Biding His Thyme: 4 (18 page)

“Can you make the bath bombs into rude
shapes?” Sam asked.

“What sort of rude shapes?” Alice asked
with interest.

“A penis shape might work packed with our
condoms,” James said what they were all thinking.

Everyone turned to stare at Sorrel. “I can make
almost any shape as long as I have a mold. I mean the design can’t be too
fiddly, but I remember my mother telling me about the carrot-shaped bombs she
made one time for Easter.”

Richard barked out a sudden laugh. “You
could do egg shaped bombs and package them with condoms. I like the irony of it
all since condoms are designed to prevent eggs and sperm meeting.”

Sorrel couldn’t believe the discussions and
the banter flying around the boardroom table. These were men and women who were
confident and comfortable in their own skins.

“So are you willing to join this madhouse?”
Alice asked.

“Yes, please,” Sorrel said.

“Pooh,” Joseph said. “Ask them what they’re
paying you first. And about your hours.”

“We can discuss that at our meeting,” James
said. “Don’t feel you have to make a decision now. We’ll give you the contract
to take away and think about for a few days.”

Sorrel nodded, but she’d already decided
she wanted to work here with people who weren’t afraid to offer their opinion
or listen to others.

Alice interrupted the chatter to hand out
tiny pots of her cream and instructions of what she wanted them to try.

The rest of the day passed rapidly. Alice
and James spoke with her about her cream and gave her an agreement to sign,
since she’d already decided to take a job with them. The amount of her
remuneration brought tears to her eyes, and all she could do was nod dumbly. It
was either that or cry.

“Ready for a tour around the den of
iniquity?” Alice asked.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“I hear the children discovered Jake’s box
of condoms.” Alice chuckled, a rich, infectious sound that had Sorrel’s lips
twitching. “I would have loved to have seen that.”

“I missed it,” Alice said. “But I was the
one who got the blame.”

“The event will go down in the history of
Children of Nature,” Alice said. “You’ll be famous.”

“You should probably make that infamous,”
Sorrel said drily.

“Don’t worry. By the time I finish with you
today you’ll be beyond redemption. You can’t work for us as an inventor without
knowing about our existing products. Have you tried a vibrator before?”

Sorrel shook her head. “I’d never seen a
condom before the other night.”

“I’ll give you clear instructions with
everything,” Alice said. “If you have any questions all you need to do is ask.”

* * * * *

“What do you mean he can’t get his money
out today?” Brother Rick demanded with an edge to his voice.

The teller explained again in a calm voice
that the particular investment relating to Jake’s account required ten days’
notice before the money could be accessed.

“But we need the money today.”

Curiosity roused in Jake. Brother Rick
seemed on the verge of panic, and Jake had no idea why. “That’s okay,” he told
the teller. “Please do whatever is necessary to give notice, and I’ll come back
in ten days.”

“Don’t you have another account?”

“I do, but there’s only a hundred and five
dollars in it.”

“Withdraw a hundred,” Brother Rick said.

Jake shrugged. “Sure.”

The male teller handed him a withdrawal
slip, and Jake filled it out, signing it with a flourish. The teller handed
over the money—five twenty-dollar notes—and Brother Rick snatched it up before
Jake could pass the cash to him.

Jake’s brows rose. If he wasn’t mistaken
Brother Rick was scared of something or someone.

Outside the bank, Brother Rick said, “We
need to go to Auckland. We’ll drop you at the store. The women aren’t there
today. I want you to sell the rest of the stock. Get rid of it. Discount prices
if you have to. The lease is due for renewal. Since Sister Bitter has left
there’s no one available to make stock. I’ve decided to let the lease drop.”

“What about the key?”

“There’s a spare one in the book shop next
door. They won’t ask any questions because you’re wearing a Children of Nature
robe.”

“No problem,” Jake said. “Should I wait
there for your return or should I walk back to the compound?”

Brother Rick hesitated and exchanged a
glance with Brother Felix. “We’ll be gone overnight. You’ll need to walk back.”

“All right,” Jake said. “I’m sorry about
the money. I’d forgotten about the notice period.”

Brother Rick grunted and pushed past Jake.
Jake hesitated a few seconds, before leaving the bank to go to the store. The
blue truck sped past and disappeared around the corner. Jake pulled out his
phone and dialed Luke.

