the man knelt down and glanced over his assortment of treats beneath the counter. The doors in the rear were opened, and through the glass Bob saw Eres pick up a plate of half a dozen chocolate cupcakes. Then Eres popped back up with the plate and set that down on the counter. "This is just what you need. I guarantee your misses won't be able to resist having just one of these, but it could be interesting if she eats them all."
"I don't think even she could finish them all in one sitting," Bob replied. They weren't the small party cupcakes. These were as round as tea saucers and slathered with chocolate icing. "But I wasn't really planning on buying anything-" Eres didn't pay attention to him because he was too busy putting the cupcakes into a styrofoam container. "Sir, I said I didn't want to buy anything."
"No need to buy, these are on the house," Eres assured him. In a second the plate was empty and he pushed the closed container toward Bob. Then Eres clasped his hands together on top of the counter and smiled at his non-paying customer. "And tell your misses I hope she enjoys them."
"You're...you're just giving them to me?" Bob asked him. Eres gave a firm nod. "Well, I don't know what to say-"
"A simple thank you and a quick scamper out of here will do. After all, it's getting awfully late," Eres told him. Bob paused and glanced down at his watch. His eyes shot wide open. It was already a half hour past dinner, and he still had a few minutes drive home. "Oh crap, Tiffany is going to chew me out."
"Give her the cupcakes and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised," Eres spoke up. Bob didn't think that would sooth the savage beast that his wife had become, but he was willing to try any free remedy.
"Thanks for the cupcakes, and I'll be sure to come back and tell you how she liked them." Bob grabbed the box and hurried out of the store. Eres stepped up to the door and watched the unhappy man hurry away down the street. There was a small, knowing smile on his lips.
Bob, however, was doing everything but smiling. He rushed through the crowds toward his parked car and drove home. He lived in a small house in the suburbs, which was the reason for the long commute. When he parked out front he shut off the engine and glanced into the dining room windows. Nobody was at the table. Hell, the lights were off. That meant trouble and starvation for him. He hugged the box of sweets to himself as a shield and got out of the car.
He quietly made his way to the door and opened it a crack. The entrance light was off but the tv blared from the living room. There was no sign of the misses, so he snuck inside and closed the door behind himself.
"Where the hell have you been?" Bob flinched at the harsh voice and glanced over his shoulder. Just a few feet behind him stood his wife, a woman of average height with soft blond hair and bright blue eyes. Those eyes were even now searing into his body. He noticed she wore a sweatshirt with sweat pants. That was her usual wardrobe nowadays. There was no more dressing up for him in any of her sexier clothing. "Dinner was almost an hour ago."
"I, um, I lost track of time." He looked down at the box in his hands and then held it out to her. "I was getting you these and the shop owner just kept talking and talking. I couldn't get him to, um, ring up the stuff for me." That part was technically true. Eres talked a long time and Bob hadn't been able to have the old man ring the stuff up because he hadn't paid for anything.
"And what is it? An empty box?" Tiffany guessed. Bob frowned at her mocking tone.
"If you don't want me to give you anything then you may as well just tell me," he snapped back.
"Why bother? You don't usually give me anything, anyway," she countered.
"Yeah? So what's this?" Bob shoved the box into her arms and passed by her. She whipped around and scowled at his back as he retreated into the living room.
"How the hell am I supposed to know? All you said was you bought it off a guy that wouldn't stop talking."
"Then open it and find out, then leave me the hell alone," he shouted back. Bob plopped down on the couch and gagged at the channel. She'd been watching one of her old mush romances, so he flipped it to the news channel.
Meanwhile, Tiffany glared at the box in her hands. She thought about dashing it against the back of his head, but her curiosity got the better of her. Instead she wandered into the kitchen and set it down on the island. She opened the lid and her mouth opened a little at the delicious sweets which met her eyes. They were neatly arranged so they just barely touched one another, and their icing glistened beneath the kitchen lights. She'd never seen such pretty cupcakes, nor smelled anything so sweet.
"Where did you say you got these?" she yelled at her husband.
"Some shop downtown," he called back.
