by Alina Jacobs
"Meg," he greeted the brunette. He peered at me and pulled the kerchief off his face. "Hey, aren't you the girl who burned down Svensson PharmaTech?" The fireman started chuckling.
"I didn't burn it down," I huffed. "The microwave spontaneously combusted."
"We have to stop meeting like this," Cliff said and winked at me.
"She's already taken," Henry announced then coughed.
"You should come away from the flames," Meg said. "Those battery-powered cars can just explode."
"We should block off the street," Cliff agreed.
"Wait," I said. Meg and the fireman looked at me. "It's a battery-powered car?"
Cliff nodded. "I'm surprised that it just randomly caught on fire. Normally they're a bit safer than that."
"Funny how those things happen." I felt faint, and I didn't think it was from the smoke.
"What's that leaking out from under it?" Meg asked, pointing to the back of the car. "Is it melting?"
I coughed dramatically. "I think I need to get out of this smoke."
"Meg, can you take them out of here?" Cliff asked.
"Sure thing," she said, pulling her keys out of her purse. "Where are you guys headed?"
"I don't want to go! I want to watch the explosion!" Henry said and jumped up, making a sound effect. I winced.
"Sorry he's…" I made another helpless gesture.
"A Svensson," Meg said, her mouth flat. "The pervasiveness and lack of variety of their insufferableness is beyond belief, isn't it?"
"They are a unique bunch."
Meg drove us to the PharmaTech offices then parked in the visitors' parking.
Was she walking us inside? I wondered.
But when we got into the lobby, Meghan marched up to the reception desk, Henry and me trailing behind her.
"Good afternoon. I'm Lieutenant Mayor Meghan Loring, and I'm here for a meeting with Mr. Svensson," she said.
"Which one?" the receptionist asked, picking up the phone.
"All of them."
32
Mace
I thought the kiss with Josie would slake my desire. But it only made it worse. She had felt so good melting against me like chocolate. I shook my head. Josie and her love of candy had gotten to me.
"Anyone in there?" Archer asked, rapping his knuckles against my head.
"Stop it," I said, pushing his hand away.
Garrett held the door to the conference room open for Meghan, and we all stood up. She looked angry. This was going to be another awful meeting.
"She even smells like hellfire and brimstone," Archer whispered to me under his breath.
"I heard that," Meg said.
"How is the lovely lieutenant mayor?" Archer exclaimed. "I'm expecting you to announce your run for president any day now." He pulled out her chair for her. "Please sit down. I'm so sorry you have to deal with all of my brothers. They're uncultured! Uncivilized! Also I locked Hunter in the supply closet." He smiled broadly. There was a slight smile on Meg's face. Maybe the meeting wouldn't be so bad after all.
"I know I'm your favorite Svensson," Archer said, pouring a glass of water for Meg. "So let's chat."
Meg seemed to relax slightly until Hunter rolled into the room, practically yanking the door off the hinges.
"What the hell is wrong with you, locking me in a closet?" he fumed at Archer.
"You actually locked him in a closet?" Meg asked, laughing into her water glass.
"I mean, yeah, that's what I said. Unlike some people, I don't lie."
"Archer, what were you thinking? Hunter could have starved to death in there," I admonished my twin. "Or suffocated for lack of oxygen."
My twin snorted, and I could see Meg tamping down a smirk.
"Look at this big lug," Archer said, whapping Hunter on the back. Hunter snarled, and Archer jerked his hand back. "He'd have survived weeks."
"He didn't have any water," I countered.
Archer hummed a few bars of the "Circle of Life."
By the end of the meeting, I knew we had completely wasted our time. Meghan didn't like any of our potential design options.
I had also found it difficult to concentrate. I couldn't stop thinking about Josie and the kiss. I wanted to push her against my desk, slide my hand under her skirt, and feel the soft skin underneath.
