Sugar Rush (9 page)

Lexi rolled over in the
bed and looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. The digital face read
8:32. Sitting up, she combed her fingers through her hair and yawned. Getting
from the bed, Lexi grabbed her robe from the foot of the mattress. Pulling the
robe on her nude body, she staggered from the bedroom to the hallway, fumbling
with one sleeve which was inside-out. Lexi wasn’t a morning person.

In the kitchen, she
found a note from Angie on the breakfast bar. Reading the note, she learned her
friend had left early for the photo shoot and didn’t know when she would return.
Tossing the note back onto the counter, Lexi grabbed a coffee cup from the
cupboard. Silently thanking Angie for making coffee that morning, she poured
herself a cup, then added a splash of milk.

Sitting down at the
breakfast bar, she took a sip of hot coffee and then she remembered, for the
hundredth time since waking. Last night, she’d had sex with Jeff.  Closing her
eyes, she shook her head in disbelief. While she never considered herself a
prude, she had certainly never been promiscuous. A few of her friends would see
nothing scandalous about her behavior. Lexi wondered what Angie would think,
though she wasn’t sure she would tell her. It was just too embarrassing.

After coffee and a bowl
of cereal, Lexi returned to the bedroom and got dressed. Since being exiled
from her grandfather’s house, her wardrobe was limited. These days, her normal attire
consisted of denims, a cotton shirt, and flip-flops.
I’ll buy some more
clothes when I actually start earning money
, she told herself.

 The rest of the
morning, she kept busy and didn’t have time to dwell on her actions the night
before. Her first order of business was writing a to-do list.
Call Angie’s
parents, order vanilla, food handler’s card, business license, register with
the state, call insurance company, swap meet, mason jars, buy ingredients,
design logo, Facebook page, name for fudge…

After calling Angie’s
father on the phone, she obtained permission to use the rental to package her
hot-fudge-on-demand mix. The next call was to their insurance company. She went
online and ordered five pounds of Cooks Pure Vanilla Powder, the same brand
Angie’s mother had stocked in the pantry. Instead of ordering it from Amazon,
she purchased the larger container directly from the company’s website.

Online, she compared
prices for sugar, cocoa, powdered milk, and glass jars. She found addresses for
locations she needed to visit, and she surfed through some Havasu business
Facebook pages for marketing ideas. Losing track of time, she forgot about
Jeff’s lunch invitation. It was around 12:30 p.m. when the doorbell rang.

“You ready to go to
lunch?” Jeff asked when Lexi opened the door.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I
totally forgot.” Lexi nervously brushed one hand through her hair. She’d just
thrown on some clothes that morning and hadn’t even bothered putting on makeup
or fixing her hair.

Jeff’s gaze washed over
Lexi admiringly; he thought she looked perfect.

“Have you eaten yet?” he
asked as he walked inside and looked around. It was his first time in their
house.

“Not since about 9
o’clock. I had a bowl of cereal. But I’ve been busy.”

He followed Lexi into
the dining room. There he saw the pad of paper, etched with scribbly notes, and
her cell phone, sitting on the table. “Working on the hot fudge project?”

“Yes,” Lexi said
brightly. He seemed to share her interest, which fueled her enthusiasm.

“I got permission to
use the house. The insurance was much less than I estimated. I ordered the
vanilla, and I have a list of places I need to go.”

“Then we better get at
it. But lunch first.”

“I can’t expect to drag
you all over town.”

“Don’t be silly. I want
to.”

“Well, at least let me
buy the gas.”

“No way. But I will expect
frequent hot fudge sundaes.” He grinned.

“Deal. Let me get ready,
and we can go.” She was suddenly hungry, and lunch did sound good.

“Where would you like
to go for lunch?” Jeff asked when they got into his car fifteen minutes later.

“I don’t really know Havasu.”

“Neither do I. I
suppose we could just drive downtown and see what they have.”

“You know, I did see
one place I’d like to try. I was surfing through the Facebook business pages,
getting marketing ideas. I came across one for College Street Brewhouse &
Pub. It’s on College Drive, and that’s where I need to go to register for the
food hander’s class. The pictures of their food looked good.”

“You say a brewery? Hey,
if it has beer, I’m in.”

Twenty minutes later,
Jeff and Lexi sat on the outdoor patio of the College Street Brewhouse &
Pub, each sipping on a frosty glass of handcrafted beer while they waited for
their lunch.

“I can’t believe this
weather,” Jeff said.

“Feels a little beachy
to me.”

“I understand it can
get pretty hot in the summer.”

“Angie says she’s been
here when it’s 120.”

“Shit. No thanks.”

