Page 45 of Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake

Lizzie gave Bernadette a clueless look.

“Vulvas,” she said with a wave of her hand.

Lizzie’s eyebrows shot up, her lips pursing in interest. “I’m listening.”

“Vulvas, breasts, buttocks… all represented in the baked form. Is this work you’d be comfortable doing?”

“Comfortable? Oh, Bernadette, I’ve been whipping up sexually suggestive croissants and tarts for years. I don’t think there’s a job I could be more comfortable doing.”

“Mind you, these are for our private orders. We have to project a more… conventional front for our day-to-day customers.”

Lizzie looked around the empty shop, wondering how many of those she would actually be dealing with. “I understand, but maybe if you forced more people to eat pussy-shaped croustades, they’d be less hesitant to eat pussy in other scenarios.”

Bernadette’s eyes went wide, then she pursed her lips, looking off like she was contemplating the truth in that.

“Who’s your main, uh, clientele?”

Bernadette looked a bit sheepish for a second. “Primarily my wife and I’s friends and any word of mouth they generate. I’m starting to get more requests than I can track alone, but not enough to base the business off it.”

“Would you like to base the business off it?”

Bernadette thought for a moment. “I’d like to sell my products to anyone interested without having my whole shop shut down by angry prudes,” she said at last, giving a brisk nod.

Lizzie couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe I could help you?”

“How so?” Bernadette asked, tilting her head as she studied Lizzie.

“I don’t know, get some hype on Instagram? TikTok? Makea website? I think if we work on a set menu, things that are clever without being gratuitous, we could maybe generate a pretty solid client base. Especially in this area,” Lizzie said, referring to Fishtown’s more eccentric tastes. “We could start with online orders, and if they’re popular, we can slowly incorporate them into the shop? Not to take away from your, uh, other offerings.” Lizzie glanced at the desolate pastry display. Bernadette’s eyes lingered there too. “This could be amazing. Celebrate the human body, be creative and fun with it… or it could be a disaster. Who knows. But I’m willing to do whatever you need of me.”

Bernadette continued to stare at the glass display, lost in her thoughts. After a moment, she let out a gentle humming noise, turning back to Lizzie.

“When can you start?”

Chapter 21

RAKE was learning that convincing his boss to give him a job he previously said he didn’t want and then have him send Rake across the globe for said job was a bit more complicated than expected.

He’d been in meeting after meeting, often at odd hours, to accommodate Dominic, who was already in the U.S. setting up shop. Dominic had been hesitant at first, wary that Rake’s previous dismissal of the position indicated he wasn’t enough of a team player to help Onism’s U.S. introduction develop roots. But Rake could be charming and convincing when he needed and had a good track record to prove his skills. He eventually secured a spot as an associate creative director for Onism’s U.S. East Coast division.

The rest of his time in Sydney was spent balancing work demands with packing up his sparse possessions and figuring out where he would be living in Philadelphia.

His job had offered him a decent relocation budget that he was trying to stay well within the confines of, searching place after place online, not wanting to bother Lizzie with going to look for him.

When the clock had all but run out, options being snatched up quicker than he could inquire about them on Philly’s competitivehousing market, he put a deposit down on a furnished unit not far from where Lizzie was currently living, hoping the proximity would make the transition to living with him a bit easier.

What he should have realized was Lizzie probably wanted at least a little bit of say in where they would be living.

“Youwhat?” Lizzie asked after Rake told her he signed a lease. He pulled the phone away to protect his ear from her pitch and volume.

“I found us a place.”

“And you didn’t think to, oh, I don’t know,tellme about it? Or have me go see it?”

“You’re mad,” Rake said slowly, his heart sinking. He had thought taking care of this, putting as little stress on Lizzie as possible, would be the right thing. The chivalrous thing.

“Yeah, I’m mad. I would have liked asayin the matter. Since I’ll belivingthere and all.”

“I thought I was being helpful,” Rake said weakly. Lizzie huffed.