Page 12 of Cookie
With the spell I’ve been under since I saw her, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was the latter, being in Annie’s presence feels magical to me.
“Morning, babycakes,” I say when she cuts the mixer then reaches in to test the dough.
She spins around with her finger in her mouth and smiles when she sees me. “Good morning. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“Not at all.” I move closer to her and pull her against me for a good morning kiss. “Was just missing you by my side is all. Mmm, you taste like cookie dough.”
Her eyes twinkle as she reaches one hand out to her cooling rack where she plucks a cookie and holds it out for me to try. “Try it. Tell me what you think.”
I take a bite of the still-warm treat and a flavor explosion happens inside my mouth. My brain wakes up and all I want to do is keep eating. “What is in that? It’s… it’s…”
“Orgasmic?” she offers, her grin even wider than before.
I nod. “Yes. That’s exactly what it is.”
“I came up with the idea last night,” she says in a rush, followed by a blush. “There’s freeze-dried raspberries, meringue and semi-sweet chocolate in our classic cookie base.”
“Our love-making inspired these?”
She giggles. “Is that silly? Am I getting too caught up here?” She bounces her shoulders and I feel the need to scramble to reassure her that I’m in exactly the same headspace as her.
“No. This is amazing. Are you selling these at the festival later?”
“These are just a prototype. Maybe I’ll have them perfected for valentine’s day?”
“Wow. There’s a lot of work behind each flavor, huh?”
“Definitely. These new years cookies took me a month to get right. You were actually the help I needed with those.”
“I was?”
She nods. “When you asked for a sandwich, I had the idea to make them cookie sandwiches.” She moves across the kitchen to some shelving with boxes and boxes of cookies on it and takes one down. “See.” She holds up a cookie sandwich that is made of two choc-chip cookies with a purple cream in the center with colorful flecks of candy inside.
“What do you call these?” I ask, plucking it from between her fingers to inspect it closer.
“They were going to be ‘fireworks’, but I think a simple, ‘New Year’s Cookie’ is appropriate.”
“Why were they called ‘fireworks’ cookies? Are they spicy?” I ask, giving it a sniff before I take a bite. Little pop rocks go off inside my mouth. “Holy shit. It’s New Years Eve in my mouth.”
“That’s the fireworks,” she says, taking the rest of the cookie from my hand and setting it on a plate that she carries with her to the front of the store. I follow, of course. “I was having issues with the cookies exploding, so I made chocolate chips with the pop rocks mixed in and added pop rocks to the buttercream in the center as well. They came up great.” She places the plate on the counter and reaches up to grab two mugs. Taking my cue from her, I grab the fresh pot of coffee and pour the fragrant liquid inside.
“I can’t wait to see the reaction tonight at the festival.”
“You’re going?” she asks, pouring creamer into each mug when I’ve finished. We’re in total sync.
“Of course. If you’re there, I’m there. I can help you carry all those boxes to your stall.”
“That would be wonderful,” she says. “You will be Nina’s hero. She’s exhausted after finishing all the baking for me yesterday so I could spend the night with you.”
“She sounds like a good friend.”
“She’s the best. We went to school together. She’s my rock.”
“I look forward to getting to know her better.” I lean in and press a soft kiss against her lips as she hands me my coffee.
“Looks like last night went well.” Nina walks in with perfect timing. “I’ll need details,” she says to Annie before she looks me up and down. “And I’ll have to read you the riot act.”
“The whole, ‘hurt my best friend and I’ll cut your dick off’ schtick?”
