Page 56 of Baby, It’s Hotter Inside

Amber and I both dissolve into a fit of the giggles and then Pete is there again putting his hand on my shoulder. He gives it a squeeze that feels more like a grope.

“Hey, I’ll pop that cherry for you.”

I remove his hand from me and try to laugh it off, stepping around to put Amber in between us. She can handle him. And also, her husband, Quinn Crawford, is huge and will kill any man who puts hands on her.

“Gross,” Amber says.

Pete just laughs and walks back around to be next to me. “Come on, babe, it’s mostly a joke.” He encircles my wrist with his hand.

That’s when a large shadow falls over us.

“You girls ready to go?” Nash asks, his voice coming out in a tight growl. He glares so hard at Pete the guy drops my wrist and steps away. Nash looks ready to snap Pete in half and he’s big enough to do it.

My cheeks heat and despite my Hispanic blood, I’m pretty sure they turn bright pink. I can’t help but wonder how much of my conversation Nash heard. Did he hear me admit to being a virgin? Did he hear stupid Pete offer to relieve me of my cherry?

Gross.

“Come on now, I’ll take y’all home.”

Could I convince Nash to be the one to take my cherry? Everything I have belongs to him anyways. At least in my heart it does.

chapter thirty-one

Nash

I spread the peanut butter fudge across the marble slab with my paddle. Aside from the classic fudge, this is our best seller. It’s my Granny’s recipe and all I can think about is eating it off of Roni’s plump little body. I’m a pervy son of a bitch.

She’s looking sweet and fresh today in some festive leggings that cling to her short curvy legs. Every time she leans over the counter, I can see the way those leggings mold to her pussy. It’s probably my imagination, but I swear I can see the outline of things down below. So here I am, spreading fudge the way I’ve done every day of my life for the last two decades and I’m as hard as this marble slab.

The over-the-door bell rings and in walks that college fucker from the night before. He’s wearing another collared shirt, but with a pair of blue jeans this time. His eyes zero in on Roni immediately and he grins brightly.

“There you are!” he says. “I was told I could find you here.”

She looks up at his voice and kinda gives a little hop backwards. “Pete,” she says. “Uh, why were you looking for me?”

He chuckles. “Because, we didn’t get to finish our conversation last night.”

She glances over her shoulder at me, then back at him. “Well, I’m at work, so now’s not really a good time.”

“Oh, you need me to buy something. No problem, babe, I got you covered. Don’t want you to get in trouble with your boss.” He looks down into the glass display case at all the fudge flavors available and the other confections we offer. There are also old-fashioned whiskey barrels behind him filled with hard candies. But he smiles and points at something on the bottom shelf. “Cherries.”

“Yes?” she asks.

“Chocolate-covered cherries. I bet those are so sweet and ripe.”

Give me a fucking break. I accidentally bang the paddle on the marble.

Roni lifts her chin a little. “We usually sell them by the pound or individually.”

“Why don’t you let me take you to dinner, then afterwards we will talk all about those cherries?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t date customers. Besides, I already have a boyfriend.”

He laughs. “Oh sure, that’s convenient.” He leans against the glass, getting his goddamn fingerprints all over my display case. “You didn’t mention a boyfriend last night.”

And I am so done with this scrawny son of a bitch. I pull off my gloves, not giving a shit if walking away now ruins this batch of fudge; I’ll make more later.

“What’s the problem?” I ask, stepping right next to Roni.