Chapter Ten #3
I glanced at Edgar, now being fitted with a green apron.
He gave me a shrug as Capucine held his burrito while Crocus snapped a hairnet on his head.
Seeing that my oldest friend was now enlisted to sell candy to the masses, I turned to Haider.
He was clearly caught in a whirlwind of indecision.
The breeze tickled his curls. My fingers itched to card themselves into that auburn mass of ringlets then lead that sweet mouth of his to mine.
But one did not push kisses onto potential business partners.
“I could eat a burrito,” Haider announced, untying then tossing his apron behind the stall.
I nodded and fell in beside him, unsure of how to proceed.
I would let him set the tone. And if that included stuffing burritos into my already tender stomach then so be it.
I was in agreement with Capucine. This festering indecisive state must end, one way or the other.
We walked side by side to the burrito truck.
Haider bought four. He handed one to me then stalked off to sit on a bench in front of the local realtor.
The sounds of the polka band floated by as I rounded the bench, burrito in hand, and sat beside him.
From here we could just see a corner of the green where a clown was making balloon animals for a small group of children.
“I hate clowns,” Haider said out of nowhere before biting into burrito number one. The other two wrapped delicacies sat in a brown bag between us. “When I was a kid I read It and it scarred me for life.”
“I’ve only seen the movie once with an old boyfriend who enjoyed horror. I do not, and so the entire time I was peeking through my fingers as he reveled in the blood and gore.”
“Exactly. I don’t like scary bloody books or movies either,” he said then took another bite of his burrito. And then we sat there, two bumps on a redwood log, staring at the clown twisting a skinny balloon into the shape of a dog.
Five minutes passed. Haider had wolfed down all three burritos. He was now eying mine hungrily. I held it out to him.
“Please, if you want it have it. I only took one bite,” I said as his beautiful eyes flickered from the Mexican wrap to me. “I did not spit on it, I swear.”
“I’ve ingested your spittle as well as other emissions from your body already so I’m not really concerned about that. What I’m worried about is what taking your burrito means in the grand scheme of things.”
“It means that the previous three burritos weren’t enough to fill you up?
” I said as the offering hung there in the air.
A balloon animal popped across the street.
A child started crying. The clown knelt down to comfort him.
Haider and I both shuddered visibly “That mother needs to remove that child from that clown before he’s pulled into a sewer. ”
“Seriously. When I’m a parent I am never going to allow my child anywhere near a clown. Not even a mummer clown. I mean, sure, they have banjoes and strut around in feathers which is sort of like a drag queen but not really…”
“I have no idea of what you are referring to with the mummery or a drag queen with a banjo.”
The man had totally lost me.
“Oh, yeah, well I was thinking of Trixie Mattel but I don’t think she plays a banjo.
She plays an autoharp. Mummers are people who dress up on New Years Day and strut around on Broad Street in Philadelphia.
One of the kids I went to high school with was from Philly and his family always watched the Mummers Parade online.
It’s pretty cool. I mean, the costumes are really pretty… ”
“Haider,” I slipped in before he could launch into another nervous ramble. “The burrito is just a burrito. There is no hidden agenda behind it. Please. If you wish to eat it do so.”
“So what you’re saying is that sometimes the burrito is just a burrito?”
“Exactly.” He plucked the chicken burrito from my hand. The man was so lean I wasn’t sure where he was putting all of this food. “I think we should talk about our relationship.”
He picked a black bean from the goodies inside his burrito, blue eyes now clouded with confusion.
“Do we have a relationship?” he asked then tossed the bean into his mouth.
“I think we have something that is very much close to a relationship. Whether it remains business or pleasure is what we need to decide.” I sat back, crossed one leg over the other, and let him chew his bean.
My gaze lingered on the clown who was now on break and smoking a cigarette under a fat oak tree.
“Your grandmother and I had quite a chat over our lemonade.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked nonchalantly. I fought the urge to smile, instead keeping my sight on Hank the Happy Clown smoking a Marlboro as he talked on his cell. “She’s been cagey lately.”
“Mm, well, she was rather forthright with me. She told me about her past with my grandfather, and how he stole her recipes.” I turned on the bench to face him.
“I am aghast and shamed that my family did such a heinous thing to yours. There will be compensation made—of that I can assure you. Also, I am withdrawing the offer to purchase Harmony Chocolates from you effective as of midnight tonight.” His mouth fell open.
Thankfully he had swallowed his black bean.
I reached out to close it, allowing my fingers to linger on his scratchy chin for a tender caress.
His blue eyes widened, narrowed, and then dropped to the burrito in his hand.
“I will not swoop in to harm Capucine in such a manner again. Her recipes will stay with you, as they should, and I will withdraw from your life wholly.”
He nodded, his curls bobbing. “Okay, that’s…yeah, that’s what I want.”
