Naughty and Nice

by Sarah J. Brooks

  I forced my eyes open and blinked a couple of times, trying to adjust to the light. I let out a deep breath looking at the bed and laughed softly. I’d totally forgotten about the flowers on here.

  Dean pulled away from me raising an eyebrow. “Something funny?”

  “No!” I laughed to myself. It wasn’t him, that much I could promise. “I just, forgot about the flowers.” I rolled off the bed and peeled a couple off my half-naked body before heading towards the corner of the room where I kept my bag. I mean, what was the point in always having to bring stuff over here? So, I just kept a few spare outfits here, and that way it didn’t matter if I stayed the night or not—I always had something to change into so I didn’t look like I had spent the night if we had to head into work. I sighed, suddenly tired. “That was amazing. Thank you … for everything tonight.”

  “I’m just glad you enjoyed it.” His eyes sparkled as he slipped off the bed, grabbed a towel to clean up and tossed it over to me. I caught it and nodded my thanks before cleaning myself off a little.

  Chapter Eight

  “So, I know you planned on going into work today.” Dean turned to face me. “But I really don’t think you should.”

  “What do you mean?” Why the hell shouldn’t I go to work?

  “Well, it’s just I think you should take the day to prep.” I stared at him, completely confused. Why would I need to prep? What the hell was I going to prep for? A smile touched his lips, the kind of smile that warned me he had been up to something.

  “What did you do?”

  “Well, I might have this friend who was looking to invest in an opportunity … she was looking for something to invest in that was in the food industry.” My jaw dropped. “And I told her about this girl I know who makes really good hot chocolate.”

  I stared at him with wide eyes. He … No … there is no way he actually did this.

  “I’m sorry, what?” I was still trying to process it.

  “I hope it wasn’t too dramatic or stepping over some sort of a line. I just wanted to surprise you with something that … was actually important.”

  *

  I knew she liked the dates I took her on and knew she liked spending time with me, but when I said I wanted to treat her like she was in a romance movie, I didn’t mean I wanted to be light and fluffy. I wanted to show her how much I loved her and part of that was showing her that her passions were important to me. I wanted to support her in her business and wanted to help her break into the world. I knew how hard it was and didn’t want her to feel like she was in this alone.

  I had a chance to benefit her in more than a light and fluffy way and wanted to take it.

  “I … no, you didn’t overstep any lines.” She stood with a blank look on her face. “I just wish I had a little more time to prep.”

  “I’m sorry, she gave me a late answer, and I didn’t want to get your hopes up if she was going to say no.”

  “I … I should stay home, though.” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry.” She truly did look sorry. I shrugged.

  “I’d rather you stay home to work on this than come to worry and be off in your own world all day.” I closed the distance between us. “Anyways, we agreed we’d take a couple days off.”

  “I said not the weekend.”

  I shrugged again. “Oh, well. It will be fine. Melina will understand.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, you must be behind on work.”

  I was very far behind, but she didn’t need to know that. “I’m sure. I’ll only have a little bit of catching up to do tomorrow, and you can help.”

  Becca smiled widely. “That sounds perfect to me.” She took a couple of steps and pulled me into a hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  *

  I had no clue how he had managed to do it or what was going to come of it, but it meant the world that he had set something up like this for me. I stepped back and looked him up and down. I had no clue what I ever did to deserve someone this amazing, but I was fucking thankful to have him in my life. Not just because of everything he had done for me, but just having him in my life. Having someone to share my life with.

  I pulled away from the hug, and my heart jumped into my throat as I realized that in less than 24 hours, I was going to be pitching my hot chocolate to someone. I took a deep breath as I felt my heartbeat pick up a couple of paces. The deep breathing didn’t really help.

  “Okay, so I need to go do a little shopping because I don’t have everything I need here.” I bit my lip. “Oh hell, I don’t even have everything perfected.” I tried not to stress, but I could already feel it coming on.

  “Alright, get dressed. I’ll drive.”

  “You have work!” I protested. He had to get ready and go to his own job.

  “I’ll get some done at your place. I mean, you’re going to need someone to test the product, right? Having more than one person do that is going to help a lot more this time.” He gave me a smile and without another word headed for the door. He paused, his hand on the knob. “Are you coming?”

  My mouth hung open. He was acting like this was normal, like it was all going to be okay. And for a split second, I thought maybe he was right as I rushed for the door and followed him out to the car.

  Okay? What if I fuck it up? Then that will be Dean’s reputation on the line, and what if she tells everyone that I was dreadful, and then no one ever wants to work with me? What if I totally blow this?

  I could feel my lips go dry as Dean pulled out of the driveway.

  “Talk to me.”

  His voice brought me back to reality, and I spun to face him. “What?” I almost snapped. It wasn’t that I was mad or anything; I was just freaking the fuck out.

  “You look nervous; actually, you look like you might have a panic attack, and your breathing is heavy. Talk it out to me, talk to me. What do we need to pick up?”

  I frowned. Was my breathing heavy? I tried to focus on it, but as soon as I did, I was in control of it. I took a couple deep breaths, trying to make sure I was breathing normally before I turned to Dean and thought about his questions.

