AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I was thinking of calling this place the Sugar Rush Bakery, but we need to come up with something different.”
She rubs her face, her eyes darting to the empty box lid as if she just this moment realized she hasn’t taken the first bite of her confections. A few minutes later, she returns with a dozen more cupcakes. After refilling our coffee cups, she makes a show of once again pulling out her computer pad.
“Need I remind you that brainstorming means there are no stupid suggestions? No bad answers. Everything gets put on the table and we’ll sort it out later. I’ll start. Just Desserts.” The swift glance she gives me tells me she’s thinking of taking revenge on Colonel Slater.
“Cupcake Castle Bakery.”
“Furry Bites Bakery.”
“DNA-licious.” Watson has more of a sense of humor than I thought.
“Hybrid Bites.”
“Mutant Treats.” By the swift looks we give him, I hope Watson gets the hint that brainstorming or not, some words are off-limits. “Sorry.” As his act of contrition, he pops half a cupcake into his mouth. “Cross-Species Sweet Shop,” he offers. Perhaps he knows it’s a lousy name but also knows it won’t offend anyone.
“Spliced Sweets.”
“Spliced Treats.”
“Sugar and Spice,” Barton offers.
“Sugar and Splice,” all four of us shout at the same time, knowing we’ve come up with the winner.
Chapter Twenty-Four
TwoWeeksLater…
Jenna
Colonel Slater suggested an opening date for Sugar and Splice. It’s tomorrow. I should have just told him no. Why should I strive to please him? He feels like the enemy because keeping Noble and me apart seems personal.
I should resist this imposed deadline, but I’ve been working at top speed to perfect my sweet recipes and develop a splicer line. I could have asked for more time, but it’s been a great opportunity to channel all my horny urges into work.
Noble and I have kept our hands to ourselves, settling for longing glances and the occasional whispered filthy conversation about all the things we want to do together when we’re finally allowed to touch.
For a male who’d never been in the same room with a woman until a month ago, this guy has a creative imagination. Some of his ideas are straight out of a sci-fi movie and would require zero-gravity, but most of them sound enticing. Reliving them and the way his gravelly voice whispered them in my ear has helped get me through the night.
Damn. Now I’m feeling desperate again. This is why we stopped torturing ourselves a week ago. We had a high-level discussion and agreed to keep it strictly PG-13, if only to maintain our sanity. To our credit, we’ve been at least 50 percent compliant with our self-imposed rules.
We probably don’t need a grand opening. All the staff and residents have been dropping by unannounced since one of the maintenance men painted the front window.
My chest fills with pride as I glance at it. Its gold lettering and swirly font are just as I imagined it since I was a little girl. Of course, how could I have anticipated there would be such things as splicers, or that savory cupcakes would figure prominently into my business plan? Maybe grandma had the right idea all along with the whole “question authority” idea. Her quirky ideas helped prepare me foralmostanything.
The humans have voted with their taste buds and I’ve got ten cupcake flavors painted neatly on the enormous chalkboard on the south wall. Below them in chalk are the two newbies that will be in the sweet rotation every day.
I’m not sure why I worry about the savory side of the business. The splicers are a group of people who do not complain. Ever. Certainly not about food, well, as long as it isn’t sweet.
Whatever I bake is always greeted with the statement, “I think that’s the best thing I ever tasted.” It usually sounds something like, “Ithinkthat’sthebestevertasted,” around a mouthful of at least half a cupcake. As I said, no complaints.
The twenty males in this first wave of the program have given me their feedback in person. Brock, the male who has a preponderance of Bear DNA is partial to the salmon-filled Beary Tasty cupcake.
Ty, the male spliced with Bengal tiger, likes the Fearsome Tiger variety made of goat-meat puree crushed with a small number of berries.
Nyx the naga brings me an unknown protein source that I have the good sense not to ask questions about. It’s already cut into chunks when he delivers it to me. I just whip it into a pâté and pipe it on top as frosting of the Naga-licious variety.
I may never meet the males in the southern barracks, at least until the military staff deems them ready for prime time, but Noble passed along the ingredients for the Elephan-tastic cakes Eli asked for. No matter what else I add to the batter, they’re always green. I’m glad I can make a variety for the herbivores of the bunch. After the first batch, I quit making cupcakes, and just baked his portions into cakes. I’m told Eli eats the entire thing in one sitting.
We won’t have civilian visitors in town for almost two years, although I wonder if the Colonel will speed up the timeline. Even though it will be patronized only by the locals for a while, I’m immensely proud of my shop.
