Page 24 of Icing on Top
“And she isn’t ‘some woman,’” I growled. “She is the woman. The only woman. I know it, Ben knows it, and I think somewhere deep inside, past the stubborn muleheadedness, you know it too.”
“I don’t know what I know anymore,” he sighed, “except we have an apology to make.”
We finished our coffee, got ready, and then went to Icing. Stef was behind the counter as usual when we walked in, except this time, she glared daggers at us.
“I don’t know what you did to her,” she hissed as we walked by her to go to the kitchen, “but you had better fix it.” She was onlya high schooler, but I can honestly say she terrified the hell out of me.
We walked into the kitchen, and the only indication Nova gave that she saw us come in was a brief pause in her movement. She was decorating cupcakes, and I could tell that she was upset.
“Hey, Sugar,” I said tentatively as we approached her.
“Good morning,” she replied coolly, making me wince. I had grown used to her almost shy, blushing greetings whenever she saw us. I looked at Ben and nodded toward her for him to try.
“Listen, baby. About last night,” he started.
“No explanation necessary,” she said, cutting him off. “A heads up would have been nice since I waited three hours for you to show, but I don’t need your explanations. I’m busy. We will have to talk another time.” Even Grant winced at her tone this time.
“Can we see you later, then? After work? You usually leave by three, right?” Grant asked.
“I’m not sure,” she replied stiffly. “Are you sure you remember how to get to my house?”
“Cute,” I replied. “We’ll be waiting for you to get home. Then maybe you will let us explain.”
“Listen,” she said, finally putting down the damn piping bag and looking at us. I almost wish she hadn’t because behind the calm veneer she was projecting was an ocean of hurt. And we put it there. How fucking hard would it have been for one of us to call or text her? God, we fucking suck. “I understand you are busy men. But my time is valuable, too. Maybe you shouldn’t make plans you aren’t capable of keeping. Last night fell outside our contract’s purview, so you weren’t obligated to show up. If you could just let me know you can’t make our plans in the future, I would appreciate it.”
“We’re going to show up this time,” I told her. “Promise.”
“You’ll understand if I don’t hold my breath.” Fuck she wasn’t holding her punches, and we deserved every one of them. Shepicked the piping bag up, silently dismissing us, so we left the store.
“We need to figure out how to make it up to her. She isn’t just pissed, she’s hurt,” Ben said when we walked outside.
“I know. I feel like an even bigger asshole now,” I replied.
“So how do we fix it?” Ben asked.
“I think I have an idea,” Grant answered. “Come on, we need to do a little research before this afternoon.”
We were waiting on her doorstep when Nova pulled into her driveway later that afternoon. She looked surprised to see us but was still guarded.
“You’re actually here,” she commented as she unlocked her door. We followed her inside, and there was an awkward silence before Ben launched into our apology.
“Nova, we had every intention of coming over last night, and I’m sorry that we didn’t. We had a problem with a large shipment to Japan that was held up in customs, and it was all hands on deck to get the products through before they shipped them back to America. Still, that isn’t an excuse for not letting you know that we wouldn’t be able to make it.”
“We fucked up,” I said bluntly, making the corner of her mouth twitch slightly. “We aren’t used to worrying about anything outside of our company and each other, but we want to be better. We will be better because I don’t want to live like that anymore. You’re important to us, and it won’t happen again.”
Her eyes shifted to Grant. I knew he wouldn’t apologize or make promises, not after Ben and I had covered everythingalready, and I hoped she didn’t need a third apology because it wouldn’t happen.
“To make up for our oversight,” Grant said, “we’re taking you on a surprise outing. You’ll probably want to shower first.”
Her eyes sparkled with interest as a small smile spread across her face. “What should I wear?”
“You get in the shower. We’ll pick out your clothes,” I replied. We followed Nova into her bedroom, and while she went into the bathroom to shower quickly, I started going through her drawers. I grinned at my brothers as I pulled a lacy scrap of fabric from her underwear drawer. I found the matching bra and set it on the bed. “Done,” I announced.
“She needs more than that,” Grant replied, rolling his eyes. He entered her closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. Ben found socks and a pair of boots and set those out as well.
“There,” he said. “Now we’re done.”
I flopped onto her bed to wait for her to come back out. Ben sat on the edge of the bed, and Grant leaned against the doorframe. The water shut off, and we perked up a little in anticipation. The door opened, and a small cloud of steam poured out, followed by Nova wrapped in a fluffy pink towel. Drops of water beaded on her skin before gravity took over and caused them to drip down. I felt my dick stir to life in my pants at the sight of her.
