Licorice Whips (42 page)

“What? Your business?” The snarky way Deana said it bristled Nikla.

“Yes. You know, you’ve never been really supportive of me trying to open this studio. What’s up with that?” Nikla dropped her fork on her plate.

“I have been. Are you kidding? I’m always talking about my smart, ambitious friend, Nikla Dearwood, who’s trying to do her own thing.”

Nikla wanted to believe that. Considering Deana had never lied to her, and Deana always spoke what was on her mind, she had no reason to doubt her.

“As a matter of fact, I saw that lying, cheating dog, Justin, a couple of weeks ago and I told him that you were going to have your own business and would crush him and his rich-ass family.”

Nikla broke her stare from the food on the back of her hand to look at her friend. She could only imagine Deana yelling at Justin, who probably crumpled into a ball until she finished her speech.

“I even told him that you had met some hot-ass guy with a huge dick.”

Nikla shook her head. “Deana.”

Deana nodded. “I sure did. I said that you are getting it on the regular now.”

Was getting
it
, Nikla wanted to add. Even though she didn’t want to admit it to him, Nikla did miss Sweet. She glanced down at her wrist and noticed her candy bracelet. Damn. She pulled her sweater down to cover it.

“Yep, I even told that idiot that your man owns his own business and that he laid it down behind closed doors.” Deana cackled, but Nikla realized what she’d just said.

“You told Justin that Sweet and I had sex in his business?” Nikla asked.

“Yeah. You should have seen his eyes. They got so wide. That’ll teach him.”

“I wished you hadn’t done that.” Nikla brushed the crouton off the back of her hand, then stopped their waitress to ask for her check.

“Why? He was a horrible boyfriend and a lousy lay. I let him off easy.”

“He went to the health department and told them what we did. Decadent Treats is in trouble now. Sweet and his brother talked about closing.”

Masaun hadn’t been wrong when he blamed Nikla. If she hadn’t told her friend what she and Sweet had done, she wouldn’t have blabbed it to Justin. She just never figured Justin to be vindictive considering he cheated on her.

“I’m so sorry, girl. I didn’t know the jerk would have–”

Nikla paid for her lunch. “What I tell you is between me and you. If you can’t respect that then maybe we shouldn’t be friends.” She stood up. “You think about that. I sure will.”

As she went to her car, Nikla felt like she had a purpose. She had to apologize to Sweet and Masaun, but didn’t know how to do that. She’d kicked him out of her place. If he didn’t listen to her then, he wouldn’t do it now. 

****

Sweet sat behind the desk at Decadent Treats making calls and handling some business. When Masaun came into the room, Sweet didn’t move.

“You haven’t done enough?” Masaun put his fists to his hips.

Sweet pointed to the couch, the place he normally occupied. “Have a seat. Let’s talk.”

“Do you have pants on now? Have you already had sex on the couch?” Masaun goaded.

“Don’t be a dick. I’m trying to talk to you here.” Sweet pushed himself back from the desk.

Masaun plopped down. “Fine. I’m sitting. What?”

Sweet took a deep breath before speaking. “I’m signing over my half of the business to you.”

Masaun’s face went pale as he stared at his brother. “What are you talking about?”

“I fucked up. I’m admitting it.” Sweet shrugged. “You’re right. I get impulsive and I look for the immediate reaction. I did it at The Dollhouse. I tried doing that with Nikla. I did it here. My head isn’t into business. Nikla called me selfish. She was right.”

Everything about her was right. In the couple of weeks he’d been without her, his body ached for her. Kissing and touching her the other night whetted his appetite, but he wanted more.

Masaun leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “Look, we can fix this. Between me and Kindle, we can work something out with the health department. There’s got to be something for first-time offenders.”

Sweet shook his head. “Handled. I contacted the agent on the form. I told him effective immediately I would be stepping down as candy maker, and only after a thorough investigation would we be allowed to reopen the kitchen. I have a name of a great pastry chef who can make you some incredible candies once the health department gives you the okay.” Sweet stood from behind the desk. He handed his brother a piece of paper with the name of the pastry chef he’d met at The Dollhouse. “The other stipulation is that I would step down as owner. I did the offense so I need to get away from the business.”

