Little Jack (Hell's Handlers MC 6)

Jazmine remained quiet, though engaged if her occasional nodding and hums of agreement were any indication. When Holly finally paused to take a breath and mentally berate herself for rambling off script, Jazz spoke up. “That’s right. We close for business at two and are usually cleaned and locked up tight by three. You’re looking to rent kitchen time in the evenings?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Time to prepare and fill my orders, and if it’s at all possible, a small amount of refrigerator space to store the finished products. We’re not talking thousands of orders here, I haven’t even started yet.”

“Well, it sounds like a great idea to me,” Jazz said with a shrug as though Holly renting the space was a foregone conclusion. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to the important stuff.” She rubbed her palms together, her long slender fingers revealing multiple silver rings. “Whatcha got in that box?”

Holly blinked. “Uh, so…I mean…is that…um, I mean will you talk to Toni?”

With another wave of her hand, Jazz opened the box and inhaled. “No, she gave me full authority to decide, and I’m all for it. Why not? The space isn’t in use at that time, it’d be ridiculous to turn you down. Oh, mamma, this smells so good.”

Could it really be that easy? Jazz sure seemed to think so. She lifted her head and winked at Holly. “Tell me what all this yumminess is.”

A huge smile broke out across Holly’s face as waves and waves of tension dissipated from her body. She’d done it. She’d gotten the kitchen space to start up her business which meant she could start saving money for her storefront. Progress toward her dreams. If she’d been alone, she would have squealed and done a happy dance, but she managed to keep her ass in the seat.

“Um, okay, I have an assortment of goodies, some for breakfast and some dessert. Let’s start with the a.m. stuff, shall we?”

“You hand it over, I’ll eat it, but I want this one first,” Jazz said, pointing to a cinnamon roll slathered in a generous dollop of cream cheese glaze.

“Okay, I’ll just tell you what they all are. The one you’re salivating over is a cinnamon roll.” Holly pointed to another pastry. “That’s an apple turnover, then a scone, a classic brownie, a white chocolate cupcake with Bailey’s frosting, a slice of peach pie, and a piece of cream cheese pound cake.”

Jazz just stared at her.

“What?” Holly said as nerves ran up and down her spine once again.

“Are you for real?”

Holly chuckled. “Maybe you should taste something before you ask me that. It could all be gross.”

With a snort, Jazz picked up the cinnamon roll. “Somehow I doubt that,” she said before opening her mouth wider than Holly would ever have guessed it could go and taking a gigantic bite of the gooey treat. “Oh. My. God,” she said, mouth full as her eyes literally rolled upward. “You have got to be kidding me right now.”

In an impressive feat of sugar tolerance, Jazz sampled each and every baked good, not hiding her enjoyment or praise one bit. The two talked between bites until they were laughing and working on their second cups of coffee.

“Holy shit, I just had the best freakin’ idea ever.” Jazz said in a near-shout as her spine straightened. She practically bounced in her seat. “Ready for this?”

The sudden jolt of animation from Jazz had Holly laughing. “I’m not sure…”

Jazz laughed right along with her. “I’d apologize, but this idea is too good not to be this excited. Our lead chef, Ernesto, does some baking. Biscuits, simple rolls, a few types of pie. He flat out hates it, and, I’ll be honest, they are far from the strongest items on our menu.”

“Okay…” Where was she going with this?

“What if, instead of charging you a rental fee, you paid for the space in baked goods?” Jazz’s eyes shone with delight over her idea, which warmed Holly’s insides. The offer wasn’t made out of pity or some kind of obligation. It was a genuine enjoyment of Holly’s food that had Jazz wanting to sell her baked goods in the restaurant.

Before Holly had a chance to respond to the request, Jazz plowed on. “Breakfast items would sell like crazy in here. So would cakes, pies, and pastries. We can move it all.” Her nose wrinkled, drawing a snort and chuckle from Holly. “What do you think? You, Toni, and I can sit down and determine an agreed-upon amount of baked good for you to provide in exchange for the rental space. If we end up requiring more, we’ll pay you.”

So much had happened in the last five minutes, Holly’s head spun. She needed a few minutes to process since, though Jazz’s offer was incredible, it did throw a wrench in Holly’s plans. She’d be increasing her budget for supplies and spending time on the diner’s orders. But she wouldn’t have a rent payment. And there was the free promotion. Having her items on the diner’s menu daily would be an enormous marketing boost that wouldn’t cost her a dollar beyond what they determined was fair compensation for use of the space.