Treat her Right: A New Zealand Sexy Beach Romance (Treats to Tempt You Book 2) Read online

  Mind you, he couldn’t say she hadn’t knuckled down and worked hard. All four girls had thrown themselves into making the shop a success. Although fairly quiet at that moment, the place was usually buzzing, both with regulars who came in for their daily dose of coffee and something sweet, as well as tourists drawn in by the aromas of caramel and coffee that wafted out onto the waterfront.

  Joss watched Maisey moving around the shop, bathed in the sunlight that streamed through the windows. Her dark hair shone, her tanned skin glowed. Like one of her chocolates, she was warm, lush, and tempting, a lovely example of womanhood done to perfection. Why had he never noticed before? Maybe because he’d always been careful to train himself not to notice her, in a sexual way anyway.

  But as she bent again to put the plate of truffles away, his gaze dipped to the exposed V of tanned skin where her white shirt gaped. She wore a white lacy bra with half cups that barely held in her generous breasts, and as his gaze lingered on them, he imagined their weight in his palms, his mouth on her warm skin. What color would her nipples be? Light pink, dark pink, almost brown? He imagined taking her hands and holding them above her head, then kissing down her neck to let his lips graze over the swell of her breasts before taking her swollen nipples in his mouth…

  “Joss!”

  He jumped as if he’d scuffed his feet on a nylon carpet and touched something metal. Kole was staring at him, half-amused, half-exasperated. “If you can tear your eyes away from my sister for one second.”

  “I wasn’t,” Joss said, the words coming automatically as if he were eight years old again and denying breaking his mother’s favorite vase. I didn’t do it, it wasn’t me, it was like that when I got here…

  Kole glanced over at Maisey, then back at his best mate again. His eyes had taken on a flinty hardness. “Don’t. Even.”

  Joss frowned. “I wouldn’t.” He willed his erection to go away before anyone noticed how his suit pants were straining at the seams.

  “I’m serious. I know she’s flirty and acts like she doesn’t have a care in the world, but she’s vulnerable beneath that tough outer shell.”

  “I know.” As he watched her laugh at something Tasha said, Joss wondered whether Kole knew her as well as he thought he did. She was lovely, but she did seem…shallow. Like her chocolates, she might be soft on the inside, but would she continue to linger on the palate when the initial flavor had gone?

  He cleared his throat and shifted in the seat. Thinking of Maisey and flavors made him think of licking her, and that wasn’t going to end well.

  “The last thing she needs is you doing your usual act on her,” Kole said.

  The insinuation that he’d play with Maisey and then discard her hurt his feelings. “I would never have done that to Maisey in the old days, and I certainly wouldn’t do it now. I’m not like that anymore.”

  Kole chuckled. “Yeah, y’are. You haven’t changed all that much. You just think you have.”

  Joss said nothing. Kole was wrong. Over the last couple of years, events had changed him irrevocably. Like an egg that had been boiled, he’d altered on a chemical, atomic level. It was physically impossible for him to change back, and although he hadn’t realized it at the time, returning home and seeing everyone going about their lives in exactly the same way they had for the last ten years was both reassuring and slightly depressing.

  Tasha brought over Kole’s coffee, and Joss checked his watch. Nearly one o’clock, and time for him to go back to the surgery. He didn’t normally escape for his lunch hour as there were always a hundred-and-one things to do, and morning appointments often ran late anyway. But it had been nice to take a break, walk in the sunshine, and share a few moments with his friends.

  And to look down Maisey’s shirt. As she walked back to them carrying a plate of truffles, he couldn’t stop a smile of appreciation spreading across his face, in spite of Kole’s warning. She really was gorgeous, as lush as the chocolates she crafted. Her womanly shape was refreshing considering the skinny, shapeless figures displayed every day on the TV and in magazines. His erection appeared magically again at the thought of her naked in his arms. Shame she had the personality of a twelve-year-old.

  As if to illustrate his thoughts, she knocked into a perfectly visible chair as she approached, jerked forward, and tipped the plate of truffles into Joss’s lap. “Oops.”

