Licorice Whips (28 page)

“I didn’t want to see you spiraling down again.”

Sweet knew exactly what Masaun meant. As much as he wanted to admonish his brother for being so overprotective, he couldn’t.

“I’m okay.” He pushed past Masaun.

“You look it. So, since what you have going on is a temporary thing, does that mean I won’t get a chance to meet her?”

Sweet turned back to Masaun.

“Can you two do dinner tonight?” Masaun asked.

Sweet shook his head.

“Come on. I’m not like you in the kitchen, but I do okay. Kindle, not so much.” Masaun laughed. “We haven’t broken bread since–”

“Since you and Kindle got together.” Sweet didn’t mean to sound bitter about his brother’s happy love life. He couldn’t deny he wanted something like that for himself. Something permanent. Something of his own. “I have plans tonight. She’s taking me somewhere.”

Masaun blinked. “Really?”

“Why does that surprise you?”

“I can’t believe you let someone else plan an event. Vanilla or not, I’ve never know you to release the reins on anything.”

When Masaun posed the situation that way, it struck Sweet that he’d had relaxed his standards around Nikla. What did that mean to him?

He shook his head. “I’m learning to be open. What can I say?”

“I’d say I really would like to meet this miracle worker.”

“Rain check.”

“At least you have something keeping you busy to keep your mind off that crazy plan to expand.” Masaun shook his head. “It’s just not a good time. You know that, right?”

Sweet just smiled at Masaun. Now would have been a great time to share with him his idea to acquire that new spot downtown. Even though Sweet hadn’t talked to Bobbi in over a week, he had a good feeling that she saw his business as a frontrunner. Not that Nikla didn’t have something to offer.

As he thought about her, he imagined her having her own business. With her drive, she could do it. More importantly, it would make her happy. Where would that leave him?

Sweet carried the tray of fudge to the main store and placed them in the case. He broke his attention from his task when he heard his name being bellowed out in the store.

“Sweet!” Connie called out.

Sweet turned to the older woman standing in the middle of the store.

Connie pointed to the front of the store. “She’s back.”

Sweet didn’t even ask her who she meant. He darted to the door and marched through it. His heart pounded with each step until he came face to face with Nikla.

He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. “What are you still doing here?”

****

Nikla’s stomach trembled with excitement although in front of Sweet, she tried to remain cool. “What? You think because of what has happened between us that I wouldn’t still come and do this?”

Sweet approached her. He lowered his voice and whispered, “I would expect nothing less.”

She gripped her fliers as she let his deep voice roll over her. If she were honest with herself, Nikla would admit that her visit today had everything to do with seeing this sexy man again.

She should have taken him up on his offer to call in sick. Nikla had never done that before. She’d never missed a day of school, either. Good ol’ reliable Nikla Dearwood. Here she stood with a man her father wouldn’t want for her.

His race had nothing to do with it. Lawrence would say Sweet controlled her. Nikla would have to happily agree.

“Having any luck?” Sweet circled her body.

“Not a lot of people out here today.”

“They heard you were coming and they all ran.”

Nikla looked at Sweet and noticed he laughed. Better than his smile, his laugh made her feel light. “Cute.”

“Tell me what you were like as a child.”

Nikla regarded Sweet for a moment. “Are you serious?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I want to know what a young Nikla was like.”

She smirked. “My father would say I was unmotivated and lazy despite being my high school’s valedictorian and graduating
magna cum laude
from college.”

Sweet shook his head. “I have no interest in hearing how other people have defined you.”

“Says the man who calls me Sugar Baby.” What she did as Sugar Baby made her cheeks feel hot.

“Do you really want to go there now? If so, you didn’t give me my standard greeting.”

Nikla stared at him for a moment before she smiled to break up the tension. No way in public could she kiss his cheeks then his lips, then lower herself to the ground. What would people think if they saw that?

“Me as a child, right?” Nikla crossed her feet and locked her knees back in her spot. “I was curious. Where we lived, the woods backed up to our property. I would go exploring in the woods all the time. I’d catch tadpoles and snapping turtles.”

