Meg sighed. "You need to be careful with the Svenssons. The little ones are cute, but the older ones are devious and underhanded."
"Remy seems nice," I countered. "And so does Mace. I know you always said the Svenssons are terrible people, but honestly, they weren't that bad to hang out with."
"I don't want you to be hurt."
The unspoken words,Like I was, hung in the air between us.
* * *
Meg droppedme off at my café. I wasn't expecting any customers. The Coming Soon sign for the Grey Dove Bistro was a looming reminder that I couldn't worry about the Svenssons. I had my own problems to deal with. I picked up the pile of envelopes on the floor that were shoved through the mail slot earlier that day. I sorted through them—notices from the student loan company about missed payments, notices from the bank about the mortgage, late notices about the power bills.
I shoved everything into my drawer of shame. I could barely close it. My phone dinged with a notification. There was money in my Venmo account from Archer.
The description said,Paying you back for the sandwiches. Also a little extra for edible panties.
I groaned. All my Venmo friends were going to see that.
Jemma:Edible panties???
Hazel:It's not what you think! Besides I've heard edible panties don't actually taste that good.
Olivia:I don't think you're supposed to sit there and eat them…
Jemma:If anyone can make edible underwear actually edible, it's Hazel!
Could I? I needed to try and figure out how I was going to save my business. But deep down I knew there was no saving it. The only hope was to win the grant.
The box of raspberries Archer had given me still sat on the counter. What would I do with the fruit? It wouldn't last forever. I wanted to cheer him. Could I use them to make edible underwear? In art school, we had to do a class on basic fashion design.
It wasn't hard to make costumes out of nonfabric material like paper or plastic sheets. Maybe a fruit leather would work. It would be stiff enough to hold its shape. I boiled down the raspberries and pressed the juice out, then poured the mix on a jelly roll pan. I didn't have a dehydrator, so I stuck it in the oven on low heat.
There was a fair amount of the raspberry juice left. Thinking I would use it as a simple syrup for mixed drinks, I strained it and added a bit of sugar.
"It looks like paint!" I said, testing the rich-red liquid with a spoon. I giggled and spread a little on my bare arm. Then I licked it. It tasted pretty good.
I wonder what it would be like licking it off of Archer.
I shivered, remembering the last two nights I had spent with him. It was scary how much of an about-face I had done with him. I had turned off the oven and let the fruit leather slowly cool down and was pouring the raspberry syrup into a little vial when the door to the café opened.
"Just a second," I called, not looking up.
"What are you making?"
I jerked and almost dropped the vial. Archer reached out to steady my hand.
"I was making simple syrup, but now it's edible body paint. It's vegan."
"Yes," Archer said. "But how does it taste?"
He picked me up in his arms, kissing me.
"You know, I swore I wasn't going to do this in your closet," he said against my mouth as he carried me upstairs. He laid me down on the bed. "We're going to my hotel next time," he said in between kissing me and taking off my clothes.
"Since we're in my painting studio now," I said, showing him the red raspberry syrup, "might as well take advantage."
Archer leaned against the pillows, looking like a Michelangelo painting.
I straddled him. "You're the best-looking canvas I've ever seen," I told him. I dipped my finger in the syrup then began to paint. Archer's muscles jumped as I slowly traced my finger down his chest.
