Lily finished helping Jean-Michel reconcile the change drawer. She groaned.

“I swear, those chocolate croissants will be the death of me. Why can’t we charge a flat price for them after tax?”

Jean-Michel shrugged.

“They cannot be the same price as regular croissant,” he said.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know how we attract the last people in Salem who actually use cash, but math isn’t my strong suit.”

“I thought you were chemist.”

“Yeah. Chemist, not mathematician. And only on paper, anyway. It’s not like anyone’s ever paid me for chemistry.”

“I pay you for chemistry every week. That’s what you say,” Jean-Michel said wryly.

“You got me there.”

“You want to work double?” Jean-Michel asked.

“Do you really need me?” she asked and bit her lip.

She’d hoped that since she was off early she’d have time to make Cade a fancy dinner.

Or better yet, finally try out some of that lingerie she’d bought.

Jean-Michel sniffed.

“I don’t need anyone to help with baking,” he said. “Just thought you might want some more chemistry money.”

She laughed. “Well, if it’s not urgent, I’ll pass today and help you out in the morning.”

“What is this new, how you say, spring in the step you have?” he asked. “You’re getting laid.”

“Jean-Michel!”

“Tell me I’m wrong,” he challenged. “Go on.”

“Fine,” she said with an exasperated sigh. “You’re right, okay?”

“Sex, then. That’s all you have to say. You have appointment for sex and I’m keeping you. Go, go! Enjoy the youth.”

“Thanks,” she said with a smile and squeezed Jean-Michel’s arm. “But it’s not a ‘sex appointment.’ It’s a date.”

“A date?” Jean-Michel asked. “Then that is different. When the heart is involved.”

“Why?”

“I let you go on one condition,” Jean-Michel said.

She groaned. “I never should have told you that expression.”

He grinned. “You tell me who with.”

“Um… it’s a secret,” she said.

“Ooh! A secret affair? Now you must tell. But affairs don’t excuse you from work. I might let you go if I approve of who the man is, though.” Jean-Michel held up a whisk like it was a paddle. “He married?”

“What? No!” she said. “It’s Cade, okay? My brother’s best friend.”

“The hot firefighter? The new one? I knew it! Get out of here,” he said, and smacked her on the butt with the whisk. “Get out of here, go get ready for your date.”

“Alright, alright!” she said. “But not a word about Cade to anyone.”

“My lips are sealed,” he said, and made an exaggerated show of zipping them. “But what you wearing?”

“For the date? I… I don’t know yet.”

“Harumph. You don’t deserve me,” he said. “Tell me this, what parfum do you wear?”

“You mean perfume?”

“No, I mean parfum. If you tell me you wear the cheap perfume, I swear, you are not my employee.”

“I don’t wear any?” she said quietly, although she knew it was the wrong answer.

Jean-Michel sighed. “What I will do with you? Sadly, I have no Chanel Number Five—I use it all—but this is almost as good.”

He reached into the cupboard below the display case and pulled out the imported vanilla from France. His secret ingredient for the crème Chantilly.

“Really?” she asked in wonder.

When Jean-Michel presented it like it was a jar of saffron, she cradled it delicately in her hands.

“Just one drop here,” he said, and tapped behind each ear. “And here,” he said as he tapped her inner elbows. “Is all you need.”

“Thank you,” she said. Lily knew how much the extract meant to him.

“And this, you tell nobody,” he said. “I know that peau de zob from Pebble and Stone is lurking around here. Always after my recipes.”

She laughed. “I’ll guard it with my life.”

Lily raced to the Mercedes, the little brown vial in hand. When she dropped into the seat, a gust of flour rose up.

God, I really do need a bath.

She texted Cade as she started the engine. What time you off?

Two hours. Why?

Can you come over as soon as you’re off? Nothing’s wrong, but it’s kind of an emergency.

What happened? I can leave right now if I have to.

No! she texted. “It’s important, but not that important.”

Okay, I’ll be there right after four.

Lily rushed to straighten up as soon as she got inside, and paid particular attention to the bedroom. The fluffy white down comforter and duvet with the chunky pink handknit throw blanket didn’t exactly scream “sexy” but it was what she had.

She draped a red silky scarf over the lamp for instant mood lighting.

Lily put the Ed Sheeran station on Pandora, plugged her phone into the little speaker box, and ran a bubble bath in the clawfoot tub. With candles lit in the bathroom and bedroom, she sank into the warm water and let the bubbles go to work softening her skin.

You have one hour, she told herself.

She grabbed the new razorblade heads and started to meticulously shave every inch of her below the waist. Renee always raved about getting a Brazilian, but Lily couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” she’d asked, but Renee rolled her eyes.

“It’s worth it,” she said.

“But then don’t you have to wait for the hair to grow out kind of long before you do it again? Kind of seems like a losing battle.”

“You just don’t get it,” Renee said.

Maybe she didn’t get it. But Lily had to admit that when she was perfectly smooth, she felt sexier. Cleaner and lighter. And couldn’t wait to surprise Cade.

She pulled the plug on the vintage tub and wrapped a towel around her. In the mirror, her face was pink and flushed. She applied two coats of lotion to her entire body. The result was supple, dewy skin that begged to be touched.

