Page 86 of Prayers for the Prickly

“I saw you look real hard at the bottles before you picked it. The other one is gonna kick our asses, isn’t it?”

“Lemon zest.”

“You have a vendetta against my taste buds, don’t you? I won’t even be able to taste dinner tonight, you’re about to fry off the ones the mega sour didn’t nuke.”

Shrugging, I just grinned sheepishly and set up the machine for the final batch. “Sorry?”

“No you’re not.”

“I’m a little sorry the sour acid was so intense.”

“Uh huh, after we finish in here, we need to take a little detour out back to bury my tastebuds. You might want to think up a little eulogy for them now that they’ve sacrificed themselves to the candy gods.”

“It was a beautiful sacrifice, though,” I said as I spun us up what could, indeed, kill off the remaining taste buds the previous sour batches didn’t scorch.

“If I can’t taste dinner tonight, I expect you to describe the favor profiles in exquisite detail, so I don’t leave the restaurant feeling like I just missed out on an amazing meal.”

“And if I can’t taste anything, either?”

“Then I guess we’ll have to rely on our noses to get any enjoyment out of it and make a new booking as soon as our tastebuds have recovered.”

“Sounds like a pretty good plan,” he said as he brought the little yellow ball to his lips. “Here goes nothing.”

I watched his face when he took the bite, expecting to see it scrunch again only to see his shoulders heave as he sighed and let his eyes drift closed. “Hmmmm.”

No words, just a pleased sigh that sounded a lot like when I went down on him. Now that I knew it was safe, I took a normal sized bite and let all of that lemon wash over my tongue, like fresh squeezed lemonade, it was the perfect balance of sweet and sour.

Home run in the finale to end the tasting on a high note. With so many positive comments, I could confidently rule this a successful first batch. I’d enter all my notes into the laptop later and start a spreadsheet on the line. I’d need to work on these diligently if I wanted to get recipes to Gracie and have a chance to demonstrate the technique to her and observe her packaging up a few batches.

I’d decided on single flavor, dual flavor, and variety packs. The variety pack would have five different flavors in it. I intended to offer a few different variations of it, too, no flavors overlapping between packs. It should prove to be a fun way to introduce my customers to flavors they might not otherwise try.

“Now that was beautiful,” Gregor murmured when he’d finished his. “Just like you.”

“A beautiful, sticky mess with stains coloring his fingers and tongue.”

“Not to mention his chin.”

“Are you serious?”

“It’s just a few a streaks.”

“And you want me to go out in public this way?”

“We have to go, I’ve already made the reservation,” he said, inching closer, until he’d framed my face with his sticky hands.

“And now you’re making me messier,” I grumbled as he leaned in and ran his tongue over my chin.

“And cleaning you up at the same time.”

“Hmmm, yeah, that, too,” I conceded as he tugged the collar of my t-shirt aside so he could drag his tongue over my shoulder.

“So it’s a wash,” he murmured before he kissed me.

If this was what stalemates would be like with him, I looked forward to ending every debate this way.

Chapter 33

Gregor

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