Licorice Whips (11 page)

Nikla nodded and kept her stare on the screen.

“And you two didn’t hit it?”

Nikla turned to her friend. “I guess you missed the parts where I said I wasn’t feeling well and that this guy is a stranger.” She could categorize him as public enemy number one now that she knew he co-owned Decadent Treats.

“As fine as he looks, I would let him string me up and spank my ass.” Deana finished off her glass of wine and headed back to the living room.

Leaving the screen up to the same article so that she could go back to it later, Nikla stood and followed her friend. “Be careful of what you wish for.”

“Don’t act like you don’t want it.” Deana poured herself another glass of wine.

“I don’t. He’s the enemy.”

Deana nearly let the glass fall from her hand. “Fuck that shit. Sleep with the enemy.” She stared at Nikla.

Deana fanned her face. Nikla had to play it a little cooler than that. She smiled at her friend, but her insides started heating up thinking about touching his broad chest and taking in his masculine scent.

“Sounds like you’re interested in this guy. Why don’t you test the waters?”

Nikla cocked her head. “It wouldn’t work.”

“It’s sex, not marriage.” Deana picked up her phone and showed the picture of Sweet again. “He is fine with a capital F. You two didn’t have to talk business. Talk pleasure.” She winked.

Nikla winced. “Yes, the man is attractive.”

“And you got an up close and personal view of him.”

“But he’s not my type.”

“Oh, honey, he’s everybody’s type. Black, white, gay, straight. Besides, he’s your rebound man. Do things with him that you never thought you would do just to do them.”

“You mean like let him put a collar around my neck and walk me around like a dog?” Nikla laughed.

“Don’t laugh at it until you try it.” Deana took a sip of her wine. “You never know. You might like being subservient.”

“Doubt it. I’ve worked too long and hard to be independent and stand on my own two feet to just forget all that and call some guy Master.” Nikla shook her head. “Nope. I hope our encounters at his shop will be the only bit of interaction that we’ll have. I allowed one man to distract me. I’m not going to let some other guy in to do the same.”

“It’s just about sex. Don’t get too deep.”

“Sex would be great. I just don’t know if it should be with him.” Nikla wanted to believe what she’d just said. Ever since meeting him, she had pretty explicit dreams about Sweet Hawkes.

She envisioned him stalking toward her completely naked. He would grab her, strip her out of her clothing, and take her—against a wall, on the floor, on any and all surfaces possible. Unlike with Justin, he would not only make her come, but he would do it over and over and over again until her body became limp.

Nikla had to cross her legs when her throbbing clitoris became too much for her. She couldn’t wait for Deana to go home so that she could relieve herself. 

“Now that’s your father talking. He wants you to be that good girl. I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten you to agree to work with him.”

Nikla wouldn’t admit that her father never stopped trying to get her back into the family business. She couldn’t do it. She had to make her own path, but she showed her support in other ways.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks for the reminder. I have to go over to his house in the morning.”

Deana nodded. “It’s good that you’re close with your father.”

Nikla did love her father. In recent years, he had changed.

After polishing off the rest of the wine and another full bottle, Nikla tucked her friend into the bed in her spare bedroom. No way would she allow Deana to drive home after drinking. She closed the bedroom door and padded back to her office.

After reactivating her screen, she went back to the article on Sweet Hawkes. She discovered that he and his brother had been a part of the local BDSM scene for most of their adult lives. A shot of their storefront sat next to a picture of The Dollhouse, a nightclub Nikla had heard of, but she thought only drinking and dancing happened in the place. She never knew Virginia Beach had its own BDSM club. Talk about decadent.

She stared at the picture, studying the outside until it implanted in her memory. Could she ever step into a place like that? Would she let a man like Sweet Hawkes discipline her like she had seen in movies?

For now, she had to keep her head in the game and focus on her meeting. It could be the start of her new life.

Chapter Seven

Just as Nikla had suspected, as soon as she arrived at her father’s home, he had her stretching her body before they took off for a five-mile run. Thank goodness Nikla had kept up her cardio as she did everything else dealing with her physical health.