“Something is up,” he said. “Brother Rick
is behaving weirdly. I thought he was gonna hit me when the teller informed us
I couldn’t have the money for ten days. He’s heading for Auckland and said
he’ll be gone overnight.”

Jake paused to listen. “Nah, he’s only just
gone. I’ll do some snooping around later this afternoon and tonight. Yeah,
okay.” He hung up and returned the phone to his pocket.

He had a lot to do, but he might have a
quick solution for the stock. Aware there might be spies lurking, and he’d
already pushed his luck, he strode toward the shop. He stopped at the book shop
to ask for the key. Once inside the cult shop, he pulled out his phone again
and rang directory services for the number to Fancy Free.

He glanced around the shop while he waited
for someone to pick up the phone. The shelves were full of stock, but if he
discounted everything to a dollar again he should make two or three hundred
dollars. It would be enough stock to start Sorrel up in business for herself,
if that’s what she wanted.

Someone answered, and he asked for Alice.
He explained his proposal and Alice let out a girly shriek that almost deafened
him.

“We’ll be there in a few minutes.” The
phone clicked in his ear.

Jake found the boxes Sorrel used for
packing stock out the back and started stripping the shelves. A tap on the rear
door announced Alice’s arrival.

Jake cracked the door open a fraction, saw
it was Alice and opened it wider.

“Sorrel.” Without taking his eyes off her,
he stood aside for Alice to enter the dim store. When Sorrel went to pass him
too, he seized her, wrapping his arms around her and stealing a kiss. When he
lifted his head both of them were breathing hard.

“Ahem,” said Alice. “This is a
time-sensitive issue. We need to move fast before stupid Brother Rick finds his
brain again.”

Jake released Sorrel but couldn’t make
himself drop her hand. “Brother
Rick told me to sell the lot, discounting if necessary to clear the shelves.
The lease is up and he doesn’t want to renew.”

“Silly man,” Alice said. “Don’t you see,
Sorrel? We buy your stock, at a discount, and approach the owners of this
building. You already have customers, and we can start experimenting with our
gift boxes to work out what sells best. This is perfect.”

“Will I still work in developing the cream
for sale?”

“Of course. We’ll hire some staff. Maybe
Katarina and Harriet would like to take over the shop. At the very least it
would get them out from under my feet.”

“Brother Rick will be furious.”

“Let him have his tantrum,” Jake said.
“There’s nothing he can do about it, as long as you move on the lease quickly.”

“What do you think?” Alice asked. “Once we
get ourselves sorted out we can set up a lab for you and work out how to mass
produce everything. Would you be all right with that?”

Jake watched the wonder on Sorrel’s face,
her building excitement and realized there was no damn way he was leaving
Sloan. He’d have to put his mind to a new career, one that would keep him
close. As his friends would say, he was toast.

“I’d like that very much,” Sorrel said.

“Good. I’ll leave you to help Jake since
you’ll know best how to pack up everything. I think it’s best if we store the
stock at Fancy Free. We don’t want anyone from the cult coming in and
destroying everything. I’ll go and get my car so you can pack everything
inside.”

She hurried off leaving him alone with
Sorrel.

“You look beautiful. Most people wouldn’t
recognize you.” He studied the snug black jeans and red shirt. “Sexy.”

“You recognized me.”

“Ah, but you forget. I’ve seen you naked.”
He watched in fascination as a wave of red crawled up her neck and into her
face. “I missed you last night. I sleep better when I’m with you.” The truth.
When he was with her, Greg stayed out of his head. He reached for her, pulling
her to him. Her soft breasts flattened against his chest, and when he looked
down, he could see the swell of her curves.

“You had another nightmare?”

“Yes.” He didn’t want to talk about it, so
he used distraction. For both of them. His lips covered hers, holding back any
further questions. Then he was drowning in her touch, her scent. Her taste.
What had started as a diversion backfired on him, dragging him into a world of
sensation. He took the kiss deeper, stroking his tongue along hers, molding her
body to his. She felt right, perfect in his arms. He wanted to go on kissing
her, to strip off every single item of clothing and take her, thrusting deep.