When I finally escaped from my brothers, I found Josie in her office, chewing on her lower lip. Her glasses perched on her nose, and one of the buttons on her blouse looked like it had come undone. I could see the hint of her lace bra in the gap.
I went to her and wrapped one arm around her waist. The other hand snuck through the gap, cupping her breast. Josie gasped as I tipped her head back, taking her mouth like I wanted to take her body.
"Wow," she said after I drew back. "You fogged up my glasses, and I'm half undressed." Sadly she buttoned her shirt.
"That was already undone," I said. I wanted to kiss her again, but Josie seemed tense. I immediately was on edge.
"Look," I told her, "I know this is weird. You work for me and everything, but I really want to be with you. I could set you up with a separate consultancy company if it bothers you to be employed with Svensson PharmaTech."
She smiled softly. "No, this is fine. You're too nice to me."
Was I though? All I could think about was sleeping with her, waking up wrapped around her. It was like my brain had latched onto the idea.
"I promise this isn't some workplace affair with a childish billionaire playboy who just uses and abuses women," I insisted, needing her to see I was serious about pursuing a relationship with her.
"Feel free to use me any way you want. I enjoy a good workout," she purred. "And you'll need it, too, after eating all my candy." She snorted at her own joke.
"Let me take you out," I offered. Archer was taking Henry home and spending time with the other kids, so I was free to spend the evening with Josie.
"Out where?"
"On a date," I said, grabbing her coat. "I know a place that has great drinks, and they put candy in them."
"Sounds like my kind of establishment," she quipped.
I pulled out my keys as we walked to the parking lot then stopped short. "Where's my car?"
"Funny thing," she said, her face beet red. I looked at her.
Josie sagged. "The car didn't make it." I looked at her incredulously, and she handed me her phone. On the cracked screen played a video of my car engulfed in flames.
"How did this happen?"
"It was just one of those things." She smiled, but it was more just showing her teeth.
"You could have died!" I said.
"We're fine," she assured me.
"Henry—"
"Is fine," she insisted, grabbing my arm and stroking it. "He was very excited when the fire department showed up. I believe his exact quote was, 'Best day ever.'"
I shook my head. "I'm going to complain to the manufacturer. Cars shouldn't catch on fire like that. What if you had died?"
Josie reached up on her toes and kissed me, and I swept her up in my arms, deepening the kiss.
"I'm never going to get tired of this," I told her, setting her back down. "And I want to continue kissing you, but first we should call an Uber. It's going to take a while since most drivers usually go to New York City to work the bar scene."
"We could take my truck," Josie offered.
"I thought it was broken."
"Maybe it's fixed? Let's try. I'm not waiting around. I was promised a candy cocktail with actual candy. Although," she said, taking my arm. "I wonder what a cocktail with an actual cock would taste like."
"I hope it's not just a disembodied one," I joked.
"Yeah, that would be fine on, say, Halloween, but for a simple after-work drink, maybe not. Unless it was attached to a good-looking guy," she said as she wrenched open the door to the truck. I opened the passenger side, and paint flaked off the door.
"Think lucky thoughts," Josie said as she cranked up the truck. It clunked, shuddere
d, then started. "It's our lucky day," Josie said as she put it into gear.
The truck seemed like it had lost all of its shocks sometime back in the seventies. My head almost bumped the ceiling a few times when we jerked over the railroad tracks. The truck was in such poor condition I was afraid my head would go straight through the roof.
"I need a drink after all of that," I muttered after Josie parallel parked the truck, running halfway up the sidewalk and almost hitting a tree. To her credit, she did straighten out after a few tries.
"And I didn't hit anything," she said, slipping her arm in mine as we walked into the bar.
"You weren't joking about the candy drinks," Josie said happily as we sat at the reclaimed-wood table and looked at the menu. "I want to try them all."
When the server came over to take our order, I said, "She wants a Dark and Stormy."
"With candy?"
"Of course!" Josie said. "Extra candy!"