  Chapter Nine

  By the time we got back to my place, I’d already texted Katie and my mom asking them both to come over.

  Of course, when I made my way into my apartment, Katie had let herself in, and her spare key was sitting on the counter. She looked up from the book she was reading.

  “What was the emergency?”

  Dean stepped into the kitchen carrying four bags of everything that I could think of that we might maybe need.

  “A potential investor,” I said, without realizing that wouldn’t give her all the information she needed. She stared at me blankly. I sighed and started over. “Dean has a friend who has been thinking about investing in something food related, like a hot chocolate business.”

  Katie’s jaw dropped. “Oh, my God. You’re fucking digging me, right?”

  “Nope.” But I glanced at Dean just to be sure of it. He laughed softly.

  “No, I’m not fucking kidding. I would not have let you go buy all this crap if I was kidding.” His eyes shone as he shook his head. “But thanks for having faith in me you two.”

  He didn’t sound upset; he sounded more like he was teasing us. My cheeks flushed, but Katie laughed.

  “Alright, what do you need help with?”

  I paused, looking at my best friend. What did I need help with? I bit my lip trying to figure it out.

  “Statics.”

  “What?” both Dean and Katie said together.

  “I need statics.” I liked them. “I need you to find out some stuff for me to include in my pitch.” I wanted it to be interesting—and yes, I thought statistics were interesting.

  I rushed over to where Dean was standing with the bags of ingredients we’d just bought. I was going to pretty much start from scratch, but that was okay. I would make it work—right?

  Of course, you will, I told myself.

  I pulled o
ut a bunch of the stuff and drew in a deep breath, looking it over. If I started with modifications to the base, that would be the best way to go; after all, you couldn’t have a crappy base and good anything else.

  So, I grabbed the cocoa powder—the expensive stuff that Dean had insisted that we buy—and crossed over to the counter where I pulled out a bowl for mixing.

  Knock, knock.

  “Will you grab that?” I glanced at Dean and then towards where Katie sat in front of a computer already making notes.

  I grinned, I couldn’t believe this was happening.

  “What’s wrong?” my mom asked the second Dean answered the door. “Oh, Dean. I’m sorry, I didn’t think … I thought it would be Becca who answered the door.” She stepped past him and rounded on me. “What is going on?”

  I took a deep breath and in under 60 seconds explained everything to my mother. When I was done, she just stared blankly. “So um, I needed someone else to come help test. I mean, it has to be perfect, right?”

  She nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry … that’s just … amazing.”

  Yea, that was one word for it. I bit my lip, breathing deeply again as I fought back the urge to have a fucking panic attack. I inhaled deeply and exhaled. Just like I’ve been doing all my life, I told myself.

  “So, how can I help?” My mom looked around.

  I glanced at Dean. “Honestly, I just need someone picky to tell me if it is actually good or not.” My mom snorted.

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Anytime.” I gave her a wide smile before returning my attention to the mixture in front of me.

  By 4:00, I had almost everything ready. Dean had even managed to find a cute DIY way to package everything in nice single serving packages, and we had over three dozen samples of three different flavors. Thirteen of each, to be exact. I bit my lip, looking everything over.

  Alright, now that it was ready, and everyone had told me a couple billion times that everything was actually really good, I had to get myself ready. I was covered in cocoa powder and reeked of vanilla. The vanilla I could stand, but I wanted to be sorta clean when I met this girl, and so I excused myself and went to my bedroom. I was thankful when Dean didn’t follow me in there.

  I heard their hushed voices talking—probably about me because it was quiet enough that I couldn’t hear them, and honestly, I was glad. I didn’t want to know what they were saying right now; I just wanted to focus on myself.

  I changed into stockings, a black shirt and a green blouse. I knew I had to look professional and modern at the same time because let’s face it—no one was going to want to go into business with someone who either looked outdated or sloppy.

  Nervousness tugged at the pit of my stomach. I tried to ignore it, just like I had been doing all day, but it wasn’t working. I felt like I was about to puke, and if I did that, I wasn’t going to be getting out of the bathroom. If I allowed myself to be that weak, I wasn’t going to be able to do this. So I took a deep breath, put a pair of earrings on and looked around, mulling over whether or not I should wear any of my rings.

  I decided against it, grabbed a pair of pumps and headed to the bathroom where I applied a quick coat of makeup before returning to the living room.

  The second they saw me, everyone fell silent.

  Dean looked me over. “You look great; I’m sure she will like what she sees.” He smiled widely.

  My mom seemed about to cry. “This is such a big deal.”

  “Gee, thanks for reminding me.” I gave my mom a soft smile. “So, I’m going to have to bail on that dinner tonight.”

  She actually laughed. “I figured.”

  “I’m sorry. Gail is very hard to get hold of; she doesn’t give her time to many people. I didn’t want to try to reschedule with her on this,” Dean said.

  My mom waved it away. “If this is what my daughter wants to do with her life, it’s more important than a dinner we can do any other time.”

