As the news truck rounded the corner of Main Street, and we saw the field reporter and cameraman climbing out, Chloe announced to the group, “Fifty percent off of any one item if you purchase… um, now.”
“What are you doing? Fifty percent off?” I whispered.
“We need it to look like we’re booming even though we’re not. At least this way, we look good on camera, and it’s better to sell at half price than to give away what we don’t sell for free.”
Well, she had a point there. She hopped forward, greeting the reporter with an outstretched hand. “Hi! So sorry for the last-minute change. I’m Chloe Dyker and this is my partner, Liam Evans.”
“Hi. I’m Kimberly Waze with Channel Five.” It didn’t escape my notice the way her eyes brushed down my body, lingering at my biceps. I might not be the largest Evans brother, but I wasn’t a skinny nothing, either. Then her gaze shifted over my shoulder, her brown eyes going wide as she tucked her deep chocolate hair behind her ear. “Wow, looks like you’ve got a nice little line going on right here. Ethan, grab some b-roll of the line before it goes down!”
As Kimberly and Ethan sprang into action, Chloe and I turned around and I did my best to keep my face neutral as pretty much every person who had been waiting for a table was now waiting in line for the food truck. Chloe lifted her brows to me, a silent I told you so.
“Um, I should probably go help them…” I said, hitching my thumb over my shoulder.
“Let’s have you both behind the truck serving,” Kim said. “Then once the line has gone down, we can do the interview out here while everyone is eating.”
I had to admit, Chloe’s plan worked. Twenty minutes later, we had a bit more money in the register, even with the discount, and lots of happy new customers excited to try more of our stuff. Several of the people sitting outside at Nick’s even came over to buy some dessert before going back to their tables. The interview portion was going well, though that was mostly thanks to Chloe. I was never very good at those sorts of things. Luckily, I just had to sit there and give short answers while she took the microphone.
“So, who came up with the idea for the Dump Truck?” Kim asked.
Chloe and I glanced at each other, grinning. “Well,” Chloe said. “We sort of both did. I was recently broken up with, and when Liam came by to check on me with some of his signature donuts and cupcakes, I immediately felt better. It’s incredible what a little sugar will do for a broken heart—”
“Dyker!!” A booming voice shouted at us, interrupting the interview. Nick, the owner of the pizzeria was a bit older than us—in his early to mid-thirties. He had long hair, muscles big enough to almost rival my ex-Mr. Universe brother—and a neck so thick, he could probably break a necklace off of his body without using his hands. “What the hell is this?” he shouted, lumbering toward us.
“Oh, shit,” Chloe said.
Even Kim looked startled and moved out of the way. But not before whispering to Ethan, “Keep rolling.”
“Are you seriously serving food to my customers outside of my restaurant?”
Chloe stood her ground, as cool as I've ever seen her despite the fact that a huge, hulking man was approaching at a terrifying speed with a booming voice.
She leaned against the ordering counter, flashing him one of her gorgeous, thousand-watt smiles. “Oh, hey Nick. How's it going?”
“Don't you, ‘oh, hey Nick’ me. What the hell are you doing out here?”
I leaned into Chloe, dropping my voice in an effort to conceal it from both Nick and the news crew recording our every move. “Maybe we should just pack up for the day and leave?” I offered.
“Are you kidding?” Chloe asked. “This is the best business we've done all day, and you just want to walk away?”
“It's not worth a couple hundred dollars to lose a good relationship with another local business.”
Chloe huffed a sigh but folded her arms and offered nothing more. I climbed out of the van, crossing toward Nick. It wasn't until I was standing just in front of him that it sunk in how much bigger he was than me, and holy hell, I really hoped all those lessons I learned from How to Win Friends and Influence People paid off right now. Unfortunately, when I looked behind me, Chloe had also followed me out of the truck. “Why don't you just let me handle this one?” I said.
Chloe’s confident smile never wavered as she replied, “I will. I'm just here for backup.”
"Well, I'm hoping not to need backup."
Chloe scoffed and rolled her eyes. "No one hopes to need backup."
There was no use arguing with her. I didn’t have the time it would take to convince her to go inside and let Nick and me talk. I just hoped she didn't make this worse. “Hey Nick,” I said. Nick didn't respond to the pleasantry, save for crossing his arms over his extraordinarily swollen chest. “Sorry about this. It's our first day, and we really needed a spot for this news segment.”
“And you didn't think to reach out and ask me first as a professional courtesy?”
It’s a public parking spot and a public sidewalk, I wanted to say, but bit my tongue, knowing it would only hurt the situation.
Chloe leaned forward, placing her hand on my forearm. “It all happened really fast. But next time —”
“Next time?” Nick shouted.
“Not next time,” I interjected, before Chloe could do more harm. “I think
