FRIDAY: Laced with Spice (Hookup Café Book 5)

by Fifi Flowers

  Standing in front of the island, the space was open to the living room, dining room, and looked out medium sized doors to a balcony with a nice view in the daytime, I mixed up buttermilk pancake batter before moving on to frying up some bacon. My idea of a perfect weekend off breakfast. I usually worked most Saturdays but I enjoyed taking at least one off a month—it was quickly turning into two, it seemed.

  I had timed that one precisely right. Realizing that when a sexy man wearing only a pair of jeans walked up and took me into his strong arms for a morning greeting that had me thinking that I had never been properly kissed, ever in my life. He had me longing for so much more when he released me in favor of freshly brewed coffee laced with spice.

  “Wow! This is really good!” he exclaimed, taking several sips from his mug as I stood facing him and I watched his eyes widen as he took in every aspect of me. “Wow! I think we need to talk about skipping breakfast or maybe you should just let me have you.”

  Shaking my head, smiling at the gorgeous man before me, wanting nothing more than to fulfill his requests or orders… I just wanted more of Mason… so much more of him… from him!

  Chapter Four…

  More was exactly what I got until I had to go back to work on Tuesday morning. A bit sad for the weekend to be over, but I had some incredible and shocking memories that kept invading my mind daily as I moved through the week without hearing from Mason. I couldn’t really complain, I hadn’t contacted him either, and he was probably busy with work. I had certainly experienced enough pleasure to last me for… at least a few weeks. He never left me unsatisfied, just the opposite, sex had never been so good.

  From our initial meet up Friday night, we were never apart and never left the comfort of my apartment, partially due to the fact that the commander didn’t have any other clothing with him. Of course, he could’ve gone home and returned with some, but we didn’t seem to need the outside world. I cooked semi-gourmet meals for us, a passion that I had developed over the years thanks to pinned recipes on social media. My pancakes, he said, were his favorite meal that I cooked for him. I had a feeling that his love of my pancakes had absolutely nothing to do with the actual hot cakes I flipped onto his plate and a lot more about what followed them on my kitchen island.

  The morning after our first night of wild sex, he couldn’t stop saying, “wow!” I smiled, recalling how he appreciated my spicy taste in coffee, pancakes, and then my tiny nest of downstairs curls that matched perfectly with the pink hair on my head.

  “How did I miss your pink soul patch last night?” His eyes were glancing down.

  “It was mostly dark in my room and when it wasn’t, you performed your magic while I was bent over the bench in my foyer. And by the way, wrong lips to be called a soul patch…” I tapped my index finger under my bottom lip. “…Those are under the bottom lip on a face. This…” I move my finger down to point and swirl around the subject being discussed, or debated. “…Is above my lips… my lusty nest.”

  “Then I declare it a sexy as fuck love patch.”

  I had to disagree, it had nothing to do with love and he was not allowed to name my intimate curls—I had to be able to put my foot down somewhere. “It’s a lusty patch.”

  “I think I may have seen one in another shade—bright purple, I believe—on the Tattle Tales or Eye Spied gossip sites, and they labeled it as a porn star patch.”

  “Did you just cite a gossip rag?” I believe my words were dancing through the air, excited that another individual actually quoted the gospel truth celebrity news.

  “They set the trends! It’s best to be on top of them. Don’t laugh!” I didn’t think that I had, but if I did it was due to pure giddiness. “You know, you should know in your industry, especially, that gossip magazines dictate business; dos and don’ts.”

  In that moment, I had thoughts of true love for Mason. Finally, someone who spoke my language! “I couldn’t agree more,” I practically squealed.

  “Well then, let’s eat this amazingly delicious smelling breakfast and then I will be taking a more indepth look at your stunning lusty porn nest.” That was exactly what he did once he pushed his finished breakfast to the side and lifted me up onto my kitchen island minus my sheer panties that were tossed to the floor.