She noticed that at that bit of news, Sweet’s eyes widened.

“You caught snapping turtles? Wasn’t that dangerous?”

She nodded. “But when you’re a kid, you feel invincible like nothing can ever hurt you.” Nikla lowered her gaze as she thought about herself as a child. “I can’t believe how brave I was back then. I couldn’t do that now.”

“Do what? Go into the woods?” Sweet asked.

“The unknown.”

“That I don’t believe.”

She brought her gaze up to meet his.

“You’re wanting to start your own business, which takes a tremendous amount of guts. And you’re learning about my lifestyle and have yet to flinch.”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“The business is my passion. I love what I do. The business is just a natural extension of me.”

“And with me?” He took a step toward her. He lowered his arms down to his sides.

“You talked about your lifestyle with such passion, I believed you.” Nikla meant that.

Had Sweet acted goofy or immature about being a Dom, or worse, cocky, she wouldn’t have been willing to allow him to do what he’d done to her.

“Go on. Talk about your childhood.” Sweet put his hands to his hips.

“You don’t want to hear about my boring childhood, me catching fireflies and reading old books.” She turned her back on him before she could admit anything else embarrassing.

“You act as though what you did as a child is so very different from everyone else.”

After Nikla returned her gaze to Sweet did he continued speaking.

“I did the same thing.” He patted his flat stomach. “Remember I didn’t always look like this.”

Nikla snickered. “Yeah? So who’s your favorite author?”

“Back then? Edgar Allen Poe. What can I say? Even as a kid I knew I needed to be in a dungeon.” His smile slipped down. “You?”

Nikla shook her head. “I’m not going to say. You’ll laugh.”

“Never.”

She took a deep breath. “I liked Judy Blume.” When it looked like nothing registered over Sweet’s face, she elaborated. “I didn’t like her children’s stuff, even as a kid. You know.
Fudge
, and
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret
.”

“There’s a book out there titled like that?” Sweet swept his brown hair back from his face.

“Yes. It’s about a young girl’s foray into womanhood.” Nikla smirked. “She gets her period.”

“Ah, nice. Guys don’t have any books about masturbating for the first time. You know. No,
Hey, God, Climbing This Rope Feels Good
.”

Nikla laughed. “You’re funny. No, I liked Judy Blume’s adult stuff like
Wifey
.”

“What did you like about the book?” he asked.

“She talked honestly about a woman, a wife, and how she dealt with everyday life. She gets to live out fantasies. It all starts with a naked man on a motorcycle wearing an American flag.”

“All it started with us was some licorice whips.”

Nikla stared at him. The silence that existed between them made her feel like she stood right in front him, not just a few feet away. She noticed his breathing increasing. He licked his bottom lip as he stared at her.

“Hey, Sweet. Should I call the police?” a heavyset woman asked from the store’s open door.

Sweet broke his gaze from her for a moment to address her. He turned around. “No. I told you I had this handled.”

“You’ve been out here a long time. I thought–”

“I’m fine. Go back in the store.” Sweet kept his stare on his employee until she retreated into the store.

“Maybe you should go.” Nikla looked at her fliers. “And I should go, too.”

“I’m not going to call the police on you. I believe someone told me that you had a right to stand on this public sidewalk.”

Nikla went to her car. “Yes. But I shouldn’t be out here doing this.”

“So why did you come?”

Nikla stared at Sweet. She nibbled on her bottom lip.

“Did you have lunch already?” Sweet went toward her car.

Unable to speak, she nodded.

“Did you eat what I had in your plan?”

Nikla nodded again.

“Come up to my place.”

She opened her door and threw the fliers inside. Nikla shook her head. “I shouldn’t.”

“Just to talk. I like talking to you.”

Nikla smiled. “I like talking to you, too. But when we get together, it tends to go too far.”

“It doesn’t have to.” He held his hands up. “I won’t touch you.”

