by Amanda Rose
"What kind of games do you play?" she asked, wondering if they would be playing something like... Runescape. Or World of Warcraft. Those were really the only games she had heard about.
"We play RIVER," Noel explained, pointing at a big poster hanging on the wall. Mary studied the five armoured figures posing for the picture and wondered what kind of game this was supposed to be.
"I'm sorry, that doesn't really mean anything to me," she muttered, feeling out of her depth. If it wasn't for them, she would never have touched a video game. Not even with a glove. Yet here she was, surrounded by gaming computers, tacky looking posters, and not to forget, four avid gamers herself.
"It's an open world MMORPG. Hang on, let us start the game and you can join us." A doubtful look flashed over Louis' face as he saw Mary's reluctance. Maybe he had gauged this wrong after all. Maybe she'd think they were all nerds and she'd run in the opposite direction. He glanced at the fifth desk, the one that had been gathering dust for a while now. Valerie certainly didn't stay.
Mary inspected the beaming faces of her new group, deciding that trying out something new couldn't harm her. If they were this enthusiastic over this gaming thing, it had to be good, right?
"Sure, why not."
Sam and Louis glanced at each other, relieved Mary wasn't running. Yet. They'd had grown quite fond of the dark-haired woman. There was just something about her vibe that they liked a lot.
With a click and a low rumble, the computers booted to life.
"Here, let me help you," Noel smiled, beckoning for Mary to join him as he opened a new screen on the fifth computer. "We'll set you up with an avatar. Here, you can grab yourself a name and change your features."
"And clothes," Nico added with a wink, pointing at a set of buttons. "They're guys. They always forget you can wear badass armour and look pretty at the same time."
Mary gratefully smiled at the brunette, suddenly quite happy she wasn't the only female in this company. As great as Louis, Sam, and Noel were, they were guys. Maybe having Nico around wasn't such a bad thing, after all.
"What class do I pick?" Mary asked, as she studied the box in front of her. There were a couple of different races and classes, but none of them ringed a bell.
"What's a... Kelpie?"
Nico smiled as she leant down to help Mary out. A whiff of roses filled Mary's nose as Nico revealed another box with the descriptions for every race.
"You can pick what kind of role you want to play. Judging from... Hmmm..." A mischievous twinkle flashed through her eyes. "Your role in our group, I'd go for healer."
"Healer?" Mary muttered, not sure what that meant. "Why a healer?"
Nico chuckled. "You'll be the one person we all have to protect. I thought it was fitting."
Mary narrowed her eyes, unsure if Nico was making fun of her or just friendly goofing around. She pushed her hair behind her ears, her pink lips curling up in a smirk. Maybe just some friendly fun.
"If you think it fits?" she hesitantly asked, glancing at the rest of the men.
Nico chuckled, her laugh cutting through the men's chatter. "I think it'll fit you just fine," she smiled, winking at Mary.
After some debate and a long list of pros and cons, Mary finally pushed her avatar into the world. It was weird to watch herself walk around in a fictional world, especially since she modeled her character after herself.
"So what do we do now?"
Nico pointed at a couple of the buttons and with a simple click, Mary was suddenly holding a weird looking wand in her hand.
"We'll take it easy so you can get into it. But basically, you just have to make sure we don't die. You have a couple of potions here that you can use to enchant us. But I'll stick close to you and help you out."
Mary nodded, only half listening to what Nico was explaining. The brunette's scent was distracting. And her voice mesmerising. So calm, yet so vibrant at the same time.
"Mary, you still with me?"
A chill ran down her spine. The way Nico said her name, now that was something she could get used to. Maybe in a different context she could be moa...
Wait...
Mary paused her train of thought, wondering where those thoughts came from. She'd never looked at a girl before, yet here she was, thinking about Nico's voice and how soft her skin looked. If only she could trail her fingers over it, just so she could find out if she was right.
Maybe all the sex was making her extra horny? Yeah, that must've been it.
Mary tore her eyes away from the brunette and tried to keep up with all the buttons and numbers dancing on the screen.
"Umm..."
"I'll teach you as we go," Nico promised, a sly smirk dancing around her lips.
"Ooh, it's been awhile since we had a fifth member. It'll be fun!" Noel cheered, whooping excitedly with a big set of headphones over his ears.
"You better not drag us down or I'll leave you dead in a ditch," Louis teased, sticking out his tongue at Mary from behind his own screen.
Sam winked. "See you on the field!"
"Alright, let's gear up, guys. Ladies," Nico smiled, making Mary blush under her gaze.
What was happening?
"Ready to clear this dungeon?" Nico added, a determined look on her previously soft face. With authority in her voice, she added some other commands that the rest followed to the teeth. Mary frowned at the sudden change in her demeanour, but couldn't help note that she found it rather attractive. This was not at all what she expected from the soft-spoken young woman. But here she was, seated in front of her screen, rather dominant and fierce.
Interesting, Mary thought, suddenly realising why none of the guys ever mentioned Nico was female. They simply hadn't noticed.
"Mary, stick close to me. I'll protect you," Nico added, sending a shiver down Mary's back. Wow. Now that was something every girl wanted to hear.