  He inhaled as she immediately bent to retrieve them, giving him yet another view down the front of her shirt. He lowered his eyes hurriedly and tried to scoop the truffles into his hand. “Maisey…”

  “God, I’m so clumsy. Here…” She put a couple on the plate, then reached out for the last one. He pushed her right hand away, but she lowered her left instead. And as she picked it up, the back of her fingers brushed right along his erection.

  She put the chocolate on the plate, and her gaze rose slowly to meet his. Her beautiful hazel eyes filled with warmth, and an extremely grown up sexual interest.

  Joss hardly ever got embarrassed, but for maybe the first time in his life, his cheeks grew hot.

  “Hmm.” She lowered herself onto the edge of the seat opposite him.

  He glanced at the others, who were watching the exchange with curiosity, clearly unaware what was going on. Dropping his gaze, he studied the truffles for a moment, pretending he was making a decision.

  “What?” he said to Maisey, whose lips had now curved into a very amused and sexy smile. “I happen to like chocolate very much.”

  She gave a little chuckle and chose a truffle herself. “So I see.”

  Tasha chose one, but Kole waved a hand when she pushed the plate towards him. “After they’ve been in his crotch? I don’t think so.”

  “He is wearing pants,” Tasha clarified. “It’s not like he’s sitting there naked.” Maisey snorted, and Tasha grinned at her and gestured at the plate. “Have you noticed Joss only ever chooses the vanilla truffles? You’re right, he has turned dull.”

  Maisey was still looking at Joss. “Perhaps we’ll make the shop a vanilla-free zone to spice things up a bit.” She winked at him.

  And now he was thinking about tying her up with silk scarves and doing kinky things to her. For fuck’s sake…

  Kole said something in return, and Tasha answered him back, but Joss couldn’t tear his eyes away from Maisey. The truffle had left a coating of chocolate on her thumb and forefinger, and as he watched, she very slowly inserted her thumb in her mouth and sucked it off.

  He closed his eyes. Took a couple of deep breaths and thought about old Mrs. Anderson, the patient he was seeing next about her varicose veins and ingrowing toenail.

  When his erection had disappeared enough to enable him to get up, he opened his eyes and pushed back his chair. “Right, I’m off. I’ll see you later.” He refused to look at Maisey.

  “You haven’t answered us yet,” Tasha called as he headed for the door. She raised her voice. “Are you going to let us photograph you naked covered in chocolate or not?”

  He rested a hand on the door, conscious of the two middle-aged women by the window, both of whom he’d seen at the surgery, who were hiding smiles behind their hands.

  Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Maisey smile. It warmed him from the soles of his feet to the tips of his hair, as if he’d drunk a huge mug of her special hot chocolate with a splash of brandy on a cold winter’s day.

  Then he looked at his best mate. Kole wasn’t laughing, and a frown marred his brow.

  Joss turned, opened the door and went into the warm sunshine, and put the shop’s tempting treats out of his head.

  Chapter Three

  “I know how to get the guys to pose for the posters.”

  Maisey announced her revelation the following morning as Tasha came into the kitchen. Tasha’s eyes were barely open behind the black frames of her glasses, and her hair looked as if a gorilla had crept into her room and ruffled his hands in it. Most nights, she stayed with Kole at his house, but occasionally if he had an earl
y appointment, she would stay in the house she shared with Maisey.

  “I can see what’s been on your mind all night.” Tasha switched on the kettle and ladled a spoon of instant coffee into a cup. “Can this wait? I haven’t woken up yet.”

  “We’re going to have a party,” Maisey said, ignoring her. “At the shop, similar to the one we had New Year’s Eve. We’ll sell tickets, and half of the proceeds can go to charity and the other half to the shop. We can set up a mock-studio in the break room, and try and talk all the guys who come into taking off their shirts and having their photo taken eating truffles or ice cream, or drinking coffee.”

  Tasha sat at the table and put her head in her hands. “You’re using too many words. It’s too early for speech. Why are you always so fucking happy early in the morning?”

