Lollipop

Chapter 2: Hazardous Bliss

Rule 1: You must have a civil meeting with your enemy before the real fighting can begin.

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Penelope stared at the lollipop when her assistant Marlene entered the office.

“That man just looks like trouble-“ she stopped, “Where did you get that?" She pointed to the candy held between her boss' fingers.

“This is the troublemaker's gift. It's his best seller."

“Throw it away! He could have poisoned it!" Marlene tried to take the candy from her but Penelope dodged her hand.

“He didn't poison it, he used it to prove he has a great selling product. And a damn good one at that. Father always told me about these. He made it sound like it was a treat for the gods. I just thought he was having early dementia." Penelope sighed, leaning her head in her hand.

“Well, we'll make something better Miss. I know we can. And we probably won't be seeing him again."

“Oh we will, he's picking me up for dinner tonight," she said. Marlene held her tongue when her boss shrugged. “He's clever and I don't have time to argue. All I have to do is suffer one night and we go back to focusing on next month's event. And besides," she said, eating her treat, “It could be fun."

***

James finished tying his tie and began combing his hair while Tommy looked through his colognes. “So, your idea to intimidate the enemy is to take them on a date?" asked Tommy, pulling out a long blue bottle. He put a small spritz on James' collar and put the box away.

“I'm still going to get her to leave, but no reason I can't have a little bit of fun." James gave him a sly grin.

“I think you need to watch your arse. There's something off about her and that shop."

“Because it's filled with gorgeous women?"

“Actually yes. Nothing seemed off to you?"

“Come to think of it, there was a woman who reminded me of you," said James, finishing his hair.

“How so?"

“She also looked like she had a stick up her ass."

Tommy almost remarked, but James gave him a hard slap on the shoulder.

“I'll be fine mate! Just keep the gun loaded if I'm not," he chuckled. He put his coat on and went outside.

“Always sir," Tommy whispered in exhaustion.

***

James and Penelope took their seat in a booth at a quiet restaurant, and a waiter came to pour their wine. The waiter asked if they wanted anything at the moment but James was tuning him out. Penelope was wearing a less modest dress than before, showing more skin than a woman in her line of work would. And now that he could see even more of her, he was even more in love.

“Mr. Brooks?" Penelope nudged him with her foot, and he looked around, finally noticing the waiter's presence.

“Nothing at the moment. Thank you." He waved him off. When he left, he looked to Penelope who was already consuming her wine.

“Nervous? And you can call me James" he smiled.

“Not at all. James, is it? Just counting the minutes until this is over," she said, taking another sip of wine.

“Am I that bad?"

“No, I just don't go out with men that often," she shrugged.

“So you're scared of them?" he nodded, he watched closely as he knew he was getting a rise out of her.

“I just don't have the time." she snapped. “Especially for conversations like this," she muttered. “My meetings are normally more formal."

“If it makes you more comfortable, we can make it more formal. We could talk about the location of your shop," he said.

“Oh, so that's why you asked me out tonight." her shoulders sunk and James felt a pang of guilt.

“Not the sole reason. I'm just saying that this is a tough market. It's not guaranteed your shop will last. Look, I'll pay whatever fees it cost to move your shop. The property you're on was promised to me and I don't want something to happen to your shop-"

Penelope scooted closer to him so that he was the only one within earshot. James tried to keep his eyes down so that he wouldn't see the sadness in her eyes, but she lifted his chin and leaned in close enough to where her lips could graze his as if she was teasing him.

“Get this through your head James Brooks," her tone was playful but her eyes were cold. “I'm not moving my bloody shop. I don't care how much money you offer to try and buy that property off of me."

James stayed quiet so Penelope continued holding his chin, “If you thought you could charm me into selling out to you, understand that I'm not a stupid woman." her voice was then low, “And if you try anything to hurt my shop, you'll see my true colors quickly."

Her thumb moved from his chin to his lower lip and she could feel the power she had over him as she lightly pressed down on it. She then moved her legs so that they wrapped over his, pulling him in.

“Despite my demeanor, I do still like to have fun," she whispered, making him shiver.

“Yeah?" he asked, his right hand was slowly gliding up her leg. She didn't move away and he could feel her breath go shallow. Before she could react, he kissed her and pulled back, making her quiver.

“Could have fooled me." he gave her a cheeky grin, making her blush.

The waiter came back to ask if they wanted anything and James simply said the bill.

***

James and Penelope got a room at the closest hotel and began to enjoy each other.

In bed, James had already stripped her dress off as she sat on top of him. Penelope had already clawed his tie off and was kissing his neck as she unbuttoned his shirt. When his shirt was fully off, she stopped kissing him and stared at the tattoo on his neck, a wrapped hard candy with a black skull in the center was tattooed in detail.

“Something wrong?" he asked, peeking up at her. She tilted his head to the side, getting a better look at the tattoo, and saw a black crown with a small diamond on top of the skull.

“You're a mafia boss," she uttered as he pulled her closer.

“Yup, boss of the Toffee Boys. Problem?" he asked, still tasting her skin. He had a stronghold on her waist and back as his lips kissed the sensitive areas of her chest. She pushed him down on the bed and gave him a deep kiss.

“Not at all." she panted. After his clothes were fully off, she let him enter and leaned back. In all of the ecstasy, James almost missed the tattoo on Penelope's lower hip, a small girl holding a honey stick. On top of her head, was the exact same black crown and diamond.

“f**k," he thought before his mind fell back into bliss.