Usually, Mary would want those sentences coming from a guy. Not just a guy, preferably Louis, Sam, or Noel. But the way Nico said it and was intensely staring at her? Mary couldn't deny it was far more alluring and seductive than she'd anticipated. She glanced at her three men and smiled. Maybe three wasn't enough.
“You comfortable there?” Nico smiled, brushing her hand over Mary’s thigh. Whether that was purposely or accidental, she didn’t know. But it sure as hell felt nice. Unfamiliar nice. But definitely nice.
Mary glanced at Nico as she coordinated the guys. Her nose bridge creased when she smiled and every once in awhile, her tongue wetted her pink lips. Her voice was smooth, silky, soft. The timbre send a set of shivers down her spine, and for the life of her, Mary couldn’t tear her eyes away from the pixie blonde.
“Ready to go, Mary?”
Flushed, she gaped at Nico.
“Ummm…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through. I’ll show you everything,” Nico whispered, winking just as sexily as Sam.
A twinge ran down to Mary’s core. How unusual. But not unwelcome. Didn’t the guys say they shared everything in their squad? And if Nico was a part of that, maybe she could get in on the new arrangement.
Mary bit her lip, a whole new list of possibilities playing out in her head. Images of Sam, of his piercing blue eyes and his raw magnetism. Louis, who kept challenging her and was steadily driving her crazy. Noel, gentle and shy, a welcome change. And Nico. Definitely Nico. Brunette, curved, and breathtakingly beautiful.
Masked with a cough, Mary hid a grin behind her hand. No matter how things would play out, one thing was certain. This holiday season was turning out much better than expected.
Ho, ho, ho, merry fucking Christmas, indeed.
Arizona Tape
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Description
Saffron Dean’s love life isn’t worth talking about. Instead, she throws herself into the small bakery she
runs, and with Christmas coming soon, she’s busier than ever.
But then two sexy as sin brothers move to town, and with the looks she’s now getting from her best friend, Daniel, she finds that things are heating up, and not just in the kitchen…
Includes one talented baker, three hot men, and a f***tonne of frosting. (Grandma, I suggest you skip this one)
Please note that Sweet About Me is written in British English.
To Grandma,
mostly because I hope to high hell that you're not reading this. If you are, please pretend I'm still the innocent granddaughter you seem to think I am.
PROLOGUE
Nerves fluttered in my stomach as I turned the key in the door of my new café. I was taking a massive risk by opening up Sugar & Spice. But even though I went through four years of a biology degree, my real passion was baking; and now I was pursuing it. Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door and stepped inside. Flicking the lights on, I looked around the room. Dust covered every inch of it, but I barely noticed. All I could see was my dream.
Cosy chairs and sofas, the smell of coffee and cake, and my asymmetric bookshelves across the back wall. My plan was to fill the shelves with an eclectic mix of titles, many of which I’d read myself. It was both for the aesthetics of the café, and so my customers could have something to read. I’d been lucky that my family were well off enough to invest in something as risky as a business run by someone as new as me, so I knew that I had to work hard in order to pull this off.
I climbed the stairs hidden in the alcove at the back of the kitchen, and entered the flat upstairs. Well when I say flat, I was being generous. A bedroom just large enough for a double bed and small wardrobe, and a kitchen-living room combo. There was also a small bathroom off the bedroom, though it wasn’t big enough for a bath, much to my disappointment.
Within moments I knew that it wouldn’t take me long to make this place home.
CHAPTER ONE
The bell above my door rang and I made my way out into the main room of the café, and away from my latest baking experiment. Expecting a customer, I was only slightly surprised to find one of my closest friends, Daniel, standing in the entrance. He was a bit taller than me with short brown hair and green eyes, handsome in a boyish way. At one point I’d imagined that we would end up together, but we’d never really acted on it.
“I close in twenty minutes, Danny.” I said, knowing he wouldn’t like being treated as a customer.
“Well hello to you too, Saffy,” he replied, and I threw him a scowl. I hated being called Saffy, he normally only called me it when he was mad at me. Or when he really wanted to wind me up. Like now, apparently.
“You interrupted my baking,” I told him sternly. He really should know better. And yet, his only response was to laugh.
“And what have you been concocting for us today?” he asked, raising his eyebrow at me as he took in my flour covered apron and hair thrown up in a messy bun.
“Apple and Wensleydale strudels,” I replied, before turning back towards my kitchen. Every week, a group of my friends came around. We locked the door and drank wine and beer, all while I made them try whatever cakes I was experimenting with that week. More often than not, the experiments went on to become customer favourites. Though there were the lavender cream buns that didn’t work at all. We’d all just laughed it off, glad that I had people to test things on.
“I still don’t understand the cheese and sweet stuff together,” he said. I sighed. As a Yorkshire girl I’d been brought up on Wensleydale with fruit cake, as well as Ripon pie; an apple pie with Wensleydale cheese under the crust, and the inspiration for my strudel.
“You ate cheese in that Simnel Cake last month,” I pointed out, knowing he’d loved my version of the Easter cake. He shrugged, clearly knowing the fight was already lost. “Oh, and I’ve made red onion and goat's cheese filled loaves as well.” Daniel’s face lit up, they were one of his favourites. I didn’t always have two experiments for my friends, but I did always try to make them something sweet and something savoury.