Tiffany frowned at that unhelpful answer, but at least she finally found a name on the bottom of the pink box. Mr. Eres' Sensual Sweets. She wrinkled her nose at the name. It sounded very suggestive to her prudish imagination, though that didn't ruin her desire to try one of those delicious cupcakes. To hell with the diet she'd been attempting to follow for the last four months. Her husband didn't care about the way she looked anymore. She was reaching her hand out to grab one and ruin her diet when said husband walked into the room.
"So what was for dinner, anyway?" The commercials had reminded him he hadn't eaten. Tiffany swirled around and scowled at him, both for his question and for sneaking up on her when she was doing something wrong.
"Look in the fridge and find something. There's about three different leftovers in there, remember?" Now he, too, frowned.
"Fine," he angrily replied. Then he noticed she was trying her hardest to hide the box of cupcakes behind her back. His eyebrows raised and an evil smile played across his lips. He pointed at the pink container. "Tried one of those things yet?"
"Of course not, you know I can't have anything sugary while I'm on my diet," she reminded him. Then her scowl deepened as a dark thought slipped into her mind. "You bought these things just to be a jerk, didn't you?" Bob was confused by her logic.
"Jerk? How the hell would I do that with a bunch of cupcakes?"
"Because you know I wouldn't eat them, so you'd just pretend they were for me and then eat them yourself."
"One flaw in your argument, Tiff. I don't like sweet things," he countered. However, he caught a whiff of their smell from the partially opened box and sidled up beside her. "Though I didn't get to try them in the shop." Before she could stop him he'd flipped open the lid and dipped a finger into one of the toppings. She angrily grabbed him and pulled him away from the table.
"You knock it off. Those things are too good for you," she scolded.
"Yeah, and they might be too good for you, too," Bob shot back. He put the goo-covered finger into his mouth and his eyes shot open. The icing melted onto his tongue and slid down his throat like a cool, refreshing drink after a drought. He felt like he'd never lived until he tasted that bit of deliciousness.
"Hello?" Tiffany asked. She'd noticed his vacant, drooling expression and she waved her hand in front of his face. That mostly snapped him out of the daze, though she was still worried. It was like he'd been mesmerized by the food, and she wondered if maybe it was laced with something. "You feeling okay?"
"What? Oh, yeah, yeah. Just, wow. That stuff really packs a punch." He eyed the box, but Tiffany stepped in front of his line of sight.
"I don't think you should have anymore, at least not tonight," she told him. She couldn't believe she was keeping her sweet-hating husband out of a box of cupcakes. Seeing him infatuated with them made her want to try them. "How about you go sit down on the couch and I'll go make you a sandwich?" Bob was so surprised by her suggestion that all thoughts of the cupcakes fled and his head snapped over to her.
"Did you just say what I thought you said?" he asked her. She folded her arms across her chest and scowled at him.
"Yes, but if you don't get out of the kitchen I'll end up kicking your ass upstairs without dinner or any more cupcakes." He grinned and then slid
off to get comfortable on the couch. When she was sure he was paying attention to the tv, Tiffany turned to the cupcake box and firmly closed the lid. She would show self-restraint, at least until Bob's sandwich was done. Then she could sneak a bite while he was chewing on his own distraction.
The sandwich was delivered with a speed that surprised both of them. Tiffany was more eager to taste that bit of heaven that she'd seen on Bob's face, and once he was chewing away on his food she returned to the kitchen to 'clean up' the mess. She took the first chance she got and ducked a hand into the box. She only meant to take a bit of the icing, but her eager fingers grabbed a whole cupcake and pulled it out. The icing drizzled over her fingers and she gave them a few licks to keep the food from dropping to the floor and being wasted.
The moment the flavor struck her tongue, Tiffany found herself in the bliss Bob had experienced. The chocolate oozed all over her palate and soaked into every tastebud. She almost groaned against the sensual feeling of that moist bit of icing sliding smoothly along her tongue. Then she swallowed, and she swore the chocolate left a trail of blazing, erotic fire that rippled down her entire body.
Her heaven was interrupted by Bob. He was done with his sandwich and got up from the couch to put his plate away. Tiffany turned around and hid the cupcake behind the box.