He pulled out his phone, and his fingers began to fly across the screen while we talked. “I’ll look into it,” he said. “All plans were supposed to have been approved from the neighborhood level up through the regulatory agencies, but there always could have been a mistake or an oversight.”
I blinked, startled by his casual reply. “Wait, really?” I asked. “You’ll look into it?”
He shoved his phone back in his pocket, then stared me directly in the eye. “Sure. That’s why I do site visits like this.” He unwrapped the nougat that was in his hand, then popped it into his mouth. It was one of my favorite flavors, pistachio and raspberry, and I appreciated the way he smiled when he bit into it, savored the flavor, and swallowed. “Xavier,” he said, repeating my name to himself. “If I come back, I’ll find you here?”
“At the shop,” I said, my heart beating fast again. “Sure. Every day.”
Dominick nodded. “Enjoy your day,” he said and then ran his hand through his hair as he turned to walk away.
Which was when I saw it.
The small tattoo of a rose on his inner arm, a few inches beneath his wrist.
I almost choked on my breath.
Dominick was the man from the party, and I suddenly wanted something a lot stronger than a piece of candy.
* * *
Georgia came into the shop, the sleeves of her Dickies work shirt rolled up and her hair back in a ponytail. Mondays were the only day I worked alone, and in my panic after Dominick departed, I had managed to turn the store upside down in a “reorganizing” project.
“Why are the ribbon candies by the window?” she asked, plucking a small sucker from a display and popping it in her mouth.
“I needed to do something to occupy myself,” I answered, sliding my phone across the counter. “Otherwise, I was going to spend all day staring at this.”
Georgia picked up the phone, scrolling through the images I had left open. “Who’s the hottie?” she asked. “And why are you cyberstalking the social media of some high-power executive in Manhattan?”
I grabbed the phone back from her, shoving it in my pocket. “I’m not cyberstalking him,” I objected. “It’s Dominick. As in the guy who almost spanked me in college?”
“Ohlà là,” she purred. “No wonder you got so obsessed with him over the years. He looks like the love child of a Brooks Brothers model and the Big Bad Wolf.”
“You have no idea,” I groaned, my knees getting wobbly at the thought of him. “He’s back in Colorado for a year, and he’s overseeing a development project that’s going to tear down Grandma Mayer’s garden and turn it into a green bus stop.”
“What?” Georgia asked sharply, popping the sucker out of her mouth as her face fell. “The garden? But it’s so special.”
“Oh, it gets worse.” I paused for dramatic effect. “He was the guy at the party last night. The guy who rejected me.”
“The first one or the second one?”
My ears warmed with embarrassment at having to clarify. “The second.”
Georgia’s eyes lit up brightly, and she popped the sucker back in her mouth. “That’s perfect,” she said, the stick bouncing out the side of her lips. “He can fulfill your spanking fantasies and then help make sure the neighborhood doesn’t get fucked over by some all-seeing city council. It’s a win-win, Xavier!”
I harrumphed, my lips trembling. “Hardly. I’ve spent the past seven years desperately clinging to the possibility that Dominick was grossed out by the idea of spanking another man. If he’s actually into that kink, though…” I sighed, dropping my head into my hands. “It means he was just disgusted by me.”
Georgia grabbed my arm, patting softly. “Oh, Xavier. That’s not true. You were both college students. He probably hadn’t even explored his kinks yet at that age, let alone found the confidence to indulge his fantasies in a game of dorm room truth or dare.”
I pulled back, not ready to hear her affirmations. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” I said. “I spotted him by his tattoo, but trust me, Dominick has no idea I was the guy at the sex party, and he clearly has next to no memory of the geeky freshman from the dorm, either. I need to keep my head focused on what’s right for the shop, instead of chasing some desires I should have left buried.”
Georgia glanced around Sweet Sensations, her eyes trailing across the crowded shelves and overstuffed aisles. “Your dad sure knew what he was doing, leaving the shop to you.” She lifted a rosewater Turkish delight from the counter, studying its reflective, sugary gel. “You’re probably the only person in the city who cares as much about weird candies as he did.”
“They aren’t weird,” I objected. “Just hard to find, normally. And it’s what makes the place special. Our customers come from all across the city to find candies here that can’t be found anywhere else and to try out some new treats while they’re at it.”
“Have you had today’s candy? That usually makes you feel better.”
It was another lesson I had inherited from my practical, hard-working father. I maintained a strict limit, never indulging in more than one sweet per day. Usually, it was easy to follow the rule, but on days like that morning, I felt the temptation to start shoving chocolate bars in my mouth until a stomachache distracted me from my actual problems.
“I inhaled some Swedish Fish the second Dominick took off,” I confessed.