“God,” he said with a hard shudder. “This
isn’t the right time.” He pressed her forehead to hers, resting it there for
long moments. “Soon, okay? We’d better start packing. I want to get back to the
compound and do a search as soon as I can. Brother Rick said he intended to
stay away over night, but I can’t trust anything he says.” Jake picked up a box
and started to stack soaps into it. “He seemed panicked this morning. You don’t
know what he does when he leaves the compound and goes to Auckland?”

“No.” Her smile held an edge of mockery.
“We mere women weren’t informed of the day-to-day running of Children of
Nature. Nothing to worry our little brains over.”

“I know better. This book you mentioned to
Luke—can you tell me what it looks like? I’ll look for it when I search the
office.”

“It’s a book with a red cover. I’m positive
I saw it on the bottom row of the bookshelf in Brother Rick’s office along with
my mother’s other herbal books.” She made a scoffing sound in the back of her
throat. “He wouldn’t know a book if it bit him on the butt. Why don’t you go
back to the compound now and leave this to me?”

“No.” He was definite in his refusal. “I
don’t want to leave you alone, just in case Brother Rick turns up
unexpectedly.”

“You haven’t taught me the self-defense
moves yet.”

“Tonight.”

Something about the way he said
tonight
suggested he had a lot more in mind than self-defense. She placed some
violet-colored bath bombs into a box and surrounded them with wads of newspaper
to lessen the chances of breakage.

With both of them packing products it
didn’t take as long as she’d thought.

“How much money are you giving to Brother
Rick, and where is it coming from?” she asked.

“I’ll withdraw some money from my account.”

She laughed out loud. “You have another
account Brother Rick doesn’t know about?”

“Of course,” Jake said. “And it has more
money in it than the one I was going to sign over to Children of Nature.”

Alice knocked on the rear door and stuck
her head inside. “Sorry. That took me longer than I wanted. I had to take a
couple of calls.”

“We’re done with the packing,” he said.

“You go,” Sorrel said.

“Yes,” Alice said. “I’ll help Sorrel with
the stock.”

Jake strode the three steps separating them
and seized her for a quick kiss. Sorrel didn’t fight. She melted against him
and enjoyed the physical contact. Unfortunately it was over too quick, and soon
Jake left.

“Well,” said Alice. “That was quick work on
your part.”

Sorrel frowned.

“I wasn’t being snarky. From the little
I’ve seen of him he seems a nice guy.”

“He is, although nice isn’t the word I’d
use to describe him.”

A laugh burst from Alice. “I know what you
mean. He sort of prowls and slinks despite his limp. He doesn’t smile much
either.”

“He smiles at me,” Sorrel said.

“Well that’s all that matters,” Alice said.
“Is that everything?”

“Apart from the dust. I suppose I should
sweep up.”

“Why? The cult is responsible for the
lease. They can clean up.”

“Oh,” Sorrel said, chagrined by her first
instinct. “I forgot. I’ve lived at the compound for so long I—”

Alice touched her arm in silent sympathy.
“Don’t apologize for thoughtfulness. There aren’t enough people in the world
who think the way you do.” She squeezed Sorrel’s arm and released it. “Do you
know who owns the building?”

“A Mr. Montgomery,” Sorrel said. “I know
because he came to buy a gift for his wife, and he mentioned he liked the
scents in the shop. The previous tenants sold exotic goods and burned incense.
He told me the incense made him sneeze.”

“Jason Montgomery?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, I do hope so. Jason is Gaby’s father.
Remember Gaby from our tour?”

“Of course. The woman who designs condoms
and sex toys for Fancy Free.”

“That’s the one. I’ll ring Jason as soon as
we get back. If we manage to get the lease would you set things out
differently?”

“The interior walls need painting—maybe
cream with stenciled borders around the top and bottom of the walls.”

“Something classy,” Alice mused. “Yes, I
can see your products displayed in that way. We could even do mail order like
we do with our Fancy Free products.”

The rest of the day passed before Sorrel
knew it. For the first time in months she felt excited about making her
products and the challenge of taking her cream and turning it into a
mass-marketed product. Alice gave her a lift back to Luke and Janaya’s house,
just after five-thirty. It was strange entering a building with no other people
present, no chatter or laughter. No whispers or insults.