“I don’t date.” As much fun as I had with Nick last night, I still have no interest in dating.
“Oh really? What was last night, then?”
I dust the flour from my hands and turn to face Chloe. She’s giving me that damn cat grin again, and I can’t help but smile in return.Fine, I guess I can share a little bit. It was pretty amazing, after all.“Last night was sex. Some of the best sex I’ve ever had, but still... just sex.”
She pinches her lips together. “Does he know that?”
I shake my head and hold back a laugh. “Of course he does. Have you seen the women he’s dated? Trust me, Nick has no interest in me other than what we did last night.”
Chloe cocks an eyebrow but says nothing, and I’m thankful to not have to explain any further. I’m content in my bigger body, but that doesn’t mean I want to explain why other people might not be. Thankfully, she drops it.
Together, we finish placing the last of the dough balls on the trays, then take them to the walk-in fridge to store until we need them. When that’s done, we prep all the vegetables for the workstation. All that’s left now is to prepare tonight’s menu for Nick and his trainers, but that can wait. Right now, I need coffee.
I pour us each a cup and take a seat at a table by the front window.
“What are you up to today?”
Every day, Chloe comes in to help with prep work before heading out to work on some of her art contracts for the afternoon. Even on nights when Carson is working, she comes back in time for the non-existent dinner rush, more to keep us company more than anything else. It’s a good thing my rent is so low, or I’d never be able to afford to keep her on full-time. There’s one more thing to thank Uncle Gianni slash Wade Biddescombe for. I’m pretty sure that man really is my guardian angel.
“What are you working on today?”
She cringes, her shoulders rising to meet her ears. “I’m heading over to Spitz to discuss painting a mural at their sportsplex,” she says in a hushed voice.
Spitz Hollow, neighboring town and sworn enemy of Tuft Swallow. Telling a Swallower you’re going there by choice usually leads to some serious side-eye, if not worse. I’ve seen some of the older folks around town spit at the mere mention of Spitz Hollow, as though they were warding off some ancient evil. I can understand why Chloe would want to keep her trip there under wraps. Still, she can’t afford to turn down art jobs. I know she doesn’t want to work for me at Wings and Pizza forever. She’s an artist, not a chef.
“That’s so exciting.” I say, adding a little extra cheer to my voice, so she knows I’m on her side about her taking commissions wherever she can get them. “How did that come about?”
She shrugs. “Someone from that fancy new sports complex was in town for a meeting with Nick and saw my mural at the gym. They wantsomething that represents the Spitz-Shein spiritor something like that. I’m presenting them with my proposal this afternoon.”
“That’s amazing. What do you have planned?” She groans and rolls her eyes. “Uh oh. That bad?”
“The guy couldn’t tell me anything about the Spitz-Shein spirit that would actually make decent artwork. They’re only interested in money.” She grabs her portfolio and slips out a series of sketches, spreading them on the table in front of me. “I’ve been wracking my brain since they contacted me and this is the only thing I could come up with.”
A rough sketch in charcoal, coins as far as the eye can see, stares back at me. “Is this... Is this the inside of the money bin? Like inDuckTales?”
Chloe drops her head to the tabletop, a pained groan emanating from her lips. “Kind of. It’s also partly based on the cave of wonders inAladdin. See the jewels? And the statues?” She rests her chin on her hands and looks up at me. “After listening to that guy drone on for almost an hour, the only image I could conjure in my mind was of him trying to swim in piles of gold coins.” She tips her chin at the papers. “It took me a week to come up with that.”
I stifle a grin. “It’s cute.”
“It’s shit.”
I bark a laugh and Chloe holds back a smile. “It’s not that bad. It looks very...opulent?” She releases her laugh at my questioning tone, and we both giggle until tears mark matching streams down our cheeks.
“Well, hopefully opulent is what they’re going for,” she says once we’ve finally calmed down. “Or maybe not. I don’t know if I want to paint this mural. I mean, really. Gold coins and dollar bills? That’s boring. I know I need to be willing to commercialize my art if I want to make a living from it, but atleast with the mural at the gym and the windows around town, I had fun. This won’t be fun.”
“Then don’t do it.”
She slumps back in her chair and heaves a sigh. “I said I would present my proposal, so I will. Maybe they’ll hate it.”
“Or maybe they’ll love it and you’ll spend the next month painting Scrooge McDuck’s wet dream on some rich asshole’s ego project. I’m sorry,charitable donation.”
“Ugh. That sounds awful.” She pulls her phone from the front pocket of her paint stained overalls. “Damn it. I have to leave now if I want to make it in time.” After gathering her sketches and putting them back into the leather portfolio, she chugs the rest of her coffee and stands. “I’ll be back in time for you to deliver the order to the gym. And don’t think I’m letting you off the hook. We will revisit the Nick conversation later. Before I read all about it in the Nosey Pecker, I hope.”
I roll my eyes. “There’s nothing to talk about. We had sex, he went home, the end. There’s nothing more the Nosey Pecker could possibly report.”
“Then what’s that about?” she asks, pointing to the door.
Right then, Nick knocks on the glass door and waves, making my stomach drop into a fluttery mess of butterflies. He holds up the biggest bouquet I’ve ever seen, the blooms a riot of color.