"Do you want that as well?" the server asked me.
"I'll have a whiskey."
"Any apps?" she asked, making a note on her pad.
"All of them," I said. "One of each."
Josie clapped her hands together when the server left. "You know me so well. All the appetizers!" She rubbed her hands together gleefully.
"Of course I know you. You've been living at my house, and I spend more time with you than my own family, it feels like. And," I said, lowering my voice, "I'd like to get to know you even better."
I heard someone clear their throat behind me.
"Can I help you?" I asked, turning around.
"Detective Brown with the Harrogate PD," the man said. Susie was there next to him, a hand on her utility belt. They looked serious. I stood up from the table.
"Mr. Svensson," the detective said. "We were just up at your office. The receptionist said you'd left already."
"What's this about?" I asked.
The officers looked at each other. "Sir, do you know of anyone who would want to kill you or your family?"
33
Josie
I kicked myself for not coming clean earlier. Why did I always do that? I had to ruin this thing with Mace with my stupidity.
"The fire department looked into it after they had the fire under control," the officer explained to Mace.
"I heard the battery caught on fire," Mace said. He looked furious.
I sank down in my chair.
"No, fortunately not, or that car would still be burning," Susie said. "The fire department was able to control the fire before it pierced the protective casing surrounding the battery."
"I don't understand," Mace said. His eyes shifted between Susie and Detective Brown.
"Someone doused your car in gasoline," Susie said.
I felt faint. I was going to be arrested. Where was that drink? "I uh—"
"Don't worry, Josie," Mace said. "I'll find whoever did this. They'll pay for trying to hurt you." His face had this blank look that scared me.
"Actually I um… I'm the one who put the gas on the car," I said.
"What, why?" Susie asked.
"I didn't know it was electric!" I started sobbing. "I thought I was helping, but I'm an idiot."
I could tell Susie and the detective were trying not to laugh.
"It's not funny!" I gasped.
"Actually it kind of is," Susie said. "Those electric cars don't even have gas caps. How did you pry a piece of the car off?"
"I'm made from sturdy stock," I said, wiping at my eyes with a napkin. "And I eat a lot. Mass moves mass."
"Still. Maybe you should take up boxing or MMA fighting if your grip is that strong," the female police officer chuckled. I didn't dare look at Mace.
"I guess we'll close the case," Detective Brown said. "Love it when my job is easy."
"Don't I need to sign a statement or something?" I asked meekly.
"Let's not get carried away," Susie said. "No one likes extra paperwork."
"Grab a drink on me," Mace said, shaking their hands and signaling to the bartender.
"Aren't there rules about police officers accepting gifts?" I asked when he sat back down across from me. I expected to see that terrifying blank look turned in my direction, but his eyes were warm with humor.
"This is a small town," Mace said with a shrug. "People don't get too worked up over that stuff."
He took a sip of his whiskey then laughed. "Only you would set my car on fire."
"Don't remind me." I drained my glass and used the little plastic straw to scoop out the crumbs of the SweetTart candies.
"Need another?" Mace asked.
"I need, like, three more of these," I said as the server set down our appetizers. "Yum! Cheese," I said, swiping a pretzel bite through the cheesy sauce. "And French fries. This is the best date ever! This is basically my dream come true—go to a restaurant and order every appetizer."
Anke wasn't a big eater; she was a big drinker. But I was with Mace now. I wasn't going to let Anke spoil my evening.
She'll come through with the rest of the money, I promised myself. I just have to believe.
The server brought me another drink that had a whole stick of Airhead candy in it to use as a stirrer.
"This is so clever," I cooed. "And everything here is so cheap. New York is so much more expensive."
"Another bonus of a small town," Mace said, reaching over and taking a goat cheese fritter.
"It's not that small," I said. "There're a lot of buildings, and Main Street seems busy."
