“Sorry, am I boring you?” When he huffed, I frowned at him, truly concerned that he understood me. “Do you… speak human?”
He gave me a look that made me feel dumb and then walked away to get on the couch and slump down. There was one more sigh before I’d finished picking up my things.
“You have terrible manners, John. Still, I’m sorry that you might’ve heard what you heard last night. I regret that. And with your enhanced hearing… I owe you a bone or something. If I don’t make up for screwing up my business, once again, you can chew on my deceased carcass when I go. I’ll allow it.” I made sure I had everything and then lightly patted John on the head. “Okay. Nice meeting you. Bye.”
It only occurred to me when I was in my car and pulling out of the parking lot of the bar that I’d just had a full conversation with Jayden’s dog. I hoped that he hadn’t woken up and heard me, because I was pretty sure I’d sounded insane. To be fair to myself, though, I felt a little insane. I was under a lot of self-inflicted stress. I couldn’t help it.
A drive-by of the farmer’s market parking lot told me that I’d really messed up. It was mostly empty. Half the cars I recognized as being other vendors’. With a whispered swear, I turned back towards my house and drove home, a sinking feeling settling heavier on my shoulders with each second.
When I reached my house, a tiny bungalow with questionable heating and an unlimited supply of creaky floorboards, I rushed into the garage. Instead of the normal way I’d mope and feel sorry for myself for a few days after a failure, I felt like creating something. I wanted to make things right. I was motivated. Had several really amazing orgasms done that for me? Maybe. It sure seemed like it.
I settled on the metal stool and gasped when my bare thighs touched the cold metal. I took a short intermission to put leggings on, and then I got busy creating. There was a certain scent in my head that I wanted to get out, and I was determined to perfect it.
Of course, it was Jayden’s scent.
He’d always smelled like sunshine on top of a mountain. Fresh, airy, and bright, he smelled so good that I’d tried more than once before to recreate his scent. With it fresh in my head, though, I was able to do it. I mixed fragrances until I got it perfect, and then I started melting my special blend of waxes.
I didn’t come up for air until late in the day. I was surprised when I stuck my head out of the garage and saw that it was dark outside. I’d worked through the entire day without eating or taking a break. I had a new stock of candles to show for it, though, and a perfected scent that had been haunting me for years.
Dinner was a bowl of cereal, and then I crawled into bed with my laptop and found that I was still motivated. I created a new event on my business’s page and typed in all the details of the new sale I wanted to have. I was excited about it, and probably used a few too many exclamation marks in the post, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to save my business from myself, and I had a feeling that if I could pull my redo of Black Friday off, I would.
I fell asleep that night and dreamt of Jayden, and even John. In one of the dreams, I was riding John through a meadow of flowers, which was weird, but it jarred me awake with a new scent idea that I had to run to the garage to chase down.
It really seemed that the orgasms were the magic potion I needed for creating. Too bad I wasn’t going to sneak back over to Jayden’s.
9.
***Violet***
“Where’sthemalemodel?Everyone is going nuts at the idea of, well… nuts.” Jenny Love, the owner of Lover’s Lane, a business that created signs and other specialty items, stretched her neck around to try to locate whichever male model she was talking about. “I’ve got to tell you, I didn’t know you had it in you. I wouldn’t be able to work with how hot my face would be.”
I almost couldn’t focus on what she was saying, because I was so amazed by all the people milling about my booth. In the back corner of the farmer’s market, a spot I’d nearly been murdered for when a few of the more competitive business owners found out I’d drawn the spot in the lottery, I’d curtained us in for a more personal environment. I also wanted the candle throw to not be lost in the massive building.
“I have never seen anything like this. There are women here that I’ve never seen step foot inside the market.” Marly Jane, of Marly’s Mutts, elbowed me. “Your whole sculpt-a-live-penis thing really drew in the ladies. Too bad I can’t do anything like that. Though… I guess I could have a naked man wear an apron and help me wash a dog.”
I looked between the two of them and frowned. “What are you talking about?”
From the entrance of the booth, I saw Mavis Dupree look around until she spotted me. Then she threw her hands up and cheered. “Violet, this is amazing! Having a naked man in here might get a little dicey, though.”
A responding cheer sounded from the crowd. I swallowed and pulled up my post online. I’d said I was going to do a live sculpting event. What I had meant was that I would sculpt one of my risqué candles, live. I hadn’t mentioned anything about a male model, but I was putting the pieces together fairly quickly.
“Why is your face doing that?” Jenny motioned at her own face while staring at me. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
I made a panicked sound and pulled her farther away from the crowd. “What if I told you there was a misunderstanding? I never meant that I was going to sculpt a real man’s penis!”
Jenny’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “You can’t tell me that. That can’t be true! Violet, these women are here to see a naked man. If you don’t provide them with a naked man, they’re going to burn this place to the ground.”
“I don’t have a naked man!”
“You’d better find one, and fast, or someone else might be getting this booth. Do you remember Caroline? She owned Caroline’s Cosmic Cakes?” When I shook my head, Jenny poked me. “Exactly. She promised the women a free sample for one of her sales and then she didn’t provide them. The women in this town can be cutthroat, and they cut Caroline off over cake samples. They’re much more excited about a man.”
“But I didn’t promise them a naked man!” I swore and yanked my phone out of my pocket. “This is a nightmare. I know three men in this town that women would want to see naked. Two of them I haven’t spoken to in over five years. One of them I have no business texting. I don’t even know if these are still their numbers.”
“You’d better hope one of them shows up.” She saw my exasperated look and held up her hands. “Hey, I’m on your side. I’m just saying what they’re going to say.”
I typed out a message that I never thought I would and sent it to the men who’d each meant the whole world to me at different times in my life. Men I’d walked out on. Men who would probably rather blow my booth up than show up to help me save my business. Jayden hadn’t hated me, though. On the off-chance that I didn’t have his current number, I sent my desperate message to Adam and Ian. I didn’t think they’d show up, even if they received the message, but I had to try.
“Who’d you text?”