“You’re the best Saf!” he said laughing and following me into the kitchen.
I took a tray of strudels out of the oven, carefully setting each of them on my cooling rack. Crossing to where a hardbound A5 notebook lay on the side, I made a note of the cooking time alongside my other notes about the recipe. Many people laughed at me when they found out that I wrote notes on all of my bakes, but how else would I make sure the recipe was perfect?
I’d done it since I started selling a couple of years ago. I’d worked for the owner of a local restaurant and he’d needed a better lemon meringue pie recipe. I said I’d do it, and next thing I knew I was regularly baking the dessert. Of course, the recipe I used now barely resembled the recipe I started with, but that definitely made it all mine.
Ignoring Daniel, I continued to get everything ready for the arrival of our friends. I put a pot of coffee on, and pulled out the large teapot I’d got just for these occasions. Though we did drink wine and beer at these meet ups, we always started on tea and coffee so that we could at least appear more civilised.
Once the coffee was done, I put the tea and coffee pots on the centre table, before going back to the kitchen to fetch my baked goods. I could hear Daniel talking to someone in the other room and guessed that people had started arriving. I hoped for Dan’s sake that it wasn’t Stacey who’d gotten here first. She had a massive crush on him and I hated it. Dan himself seemed oblivious to her over the top flirting thankfully, but it bugged me all the same.
Humming quietly to myself, I loaded up the plates and only just remembered to take my apron off, revealing the black skinny jeans and sheer black shirt I’d been wearing underneath. Grabbing the plates, I made my way back into the main room of the café.
Stacey was there but it wasn’t just her. Delilah and Lars had both arrived, the two biggest gossips in the group. I wasn’t particularly close to any of them, but we still had a good laugh. Ben followed, tall, blond and full of life. He always knew how to lighten the mood. Amber trailed behind, a fiery redhead, she always spoke her mind. The only person missing now was my best friend, Jasmine, and she was nearly always late, so no surprise there.
I’d just taken a seat between Ben and Daniel, and poured myself a coffee, when the bell rang and I jumped up expecting to see my best friend. But the person in the doorway wasn’t my black-haired, blue-eyed friend, but rather a broad chested man, about my age and a few inches taller than my 5’8”. His dark blond hair was just long enough to run fingers through, and the images that was causing in my mind weren’t for decent company.
“I’m sorry, we’re closed,” I managed to stutter, until I heard Daniel clearing his throat and glanced his way.
“Saffron, this is Cal. Cal this is Saffron, she owns the place,” Daniel introduced, waving his hand between us as he did.
I was still slightly confused as to what he was doing here but I’d go with it. He was easy on the eye at least, though he probably wouldn’t be able to meet mine if he knew what was going through my head.
“Hi, I’m Saffron,” I introduced myself, despite the fact that Daniel had just done it for me. My lack of romantic interaction was showing. Cal held out his hand and I took it, his grip strong and sure, and definitely not helping the fantasies in my head.
“Cal. Pleased to meet you.” His voice was low and caused things to tighten within me. I needed to get a hold of myself, or I may just end up jumping his bones right here, in front of everyone else.
Daniel showed Cal to a seat, and introduced him to everyone else. I watched as Stacey swooned and batted her eyelashes at him. I didn’t like her all that much anyway, but now I was feeling almost as jealous as I did when she flirted with Daniel.
My mind was still in a daze when Jasmine finally arrived. Pushing Ben along a seat, she pulled up a chair between us.
“Do you have to be so in the way, Ben?” she asked. I was never too sure how serious Jas
mine was being when it came to him. They never stopped winding each other up, and I couldn’t decide whether they’d end up loving each other or killing each other. “Hey Saf, who’s the new guy?” she whispered.
“His name’s Cal. He works with Danny, I think.” I was only partly sure because I hadn’t fully been paying attention, rather, I’d been looking over at the man in question. It’d been awhile since I’d had any kind of relationship, and almost as long since I’d had sex. Seeing someone I thought of as attractive had basically rendered me useless. Good job I’d finished baking for the night, or I’d end up using salt instead of sugar.
“He’s definitely your type, Saf,” Jasmine muttered in my ear. It may have been rude to whisper, but it was better than texting under the table. Not that we hadn’t done that before too.
“Pretty sure he’ll be off limits.” I knew how Daniel’s mind worked, and I doubted he’d want me ‘ruining the dynamic of the group’.
“What are you ladies whispering about?” Ben interrupted, pulling Amber’s attention to us as well.
“The probability that you were born without a dick,” Jasmine dead panned. When she wanted, she could say anything with a straight face.
“Oh, I assure you Jazz, I’m all man,” he replied with a wink that was far more comical than sexy. Amber snorted and I giggled in response.
“Your dreams don’t count.” Jasmine returned.
“Oh damn,” Ben replied, slapping his thigh in mock upset.
“Oh, they count. Your dreams are the only place you get any,” I told him with a smile, proud I’d managed to join in the conversation at all.