Masaun jumped up. “No. This was your idea. This is your baby.”

Sweet chuckled. “If this was a real baby, I would have been arrested and put behind bars for neglect. You know the true ins and outs of this place. I’m just a distraction.”

“But you love cooking and baking. What are you going to do?”

Sweet smiled. “You were right about something when you talked about me disciplining submissives. My heart wasn’t into it. I had lost my passion. I’m still passionate about food. But I love something else more.”

“BDSM?”

“Nikla.” Just saying her name started his heart.

Masaun nodded.

Sweet moved around the desk. “I’m moving out, too.”

His brother shook his head. “You don’t have to leave.”

Sweet laughed. “You weren’t singing that tune weeks ago. Besides, if I stay here I’ll get depressed thinking about what could have been downstairs.”

“You can move in with me until you find a place.”

Sweet shook his head. “You and Kindle need your privacy.”

“We have extra bedrooms in our house.”

Sweet cocked his head. “So I go from one apartment over the store to crashing with my big brother. I’m not a flunky college grad. I’ve saved some money. I’ve made some calls on some prospects. I’ll be okay.” He approached his brother. “I know I’ve made things very hard on you in life since I was kid. I’m so sorry. I will spend a lifetime making it up to you.”

Masaun shook his head. “No, don’t...”

“You need to stop feeling like you have to save me. Let me fail.” He patted Masaun on his shoulder. “Trust me. It’s made me stronger.”

“What are we going to tell Connie and Hanson?”

“Tell them they’ll have one less hard ass yelling at them.” Sweet headed to the door. Before going back up to his apartment to pack up his items he turned back to Masaun, who looked defeated. “Are we good?”

Masaun ran his fingers through his hair. “Getting there.” He grinned. “Hey, the least I can do then is to throw you a good-bye party. We can do it here after work on Friday.”

“No, you don’t have to do that.”

“Kindle will kill me if I don’t. Nothing special. Just the co-workers and us wishing you well.”

“Okay.” Sweet grabbed a couple of large shipping boxes and went upstairs to his apartment. With losing the business, he hadn’t expected to feel renewed. The whole situation gave him clarity. He still had to figure out how to get Nikla back. He’d hurt her by accusing her of reporting them to the health department.

Deep down he knew she couldn’t have done it. That niggling voice in the back of his head whispered poisoned words into his ear. He wouldn’t be that weak again. With his newfound strength, he would get his woman back.

Chapter Thirty-Two

By the time Nikla arrived home at the end of her day, anger coursed through her body. She had some work to do. When her cell phone chimed that she had a new message, her body tingled for a moment hoping that maybe Sweet had contacted her. Even if the message said “Take off your panties” she would have done it.

She looked at her phone and saw she had received a new e-mail. The e-mail came from the Zuberi Commercial Real Estate office.

Nikla sat down before opening it. The message simply asked that Nikla come to the office tomorrow afternoon. Her heart pounded. Maybe she had gotten the space.

She thought that that prospect would have made her happy. Instead she felt like a failure. Without Sweet, she felt lost.

Nikla held up her phone, tempted to send Sweet a message or just call him. She had to be strong. Plus, the idea of him rejecting her hurt worse than not hearing from him.

Time. They both could use some time apart.

A sleepless night didn’t help Nikla. Every time she fell asleep she thought about Sweet or branching out on her own. Work would help her clear her mind.

As usual, Nikla arrived an hour before her class to get the room ready and to stretch. She didn’t expect to see Karen bounding into her class so early in the morning. Had she known the flighty woman could bother to get up so early she would have asked her to cover some of her classes. What was Nikla thinking? Karen would never do that.

“Hey, Nikla.”

“I told you I would cover you this Friday.” Nikla crouched down to set up her iPod in the speakers.

“Yeah, I know. I was kind of hoping that you would also cover me this afternoon, too.”

Nikla stood. Just before she could refuse, Big Tom walked into the room like some bodyguard.

“I can’t, Karen. I have plans this afternoon.”

Big Tom cleared his throat. The sound raised the hairs on the back of her neck.