“I don’t know.” Lexi
shrugged. “According to Angie it sounds worse than it really is. Of course,
when she’s here in the summer she spends her time on the lake.”

“You think you’ll be
here when summer rolls around?”

“I don’t know; I’ll see
how this hot fudge thing goes. Of course, it also depends on Angie. As far as
the house is concerned, they never rent it during the summer months anyway, so
it’s not like we’re in a hurry to leave. I think her parents are glad we’re
paying the utilities. How about you?”

“I don’t know.” He took
a sip of beer. Looking into Lexi’s eyes he reached across the table and covered
her hand with his. It was the first time he’d made physical contact that day.
He squeezed her hand briefly and then released it, moving his hand back to his
side of the table.

“What?” Lexi asked.

“I just wanted to touch
you.”

Lexi blushed at his
pronouncement.

“I don’t know how long
I’ll be in Havasu, Lexi. I’m not in a hurry to leave, but I can’t stay
indefinitely. I need to find a job.”

“I thought you had
one?”

“I do. But like I told
you before, I’m looking for something else. I spent the morning filling out
some online applications and talking to a head hunter I’ve been working with.
He’s setting up a couple of online interviews for me.”

“I couldn’t even get a
preliminary interview. My problem is that I was focusing on local companies. I
don’t know why, but I wanted to stay in that area. I realize now that it wasn’t
the best plan, especially not for my career.” Lexi started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“You must think I’m
really flaky. I’ve a degree in graphic design, and instead of looking for a job
in my field, I’m going off in the opposite direction and planning to market my
dad’s fudge recipe!”

“Not at all. I think
you’re a survivor with an entrepreneurial spirit.”

“Survivor? Why do you
say that?”

“Oh, I don’t know.”
Jeff shook his head absently. “Just something about you. You don’t really have
any family support, but here you are, tackling a new adventure and doing it
your own way. I find that very inspiring.”

Lexi blushed at his
assessment. “That’s a very sweet thing to say.”

“Not sweet. The truth.”

“Do you ever think
about moving back to Portland?” Lexi asked, redirecting the conversation.

“My parents would love
that, especially my mother. She hasn’t been thrilled with my job.”

“Why?”

“For one thing, I
haven’t had a Christmas at home since I started working for the company.”

“Sounds like my
grandfather.”

“Excuse me?” Jeff
frowned, wondering if he’d said too much. When switching cars, Ethan Beaumont
told Jeff to use his own name when in Havasu. There was no reason to fabricate
an alias, because Beaumont had always referred to his assistant as J.B. Her
comment made Jeff nervous and he wondered if she might piece things together if
he revealed too much. Unfortunately for Jeff, he wanted to be truthful with
Lexi.

“He was never home for
the holidays, either. I never spent a single Christmas with him. Even that
first year, after my parents were killed, he was gone.”

“Who did you spend
Christmas with?”

“I stayed home with
servants.”

“I’m sorry, Lexi.”

“Oh, don’t be. I’m so
over it; it was a long time ago. I would just like to someday understand why in
the hell my parents had me go to him and not someone else.”

“Was there anyone
else?”

“I guess not.” Lexi
shrugged.

“So, what were those
Christmases like, with the servants?” Jeff couldn’t imagine not being
surrounded by family during the holidays. Growing up, his home had been filled
with love, and Christmas was always for family. He couldn’t help but feel a
little guilty for missing the last two Christmases, especially when he considered
Lexi’s family situation.

“Actually it wasn’t too
bad. For years my grandfather had a housekeeper named Mrs. Parks, who was
really very good to me. I always suspected that if it wasn’t for her, there
wouldn’t have been presents under the Christmas tree. Hell, there probably
wouldn’t have been a tree.”

“What happened to her?”
He knew there was no Mrs. Parks working at the estate now.

“She died when I was a
senior in high school. I came home one day, and found her on the kitchen floor.
She’d had a heart attack.” Lexi was silent for a moment and then she smiled, as
if she’d moved beyond her momentary sadness.

“But that was ages ago,
and Mrs. Parks lived a long life. According to the doctors, she didn’t suffer.
They doubted she could have been saved, even if someone had been there when it
happened.”

Once again, Jeff
reached across the table and placed his hand over Lexi’s, giving it a
reassuring squeeze. Lexi looked up into Jeff’s eyes and wondered what he was
thinking. His expression was so intent, so caring. 
When was the last time a
man looked at me as if he actually cared about me?
 In high school, she
hadn’t been allowed to date, and in college, she’d had two serious boyfriends—one
in her freshman year, whom she’d lost her virginity to, and one during her
junior year. Each relationship had ended the week after she brought the boy
home to meet her grandfather.

