Page 80 of Blizzards and Brews
Ollie laughed. “It feels like too paltry of a word.”
I squeezed his hand in mine, pulling up to the curb in front of our destination. Ollie’s blue eyes widened as he saw the sign for The Confectionary and he looked at me excitedly.
“Are we starting off with some of Adrien’s world class chocolates because that sounds amazing?”
Adrien was one of my best friend Claire’s alphas, and was a classically trained French chocolatier. The things he made were absolutely sinful, and thankfully for me, he was giving me a bestie benefit and helping me with Ollie’s surprise today.
“Something like that,” I said, putting the car in park and going around to open his door.
He humphed. “You know you don’t have to do that just because I’m an omega. I’m still me.”
“And that’s the reason I’m doing it,” I countered with a pointed look. “Not because you’re an omega but because you’reyouand you’remine. Next time we go out, the two of us, if you want to do it for me then so be it, but you’re going to accept all the spoiling I have planned today without feeling guilty, okay?”
He pulled me to him then, tucking me under his chin. Even with his lither stature, Ollie was still taller than me, all of the guys were.
“I love being yours,” he said after a moment. “Just be prepared to be smothered in affection for the rest of the foreseeable future.”
I gave him a sweet kiss. “I’m pretty sure I can handle that.”
The two of us walked hand in hand into The Confectionary, the smells of buttery croissants and rich chocolate filling my lungs and making my mouth water.
Adrien gave me a nod from behind the counter, talking to one of his employees before coming to greet us.
“I’m so glad we could arrange this,” Adrien said. “I have a space for us set up in the back. Follow me.”
The alpha walked away without another word, the two of us following him back into the kitchen where one of his stainless steel workbenches was set up with bowls of chocolate and fillings, molds, and toppings galore.
“What?” Ollie asked, looking towards me.
Adrien chuckled. “Je désolé. I didn’t realize she didn’t tell you.”
“Surprise!” I said, with a wide grin. “We’re going to be making our own chocolate bars. As many as you want.”
“I want them all,” Ollie said happily. I bit back a laugh as he did a happy dance. Then again, who wouldn’t when presented with limitless chocolate combinations? “This is so freaking cool. Thank you both for doing this, I’m so excited.”
“I went ahead and tempered all the chocolate so it should be ready for you to use. Let me walk you through the logistics of making one and then I’ll let you two have some fun on your own.”
Ollie and I watched as Adrien filled a mold with liquid dark chocolate only to turn it back over into the bowl once the mold was coated. After he scraped it, he showed us where his blast chiller was and we set it inside while he went over all the fillings and toppings we could choose from.
By the time he was finished, the base of the bar was ready to go and he chose to fill it with a white chocolate peaches andcream ganache before coating it in white chocolate and adding a bit of pink himalayan salt overtop.
“The top layer will need to set again but that doesn’t take longer than a couple minutes in the chiller. Any questions?”
“How many is too many to make?” Ollie asked seriously.
Adrien smiled wide. “My omega and beta would say the limit does not exist. There’s a reason I brought out all the molds I have.”
“I knew I liked Claire and Riley,” Ollie said with a laugh. “You all should come by with Vance for the Winter Festival. We’d love to treat you to a few flights of our seasonal selection.”
Adrien nodded. “C’est bon, merci. I’ll be in the front, call me if you need anything.”
“Where do I start?” Ollie asked, more to himself than me. I grabbed the apron and handed his over, tying the back when he turned before he did the same to me.
“Anywhere,” I mused as I leaned in to study the toppings. He had a bit of everything but my eyes zeroed in on the coffee and cream mixture he’d made. It was a thick filling that smelled like heaven.
“I’m starting with coffee,” I sang out as I brought it closer and grabbed a mold. Adrien had made it look easy but the moment I tried to pour it evenly in the mold I was suddenly very thankful for the aprons he’d left us.
I threw the mold in the blast chiller so I could keep going, giving Ollie my attention again.