Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek) (13 page)

Flipping the shirts around, she saw they had fun gender-specific slogans printed on the fronts. Classic Xoey. Grinning, Dani read one out loud.

AFTER A HARD DAY, THE ONLY THING AN ICE COLD CHOCOLATE WOULD CURE IS PMS.

Oh, that was so wrong. She could think of at least a dozen guys who’d wear it.

Xoey fished out some racerback tank-tops with the slogans strategically placed across the front, about boob high. “And for our college crowd...”

IT’S TRUE. BEER MAKES YOU SMART.

Ah yes, one of Xoey’s more popular sales pitches from behind the bar. No doubt those tank tops were going to sell like hotcakes. Especially since the other side of the tank-top had a smaller tattoo-style design between the shoulder blades that read:

THE MORE I DRINK, THE SMARTER YOU GET.

Dani chuckled. “Don’t tell me, this entire clothing line is made up of Xoey-isms.”

“Pretty much.” With a wicked grin, Xoey straightened up and peeled back her jacket to reveal the spaghetti-strap tank she had on today. “And the
pièce de résistance
.”

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS CHOCOLATE GOGGLES. I VOTE BEER.

Dani burst out laughing.

Xoey’s eyes glinted with a playful sparkle. “Hey, if you like that one, what do you think about me kicking it up with a racier set of slogans? Of the borderline-inappropriate variety?”

“Uh, that would be a no. I draw the line a good distance away from
your
borderline.”

Xoey pouted. “Spoilsport. C’mon. I wouldn’t come up with anything terrible. Just funny ones like: When I eat chocolate, my butt gets bigger. When I drink beer,
your—
”

“Oh
hell
no.” Clearly, Xoey couldn’t even see where that line was.

She snickered. “Fine. I’ll scratch that one.” Still chuckling, Xoey hopped up to head to the bar for a drink. “Give me an hour to think up a few more tastefully naughty ones.”

Dani’s brain staggered, knowing her imagination couldn’t even fathom whatever Xoey would likely be coming up with in terms of dirty chocolate/beer ads. There really was only one way to stamp that kind of rampant creative energy. “Wow, Xoey. Keep up all this hard work and you’ll be getting that promotion in no time,” promised Dani sweetly.

Aghast, Xoey dropped the box of shirts like it was on fire and dashed out of the office, running right past Rylan, who jumped to the side as she bulldozed past him. His eyebrows sprung up. “Do I want to know how you managed to get
that one
scared?”

“I just made it clear that there was no glass ceiling for her here.”

“Ah right, that’ll do it. Pity. If she wanted, that woman could be running her own bar.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t want it. Not yet, anyway.” Dani leaned over and gave Rylan a peck on the cheek. “What’s up, handsome?”

Rylan pulled out his smartphone and showed Dani what he and the rest of the band members had cooked up. A Facebook fan page flashed on the screen. “What do you think? Since you’ve done so much for me and the guys, we wanted to show our allegiance in this war between you and the chocolate shop guy with a three-night concert before, during, and after Valentine’s Day. I know we didn’t clear it with you first but we’ve already talked to a few other bands. Two were in nearby states for tours, and that last one is a local band that’s been killing it in venues across Arizona. None of ‘em have ever been asked to perform on Valentine’s so they’re stoked.”

Dumbstruck, Dani stared at the vibrant ‘
WE VOTE BEER
’ fan page before her.

“The concert won’t be anything fancy so don’t worry. You can just pay them our normal rate. And of course, load ‘em up with beer.” When she started to protest paying any of them that little for a full-blown concert, he held her head in his hands to stop it from shaking right off her shoulders. “Sweets, these guys are my friends. Besides, they’re not really doing it for the money. They just want to hang out, have a good time, and jam a little.” Oh so casually, he then snuck in a quick, “By the way, our band is going to play for free all three nights.”

Her look shot down that ridiculous idea. “I’m not going to
not
pay you guys!”