By Thursday, colorful
hot air balloons were already drifting over Lake Havasu. Jeff purchased tickets
for the event, and Lexi agreed to go with him. While she could observe the
event for free from one of the public beaches, having tickets meant they could
enter the balloon field and enjoy the various concessions and events.

Jeff picked Lexi up
early on Friday morning. The field was teeming with activities. Tethered
balloon rides were available, but Jeff was unable to coax Lexi up for a ride.
The four-day event included live entertainment, a kite show, skydivers,
gymnastic demonstrations, and train rides for the kids.

On Sunday, she and Jeff
made time to stop at the Sunday swap meet to sign up for a booth. Lexi was
determined to move quickly with her hot fudge project.

Angie had made friends
with a number of participants in the event, and the four-day weekend turned
into a party of sorts that included Lexi and Jeff. It also meant Lexi and Jeff
never seemed to have another opportunity to be alone with each other. At least,
not in the same way as they had been in the spa.

 When Tuesday rolled
around, Lexi had a food handler’s class to take. Angie drove her to the class
and picked her up when it was over. On Wednesday, her powdered vanilla arrived.
and she finally downloaded the free trial software of the graphic design
software and started designing a logo and labels for the hot fudge, and set up
a Facebook site.

By Friday, she was in
full production, with Jeff’s help. Her goal was to sell two dozen jars of the
hot fudge mix on Sunday, which she’d decided to call
Walt’s Hot Fudge on
Demand
. Walt had been her father’s name. The cost per jar of mix was five
dollars, and she was planning to price them at twenty dollars each. This would
net her $360, not including labor—if she sold all twenty-four jars. She based
her price on what similar products sold for online.

Lexi began with
sanitizing the mason jars in the dishwasher and making sure they were
completely dry. Filling them with the ingredients went quickly, especially
after Jeff came up with an efficient assembly line. When it came to mixing the
ingredients, it got a little silly, with the two dancing around the kitchen,
each holding a lidded jar filled with powdered mixture, shaking the glass
containers like soundless maracas.

Jeff held a jar over
his head, jiggling it back and forth as he swung his hips, looking more
ridiculous than sexy. Lexi did a little shimmy, holding her jar close to her
body as she shook the powdered mix from one side to the other in the glass
container. Jeff watched her dance, and they both began to laugh.

“At least we figured
out a way to burn off those calories from all that fudge sampling!” Lexi laughed,
no longer dancing as she tried to catch her breath. “Maybe we should have Angie
tape us. We could add the video to the hot fudge’s Facebook page.”

“I don’t think so.”
Jeff chuckled and set the jar on the counter. Reaching out, he took Lexi’s jar
from her and set it with his before pulling her into his arms. She went
willingly, and looked up into his blue eyes. Since the encounter in the spa,
they’d stolen a few random kisses and held hands, yet there always seemed to be
someone around. Until now.

“Spend the night with
me,” Jeff asked, holding her in his arms.

In reply, Lexi leaned
her forehead against his right shoulder, as her arms wrapped around his waist.
She had never felt so safe as she had in Jeff’s arms. It no longer seemed
strange to her that they’d had sex that night. It only seemed strange that they
hadn’t had it again.

“Okay,” Lexi leaned
back slightly and looked up into his face. “But don’t forget we have a lot to
do tomorrow to get ready for Sunday, so we have to actually sleep.”

“We can sleep,
after
.”

“
After?
” Lexi
asked in a teasing tone.

“After I do all sorts
of wicked things to your sweet body.”

Angie arrived before
Jeff had the opportunity to elaborate on what wicked things he had in mind.
They finished packaging the mix and cleaned the kitchen while Angie sat at the
breakfast bar, watching and chatting with her friends.

Instead of sticker
labels, Lexi designed decorative tags printed on heavy stock paper. After using
twine to attach a tag to each jar, she put the jars back in the cardboard boxes
they’d originally come in.

Jeff announced he was
running to the store to pick up something to barbecue for dinner, and gave Lexi
a quick kiss goodbye before leaving.

“He really is a nice
guy,” Angie said. “I also noticed he didn’t invite me for dinner. Hmmm, a
romantic dinner for two?”

“Actually, I’m spending
the night at his house,” Lexi said shyly.

“Really? Well it’s
about time. Wait a minute… Have you two… already?”

Lexi smiled in reply,
not answering.

“So, what’s the deal
with you two? I haven’t really heard him talk about leaving, but I know he
mentioned looking for a job.”

“He’s had a couple
online interviews. The way he talks, I really don’t think he’ll be returning to
his old job.”

“So, is this thing
serious? I know you. You aren’t someone who casually does sleepovers.”