That admission hurt. “I know. You’ve been very clear that you have no wish to sell to me. I respect that. I should not have come over to try to bully you into it. That is Bernhard’s way not mine.”
His sight came up to grab mine. “I know you’re not like him, now .
I mean, now that we know each other better.
I’m just…selling would have solved so many problems, so I’m kind of in a weird place where I’m glad to have you back off professionally but unsure of how I can make a go of it without the cash that Brauning would have given me. ”
“Personally?” I enquired as my fingers yearned to fly back to his face. I kept them on my lap. His expressive brows tangled. “You said you were glad to have me back off professionally. What about personally?”
“Oh.” He seemed flustered. It was an engaging look but I needed him to be sure. I was. I’d spent one night loving him and was certain I wanted more. And not only sex, although the sex had been phenomenal. I wanted more Haider in my life no matter how difficult that may be at the moment.
“Why don’t you take a few days to think about it?” I offered after watching him burp softly, chew another bean, wet his lips, and swallow loudly. “Perhaps a few weeks.”
“‘Weeks’?” He plucked another bean free then rolled it between his fingers.
“Mm, yes, weeks. I wish to fly home and address a few things with my grandfather in person. This sort of calling out cannot be done otherwise. I will reach out when I have things settled in Munich. If you have decided to not see me again then I shall send a revamped proposal along via email in all the proper channels. If you request me to return to the states I shall do so with haste.”
The poor black bean was now paste ground between his fingers. He seemed unwilling to look me in the eye, a bad omen, I felt. Perhaps he was unable to even consider a romance with someone related to the toad—thank you Capucine—who had done such ill to his family. It would be understandable.
“What kind of revamped proposal?” That query brought his bright blue gaze from the bean pulp.
“Well, I am not wholly sure yet but I would like to perhaps invest in Harmony Chocolates as a silent partner.” His eyes flared.
“I would happily buy say ten percent of your shops stocks then ask for a measly ten percent payback, which I would then reinvest five percent back in the shop. You sorely need to expand. Your webpage is primitive. The kitchen needs modernizing. I have a list of upgrades that I accumulated for my grandfather who will never see the list now.”
“Oh,” he murmured yet again. “I’m not sure about stocks but I can offer you membership units.”
“That would work.”
“Okay. Wow, I…okay.” He stared at me as if he were trying to ascertain how sincere I was being. I didn’t blink or look away. I wanted Haider to see that I was in this one hundred percent, be it just business or a joint personal and professional joining.
“So, that is my new offer. It is not affiliated with Brauning Chocolates at all. This will be a limited involvement on my part in the day-to-day operation of Harmony Chocolates. I can keep tabs on things from Munich online if you wish.”
“Why are you doing this?” I quirked a brow in question. “Making me this new offer. Are you feeling guilty over the shit dear old Opa did to Mamie, or are you truly invested in seeing Harmony Chocolates thrive?”
“All of the above,” I replied candidly as the clown ground out his butt on the grass. Ugh. What a litter clown. “Also, may I just say that I am very relieved that you did not question me on if I were using cash to lure you into a commitment.”
I turned to face him. I watched the tension ease around his eyes. “No, I wouldn’t say that again. I’m sorry for saying it before. I was…you make me…shit. I don’t like weeks.”
Now I was wholly confuddled. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Are all Brauning men so thickheaded?” He asked before he crashed his mouth into mine.
I stiffened in shock then relaxed into the heated kiss, cupping his pert ass as he shoved his tongue into my mouth at the same time he carded his fingers into my hair.
I’d never been kissed so thoroughly on a park bench before.
And while it was erotic as hell we were also on a bench on a side street during Caldwell Crossings Founders Day celebration.
I eased back from the kiss to stare into simmering sapphire eyes.
“I don’t like the idea of weeks. I like the idea of days.
Go home, tell King Toad off, and then come back here, to Caldwell Crossing, and we’ll see how things go. ”
“We can date,” I offered, then forced myself to release his buttocks before someone could call the police on us.
“Does dating include earth-shattering sex?”
“That is up to you, liebster.”
“Okay that is sexy as hell. Say that again.”
So I did, several dozen times sprinkled among more kisses, before we had to peel ourselves apart. A gaggle of old women had toddled by and tsked us so we took a few moments to cool down before leaving the bench to walk back to the Harmony Chocolates booth hand-in-hand.
Haider took a circuitous route, stopping at the maple farm stall, the fire station tent, and lastly at the table of his woodworker friend. Each of his buddies gave me dark, distrustful looks but nodded along as he explained that we’d reached a détente.
I smiled widely at each man then promised, also to each man, that I would never bring any hurt to Haider. None of them seemed wholly sure of my vow but that was fine. I would show them, and Haider, that I was totally devoted to making the man gripping my fingers so tightly incredibly happy.
I just had to tend to a poisonous old toad back home first.