He not-so-subtly ignored her. “Hey look, the concert already has a few hundred ‘likes.’”

She slugged him lightly in the gut before hugging him tight. “You didn’t have to do all this. You do know you’re getting too big to play in my lil’ ole brewpub, right? You all should be on the road touring or something, not helping me with this crazy wager.”

“Aw, you know that’s not us. We all have good jobs, and the half of us who’re not already living the family life are trying real hard to get there. This is just what we do for fun.” He kissed the top of her head. “So yes, we did have to do ‘all this’ because you’ve been with us from the start, allowing us to live out our rock star fantasies and have that fun.”

The rest of the band members trotted in shortly after. “Well babycakes, what do you think?” asked Aidan. “Did we overstep or are we all booked here for the concert?”

She ran over and hugged each of them. “Of course you’re booked here; don’t be silly!” Dani stood back, teary-eyed as she lovingly pouted at each of the men who’d become brothers to her. “Ohmigod, you guys are too much. I’m about to gush and chick-cry,” she warned.

The guys immediately pivoted and made for the door. She laughed and gave them each one last peck on the cheek as they exited. “I’m paying you all double for this concert!”

The guys murmured and nodded in a way that assured her if she did, she’d find her checks ‘accidentally’ left behind in her rubbish bin.

Rylan popped his head back in after the guys cleared the doorway. “Hey, we’re all rooting for you, so kick his ass, doll.” He waggled his eyebrows. “No holding back just because you’re head over heels for the guy now.” He gave her a knowing wink and then ran after the guys before she could so much as stammer a response.

Dammit, were her growing feelings about Luke that transparent?

* * * * *

IN THE HUSH
of the pre-dawn morning, Luke pulled out a
couverture
dark
chocolate block from one of his top chocolate makers and carefully chopped it into thin slivers, all the while savoring its deep aroma as he did a great cup of coffee.

The perfect start to their grand opening day.

Not that he was treating today any different from any other day. It certainly didn’t feel any different. Because of the one-week delay in getting the front of the shop done, coupled with the fact that they’d been working out of the back for the past month with the corporate gifts, continued distribution orders across the county, and all their internet and phone gift box sales, today’s grand opening wasn’t nearly as exciting as their first grand opening back in Mesa. True, the town was looking forward to it, but honestly, he knew that most of them had tasted a lot of the samples they’d been giving out in the town square and varied town events so really, the thing they were the most excited about was the official launch to the chocolate vs. beer throwdown.

He didn’t blame them; that had been a primary focus on his mind the past few weeks, too. Damn near since the moment Dani threw down the challenge.

Putting his knife away for the time being, he tempered the newly serrated slivers in a steel bowl, gradually mixing it to a slow, rich melt and then leaving it to sit for a bit once he got it up to the right temperature and consistency.

As his set timer ticked away, he wandered over to the pantry, figuring today was as good a day as any to try out a new flavor. “What the hell,” he shrugged, grabbing a few dried Mulato, Guajillo, and Aji Panca chiles, the best matches with chocolate. After grinding the chiles down to a powder with his mortar and pestle, he threw in some jasmine tea leaves from a local grower and steeped the finished concoction in a cup of hot chocolate made from the couverture slivers.

Huh, not bad. The taste was a little on the subtle side for his palate, but layered just right, it could work. He made a few notes and logged it as a win to perfect later. All in all, another successful experiment in the uncommon and unlikely. The secret to his best creations. Truth be told, without his intrepid palate, his first shop probably wouldn’t have thrived the way it had. Not only did his novelty samples draw in customers, dreaming them up allowed him a regular outlet to be inspired by nontraditional chocolatiering ingredients. From yuzu to flavored salts, unexpected flavors with their own unique kick were unquestionably his trademark.

He liked the dauntless and unexpected.

Which would explain his intense attraction to Dani.