  Maybe that wasn’t the kind of memory I should’ve been thinking about while I was working in my salon. But it was hard not to think about it while I was sitting in one of my stylist’s chairs having the pink hair on my head touched up—knowing I would have to match my tiny carpet before long. That I did in the privacy of my apartment and thoughts of him helping me sparked my libido and had me wondering if I should call him.

  Fortunately, I didn’t have to make the move as he called and asked me to meet him at Cafélicious for lunch at the end of the work week. Agreeing, I found Mason in a similar position as the night we met, sitting with his back to me as I approached him. Only that time, he was not staring off in the direction of the visible kitchen, but instead looking at a tablet on the table and he appeared to be having somewhat of a heated conversation with someone on his phone. He was speaking about chemistry, variations of formulas, and test studies. He almost sounded like a scientist… like my father.

  Looking up at me once I was in his line of vision, he put his phone down and blew my mind with his words. “We weren’t supposed to sleep together.”

  Not sure where our conversation was headed as I took a seat across from him, forgetting all about the kiss I had planned to deliver to him as I walked over. “Well, there wasn’t much sleeping involved.” I smirked at him, batting my natural looking faux eyelashes—I hated to be bothered with mascara.

  “It blows things out of the water… the data is all off. What was I thinking?” I wasn’t completely sure if he was talking to me or still wrapped up in his phone conversation.

  “Data?” I questioned, looking at a man that seemed so different.

  Who the hell was this nerdy man sitting across from me, plugging info into his tablet, not really even bothering to look at me? He should’ve been commenting on my white dress with cutout triangles on the sides of my waist… asking me if I was wearing any panties. Threatening to punish me for taunting him once I told him that I wasn’t wearing any, of course, because they would ruin the lines of the dress. Where did the hot, dominant man that fucked me with such spicy commands go? I was right about him looking like a sweet boy next door—that was how he was acting at that moment—but I knew the man hidden behind closed doors. The man that spanked me and controlled every sexual move between us all weekend long precisely with meaning and conviction.

  “Yes, we skipped all of the normal dating steps; getting to know each other, going on a few dates, then the sex.” He was ticking things off on his fingers.

  “You shouldn’t have been such a naughty talker. You shouldn’t have been such a good kisser. You worked your way straight into my panties… or straight up my dress.”

  “That didn’t show in our compatibility. I’m going to have to start over.” What?!

  “Another date that ends with no sex?”

  “Another test subject and follow the steps to true compatibility, not just sex.”

  “Test Subject? Is that what I was to you? I think I am offended. Had I known, I could’ve decided up front whether you needed to get the fuck out of my bed or not.”

  “Shit! Okay, that came out all wrong.” He was rubbing his brow.

  “Uh… yeah. You have made me sound like a lab rat.”

  “I own the dating service, To Blind Date, and I thought I’d try it out for my own personal feedback… you happened to be my top match. And if I had told you, my data wouldn’t have worked either way. It would’ve been even worse…” Worse?! That word never described anything I experienced with him. “…Total honesty wasn’t an option.”

  I sat looking at him with my arms folded across my chest waiting for him to finish his babbling. Then after watching him take a few deep breaths, he launched into t
he truth about his communications business as a whole. He explained that he had been truthful about communications being his profession to begin with—yet, lacking a full title. Dating, I guess is a form of communicating… so he hadn’t completely lied or portrayed himself wrongly. He had just left out the minor and major details about his division of a big corporation.

  “Fine, you want to move on, but let me in on your business. I’ll forgive you and I might even let you be my fuck buddy. Put my salon on your site. Free advertising for me and I will offer discounts to get your blind date clients shaped up before their dates.”

  “It’s not always about looks.”

  “Yeah, it pretty much is,” I said firmly, knowing that we were no longer in the bedroom or in a sexual scene, and on equal footing. Then I confessed. “If you hadn’t passed my test, I would’ve stood you up.”

  “What?!” He looked confused.

