Page 2 of Tinsel & Chrome

“Hey yourself, Hotstuff. What brings you by?” she asked, setting the lights down so she could turn in his arms.

“Came to see if you were free for lunch, but I see you’re knee deep in Christmas shit,” he replied.

She rolled her eyes at him. “You are such a Scrooge sometimes,” she said with a laugh.

“Bah humbug,” he quipped with a grin.

She swatted his chest and shook her head. “I could use a break. Where were you wanting to go?”

“I was thinking Fire X Forge,” he replied.

“Oh, good choice. Hey guys take a break and grab some lunch. I’ll be back in a bit,” she said to the employees who were helping her decorate.

Chaos escorted her out to his bike, handed her a lid, then put his own on and climbed on. Indi slid in behind him and he squeezed her hands where they wrapped around him.

He drove carefully through the streets of Hartford and found a place to park not far from the restaurant.

Chaos wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked. “The club’s looking good. Real festive,” he told her.

“That’s the point,” she replied.

He swatted her ass. “Cheeky woman,” he growled playfully.

“And you wouldn’t want me any other way,” she countered.

“You’ve got that right,” he admitted. He held the door for her and followed her inside.

They were shown to a table and given menus. After looking everything over, Indi went with the spinach and cheese pupusas, which were griddled masa cake, spinach, cheese, pickled slaw, and salsa roja for her appetizer and the Tampa Bay Cubano, which came with smoked ham, pork pernil, genoa salami, swiss cheese, pickles, and dijonnaise on pressed cuban bread for her entrée served with the house chips.

Chaos decided on the wild mushroom empanadas made with wild mushrooms, caramelized onions, plant-based garlic herb spread, and came with truffle mayo dip for his appetizer and the FXF smash burger, which was two 3.5oz certified angus beef patties, american cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and special sauce on a potato brioche bun for his entrée and opted to pay extra for the fire fries.

While they waited for their food, Indi sipped her drink. “So, I got a call from Lilian Weber, from Golden Angels Adoption Agency,” she started.

“Oh? What did she have to say?” Chaos asked.

“She needs to talk to us but she didn’t say why.”

“Maybe it’s good news,” Chaos offered.

“I hope so. We’ve been wanting this for so long.” Six years ago, Indi had learned that she was infertile, and there went all her dreams of being a mom. Or so she thought. Three years ago, she and Chaos had decided they wanted to adopt since they couldn’t have any children of their own. There were so many children in the system waiting for a safe, loving home, and they wanted to do their part to give at least one of them what they needed. Golden Angels Adoption Agency had great reviews, so they’d reached out and began the process.

“I know Kitten. It’ll happen,” he promised. He reached across and gave her hand a squeeze.

Their food arrived and he let go of her hand. “When does she want us to come by?” he asked.

“Tomorrow at 2,” Indi told him.

“I’ll pick you up by 12:45 then,” he told her since she would be at home and it was an hour drive to Hartford. They dug into their food and little groans of pleasure came from both of them.

“On a more positive note, I’ve enlisted the other old ladies to help decorate the clubhouse this year.”

He shook his head at her. “You do love to recruit others to help you spread the holiday cheer,” he chuckled.

“What can I say, it’s my favorite holiday,” she replied. “If I had my way, we’d celebrate year-round.” She grinned at him, making him chuckle more.

“I know, Kitten. How are things at the club?” He was so fucking proud of her owning her own business. “Any more issues with those pricks who were protesting last week?” Some religious assholes had started targeting businesses they called ‘dens of inequity’. That encompassed any business that was related to adult entertainment.

“Unfortunately, yes. They’ve come every night this week. So far it hasn’t really hurt business, but our proceeds have dropped a little,” she confessed.

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