Page 5 of Icing on Top
“If you could start filling, that would be great,” I answered. “I’m running out of space and have a few dozen more to decorate.”
“You got it, boss. Is Jared coming in today?”
“No, he asked for the day off. He’s still out of town with his parents. Just us today,” I replied. I employed two high schoolers, and they were lifesavers. They allowed me to stay in the kitchen and bake or leave early—flexibility I didn’t have when I opened the shop eight years ago. I didn’t take it for granted now. Dad and I spent more time here than at home when I first opened the shop.
I finished up my baking and then helped Stef with the morning rush. Black Friday tended to bring in a heavier crowd. Once the morning rush was over and everyone returned to their shopping, I decided to use the opportunity to decorate the outside of the shop for Christmas. I hauled out the ladder and the box of lights from the closet and dragged them outside.
“After last year, don’t you think you should hire someone to do that?” Stef asked, not bothering to hide her laugh at the memory.
Last year the lights and I got into a slight scuffle, and I somehow tied myself to the damn ladder. I stuck my tongue out at her as I shoved the door open. “I’m perfectly capable of hanging Christmas lights on my own,” I replied.
“I’m not so sure of that,” she called after me as the door fell shut.
Little brat. I was smart when I took the lights down last year and put them away neatly so they didn’t tangle. Smiling at my brilliance, I opened the box and then stared down at the contents, my smile turning to dismay. How the hell did that happen? The strings of lights were not neatly waiting in the box. They were a rat’s nest of knots. Seriously, is there some anti-Christmas gremlin that sneaks around throughout the year tangling lights? An elf that got fired and made it his life’s mission to inconvenience others trying to display their holiday spirit?
I pulled the ball of lights out of the box and started the untangling process. A look to my left showed Stef inside, laughing. At least this time, I wasn’t trying to untangle them while on the ladder. As I worked, my mind wandered to my Dad. He always helped me hang the lights. His absence last year had been a fluke. He didn’t usually go Black Friday shopping, but one of the ads caught his eye, and he decided to go to the mall in the next town. He had a good laugh when he heard what had happened.
Fuck, I missed him. I missed his laugh and the sparkle he got in his eyes when he was teasing someone or trying to pull a fast one. I missed how I could talk to him about anything I wanted, and he would sit quietly and listen without judgment and then offer his advice. I knew if he were here, he’d be telling me to pick myself up and that Paul had never been worth my time, to begin with. Then he would remind me that I was a strong, independent woman, a business owner of one of the most successful shops on Main Street, and I didn’t need a man to increase my value. Dad was always my biggest supporter, and he loved Christmas.
I finally got enough untangled lights to start hanging them on the gutter. Buying new lights was probably easier, but here we were. I was getting the last lights hung when a man spoke from below me.
“Should you be up there?” he asked with concern. Truthfully, probably not. We had gotten an overnight winter mix, and the sidewalks were still a little slushy, but I was being careful.
“I’m perfectly fine, thank you,” I replied without looking at him as I stretched to hook up the last lights.
“If you’re certain,” he replied doubtfully. “My name is Lincoln West. This is Grant Cromwell and Benjamin Ashford. We’re meeting Nova Lane here. Would that be you?”
My hand froze partway to its destination as my head whipped around to look down at them in shock. Sure enough, I was looking down at the three billionaire owners of Triple Tech. The three of them were crowded around the bottom of the ladder, looking up at me with varying degrees of amusement. I got the impression that they knew very well that I was Nova.
Lincoln, easily the tallest of the three men, was the closest to me, with his hands on the ladder to steady it. His short blond hair fluttered in the slight breeze as he looked up at me with those baby blues and had a tan that you don’t usually see this time of year in the mountains. Benjamin was positioned behindme, and it looked like he was getting ready to insist I come off the ladder. His buzzed light brown hair and fair skin made his deep brown eyes pop, eyes that were watching me like a hawk. To escape his scrutiny, my eyes shifted to the final man who made up this influential trifecta. Grant was standing further back between the others. His expression was guarded, and his olive-toned skin, hazel eyes, and wavy black hair that flirted around his ears made him look quite broody. He was the shortest of the three, but not by much.