“Glad you’re here,” Lawrence said between breaths.

“I told you I would be here Sunday morning for breakfast...and the run.” She smirked at her father, who kept his face straight and tight as always.

The more she stared at him, the more she saw her brother. Her poor brother followed in their father’s footsteps and joined the Marines after college.

It never bothered Nikla that her father declared that she wouldn’t be military material and shouldn’t join the Marines. Nikla had other plans. She did envy her brother for getting away from their father. She felt obligated to be by her father’s side as much as possible.

“Did you get permission to come here?” Lawrence chuckled.

“No.” Nikla hoped her clipped answer would end that line of questioning.

“And where is your young man? Couldn’t get up this early?” Her father glanced both ways at a major intersection before he jogged across it with Nikla following him.

“We’re no longer together.”

Lawrence glanced at Nikla. Instead of offering fatherly compassion, he shook his head. “I don’t understand young people nowadays. Used to be you date for a short while, you get engaged, and you get married. You were with that guy for almost a year. Why couldn’t you hold on to this one?”

“Let’s not go there, Dad.” Nikla kicked up her jog to move beyond her father.

When she brought her gaze up, she saw where her father must have been aiming for in this run.

“Damn,” she muttered under her breath.

Healthy Bites sat off in the distance. Her father’s health food store had been his dream for years. It had done well as soon as he opened it. Then Decadent Treats opened about two miles away from his store.

“Are we turning around and going back to the house now so that we can eat breakfast?” To prompt her father, Nikla turned and started heading back.

“You really are avoiding this place like the plague, huh?” Lawrence continued on toward his store.

“Damn. Damn.” Nikla turned around and followed behind her father.

When Nikla had started the run, she wondered if Sweet would drive by and see her. For that reason, she ran taller with her stomach in, her chest out, and her back straight.

Once at Healthy Bites, Lawrence unlocked the door and ushered her inside. Thankfully Healthy Bites didn’t open on Sunday, so Nikla knew her father wouldn’t be asking her to work.

Inside, Nikla glanced around at the familiar surroundings. Glass cases lined three sides of the intimate space. The pure white walls didn’t give the place a cozy feeling. It almost came off like a pharmacy.

Three tables sat in the main area for customers who wanted to eat in the store that made seemingly calorie-laden treats into something healthy.

Shredded beets filled the chocolate cupcakes. Her father used zucchini in his yellow cakes. The homemade granola bars and muesli had been the fan favorites there.

When Decadent Treats opened, loyal customers started slipping on their need for healthy snacks and decided to go for the full fat.

Lawrence made his way behind the elevated front counter. Already a tall man, the position made him look like a giant. He glared down at Nikla.

“My dream is dying,” he declared.

“I know, Dad.” Nikla took in a deep breath and strolled up to the counter to let her leg muscles relax. “That’s why I’m out in front of Decadent Treats every day talking about the benefits of eating healthy and how consuming so much sugar can–”

“Eh! No one reads anymore. No one cares. They just leave. They just...”

His father trailed off and Nikla knew exactly what he meant in his complaint.

“I’m here. I’ll do whatever I can to help you.” When she saw his father opening his mouth, she quickly interjected, “I just can’t work in the store with you.”

Although her father made healthy foods, he had to use something to make them taste appealing to a sweet tooth. For the same reason she couldn’t go into Decadent Treats, Nikla had to stay out of Healthy Bites. She couldn’t trust herself not to slip.

“If you can figure out a way to get customers into this place, I would appreciate it. Right now, it’s dying on the vine, and I don’t know how to stop it. It just kills me that people would rather drive the extra mile or two for crap when they can have the good stuff here.”

Nikla had never heard her father sound so desperate. “Dad, why not sell and retire? You need to–”

“Need to what?” he snapped. “Crawl off and never be seen again?” He shook his head. “I have a life. I want to keep working.” He stomped from around the counter. “If you can’t help, just say so. But don’t stand there and tell me what I need to do with my life.” He headed to the door. “Let’s go back home. It was a mistake to bring you here.”

