A Little Combustible Chemistry (Cactus Creek 0.5)(10)

Unfortunately, with their new shop already starting off to a rocky start with a one-week delay in their grand opening, Quinn was doing her best to stay cool-headed...a feat which left her legs nice and warm to act on a hair trigger, ready and willing to kick him in the ass as a see-I-told-you-so and now-what’re-you-gonna-do-to-fix-it combo that historically generated quick results.

Today was no different.

“White chocolate is just one part of my idea,” he added quickly before she had a meltdown. “Did you know that in Japan, they celebrate Valentine’s Day and something called White Day?”

Her frown told him he had mere seconds to get to his point.

“Basically, Valentine’s Day isn’t a day to exchange gifts between couples. Rather, only the women give the men gifts, namely dark or milk chocolate. The exact reverse holds true on March 14th, a holiday called White Day there since traditionally, white chocolate is what the men reciprocate with...although I’ve read that a gift worth three times more than the Valentine gift is an acceptable alternative.”

A hint of a smile tipped her lips at that explanation.

Ah, he had her now. “You see where I’m going with this?” Adrenaline ran through his veins. “I say we bring the whole idea here to Arizona as a cool new two-part lovers’ holiday custom.”

He brought out the gift bag he’d filled with chocolatiering ingredients and basic confectionary tools last night. “And, since they say it’s customary for the chocolate the women give the men to be homemade, we could even create some hype to make that part of it as well. We could sell kits like these to help women make their homemade Valentine chocolates and even hold classes to teach ambitious customers how to make fancier stuff their guys will trip out over—”

Quinn’s jaw unhinged. “Wait, are you high?! You’re actually suggesting we just hijack tradition and let men totally off the hook in February? You want us to change the rules for Valentine’s Day?”

“Completely for the better. Just picture it: we market it as a new two-prong, equality-of-the-sexes holiday for love, with crystal clear parameters in February and March.” Luke began picking up momentum. “Getting the men on board should be cake because these new rules help de-mystify the holiday a bit. Foolproof it even. All we have to do is make it fun and sexy for them to convince the women in their lives to embrace the change as well.” His mouth twitched. “That wasn’t supposed to come out in the plural sense, but you get my meaning.”

“Charming.” She eyed him stubbornly. “Okay, so the men will probably love it, but how about the women? You’re not winning over the female population with that pitch.”

His expression softened. Turning to look at the only photo he had on his side of the office—the one of his parents laughing at their recent anniversary party—he said simply, “For the women, we should just show the revamped Valentine’s Day for what it is: a romantic day devoted to a woman making a thoughtful gift for the man she loves. I actually think a lot of women would like that. Moreover, I know I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t consider myself hella lucky to be on the receiving end.”

Quinn blinked thoughtfully at that, visibly thrown off-kilter by his sensitivity on the matter. “So then in March, we offer a dazzling line of white chocolates for men to spoil their women with,” she added slowly, her lips quirking up in approval. “We’d lengthen spring sales by a month.”

“Exactly!”

Quinn looked at him as if he’d unexpectedly sprouted genius horns. “We could call it White Chocolate Day to corner the market as ours instead of splitting the focus with flowers and stuffed animals.” Her eyes lit up even more. “Luke, this could actually work.”

“It will work, Quinn. But with Valentine’s just over six weeks away, we’ve got no time to lose. Since you’re the cyber whiz, you should handle all the web stuff. Twitter, blogs, online ads, contests—whatever will create a social media firestorm. I’ll take care of the new chocolates and setting-up the classes, along with on-site promotions and whatever else I can come up with.”

She nodded but remained uncharacteristically quiet. A downright oddity.

“I think the words you’re looking for are wow, you brilliant man,” he inserted helpfully.

She rolled her eyes and picked up the new white chocolate contract as if it was covered in acid. “And encourage more of this type of behavior from you?”

He grinned, knowing her well enough to see she was about to cave. “You know this is our big break, Quinn. It’s just what we need to set ourselves apart. We’ll finally be set. With the surplus sales this is sure to generate, you could pay a chunk of your medical debt off, lower the monthlies and maybe get ahead of it enough to start saving for lil’ Coop’s future as well. And I could—”

He waved a hand in front of her now-distracted face. “Hello, earth to Quinn?”

When Quinn broke her gaze away from the group of people outside who’d caught her attention, the look on her face was excitedly determined. “I’m in.”

He dropped back against the wall, relieved. “So, we’re doing this?”

“Yep, and I already have an ad campaign in mind.” Her eyes shifted outside again.

Luke peered out the wraparound window of their shop that overlooked the brewpub across the small alleyway the next building over. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a bunch of twenty-something-year-olds filing in for lunch. Ocotillos was always busy this time of day. He certainly didn’t see anything that warranted the engrossing inspiration she’d seemed so taken by.