The Sweetest Dare

The Sweetest Dare

Leigh Ellwood

Sugar's sweet, but sex tastes better…

Kit Cheever is more than eager to welcome her new co-worker, Sidney Campbell, to Tish’s Riches, the best chocolate shop in Virginia. While the long days on the job hardly exhaust them for long nights of play, Sidney hopes for more in their relationship than candy-coated orgasms. Is dinner out too much to ask?

Kit would oblige, but she likes her privacy. The people of Dareville don’t need to know she and Sidney are anything more than co-workers. Why be “out” when it’s so much hotter and safer indoors?

Kit won’t even hold her hand in public, which upsets Sidney. She’s not asking Kit to march in a parade, just to acknowledge her feelings to the people she loves. What will it take to get Kit out of the closet and into Sidney’s heart?

eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement of the copyright of this work.

THE SWEETEST DARE

Out For You Series

Copyright © 2015 LEIGH ELLWOOD

ISBN: 978-1-936387-98-4

All Romance eBooks, LLC Palm Harbor, Florida 34684
www.allromanceebooks.com

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or business establishments, events, or locales is coincidental.

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever with out written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First All Romance eBooks publication: June 2015

Kit Cheever might have looked forward to this installment of the monthly Saturday in the Park event had her boss, Tish Richmond-Petrocelli, conceded to her two suggestions. Since Tish promoted her from cashier to assistant baker of the popular sweet shop Tish’s Riches, she’d neglected to commit to hiring a permanent replacement to man the front counter. The latest in a string of numbskull temps—a slow-witted mouth breather named Gloria—had begged off helping out in the booth in favor of staying home to binge watch some British soap opera.

The second thing, a supplementary food truck, fell on deaf ears every time Kit formed the words with her lips. This left Kit and Tish to sell their wares to anticipated hundreds of hungry townsfolk, all come out to enjoy the first pleasant day following a horrid winter, from a set of tables underneath a tent.

These weekend gatherings, held at Dareville’s largest community park, attracted people from the beach and surrounding townships. Beautiful weather could result in non-stop foot traffic until dusk.

They’re gonna kill us. We’ll sell out in five minutes, and they’ll chase us all the way back to the shop and burn it down
, Kit feared as she tried to nap in the passenger seat of the van. The town required vendors to arrive no later than seven in the morning to set up shop, so nobody hindered the flow of cars on the main roads. The chocolate shop was usually closed on days Tish elected to vend at local events, when she didn’t have enough staff. This suited Kit fine since she preferred to sleep in when she wasn’t needed. No such luck today. Why Dareville couldn’t schedule this park thing for later in the day irritated her.

Visions of hungry, angry soccer moms overturning their tables to get to the truffles and S’mores treats illuminated behind her closed eyelids. Kit shifted in this mock state of sleep, thinking they might prevent a potential disaster if Tish ever agreed to trade in the catering van for a
bona fide
food truck—mobile chocolate. Who wouldn’t support that?

Saturday in the Park, held near the historic district, celebrated local food, arts, and music. While vendors selling pottery and costume jewelry vied for attention with a full schedule of folk and rock bands, she and Tish would be relegated to the food corral at one end of the green space, dwarfed by a fleet of food trucks selling tacos, barbecue, gourmet sandwiches, and desserts. Recent publicity earned for Tish’s Riches when Tish won a reader’s choice award from a regional foodie magazine stood to help with recognition today, but Kit felt the booth they’d set up month after month looked amateurish compared to their competition.

The van hit a speed bump, and Kit jolted awake.

“Wakey-wakey, sweetheart,” chided her boss. “We’re almost there. Damn, is that temp gauge on the dashboard right? Knew I should have brought a jacket.”

Kit glanced at Tish, ever the cautious driver with a death grip on the wheel, then behind them at the many plastic containers of candies and other confections strapped to the floor of the van. A worn vinyl banner bearing an outdated logo for the shop hung limply from a clothing hook. Kit would have to tack on a laminated sign emblazoned with their social media handles. She sighed. If they didn’t look professional, who would take the food seriously?
It’s like we’re on our way to the fucking school bake sale.

“Hey, you think Jake’s Organic Grocery is open yet?” Tish asked. She brought the van to a stop behind a line of vehicles waiting to turn into the park, then reached for their special parking pass. “If so, coffee’s on me.”

“Sure. I’ll get it, I don’t mind.” Kit yawned. She’d go instead to BuzzKill, the coffee shop on the main drag, and get them something decent to drink. She didn’t mind shopping at the family-owned market for everyday stuff, but the joe they served sometimes tasted like hot, liquid dirt. She was all for saving the fair trade farmers, but nobody messed with her morning jolt of caffeine.

She pulled out her phone, thinking she ought to text her friend Annalise to see if she was working there this morning. Annalise Wright was usually good for throwing in a spare bagel and mini-tub of cream cheese. Her empty stomach growled in anticipation.

“Good enough. Get me my usual and one extra, plus yours.” Tish turned briefly to smile at her. “Vinnie’s going to meet us after his run and help out today.”

“Really?” Kit knew she sounded surprised, and perhaps a bit annoyed, to hear this. A pang of regret seized her, and she hoped Tish didn’t take her reaction the wrong way. Kit liked Tish’s husband very much, but the prospect of playing third wheel and bearing the brunt of the customer crush while Tish and Vinnie canoodled in the back of the van unnerved her.

Not that her boss might try that. Kit berated herself for presuming as much, but precedent had been set at Tish’s Riches. More than once while at work, Kit had opened the walk-in cooler to discover a bare-breasted Tish leaning against a rack, with Vinnie’s lips clamped around a nipple.