  “I’m happy every hour of the day,” Maisey said. “Life’s too short to be unhappy, Tash.”

  Tasha lowered her hands, sat back in her chair, and held up a hand in surrender. She gave an affectionate, indulgent smile. “I do admire you, you know.”

  Maisey raised her eyebrows. “Me? Why?”

  “It would have been easy to become cynical and hard after what you’ve been through. I know it affected you more than you let on, but I do admire you for not letting it ruin your life.”

  “No point in that,” Maisey said breezily, getting up to make the coffee as the kettle boiled. “Being bitter and hating the world won’t get you anywhere.”

  Not that I haven’t tried.

  She’d been nineteen when Harry had died. They’d all taken it hard—Skye, her older sister, had ended up leaving the country to travel, and Kole had turned even more cynical and rebellious. Maisey had suffered from depression all the way through uni, sometimes finding it difficult to even get out of bed. Tasha had stood by her all the way, though, and had encouraged her to see a doctor. He’d prescribed anti-depressants, and although it had taken a couple of changes of pills, eventually she’d found one that suited her and smoothed out the deep lows that threatened to overwhelm her at times. Generally, she kept it under control now, and in fact most people had no idea she suffered from it. Harry’s death had convinced her she had to treat every day as if it were her last, and her bright and bubbly personality shone through and dispelled the shadows most of the time. But it was always there, like an ever-present black dog just visible out of the corner of her eye. She’d felt it lurking a few times since the New Year, sitting patiently, waiting for the right moment to pounce. Not now, she thought, stirring the coffee. Leave me alone for a while. I need to concentrate on the shop.

  “Maisey?” Tasha put a hand on her arm, and Maisey jumped. She hadn’t been aware Tasha had gotten up. “Are you okay?”

  Maisey pushed a cup over to her, and they took them back to the table and sat. “I have to work at it,” she admitted, sipping her coffee. “The psychologist I saw a few years ago helped when she said to take it day-by-day. I enjoy the little things, and I treat myself a lot. That’s why I wear bright colors and surround myself with glitter and sequins. And why I love chocolate so much. It picks me up every time I have a piece. It’s like a little piece of heaven in your mouth.”

  And…now she was thinking of the sexy doctor again, which brought a real smile to her face. He’d been on her mind a lot lately, in spite of her trying not to daydream about him. Kole had given her another lecture on keeping away from his mates after Joss had left the shop the other day, saying Joss had enough problems of his own at the moment without Maisey screwing him up any further. But when the truffles had fallen into Joss’s lap, the hot look in his eyes could have melted chocolate. Clearly, he had been watching her, and something about her had turned him on.

  Her eyes met Tasha’s. They’d been friends for too long, and Tasha could obviously guess what was on her mind. They both smiled.

  “Kole would kill you,” Tasha said.

  “Oh, I know.” She sighed. “Joss would never be interested in me, anyway. I’m hardly his sort.”

  “I’m not sure what his sort is. He used to be all boobs and bum the same as Kole, but he’s changed, there’s no doubt about it. I haven’t seen him with a girl for ages.”

  “I wonder what happened to him while he was away.” Maisey looked out through the kitchen windows to the jacaranda trees in the garden. A fantail was jumping from branch to branch, chirping merrily, thoroughly enjoying the beautiful March weather. It made her smile.

  “His sister split up from her husband a while ago,” Tasha said.

  “Yeah, Kole told me about that. And, of course, his mum has M.S. Maybe she’s getting worse.”

  “He obviously has a lot on his plate. Also, Fox told me Joss had a nasty break-up.” Tasha’s brother Fredek, known to everyone as Fox, had known both the guys since their school days.

  “Kole mentioned that too, but he wouldn’t elaborate. I wonder who he was with?”

  “Some South American chick, apparently. They lived together in Auckland for a while. But it didn’t work out. What with that and his family pressures, he’s obviously been through it a lot.”

  Maisey looked into her cup and drained the last mouthful of coffee. She didn’t want to muse on breakups and illnesses. She wanted to think about more fun things.

  “So go on then, tell me about this party,” Tasha said as if reading her mind.