“We haven’t talked
about it. For one thing, it’s way too soon. Hell, we haven’t even known each
other for two weeks. But there’s definitely something there. I’ll wait and see
where he lands, and how we’re both feeling toward each other at the time. While
it’s premature to even think about moving in together, I would seriously
consider moving where he settles. Just to give us a chance, if we both are
still feeling the same way. It isn’t like I have any ties.”

“Finding someone you
really click with isn’t easy. It sure seems to me that you two click. I love
how supportive he is of you. It’s like you have your own hunky cheerleader.”

Lexi blushed. “Yeah, he
makes me feel special. I like that he comes from a tight-knit family. He’s
really close to his mom and his sister.”

“Well, guys who have
healthy relationships with their mothers and sisters tend to be good to their
women.”

“I thought guys who
were close with their mothers didn’t do well in relationships.”

“I said
healthy
relationships.
There is a difference, Lexi.”

 “True.”

“So, how are you
planning to push this stuff at the swap meet?”

“Jeff came up with a
great idea. He stopped at one of the local restaurants and talked them into
selling him a couple sleeves of soufflé cups and lids.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s those little
plastic cups restaurants put salad dressing in. Disposable, and they have lids.
I’m going to make up a batch of fudge, and give out 2-ounce samples, each with
a little wooden spoon. Jeff also got me some of those. The kind used in
individual servings of ice cream.”

“How will the fudge
hold up?”

“We’ll keep them in an
ice chest, pass them out. They’ll be all cold and fudgy. Jeff thinks tasting the
fudge will sell it.”

“I think you should
hire Jeff to work for you, I hear he’s looking for a job, and he seems to come
up with some good ideas.”

Lexi laughed, then
said, “Trust me, I’ve thought about that. He’s made this adventure so much fun.
Even if it doesn’t work out, I’m really enjoying myself. This is the most fun
I’ve had in such a long time.”

“I wanted to tell you I
love the tags you designed. You’re really talented, girl. Even without the free
sample, I think your packaging alone could sell the product. Other than making
the fudge, do you have anything else to do?”

“Not really. Jeff was a
sweetheart and picked up a table and EZ-Up canopy for the swap meet when I was
taking the food handlers class. They’re over at his house. I practically had to
twist his arm to let me pay for it. He finally accepted my money when I
explained I needed to treat this venture professionally and keep track of all
my expenses. I still need to get some business cards, but I went ahead and
printed some when I was at Staples, using business card paper”

“Ouch. I bet that was
expensive.”

“It wasn’t bad. I
needed something fast. I also found some cute plastic jars online, much cheaper
than the glass mason jars. I can see eventually using something like that if I
start shipping the product. Not only would it be cheaper, but they wouldn’t
break.”

“You’re really getting
into this thing.”

“I guess I am.” Lexi
smiled.

* * *

“Did you get hold of
her checkbook? Debit card, something?” Ethan Beaumont asked. “It’s been almost
two weeks. She should’ve been home by now.”

Sitting in the car in
the Albertson’s parking lot, Jeff held the cell phone to his ear as he listened
to the ranting of his employer.

“I don’t think she has
that much money,” he lied. “She really isn’t spending any. I don’t think it’s
costing her anything to live with Angie. She doesn’t have a car, so it isn’t
like she has any expenses.”

“The girl has to eat. She
is sponging off her friend?”

“I didn’t say that.”
Jeff wanted to suggest that this endeavor was futile, and it would be best if
he simply came home, and Ethan forget about whatever plans he had for Lexi. But
he didn’t want to go home. He knew if Ethan suggested that, he would quit and
stay with her. Yet, he wasn’t sure how all that would work, since Ethan was
paying for the house.

“Barnett, you have one
week. Peters will be coming back from London sometime within the next two weeks,
and I intend to have Lexi at home, waiting for him and prepared to accept his
proposal. I’m not getting any younger, and when I die I want to know my company
will eventually go to my great-grandchildren.”

“But, sir, can’t that
still happen if Lexi marries someone else?”

“I don’t want the
company I built from the ground up to go to some loser my granddaughter picks
if left to her own devices. You never met her only two boyfriends. They were
losers. Fortunately, it didn’t take much to buy them off and convince them to
disappear. Peters already owns half of the company, and he’s the only one I
trust. I don’t want to worry about my company when I’m gone.”

When you’re gone, you
won’t be here to worry
, Jeff thought.

“One week, Barnett. If
she isn’t here by next Friday, come home, and I’ll handle it myself. And when
you do come home, drop the car off at the office and pick up your severance
check.”

Jeff sat in his car
staring at the cell phone. At least now he knew; if he didn’t deliver Lexi, in
one week he was officially out of a job.
I need to tell Lexi
, he told
himself.