She could complain, but Tish owned the damn place, and she loved her job. Dareville wasn’t exactly a hotbed metropolis of employment opportunities, either. After the most recent incident, she’d learned to knock.

“Um,” she rejoined quickly so she didn’t sound like a complete bitch, “I thought Vinnie was working a booth from his work.” Big Apple Limo, run by one of Vinnie’s relatives, set up space at these events as well. They handed out business cards while kids crawled through a tricked-out stretch Humvee for the five-cent tour.

“The drivers are taking shifts today, so he has some extra time,” Tish explained. They watched a parking attendant wave them to an empty spot next to a convertible filled with cardboard boxes. Great, they’d have to walk and tote everything to their area, rather than just park a damn food truck and flip a switch. “Anyway, that’s great. We have an extra pair of hands, which we’ll need since it’s looking gorgeous out.”

“Just hope we have enough to last the day,” Kit murmured.

“We will, relax,” Tish chided her. “Hey, if we sell out sooner than expected, we go home.” She arched her back and made a duck face, inspecting the grounds before them. “I tell ya, I wouldn’t mind leaving early. Six hours is a long damn time to sit in one place.”

“You do it every day at work.” Kit laughed. “Longer than that, even.”

Tish regarded her with a smirking sideways glance. “I don’t
sit
at work, darling. Baking is my exercise. All that bending over the stove and rolling dough.” She flexed a bicep, showing off an impressively defined arm bulge. Despite her extra pounds, Tish proved her fitness. “Who needs yoga?”

“Maybe you could invent some new poses,” Kit joked. “Downward facing baker.”

“How about the cupcake pose?” Tish countered by mimicking a bite before a curled hand. “Eh, forget it. Let’s get set up and you can find the coffee. Don’t dally, though,” she nudged the young woman, “our public awaits.”

****

Kit balanced the cardboard drink holder in the palm of one hand while she checked her phone. She chuckled at Annalise’s all-capped message, which chided her for not waiting two lousy seconds for her to drag her sorry ass to the coffee shop to begin her shift.

“Try twenty minutes at least, doll, as long as you take in the bathroom.”
Not my fault ur late 4 wrk
, Kit tapped out with her thumb. Ahead of her, the walk sign illuminated and she stepped out onto the crosswalk with the small crowd headed for the park. Seconds later, a clown horn alerted her to Annalise’s retort.

Not mine, either. Can’t help that Barb has a wicked good tongue.

“Barb?” What happened to Cory, that sexy, flawless boi who warmed Annalise’s sheets at night? Kit shook her head. She loved her friend, but damn if Annalise’s aversion to long-term relationships didn’t annoy her. Kit thought of her own desert of a love life and envied Annalise’s sexual appetite…and the attention she received.

To look at it another way, though, Cory was single again. Kit rather liked her. Could she keep it on the down-low, if they managed to hook up? Kit was comfortable in her sexuality but didn’t consider it a topic for town conversation.

Another honk jolted Kit from her thoughts, and she steadied the coffee hand, careful not to spill the sugar packets lodged in the divots. She read the invitation from Annalise to join her tonight for a drink, but Kit pocketed her phone. She’d wait to see how Saturday in the Park panned out before she agreed to a long evening of revelry. She watched the crowd grow in size within the park’s boundaries and sighed, thinking she should have doubled the coffee order to get through the day.

Already people gathered by the Tish’s Riches booth, and Kit hastened her steps. Vinnie Petrocelli stood close to the chocolatier as they chatted with another couple. Kit recognized Cal Briscoe and his wife Sue instantly—both appeared radiant and cute in matching event T-shirts that identified them as volunteers.

“Kit, come see the pictures.” Sue waved her closer and handed her a few snapshots of a tropical landscape. Kit had to smile at the quaintness—using film paper in a digital age.

Tish flipped through a stack of photos, holding up one of a concert scene. “I am so jealous. I would love to go to St. Bart’s, especially for the jazz festival,” she said, then cast a sly glance at Vinnie. “Maybe if we save up over the summer, we could spend Christmas there.”

“Tell me when. In my mind, I’m already packed.” Vinnie then thanked Kit for his drink with a nod.

Kit passed the photos she held to Sue. “You’re not performing today?” she asked Cal. Locals could usually count on the musician’s combo to liven up any public event.

Cal grinned and shook his head. “Not this time. We’re actually headed over to the beach after this. The band’s booked for a wedding reception.” He held up his phone to show them a Facebook picture of two ladies arm in arm, beaming with their marriage license.

How cool was that—that these two women could finally, legally marry and enjoy each other’s company in public without facing reprimand? Sure, some bigoted asshole might give them the stink eye as he walked past, but people existed in this world who hated seeing races and religions mix as well. Kit recalled a friend, a die-hard Red Sox fan, who once ditched on a blind date after learning of her allegiance to the Yankees.

People are weird
, she decided. Don’t like gay marriage? Don’t get gay married.

I should talk, heh.
She admired the boldness of that couple, proudly holding up their license for all to see. Meanwhile she got hives just thinking about holding another girl’s hand in public.
So easy for other people
. Sometimes she wanted to climb the roof of Tish’s Riches and explode into a rainbow, but an echo of niggling doubt deep in her gut kept her silent. It baffled her, seeing as how she was always surrounded by liberal-minded people.

It’s not their business.
She kept telling herself this;
she
controlled her actions. Tish and Vinnie never invited her into their private lives, the walk-in incident notwithstanding. Aside from Annalise and whoever saw her at The Woolf’s Den, nobody knew she was gay.

Well, if anybody knew, they didn’t hear it from her.

“Just think, one day somebody will call us to make a cake for a same-sex wedding,” she told them. Of course, in her time at the shop Kit never quizzed customers on whether they were gay or straight, so for all she knew they’d already done something for a couple in love.