I stole a glance to my left where Chloe was now glaring at me. “Oh, is that what I meant to say?” Even though I could feel the anger radiating off of her, I couldn't help the sparking electricity that trickled down my spine beneath her steely gaze. Was I seriously getting turned on by her anger? That was all kinds of fucked up. Slowly, her glare shifted to Nick. “What I was actually going to say, before I was rudely interrupted, was that customers who spend a certain amount at our food truck while we're here will get a gift card to spend at your establishment that we will pay for, of course. And maybe, you could offer the same for us, to help us spread the word about our new food truck. We would supply both gift cards, and I think it would be a symbiotic way to help promote both of our businesses.”
Nick's cold gaze flashed and jerked to meet Chloe's. “What makes you think I need your help? Look around. I'm as busy as ever.”
“Maybe you don't,” Chloe said. “But in a town like ours, small businesses need each other to thrive.” Chloe glanced around before adding, “Then again, I know for a fact that a chain pizza delivery is opening soon less than ten miles away from Maple Grove. And you don't do home deliveries. So maybe you don't need my help right this second, but you might in a couple months.”
Chloe held out her hand for Nick to shake, waiting for him to place his palm against hers. Instead, his hard gaze shifted from her eyes to her hand, then to me. “Your girl runs her mouth a lot, you know that?”
“I'd say she runs it just the right amount.” I looked at Chloe, admiring the square of her shoulders. The confidence in her stance. And that gleam in her eye, with just enough mischief to make us appear more successful than we really were for the evening news. I leaned in closer to Nick, whispering, hoping the microphones couldn't pick up my voice. “Plus, unless you want the lead story running on the five o'clock news to be that the grumpy pizza shop owner doesn't support new businesses in Maple Grove, I'd shake the woman's hand and smile for the cameras.”
With a tick in his jaw, Nick clapped his hand into Chloe's, giving it a firm shake. Chloe smiled and said, “And I'm not his girl.”
A smirk tugged at the corners of Nick's mouth, his glance shifting between us. “That so? Seems like I hit a sore spot there.”
I didn't like the way he was now smiling at both of us. It was like he caught us in something, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why. “Not exactly —”
“Well, there you have it, Maple Grove,” the news reporter stepped forward, holding her mic in hand and speaking directly into the camera. “This new food truck, catering to your sweet tooth, is forging relationships with business owners all over the town. And it appears, for the time being, you can find them here in front of Nick's Pizzeria.”
Nick placed a hand on each of our shoulders and pushed Chloe and me closer together so that she was nearly falling into my arms. I quickly caught her, just as her toes stubbed against mine and her soft breasts brushed my chest. “That's right,” Nick said to the camera. “These two lovebirds can be awfully convincing.”
“What?”
“No!” Chloe and I both exclaimed together at once.
“Thanks so much for tuning in. Back to you in the studio, Bill and Teresa.”
She turned to us after signing off, lowering her microphone to her side. “You two are dating and you didn't tell me? That would've made a way more compelling story.”
“We're not —”
She rolled her eyes as the sound guy took the microphone from her hands. She wasn't even paying attention to us anymore. Instead, she was speaking to her two-person crew. “It's not a big deal. I’ll re-film the intro add it in post. Good luck with the food truck guys!”
And before we could correct or stop her, she and her news van were gone.
Nick chuckled, shoulders bouncing as Chloe whipped around, standing nose to nose with him. “What the hell did you do that for?”
“Hey, if you're going to strong-arm me into playing nice, I have every right to fight fire with fire.”
Chloe's cheeks flushed red and her bubblegum-pink lips ghosted into a thin white line as she pressed them firmly together. Holy shit. The sight of Chloe mad was both terrifying and beautiful. “You're screwing with our lives. If my sister —”
“And you messing with my business isn't screwing with my life?” Nick asked, then scoffed when Chloe didn't answer. A rough guttural sound that rolled in the back of his throat. “Don't dish it out if you can’t also take it, sweetheart.”
Up until today, I always liked Nick. I didn't think he was a bad guy, just rough around the edges. But I'd never seen him like this before. I was not impressed, to say the least.
As Nick turned to walk back into his restaurant, Chloe's fists tightened at her sides, bunching into two white knuckle balls. “Don't call me sweetheart.”
I nodded in agreement. Nick paused, slowly turning back to face us. His eyebrow arched like a backbend over deep brown eyes. "You prefer I call you bitc—"
He barely got the word out, before I was throwing my fist toward his face. I don't know what came over me. But the moment I heard that word, a white-hot fury overtook my body, and in a motion that felt completely out of my control, my fist connected hard with Nick's jaw.
Nick stumbled back a few steps, his hand cupping his face. “Oh shit,” I said, as Nick chuckled.
He actually fucking laughed after