"A large number of families live here," Mace explained, "because of my company. Though that is slowly driving up prices." He looked annoyed for a minute, then his features smoothed out.
"Is that why all the old people are protesting your new facility?" I asked him, biting off a piece of the Airhead candy.
The annoyance was back on Mace's face.
"Ida says you're cock-blocking her," I told Mace. "She wants old Bert to bring his detail-oriented bird-watching self to her bed and make her sing. But he's too distracted to play the peacock, so to speak."
Mace worked his jaw. "I really didn't want to know, frankly, any of that," he said finally. I laughed and ate a bite of duck slider.
I held out my hand to feed him the other half. His lips brushed my fingertips when I placed the bite in his mouth.
"I don't know what I'm going to do if all the senior citizens start picketing in front of my building," Mace said after he swallowed.
"I asked Ida to hold off, and she agreed," I said.
"How did you manage that? She doesn't seem like the type to be dissuaded," he said, eating a French fry.
"I told her I would use the power of pussy to convince you to reconsider."
Mace started coughing.
"Have a drink of this," I told him, handing him my cocktail. He took a swig.
"That is very sweet."
I leaned over and kissed him. "Yes, but it tastes so good."
I could taste the lingering sweetness later that night as Mace parked the truck in front of the estate house.
"It's good that you drove," I whispered to him in the dark. "I think I'm too drunk."
"You hit those candy cocktails pretty hard," he said. His hand inched up my thigh.
"I had to celebrate," I said, reaching for him.
"Celebrate what?" he asked as he leaned over me. "Burning up my car?"
I giggled. At least I had enough non-drunk brain cells to refrain from blabbing about my terrible decision-making with regards to Anke.
He leaned into me, kissing me. His mouth was warm, and I could taste the lingering spice of the whiskey. I moaned softly as his tongue pushed my lips open. I tangled my hands in his hair as he tipped my head back, his tongue stroking my mouth.
"Dinner and drinks were fun," I said breathlessly when he released my mouth. One of his large hands was on my waist, the other under my skirt, caressing my thigh. I wanted it higher. I pulled him back down by the tie.
"Now I wa
nt my dessert," I whispered against his mouth.
"I thought you had enough candy today," he said. One hand moved up to cup my breast and rub at my nipple through the fabric.
I moaned. I could feel his cock through his pants, hard against my thigh.
"I never have too much candy," I told him. "But you didn't have any dessert."
"I'm having it right now," he said as he unbuttoned my shirt.
I whimpered and arched up against him. "My jellybeans are down there."
His hand pushed up under my skirt. I could feel his fingers through the wet fabric of my panties.
"I can't tell if I'm weirded out or turned on by the candy innuendoes," Mace said, kissing my neck and jaw and nipping at my lips.
"You like the candy innuendoes." I gasped as he rubbed me through my panties. "Besides you would get really flustered if I flat out told you I wanted to feel your tongue on my clit and that I wanted you to turn me into a moaning mess, then stick your hard cock in me and—"
He kissed me hard, shutting me up. "Holy smokes," he said, eyes dark.
"See?" I grinned at him and ran my hand down his back. "You're all flustered."
"No," he said, kissing my neck. "I'm incredibly turned on."
His fingers worked under my panties. I tipped my head back, moaning as he stroked me. Then I screamed as someone appeared in the car window and knocked on the glass.
Mace cursed and jerked up. I heard a crunch, and he swore.
Clutching his head, Mace wrenched open the door and called out, "Archer, you piece of—"
"No swearing!" Archer yelled. Feet crunched on the gravel as Mace took off running after his twin brother. Concentrating on the damage to the car roof, I adjusted my clothes and tried to calm the throbbing heat between my legs.
Little cracks of light peeked through the ceiling of the truck. I stuck my finger in the hole, and part of the top of the truck caved in.
"What the—" I jumped out of the car and took off running after Archer, screaming, "You put a hole in my car roof. You better fix that!"
34
Mace