They were the three most eligible bachelors in Sunflower Falls, and I could understand why. My heart pounded in my chest as I studied them. Never mind their money; they were sex on a cracker made of sex. There wasn’t a woman around who hadn’t fantasized about them at some point, myself included. It was the oldest story in the book. A hot, rich man swoops in and sweeps the girl off her feet, except in this story, there are three of them. I felt a little tingly at the thought of them being here for me until a cool dose of reality washed over me. It was a fantasy.
Well, this was a waste of everyone’s time. I felt a little disappointed, but I knew there was no way they would be interested in a lump like me. I continued my descent and lost my balance because the universe had to get its laughs. Lincoln quickly acted and caught me as I fell off the ladder. Embarrassed, I tried to wiggle out of his arms. “You can put me down,” I told him as my cheeks reddened. “I’m too heavy for you to hold me like this.”
His arms wrapped around me tighter, halting my movements. “I don’t know,” he purred. “I think you’re perfect, and I’m rather enjoying myself. However, it might be a little too soon for you to fall for me. We’ve only just met.”
Consenting Adults
Lincoln
Nova groaned at my joke as I reluctantly put her down, letting her body slide against mine and enjoying how she felt in my arms. We knew when we arrived who she was. Giving us her name and place of employment made it all too easy to look her up. We found a picture posted in the newspaper from when she first opened her shop. The short, blue-eyed blonde had gained weight in the last eight years. I preferred the curvier version, and knowing my brothers, I knew they did as well.
As soon as her feet were on the ground, she hastily stepped back to put some distance between us and promptly slipped on a patch of ice. I grinned as she found herself in Grant’s arms, and he caught her before she could fall again. She nervously tucked a stray lock of hair that had escaped the bun on the top of her head behind her ear as Grant made sure she was steady on her feet before releasing her. “That’s twice now, Sugar,” I teased.
“Why don’t I finish hanging these for you?” Ben suggested as he climbed the ladder and secured the rest of the lights to thegutter. Once he was done, we grabbed the ladder and the box containing more tangled Christmas lights and followed Nova inside. I couldn’t help admiring her ass as I did. I was looking forward to getting my hands on her. The purpose of this might not be to form romantic attachments, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy each other’s company to the fullest.
Grant elbowed me hard in the side. “Focus, asshole,” he whispered. I winked at him but got my mind back to the task at hand. We were here for a reason. Nova was obviously flustered as she motioned to a table near the back of the shop and offered us coffee or cupcakes.
“The coffee here isn’t as good as Caffeinated Charm across the street, but it’s hot,” she said apologetically. The shop smelled divine. I hadn’t ever been here before, but I knew I was about to become a regular customer. I noticed a teenager behind the counter with her nose in her phone, trying not to make it evident that she was watching us. When she looked up from her phone again furtively, I caught her eye and winked at her, making her blush. No doubt, the teenage rumor mill of Sunflower Falls was already buzzing with the news that we were meeting with Nova.
“We’re fine, thank you,” I replied as we sat at the table. Nova remained standing, wrung her hands nervously, and bit her bottom lip. I watched as her lip slid from between her teeth, and the tip of her pink tongue peeked out to lick her lips. I groaned internally. I had made jokes that she was falling for us, but I was pretty sure that it was me who was already falling for her. Everything about her that I have seen so far captivated me.
“Listen,” she finally said, raising her eyes to look at each of us. “You don’t have to keep up the pretense of this meeting for my sake. I understand you aren’t interested now that you’ve met me.”
I shared confused looks with my best friends. Was she turning us down already without even giving us a chance to discuss the terms of our arrangement?
“Why would you think that we wouldn’t be interested?” Grant asked.
