Page 35 of Happy Endings

Trixie walked over with a wet wipe for his arm. He held a hand up to stop her. Time to get this over with. He squeezed his eyesshut and brought his arm up to his mouth again. He took a quick swipe with his tongue. It tasted pretty good. He opened his mouth wider and licked again. The oil warmed his tongue. Cinnamon filled his nose as the sweet yet tart apple filled his mouth.

“Wow, this is delicious.” He looked over at Trixie in surprise. “Tastes like our apple cobbler. But not as hot.”

The crowd chuckled again. He saw more people writing on their wish list.

She nodded in agreement, pleased with his reaction.

“There you have it, ladies and gents. Turn your lover into apple cobbler, which is the Friday-night special here! Let’s give a hand to our helper and proprietor of Mama Hazel’s, Andre Walker!”

Andre bowed as everyone in the room applauded and cheered. Even Xavier and Keisha were cheering for him.

“In honor of this pairing, tonight’s special cocktail will be Pants-on-Fire appletini!” He looked over at Xavier, who nodded.

“Who wants a Pants-on-Fire?” Xavier asked. Hands flew up. His friend ran out into the crowd to take orders.

While the crowd was distracted, Andre accepted a wet wipe from Trixie.

“Thanks,” she whispered. Her eyes gleamed. “Sorry about the, uh, kiss.”

“That was fun, but nerve-racking. You are really good at this—heckler and all. I don’t think I could stand in front of a crowd for an hour like you do.” He pretended not to hear her comment about the kiss. He was not sorry about feeling her soft lips on his. “Trixie, you’re pretty amazing. I hope you know that.”

He kissed her cheek and walked back to the bar before she could reply.

Andre spent the rest of the evening mixing drinks, many ofwhich were Pants-on-Fire appletinis. From now on, they needed to create a special cocktail for every pop-up. Something fun and tied into one—or two—of Trixie’s products. He made a mental note to talk to her about this perfect pairing of their talents.

As for the woman in red, Jessica, she kept quiet after their massage-oil demonstration. Good thing he volunteered early, before Trixie pulled out the toys. He didn’t think he could stand in front of strangers and talk about vibrators. Whew. Saved by the lady in red.

For the first time since his mother died, Andre felt truly alive. His blood hummed through his body as he mixed drinks, while Trixie shot her electric smile at him in between her product demos. It had started when she kissed him and practically jumped him. Each kiss they’d shared had given him energy. Like recharging his batteries. Batteries he thought had faded when his mother died, and he had to focus on keeping Mama Hazel’s solvent.

Tonight reminded him that he and Trixie had been great together. Not just sexually. They played off each other during the massage-oil demonstration like they’d been doing it for years! He hated being the center of attention normally, but showing everyone how Blow Me worked had been fun.

And it had been fun because he was doing it with Trixie. Even the previous pop-ups had made running the bar less like work and more fun—simply because she had been in the room. Though they had unfinished business to discuss, he could see himself licking fiery but sweet/tart massage oil from her body as he rubbed her all over.

Andre wanted Trixie back in his life as more than a business partner.

He wanted her back. Not just in his bed. But as his girlfriend.

Chapter 14

Not counting my very first sales show, this was one of the hardest.” Trixie dropped into the nearest chair. She kicked off her pumps and propped her feet up on another chair. Her feet ached after standing for almost two hours.

The customers had dragged their full, happy stomachs home for the evening. Almost everyone left with a bag of samples to tide them over until their orders arrived. She typed a note into her calendar app to email everyone in two weeks to see how they liked their products.

“You were on fire tonight!” Keisha reset the tables for tomorrow’s lunch service. “Who knew Andre had it in him?”

“I’m glad he was a good sport about the cinnamon massage oil. I didn’t expect him to volunteer.” Once again, he’d surprised her. Not only had he been brave, he’d charmed the pants off the crowd. He’d even done Trixie a favor by diffusing the situation with that heckler.

“Maybe he can be your assistant if his day job doesn’t work out,” said Keisha.

“I heard that.” Andre popped up from under the bar and shook his head at Keisha, as if telling her to be quiet. “My day job isn’t going anywhere.”

“You okay closing up?” Keisha looked at her phone. “I need to go home and study for my accounting exam.”

“Go,” Andre replied. “I can handle it. School is important.”

“Hey, Xavier! Wanna walk me home?” Keisha called into the kitchen. The swinging door was propped open so cleanup could move more quickly.

“Sure. Give me five minutes,” Xavier’s muffled voice called back.

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