“No. I have plans.” Nikla glared at Big Tom. “If you’re not going to make her do her damn job, don’t you dare guilt me into doing it.”

“Come on, Nik. Be a team player.” Big Tom strolled into the room.

Tired of this conversation and this whole situation, Nikla bent down and gathered her items. “I’m done. I give everything to my job. It’s time I do that on my own.” She hiked her purse on her shoulder. “I quit, effective immediately.”

“You can’t do that.” Karen tugged on Big Tom’s arm.

“Don’t be hasty, Nikla. Let’s talk about this.” Big Tom went after her.

“No. You don’t want to listen to me.” She glared at Karen. “You want to fuck her and let everyone else cover her mistakes. So now you’ll have two people to cover for. Good luck.”

As she walked away, she heard Karen bawling behind her. The old Nikla would have run to her and taken back everything she’d said. Nikla felt too good to backslide. She smiled as she damn near skipped to her car.

Now that she had her day clear until her appointment that afternoon, she had to figure out what to do. She knew what she had to do.

Once she got home, she changed into a skirt and a simple knit top. No one else believed in her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t believe in herself.

Her first stop brought her to her father’s store.

“What are you doing here so early?” Lawrence looked at his watch.

“I thought you’d be happy to see me. I came here without an invitation and everything.” She kissed his cheek. “Besides, I’ll have a lot of free time on my hands now.”

Her father cut her a suspicious glare.

“I quit my job this morning.” She would leave out the part that her supervisor and manager called her repeatedly since her hasty retreat.

Her father smiled, a strange reaction considering her father’s staunch work ethic. The man always admonished her and her brother if they weren’t doing something at every minute of the day.

“You know you can always work here.” Her father tried handing her an apron.

Nikla shook her head. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m hoping to open my own place. As a matter of fact, I have an appointment this afternoon.”

Lawrence slammed the apron on the counter. “You know, I don’t know what I need to do to get you here. It’s not enough that I got that other place shut down.”

Nikla blinked and took a step back. “What?”

“Your boyfriend Justin came in here and gave me some information.”

“Ex.” Nikla processed the whole situation. “So Justin told you that I had sex with Sweet and you used that against him. Essentially you used me. Did you think of that?”

From the way Lawrence’s face softened, Nikla figured he hadn’t thought of that. “Honey–”

“No, please don’t say anything. Dad, I’m here for you. Even on days when I don’t feel like it, I’m here. I’ve never turned my back on you. But I can’t say the same for you. You want to keep me in your view but at arm’s length. I can’t have a relationship like that. If that’s what you see between us, then this will be my last trip here.” She turned to the door.

Nikla never suspected her father would have run after her. He pulled her into a hug and sobbed. He didn’t cry or weep. Her Marine father didn’t sniff back tears. She felt his tears hit the back of her neck. She assumed that this was the cry he needed to have when her mother had left him.

Nikla held her father until he composed himself.

“I never meant to hurt you,” Lawrence said as he pulled back from her.

“You did. You can’t control my personal life, and you can’t go after a man I love.” Nikla couldn’t deny her heart. She couldn’t go back to Sweet without being whole.

“I’m so sorry. I was so scared of losing you.”

“I know.” She held her father’s hand. “I’ll never leave you. I don’t have to be stuck to your hip for you to know that.” Nikla released her hold on her father. “And Mom didn’t leave you, either.” She watched Lawrence’s face go still. “I saw her last week. She looks good. She looks healthy.”

Lawrence wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, then dropped his gaze to the floor. “When did you get so smart and strong?”

Nikla smiled. “I’ve always been that way. You just refused to see it.”

“I’m seeing it now. Maybe one day you’ll bring your young man over when Junior comes home and we can all have dinner together.”

A tear threatened to escape from Nikla’s eye. “That would be nice.” If only she had a man still.

“And Junior can bring his man with him, too.”

Nikla knees nearly buckled under her. “How did you–”

“A father knows everything.” He winked. “I’m not as stodgy or stubborn as you think.”

“The next time you talk to him, let him know that.”

Lawrence nodded. “So can you help me out here?”