  “I picked this café because I know the girls that work here… my shop is a few doors down. They texted me Laced with Spice once they saw you—that was code for he’s hot!” He confessed, so what the hell, I did too.

  “That too blows my data.” He looked more than confused, bordering on angry, then a sad look came over his face, and I decided to lighten the mood. Or at least that was my plan.

  “How about we stop talking about this dating site of yours and I blow you one last time. And by the way, your cock is beautiful—I’m a bit of a connoisseur—and I wouldn’t mind a dick pic from you.” I laughed.

  I should’ve felt unwanted, possibly used, but for some reason, I was none of those things. In the past, I would’ve shouted, called names, and most likely stormed out of the café. I couldn’t believe that I was actually making dick pic jokes and laughing.

  Then he shattered my whole spicy scenario when he informed me that he had lined up a couple dates with the other four women on his list the following week. He planned to take one on a harbor cruise and the other one to play miniature golf—touristy and boring to me—did people still play that putt the tiny dimpled ball into the mouth of a clown game?

  Whatever, my heart sunk a bit knowing that they were going to be enjoying his company even if he was sticking to his no sex plan. That also left me off to the side as the friend… and business associate since he agreed to my request. Not really what I had imagined hearing from him when he asked me to meet him for lunch. At least I knew that when we were to meet up again, there would be absolutely no expectations. I would also be making it clear that I didn’t wish to hear about his date results.

  Though we had been nothing more than a weekend fling, the reality of it was that I wasn’t ready for it to be over like he was—I would’ve gladly continued on. I would’ve been thrilled to work together while enjoying a friendship that included some sexual benefits. However, he was serious about doing investigative research for his TBD site and maybe even looking for the right one as it wasn’t me. The la la just wasn’t there for him, but I had to say it sure felt like it was—just goes to show you, assuming makes an ass out of me and you. I laughed to myself. Nothing else to do, I would look forward to finding a different avenue to venture down the next time I decided to date.

  Not that I was even thinking about trying out another stranger. It was bad enough telling the girls about my own failed blind date. At least I had been really busy at work and hadn’t had much time to sit down and provide details about my date weekend. I knew for sure that they would want to know how, why, and where it all went wrong if he was happy to spend four days with me. I just said things were off between us and I didn’t even tell them that I was crazy enough to stay involved in his service. They may have demanded I see a head doctor. Even I questioned myself at first.

  Chapter Five…

  “I saw you having lunch with Mason the other day—God his name reminds me of a guy that would spank your ass, then swoop you up in his big strong arms, and take you off to bed…” Vixen had no idea how close she was to hitting the nail on the head.

  “Yeah, I thought things were over before they even got started.” Evie chimed in. “I was surprised to see you two cozily huddled together.”

  “You girls read more into situations,” Vin laughed. “You women are scary.”

  “It was nothing more than a business meeting. Since I found out about him owning the dating service I decided I wanted in on the action and approached it more seriously. We had to meet up again so I could look over the graphics he had uploaded and sign a contract with his company.”

  I really liked the way Mason’s To Blind Date site was structured promoting the old fashion way of blind dating. I had heard so many stories about dick pics and sexting and I really wasn’t interested in all of that shit so when I founded TBD site with its no photos and no messaging policies, I signed up. Simple to do, I logged all of my information; hobbies, likes, dislikes, height, age, ethnicity, and a few other things, and then waited to see who was suitable for me once I pushed enter. Mason was my number one followed by four more. I never even looked at the others, figuring it was best to start with the best match.

  “Don’t tell me you’re going to be using the café to test drive more men?

  “No. I’m done with that. I don’t need Mason being my pimp.”

  If I couldn’t date him, then maybe I could get a little business from him. Since our blind date relationship went south, my mind had been reeling, and I began to research blind dating. In my search, I found a board game that had me thinking how I could be beneficial to Mason’s clients and mine. The game Mystery Date from Milton Bradley, a company known for making board games, first released in the mid-sixties and then reissued a few times to different generations intrigued me.