Nikla shook her head. She felt the familiar stirrings of the start of another panic attack. She felt the supreme obligation to save her father’s store, to save his life.

Before she could move her feet, she took a deep breath.

“Nikla, let’s go!” Lawrence shouted from the door.

Once her body settled, she turned to him. “Coming.”

Feeling stuck between a rock and hard place, Nikla didn’t know how to solve her father’s problems. She just knew she had to try. Someone had to be in his corner.

****

Sweet stood in the Decadent Treats kitchen, staring at the ingredients before him and feeling like he had no idea what to do with them. The sugar and honey sat next to his left hand. By his right sat flour, brown sugar, and chocolate. Nothing spoke to him.

Used to be he could gather any ingredients together and make something spectacular. He’d even made desserts with bacon.

“Hey.”

Sweet snapped out of his trance to see his brother standing across from him. “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to see that you don’t look good. What’s going on with you?” Masaun planted his hands on the counter.

Sweet shook his head. “I don’t know. Everything I used to know and that used to make sense to me don’t anymore.”

“Are you talking about here and making candies?” Masaun knocked his knuckle against the bag of sugar.

“Not just that. I played with that submissive the other night, I couldn’t get into it. My mind wasn’t there.” Sweet hated to admit that his brother had been right, but he couldn’t lie to him. “I’m losing it, man.”

Masaun lowered his gaze and breathed out before he spoke. “You need to take some time off. After you and, um, after your breakup, you kept working and buried your head in this place. You have to take care of yourself. Hell, I don’t think I’ve seen you smile in forever.”

Sweet let his brother’s words roll around in his head before he spoke. “I’m thinking about stepping back from The Dollhouse, not doing that anymore.”

Sweet didn’t want to admit that his true passion for discipline seemed to have disappeared.

“You don’t mean that. You’ve been a Dom for a long time.” Masaun came around the counter to stand next to Sweet. “You remember you used to make those chocolate chip cookies all the time and we all loved them but you hated them?”

Sweet recalled that memory of himself as a teenager trying his hand out in the kitchen. “Yeah.”

“We all told you how great your cookies were, but you couldn’t see that, or taste it. You kept saying something was off, and you were right. You tweaked the recipe.”

“I added coffee.” Sweet remembered smelling the beverage one day and thinking that the taste would enhance the flavor of the chocolate in the cookies.

“You were right. You turned something great into something spectacular.”

“So what are you saying?” The pep talk so far sounded awesome, but Sweet didn’t know how it would solve his problem. How could Sweet find his love of cooking and disciplining again?

Masaun poked his finger into Sweet’s chest. “You know yourself better than anyone. And only you know how to fix this problem. Whether it’s time away or taking a cooking class somewhere or going to a BDSM bed-and-breakfast–”

Sweet blinked. “Does a place like that exist?”

Masaun shrugged. “Thought I heard about a spot down in Virginia Beach. Someone made an old school into one. If that’s what’s going to bring back your passion, do it.”

Sweet thought about his suggestion and rubbed his hands across the back of his neck. “I met someone.”

This time it was Masaun’s turn to blink. “Really? At the club?”

Sweet didn’t answer. He didn’t want to tell his brother that the lone protester had somehow managed to capture his interests.

“Whatever, man. That’s great. Vanilla?”

Sweet nodded. “That might be part of the problem. If she doesn’t know...”

“Then you teach her. That’ll get you out of your rut.” Masaun patted Sweet on his shoulder. “Your solution is right there. Figure out the relationship and maybe you’ll discover something about yourself.” Masaun walked off with a laugh. “I can’t believe you finally put yourself out there.” He nodded. “I’m happy for you. Hope she can make you happy.”

Masaun walked out.

Sweet just hoped that he could get Nikla out of his head. He couldn’t be any good to her or any woman right now until he could straighten himself out. Despite what Masaun suggested, time away from work wouldn’t do it. Sweet would have to keep going with his plan to open another store. He had his appointment in the morning. He would be able to focus then.