“Sounds fishy,” Gremlin pipes in. “We knew that guy was fucking dirty as hell.”
He flinches just in time to miss Krampus’ hand flying at his face.
“You know, I’m still getting used to this no swearing thing. Can’t you give a guy a break?”
Krampus shakes his head. “No. Now get back to work.”
“And what exactly do you expect me to do, Krampy? I’m not exactly a baker. I couldn’t tell you the difference between flour or sugar without sniffing it. And before you ask, no, I don’t have a coke problem.” He grins, obviously a little too proud of his joke.
“You can wash dishes then,” Amber says, breaking up the conversation.
“Dishes? Woman, you do realize that I’ve never touched a dish in my life, right? That’s what mothers, girlfriends, and Little Annies are for.”
“Little Annies?”
Amber moves past me, rolling her eyes. “That’s what they call their club whores. It’s based on a horror movie calledMisery.Ever watch it?”
I nod. “Yeah, I love a good horror movie.”
“Really?” Krampus asks in surprise. “But you hate swearing.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t like a good slasher film. My favorites are the ‘B’ horror movies, though. You know, those horribly put together movies with cheesy special effects and extremely bad acting that you usually found in the eighties or nineties.”
Krampus looks up at me in surprise. “Those are my favorite too.”
Grinning, I hip check him. A little dash of flirting I picked up over the years. “Looks like you and I have some things in common, Krampus.”
He smiles. “Please call me Rich.”
“Rich?”
“It’s his real name, sweetheart. You should feel honored. He only lets Amber and his two best friends call him by his real name,” Gremlin says, giving me a wink. “Must mean he likes ya.”
“Shut up, Gremlin. Get in that dish pit and start washing some dishes.”
“How?” Gremlin questions, looking at the bin of silver dishware with unease. “There’s like a million of them.”
“Hot water and soap. You scrub them until there’s no food on them and the silver is shiny again,” Krampus grumps.
“This sounds like a lot of work I didn’t sign up for.”
“Just fucking do it, Prospect. That’s an order.”
The instant he swears, his shoulders rise up in frustration. “Sorry, Mindy.”
He freezes when my hand laces in his, and I give it a friendly squeeze. “It’s okay, Rich. I’m not that bothered by it. I know you have a life not quite like mine.”
Amber eyes us curiously from across the room, a knowing twinkle sparkles in her eye. She can see it just like I can; there’s something going on between me and Krampus. I just don’t think he gets it yet.
He quickly drops my hand and moves toward an open bowl. “Um, what are we gonna make first?” He looks nervous, maybe even a little shy. But I like that in a man. Especially when they have no idea how handsome they truly are.
“Let’s start off with cookies and work our way up. Amber, any way you can make a few of your famous cannoli?”
She nods. “Already on it, Mindy.”
“Great! I can’t thank you guys enough for helping me. I really need to hire someone else to work with me here, but I spent all my money on fixing this place up and haven’t had the funds to hire anyone on as a second baker yet.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that, Mindy. I plan on coming in every day to help you until you get on your feet,” Amber exclaims, like she didn’t just offer me the sun.
