Page 75 of Luxuries of Lust

“Possibly good,” Quin amended. “It’s not set in stone yet, so please keep this conversation between us for now.”

Gem settled more comfortably in the chair, clasping all his hands together. “Okay, I won’t say anything. I’m really good at secrets.”

Glyma and Quin exchanged a look, but neither of them commented on that. Glyma leaned forward, purple tail serpentining behind her.

“We’re expanding,” she said.

“Trying to expand,” Quin corrected.

“Really? Which part? The dining area? Does that mean we’ll get more room behind the counter because sometimes, it gets cramped back there, especially when we’re busy,” Gem said.

“No, not expanding here. We’re franchising,” Glyma said.

“Trying to franchise,” Quin said.

“Oh my gods, that’s amazing!” Gem squealed, and Glyma squealed too, reaching across the desk to squeeze two of Gem’s hands. “Where’s the other location?”

“Greed,” Glyma said.

“Hopefully,” Quin said. “We’re in negotiations, but no lease has been signed.”

“Yet,” Glyma said. “It’s happening any day now.”

Gem clapped his top hands. “That’s so exciting!”

Glyma sniffed and clapped her hands too. “It is. The new location is very small, but it’s a way in. If we can make a name for ourselves there, we can keep branching out into more districts, and—”

“But for now, we’re going to focus on what we can do here,” Quin said gently, patting Glyma’s thigh. “And how we can set up our Greed location for success.”

“Of course, how can I help? Do I need to train the new hires? Wait, have you hired new people already? I haven’t seen you interview anyone since Ollie. Oh my gods”—Gem pressed two hands to his chest—“are you asking me to help vet the new hires? Because I am a great judge of character, and I will be relentless in my questioning. Only the best for this cafe.”

“Gem,” Glyma said, and Gem slapped a hand over his mouth to shut himself up. “We have some interviews set up, and one of the evening workers has shown some potential, so we’re thinking of moving them to the dayshift. But that’s not why we wanted to talk to you.

“If we move forward and open the Greed location, we need someone to run it. There’s not a full kitchen, so I’m needed here, along with Willow to bake for two shops,” Glyma said, and Gem nodded, mind racing.

“Okay. So we’ll have to interview someone with management experience. That probably won’t be too hard to find, right?”

Quin pinched the bridge of her nose as Glyma chuckled. “Gem, we want you to run it.”

Gem blinked in a wave. “Sorry, what?”

“We’re promoting you,” Quin said, and Gem laughed.

“No, you’re not. That’s crazy. That’s, like, so dumb. Why would you… why would you do that. I’m not—I mean, I’m—what?”

Rounding the desk, Glyma propped her ass against it and set a hand on Gem’s shoulder as he fought the sudden need to burst into tears—again. “It’s not dumb. We’d be crazy not to choose you.”

“Really? Like you’re not fucking with me? You’re serious?” he choked out, and Glyma nodded.

“Did you think we’d keep you a barista forever?” Quin asked.

“I mean, yeah. I was planning on dying behind that espresso machine,” Gem admitted around a sob. “It was going to be tragic and dramatic, and everyone would tell the story for years.”

“Well, it’s obviously your choice,” Glyma said, fighting a laugh, “but we want you to run the Greed location.”

“But then I wouldn’t be here,” Gem said.

“That would be the point,” Quin said, but Gem was shaking his head again.

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