Shaking his head wryly at how much the woman was invading his thoughts lately, he retrieved the bowl of melted chocolate and began seeding it—gradually stirring more of the
couverture
slivers into the heated batch to both cool it down and meld the liquid and solid forms to crystallize the cocoa butter acids into a richer, smoother chocolate. Operating as he always did by sense and sight over measurements and thermometers, he was meticulous, wanting a very specific sheen, snap, and mouth feel for this batch.

As he worked, his thoughts of course drifted back to Dani. Christ, she was addictive. Pushing her buttons to get all that passion to flare was now his new favorite past time. And judging by the past few weeks, the feeling was clearly mutual. He still couldn’t believe she’d issued a throwdown. Hands-down one of the sexiest things a woman had ever done to him.

While finishing the final step of reheating the chocolate once more, Luke considered all the different ways he could truly enjoy this challenge Dani had issued. There were just so many possibilities. Oh, the limerick contest had been fun and all, but he knew he could do better. He aspired for greater.

Swiping the tempered chocolate onto parchment paper to check its gloss and texture, satisfied that it was keeping its temper, he went to grab the refrigerated chocolate squares he’d made yesterday for hand dipping today as giveaway samples for this morning’s grand opening.

As he quickly worked his way through the first hundred, he pushed his imagination to dig deeper—what would Dani
least
expect him to do? That was the question. He pondered that as he did a simple dip of the squares in the newly tempered chocolate and then stencil-sifted the ground chile and jasmine tea leaf mix on top.

Pausing after a few, he thought about switching things up by layering the powdered layer
under
the tempered coating instead of over. The surprise factor of that would likely create a new—

That’s when it hit him.

The perfect angle for the video ad they’d been planning to do for their campaign. It would also serve as a grand throwdown strike as well. Two birds, one stone.

Plus, it was so nail-gratingly aggravating, he was sure it’d drive Dani
nuts
.

He could hardly wait.

A HUGE GRIN
lit Luke’s face when he heard his shop door jangle open a half hour later.

“
Are you out of your frickin’ mind
?!” barked Quinn, storming into the shop at ten to eight, phone waving at him like a weapon. “I almost crashed the car when I heard your voicemail over my bluetooth. You want to shoot a commercial inside of
Ocotillos
?!”

“Dani
did
say to do whatever we wanted, however we wanted.”

Quinn erupted, questioning everything from his sobriety to his will to live.

Luke just laughed and stepped around her to start a batch of the pistachio whip white chocolate bonbon with honey crystals they’d be launching this week. Remembering at the last minute that he did indeed have a will to live, he plastered on his yes-Quinn-I’m-listening look before pouring the molten white chocolate he was holding onto their marble slab countertop. This tabling method, which he preferred over bowl seeding for white couverture in particular, was almost meditative, mainly due to how silent Quinn got when he began smoothing through the rich chocolate puddle with his metal spatula and putty knife. It was a phenomenon often displayed by customers as well. “You were saying?” he prodded amusedly without looking up.

She blinked. “I was saying you’re crazy,” she grumbled, her voice still hushed as if she were in a library while her captivated gaze watched the chocolate start to thicken and shine.

Funny, you’d think his spatula strokes were lulling a cobra.

Of course, nothing lasted forever. Quinn soon began arguing all the many reasons
not
to do their video at Ocotillos while he deposited the now cooled white chocolate into a bowl to bring its temperature back up and ready it for the bonbon molds. As he stirred, Luke listened to each of her very valid points.

Well, sort of. It was tough, what with Quinn starting to sound like the Peanuts cartoon teacher and all. When she launched into what he guessed was Part F of Reason Number Three, he moved on to brushing colorful honey crystals into the wells of the bonbon molds to make for a decorative tint on the finish. He threw in a solemn wow-never-thought-of-that nod as he ladled in the tempered chocolate next, cooling and coating it so only a thin layer remained in the grooves. Lastly, he piped the pistachio cream filling he’d made earlier into each chocolate-lined crater and then poured a final layer of white chocolate over it to seal the bonbons shut.