  Maisey smiled. “I thought it might make the guys more likely to pose if they did it en masse, if we made it part of the party. The party would bring people to the shop on the day, it would provide some money for charity and raise a bit for the shop too, and hopefully we’ll come out of it with some great photos to use for posters.”

  Tasha leaned her chin on her hand. “You really think this could work?”

  “I don’t see how it could fail. All the guys in our circle are gorgeous—Joss, Fox, Kole, Stuart—and if we ask them all to bring their mates, it could be real fun.”

  “Joss did have a point though. Most of them are professionals, and they’re not going to want photos of themselves splurged all over town.”

  “Yeah, I thought of that. We’ll get them to wear masks or hats to cover their faces. And I didn’t actually mean they should be completely naked. Just from the waist up, biting into a truffle or something.”

  Tasha chuckled. “I can see you’re determined to keep your Crazy Maisey nickname.”

  “It’ll be fun. Everyone’s so serious nowadays. It’ll be nice to have another party.”

  “Well, I’m sold, but it’s not me you have to persuade.”

  “Don’t worry.” Maisey stood and straightened her top in a determined manner. “I’m onto it. Leave the guys to me.”

  *

  The first person to work on would be her brother. If she could get him behind the idea, he’d help her talk the others into it.

  On her way to Treats, she called in at his office. He’d converted a sleep-out belonging to his older cousin, Annie, into a fabulous studio, and Annie also acted as his assistant.

  “He’s taking a family portrait,” Annie explained when Maisey walked into the reception area.

  Drawn by the noise, Maisey stuck her head around the door of the studio. The family included a screaming baby and an excitable dog that, as she watched, urinated up the rubbish bin in the corner.

  “Perhaps we should take a break,” Kole said, and the family gratefully agreed.

  He came out, rolling his eyes as he saw his sister.

  “All in a day’s work?” she said, smiling.

  “Unfortunately,” he said with a snort. “Annie, have we got any kitchen roll? The dog peed all over the floor.”

  “I’ll get some disinfectant,” she said, and went off to her kitchen.

  Kole blew out a breath and then turned to Maisey as if seeing her for the first time. “What are you doing here?”

  She gave him her best you-know-how-much-I-love-you-big-brother smile. “Asking for your help.”

  He put his hands on his hips. “Don’t tell me. T
his is about the poster thing.”

  “Well, yes. Will you take the photos? For me?”

  “The answer’s no.”

  She glared at him. “Kole…”

  “Why would I want to take photos of dudes covered in chocolate? That’s not how I get my kicks. Now, if all your friends wanted to pose in their underwear, that’d be another story.”

  “I’m going to ask the girls as well,” Maisey said. “I just haven’t told them yet.”

  He stared at her. “Huh.”

  “Yeah, I thought that would get your attention. Good job Tasha’s so open minded. Look…” She bit her lip. She didn’t want to tell him. But this wasn’t going to work without his help. “You must swear to me you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to divulge.”

  “I don’t need the nuclear launch codes, Maisey.”

  “I’m serious. Please?”

  He swiped his fingers over his chest. “Cross my heart.” But now curiosity stole across his features. “What’s this about?”

  She hesitated, then took the plunge. “Look, the shop isn’t doing brilliantly. Or at least, not as well as we’d hoped. It’s only going to get worse as the weather turns colder.”

  His expression softened. “You should have said.”

  “It’s early days, and we’re all working hard to try and think of ways to encourage business. Hence the photos.” She told him about her idea of a party. “And so I thought if you set up a small studio in the break room at the shop, nice and private, we might be able to talk everyone into having their photo done. You might even get some commissions out of it—you never know.”

  “It’s an interesting thought. But you won’t be able to persuade everyone to undress for you, not if they think they’re going to be plastered all over town.”

  “I’m not stupid—it’ll be anonymous. Masks and hats and stuff. I’ll get an assortment.” An image flooded her mind of Joss wearing nothing but a cowboy hat with a scarf across his mouth showing those dark, sexy eyes. Oo-er.