“You wouldn’t have to. I look into those eyes and–” Nikla stopped herself before she could admit anything else. “I need to go. Suddenly a very cold shower sounds just about right.” She sat in her car and powered the window down as soon as she started her car. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Besides workout clothes, should I bring anything else?” Sweet asked as he braced his hands on her car door.

Nikla shook her head. “I’ll have what you need.”

“Yes, you do.”

Before Nikla could crumble, she backed her car up and left. For the first time, Nikla felt conflicted about handing out fliers about Sweet’s business. How could she hurt him when he’d done nothing to her but accepted her for her true self, something she couldn’t even get her father to do? She glanced over at the stack and flipped them over.

Tonight she would push Sweet this time. If he cracked, she would know if she had Sweet pegged right. Something deep inside told her that she already knew the answer to that question.

Chapter Twenty-On
e

It took every bit of strength for Nikla to leave Sweet, especially being so close to his apartment. She had time in between classes to get in a good spanking...or more. It seemed like he wanted to know more about her than what he could do to make her climax. She smiled and had to fight herself from turning around in the middle of the street to go back to him.

When she returned to work, Nikla had to keep reminding herself to focus on her students. Her mind wandered over several topics. First she thought about Sweet. Swithin. It didn’t escape her notice that in a short amount of time the man managed to get her to forget her sorry ex-boyfriend while getting her to bend to his will, to submit.

Submission. Nikla never thought anyone could get her to do that. If her father knew, he would demand that she quit her job, give up her apartment, move in with him and work in his store. Of course it wouldn’t take much for her father to make that offer.

The other thing rolling around in her head had to do with her business. As each day went by, she thought about it more and more. Bobbi could tell her that she could have that small suite. Nikla would then have to get the equipment, set up bank accounts, get insurance, advertise, and more before any customers could come through the door. The idea of all that seemed daunting. She swallowed and continued her class, hoping by doing yoga she could calm herself down.

After her last class, Nikla gathered her belongings. The butterflies in her stomach existed because of her upcoming date with Sweet.

Date? No. Outing. Nothing more. She had to get her head back into the game. If only everything Sweet did to her didn’t feel so good.

Big Tom strolled into the workout room. “Hey, Nikla.”

“Just packing up. The room is all yours.”

He held up his bear paw-sized hand. “Hold up. I have to talk to you real quick.”

Nikla set her bag on the floor at her feet as she regarded the linebacker-sized man. “What’s up?”

“You know we’re all a team here. More than a team. We’re like a big family.”

Nikla nodded. “I love this place.” She put her hand over her mouth. “Oh, God. Please don’t tell me the center is closing.”

Big Tom shook his shaved head. “No. Nothing like that.”

Nikla breathed a sigh of relief for a number of reasons. Until she could get her business up and running, she needed this job. She had only herself to rely on for support. No way could she go crawling to her father to ask him for help.

“Whew. From the way you started, I thought something was going to go down with the recreation center.” She wiped her forehead, then casually glanced at her watch. She didn’t want to keep Sweet waiting.

Or maybe she did. If she arrived late, would he punish her? If so, how? How twisted had she become that she thought about ways for Sweet to punish her
and
she looked forward to them?

“Like I was saying, we’re a family here. We support each other.”

Nikla smiled. No one could ever say that she wasn’t a team player as many times she came in early, stayed late, and covered for other employees.

“Of course.” She nodded.

Big Tom lowered his voice. “I understand that you didn’t help one of your coworkers.”

Nikla’s smile melted and her face heated up to a nuclear level. “What are you talking about?”

“Karen.”

That one name almost forced Nikla to scream. She took a deep breath before speaking. “Do you know how many times I’ve covered for her in the past? I couldn’t do it one time because I had plans and she ran to you and cried?”

“Brought me the concern, not cried.”

“Doubtful. She cries when she asks me to cover for her. I’ve never asked anyone to cover my classes. I’m always here. I work my behind off.” Nikla balled her hands into fists.

She hated going to this date tonight with Sweet and feeling this wound up. Not a date. Oh hell, who was she kidding?