Candy Store

her dress. She threw them over her head and Derek, figuring he’d have a better chance of reasoning with her if he had some clothes on too, quickly dressed back into his now-wrinkled, slightly milky tuxedo.
    Loud voices sounded from the hall just as Callie put her hand on the doorknob. “Stay in here until everyone is gone. I’ll distract them.”
    Derek frowned. He didn’t want to embarrass Callie by giving away his presence, but at the same time, he couldn’t let her get away.
    “Wait for me,” he said, but she was already out the door and gone.
    Sitting down on an upside-down milk crate, Derek rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palms. Her scent was everywhere on him.
    “She’s not going to get away,” he promised himself as he looked around at the mess they’d made in the commercial refrigerator.
    Who knew a refrigerator could be so damn hot?

Chapter Five

    The next morning, Derek’s smile lit up the cloudy winter's day. He planned to check in at his office, have his assistant clear his schedule, and then he was going to track down Callie Moore.
    Sweet, delectable Callie Moore.
    Derek walked past the Sweet Returns: Candy Company Consultant sign and into his office building in downtown Albany, New York.
    Alice, his assistant, had already been hard at work for several hours, writing up invoices, balancing his accounts, keeping everything running so smoothly that all he ever had to do was think about the best ways to sell candy.
    “The king has finally arrived,” she said, her mouth tight as she glanced towards the clock.
    Alice had managed his office since the day he’d hung out his shingle fifteen years ago and often treated him like he was no more than an unruly kid who needed a ruler taken to his backside every once and again to stay on the straight and narrow.
    “And not a minute too soon. You need to read through several things before you meet with your new client.”
    Derek sat down in a chair, guilt momentarily weighing him down. How was he ever going to let Alice go? When he closed up his candy consulting business and joined his older brother, Ed, in the accounting firm next month, Alice was going to be heartbroken. Not to mention disapproving.
    The smile reappeared on his face. Alice loved to disapprove of whatever it was he did. Riling her up was part of the fun of working with her.
    Promising himself he’d sit down and have a talk with her soon, he pushed it from his mind. “I need you to clear my calendar for the day.” And hopefully for the next month or so, Derek thought.
    He was already envisioning a trip to the Hawaiian Islands with Callie wearing nothing but a string bikini on a hot, sandy beach. Long days in the sun, followed by perfect nights under the stars. With Callie.
    Adorable, sensuous Callie.
    Cutting into his fantasy, Alice said, “No can do. You have an important consultation today.” Her voice was full of censure. Derek wondered if she had used x-ray powers to guess his most intimate thoughts.
    He was firm. “Cancel it.”
    “I can’t and I won’t. The woman I spoke to sounds sweeter than sweet, truly in love with making candy, and, most importantly, desperately in need of your help.”
    Derek frowned at Alice, then got up out of the leather chair and stalked to her desk.
    “Fine.” He reached his hand out for the packet of client information. “I’ll go.”
    He grabbed the file without looking at it, impatient and displeased that he wasn’t going to be able to go see Callie right away. Who cared about selling candy when what waited for him was so much better than any saltwater taffy, sour ball, or chocolate bar could ever be?
    “Who’s the client?”
    “Callie’s Candies.”
    Derek nearly dropped the folder. “Did you just say Callie’s Candies?”
    A curious glint in her eyes, Alice nodded. “That’s right. My sister lives in Saratoga with that horse-crazy husband of hers and last time I went out to visit her, we dropped into Callie’s Candies. Best damn truffles I ever had.”
    “I know,” Derek said, remembering the rapturous faces of the wedding guests as they ate Callie’s truffles. They had the same look that was currently drawn across Alice’s face.
    “I’ve never seen you get so excited about candy before,” he said, teasing his assistant.
    “There are a lot of things you haven’t seen,” she snapped at him as if he wouldn’t know up from down without her help. Returning to an all-business demeanor she said, “She’s