  Basically centered on a blind date, the objective is to put together an outfit for your big date, then you spin for a dream date, avoiding the dud, and the last catch is that your outfit must match your Mystery Date. There are five possible dates when a plastic door on the game board is opened after the player spins the door handle; a man sporting a tuxedo, a guy with a bowling bag, a guy with skis, and then the guy nobody wanted to date—the dud.

  “I remember that game but I think there was a guy with a picnic basket not a bowling bag.” Vixen announced almost giddy, wearing a smile, and I laughed before I went back to explaining the game to the other girls.

  Let it be noted that the look of the original dud behind the door in the game would appeal to many women that read romance novels; grungy clothes, tousled hair, and a stubbly beard. Not sure what the newer versions have been turned into for the dud, but basically no one, male or female, wants an undesirable looking person to greet them on a blind date.

  “So that’s where I come in. I now have a sponsor slot on his site for my Salon Luxe. We are offering a makeover service for his clients. He liked my idea and he’s already sent us a few people. One was this dorky guy that my girls turned into a hunk with the works, and the guy got a date out of it with one of our stylists. He actually had a totally different attitude once he left the chair after having his hair trimmed along with being given a few subtle highlights and his facial hair manscaped.”

  “But it’s online so people are all over…” Evie ever logical, began to question me.

  “Yes, I’m working on that too and I have some ideas and so far Mason seems to like some of them. He also likes my pool so I get free advertising and he gets to swim laps every day.”

  “You have that hot man over daily swimming naked in your pool? Oh Vivi, forget about eating my orgasm cookies and get the real thing.” No way was I taking Marzi’s advice about giving up her cookie I declared as I bit into one. The other part… well, that would be great to revisit too, but it didn’t appear that was going to happen, and believe me, I tried to sway him at first.

  “Oh friends with benefits!” Evie exclaimed, adding, “summer flings aren’t bad.”

  “That could mess up finding Mr. Right, don’t do it!” Vixen warned.

  “No, I don’t even see him. I gave h
im the guest code for the building and he has full access to my garage…” That sounded deliciously naughty so I rushed to clear up our arrangement. “…and the pool deck. I’m not even sure when he arrives… I’ve only seen him once and he was wearing a tiny speedo with what I assume was his school’s name stitched on the back of it. He mentioned playing water sports in high school.” That visual had not left my mind.

  “My old friend would’ve dropped to her knees and stripped that loin cloth right off.” Pansie knew me too well. “Did pods come and leave you instead?”

  That is the downside to telling your best friend intimate details of your love life and sexual preferences. And on that note, I said my goodbyes and left with two boxes of freshly baked orgasm cookies; one to drop off to my salon staff and the other to give to workers that were going to improve the access to my apartment balcony.

  Why I opted to stay home with all of the noise going on, was beyond me. But part of me was glad I had as Mason showed up. Let me rephrase that, a very hostile Mason made his way up to my apartment using a guest code and one of my workers had to let him in as I didn’t hear his arrival.

  “Why is a shirtless man letting me into your apartment? You said it was okay to come over.” I stood wrapped in a towel with my mouth gaping open as I was planning on taking a shower.

  “Relax. He’s installing new glass accordion doors that will open up the dining and living room to my entire balcony. I was in my bedroom on a video chat with my mom and siblings. I didn’t hear the elevator buzzing with all the laughter from my ten year old brother and eight year old sister.”

  “Your siblings are that young?” Apparently, he hadn’t paid much attention to the pictures of me with them on a table where I displayed a few family photos.

  People always looked at me funny when I spoke about them and often asked if they were my children when they came to visit or I went to visit them, which was rare. I always found myself explaining that my parents had me very young, barely nineteen years old, and started a new family on the other side of the country. They took the whole starting over opportunity—mixed with starting a new career—very seriously. I personally thought they were crazy, but they seemed perfectly happy and I only wanted the best for all of them. It had to be different the second time around, knowing what to expect. How they ever had me so young and still both finished college, amazed me.