Why don’t I pamper myself more? she wondered as she ran her hands along her smooth legs. Wait, because there hasn’t been anyone besides me to appreciate it. Until now.

Lily pulled the selection of lingerie, tags still on, from the top dresser drawer. She’d been too embarrassed to go into any of the shops herself, and the online order just came in yesterday.

A lavender corset, black cupless bra and crotchless panty set, and a virgin-white babydoll with furry trim. She had no idea what Cade would prefer.

First, she tried on the black combination, but she nearly laughed when she looked in the mirror. It had a nearly dominatrix look, and although she was sure Renee could pull it off, it wasn’t for her. Still, seeing herself like that—dark and sexy—started to turn her on.

Who knows? Maybe this is exactly what Cade is into.

Next, she slipped on the white transparent babydoll, but it looked all wrong with bare feet or with any shoes she had.

I guess the shopping cart suggestion was right. I should have gotten the matching shoes.

But Lily suspected that even if she had, this look was too seventies porn star.

The lavender corset and matching G-string was, surprisingly, a perfect complement to her figure. It squeezed her small waist in even tighter and provided a sense of comfort. Her breasts spilled out the top and nearly begged for release. Lily’s hips flared out, just the tiniest of material from the panties visible beneath the lace trim of the corset.

“This is it,” she said and slipped into the silver platform shoes she’d worn on a New Year’s Eve years ago.

She kept her face bare, save for a swipe of vanilla-scented chapstick and mascara. Fifteen minutes until Cade would arrive. Carefully, Lily unscrewed the bottle of vanilla extract. Immediately, she could taste the Chantilly crème in her mouth. The way it had tasted on Cade’s hardness, the sweetness and the musk mixed, all of it made her wet.

Like Jean-Michel instructed, she dabbed the vanilla behind her ears and on her inner elbows. However, as she was about to put it away, an idea too deliciously naughty occurred to her. Lily let the extract coat her ring finger and she dabbed it directly onto her clit. A shiver went through her at the touch. She wiped the little excess there was along her inner thighs.

A knock came at the door as she finished pouring two glasses of wine. She took a quick swallow, suddenly nervous, and wrapped the lavender silk robe around her.

“What’s the emergency?” Cade asked when she opened the door.

Without a word, she unbelted the robe and let it fall to the floor.

He didn’t hesitate. Cade picked her up and kicked the door shut behind him. His lips found hers instantly. She could smell the sweat of the workday on him. The manliness of it made her juices start to flow.

She laughed in his arms.

“Put me down,” she said as he carried her to the bedroom.

“Not a chance,” he said. “Damn, you taste sweet.”

“It’s a secret ingredient,” she said.

“Yeah, it is.” He tossed her on the bed and started to unbuckle his jeans, but she stopped him.

“Wait,” she said. “I have a surprise.”

“What is it?”

She shrugged. “You’ll have to find out.”

He grinned, grasped her ankles and flipped her onto her back. “Do I get some kind of prize if I get you out of this contraption or something?”

“Maybe,” she said. “A lady never tells.”

He reached down and unhooked the first of two dozen hook-and-eye closures on the corset.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I kind of like you like this.

“Good,” she said. “Because that’s not where the surprise is anyway.”

“No?” he asked. His hands trailed along her neck where the hickeys had started to fade.

“Colder,” she said.

He brought a hand to her breasts, encased in the corset, but she felt them harden beneath the material.

“Warmer,” she said and rolled onto her side.

Cade’s hand moved to her waist, to the side of her hip. He spanked her smartly on the bare skin. “Getting hot,” she said with a smile.

He grasped the back of the G-string. With the wisp of material in his hand, he knotted it around his fist. Lily moaned and he made the material slide along her clit.

“Really hot,” she said. Cade pushed her onto her back, hooked his thumbs through the underwear, and pulled them to her ankles. “Surprise,” she said.

His eyes widened when he saw her. “You … you did this for me?” he asked.

“I thought you’d be hungry,” she said with a laugh. “Honestly, at first I really was going to make you a special dinner. But then I thought…”

“Why not go right to dessert?” he asked with a grin.

“Taste me,” she said.

Lily couldn’t wait any longer. She brought her hand between her legs and spread open her lips to present her swollen clit to him. Her nipples had made their way out of the corset.

Cade dropped to his knee, gripped her hips, and brought her to his lips. Her legs splayed over his shoulders.

“God, you taste incredible,” he said. “It’s … it’s fucking intoxicating.”

She closed her eyes as the heat of his tongue roamed across her clit. He explored every crevice of her.

“You feel so good,” she whispered.

He kissed her clit lightly and raised his head. “I just have one question, though.”

Lily opened her eyes and gazed down at him.

“No talking,” she said. “Just eating.”

“Aren’t you eager,” he said, and grazed his thumb across her swollen clit. “I’ll finish eating this sweet pussy if you tell me one thing.”

“What?”

“What is that scent? It’s like … damn, it’s like no kind of perfume I’ve known before.”

“That’s the one thing I can’t tell you,” she said with a smile. “But I like to call it eau de whipped cream.”

Cade’s tongue returned to her and she raked her fingers through his hair to hold him close.