  “Thanks for understanding, Mom.” I pulled her into a hug, and as I pulled away, I looked at my best friend. She handed me a sheet of paper.

  “I um, took the liberty of crafting a couple options for you. Of course,” she glanced at Dean. “I had help.”

  “I can’t put into words how amazing you all are.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what I would do without you guys.” I really had no clue. They were all so incredibly supportive. I cleared my throat before I started getting sappy on everyone. “So,” I turned to Dean. “When do we have to meet this girl?”

  “7:00.”

  “Alright.”

  I wished it was sooner, but there was nothing I could do about that. Again, I looked around the room and felt the urge to cry. I knew I couldn’t be here without Dean’s help. I’d never have the chance to talk to this person without him, but the truth was, it wasn’t just him who was a major factor here. I laughed softly, turning away from everyone. “So, Katie, how’s life?” We’d hardly talked at all recently between everything going on with Dean and I, and, of course, us both being busy with our own day to day life shit.

  “Well, nothing too crazy. I’m still … sorta seeing that guy I told you about.”

  “Only sorta?”

  She looked at me with a blush on her cheeks. “Yea, some shit happened.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

  “Let’s just … have a girl’s day sometime soon, okay?”

  “Sounds perfect.” That was a promise I was going to have to fulfill, along with dinner at my mom’s to meet her new boyfriend.

  Chapter Ten

  I felt like I was going to puke. Actually, as we made our way up the steps to the office building she’d given us an address to, I was pretty sure I was going to puke. I carried my samples in my purse and had even brought a kettle, just in case I needed it. Needless to say, I’d gone with a very oversized purse today.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Dean promised me.

  “I hope so.” I wasn’t so sure, but all I could do was try, right? I had memorized one of the pitches Katie had come up with for me; according to Dean, she had done a wonderful job, which meant as soon as I had more products, I was going to make her a huge fucking gift basket filled with a lifetime supply of hot chocolate.

  *

  I reached out and took her hand as we exited the elevator on the second floor where she told me to meet her.

  “It’s going to be fine; she’s really nice,” I whispered.

  I could tell by her expression that she wasn’t so sure of what I was saying, but she nodded.

  “Just remember, this is your first time. You don’t need to be perfect. It’s okay to be nervous.” Again, she nodded, but I don’t think she was actually listening. We stopped in front of a door, and I turned to face her. “No matter what happens, it’s a learning experience, alright? Trust me, I didn’t do half as good as you’re going to do my first time.”

  A smile touched her lips. “Thank you.”

  I reached out and knocked on the door.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Come in!” she called. Her voice sounded nice.

  Dean opened the door and motioned for me to go in first. My heart did a backflip as I stepped inside and saw the woman in front of me.

  She was shorter than I was, with green eyes and grey hair, and wore a well-fitted suit and high heels. Stepping out from around her desk, she came over to me.

  “Hi,” I forced my voice to work as I reached out to shake your hand. “Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to meet with us.”

  She looked at me for several seconds with a hard stare. Her head tilted to the left, and then she turned to look at Dean.

  “She’s never done it before, has she?”

  “No,” Dean admitted.

  She turned her attention back to me and smiled. “Come on in, take a seat. Dean says you make some amazing hot chocolate; I could use a cup right now.” She turned her back on me and returned to the
desk. “Once we get the hot chocolate going, you can tell me a little bit more about your business plan and yourself.” She paused. “You do have a business plan, right?”

  “Yes!”

  Oh, God, I was so thankful I had a business plan. I strode to a counter where a kettle already sat full and touched the plastic to see how hot it was. I blew out a deep breath.

  She had clearly been ready for us.

  An hour later I headed out of the building. I honestly felt like I was about to fall over. I was drained, and my body was way past nervous. I held onto Dean’s arm as we entered the parking lot and strolled towards his car, pretty sure that if I weren’t holding onto him right now, I would have fallen over. I was amazed my legs were still working.

  I can’t believe it.

  I wanted to cry. I knew it was stupid, but I wanted to cry.

  A tear of joy slipped down my cheek, and I let out a laugh. I couldn’t believe I was crying with joy, having never cried from joy before.

  “I can’t believe she said yes.” I laughed.

  “I can.” Dean smiled, pulling me closer to him and wrapping his arm around my shoulder. He glanced down at his phone. “You know, if we hurry, we can probably stop by your mom’s for a little while; what do you think about that?”

  I bit my lip. Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep, but I also wanted to go celebrate and tell someone what had happened. I mean, someone other than Dean had to hear the good news, right?

  I pulled my phone out of my purse and checked it. No text from her to see how it had gone. She’s probably with that teacher.

  She’d told me about a teacher a few weeks back. Something about him asking her out on a date and her saying yes, and today it hadn’t seemed like everything was okay between them. I bit my lip. I need to spend more time with her, I thought as we stopped outside the car for a fraction of a second and Dean unlocked it.

  As soon as the door was unlocked, I slid in and sat down. “Yea, I’ll text my mom to see if she still wants to get together,” I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket.