“Until we settle on another location, I’ll just have to keep you excited in other ways,” Marcus murmured, his fingers furrowing through her hair. His lips covered hers in a deep and thorough kiss, and warm desire flooded Ellie’s body, distracting her from her melancholy. There was still work to do to get ready for the movers, but right now all she could think about was her husband’s touch.
“We did well here, didn’t we?” she asked when he nuzzled his face into the curve of her neck. “It was worth all the hard work.” She turned to the windows. The new owner had already scraped the gilt paint from the glass. It now displayed the new name of Sinfully Sweet. “Austell Confectionary.” Ellie winced. “You think they could have come up with something…sexier.”
“Well, as we both know, nothing could stop chocolate from being sexy.”
“We went a long way toward proving our theories, didn’t we?” Ellie said, picking up yesterday’s edition of the
“Blissful,” Marcus said. “But I’m not sure we should count them as a success story. I have a feeling you had something to do with them getting matching messages.”
Ellie smiled winsomely. “Me?” she asked in mock innocence. “Perhaps. But anyone could see they were perfect for each other. And both
“I saw them yesterday walking their puppies in the park. Cute dogs, but Daniel and Carlie had their hands full keeping them from tearing up the landscape. You should have seen the area around those trees by the fountain. Those puppies have dug so many holes they’re giving the gophers a run for their money.”
“Well, you can’t discount my research methods when it comes to Rebecca Moore and Connor Bassett,” Ellie said. “Not only did we prove that chocolate is a powerful aphrodisiac, but we also established that, in their case, opposites do attract.”
Marcus chuckled. “And who would have guessed that chocolate-covered strawberries could have such a potent effect on a woman’s sensuality?”
“Oh, I think Rebecca always had a sensual side,” Ellie explained. “It just took the right man, and a bit of chocolate, to bring it out.”
“Hmm,” Marcus said. “As I recall we had our own little adventure with chocolate shortly after we met. Remember the hot fudge? I was still tasting chocolate on your body days later.”
Even after twenty-seven years, the memory of that night still made Ellie blush. It was the first time she’d felt completely and passionately uninhibited. It was also the moment that she knew Marcus was the only man for her.
“And then there’s Darcy Scott and Kel Martin,” Ellie continued.
“Kel Martin? I remember when he stopped by the shop a few months ago. I didn’t realize you’d given him a chocolate heart half.”
“I couldn’t resist,” Ellie said. “But I certainly didn’t expect it to work. When Darcy came in last week to place an order for The Delaford’s signature chocolates, she informed me they were engaged. I couldn’t believe it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Marcus asked.
“I’m not sure we can count this one. It turns out they’d shared a one-night stand years ago, so they may have been preconditioned to sexual attraction.”
“Did they eat our chocolate?” Marcus asked.
Ellie nodded. “They did indeed.”
“Then I say we add them to our inventory of success stories.”
Ellie slipped out of his embrace and picked up a basket from beneath the counter, the basket that had held the heart halves. “It was a good promotion. We should consider doing it again.”
Marcus took the basket from her hand, ready to pack it in an open box, then stopped. “Look at this. There are two heart halves left.”
Frowning, Ellie peered into the basket. She could have sworn the basket was empty when she’d tucked it beneath the counter. With a devilish smile, she withdrew the heart half wrapped in blue foil and held it out in the palm of her hand. “Would you care to see if we’re a match, Mr. Fairbanks?”
Marcus took the heart and dropped it back in the basket. “I think I already know the answer to that,” he said. “I knew it from the moment I first saw you.”
Ellie slipped her arms around his waist again and drew him close, losing herself in the quiet strength of his embrace. “There will never be another Sinfully Sweet. But as long as you’re with me, I think I’d be happy selling chocolate on the moon.”
“The moon,” Marcus said as if the idea were intriguing. “Now that would be a challenge. I wonder how the effect of an aphrodisiac would be altered by the reduced gravity on the moon.”
Ellie tipped her head back and laughed. There was no end to her husband’s curiosity. But then, she’d always considered that one of his sexiest qualities. Life with Marcus Fairbanks certainly wasn’t boring. Loving him had always been an adventure-an adventure that would begin all over again in a new town, inside a new shop.
“Take me home, Marcus,” Ellie said, slipping her hand into his and pulling him along to the front door, the basket looped over her arm.
“We don’t have a home anymore,” he said. “By now the movers have probably cleaned out the house.”
“Then take me to a seedy no-tell motel,” she said. “I have some needs that require your attention.”
Marcus groaned as she pulled him toward the door. “Oh, Ellie, have you been eating our chocolates again?”
Janelle Denison
Jacquie D’Alessandro
Kate Hoffmann
Kate Hoffmann began reading romance in 1979 and was immediately hooked. Years later, after a history of interesting jobs in teaching, retail, nonprofit work and advertising, Kate decided to write a romance of her own. Her first book was published in 1993 by Harlequin Temptation. Since then, Kate has written
