “There’s a first time for everything...” His lips lingered by my collarbone as he spoke, each word punctuated with a little hot breath that made my skin even more inflamed.
Sugar & Spice (Spicetopia Book 1) Page 4
