Dreaming of Daisy (A Red Maple Falls Novel, #6)

by Theresa Paolo

  She squirted more soap on the sponge and scrubbed harder at the bowl in her hand.

  “Let me help you,” Matt said, reaching for the sponge she was holding, his fingers grazing her skin and causing a flurry of sparks to ignite along her arm.

  After all this time his touch still set her ablaze. She ignored her burning skin and focused on the water, the bowl, anything to keep from looking at him.

  “Give me the sponge,” he said, his voice low and demanding.

  The only reason he was offering was because he felt bad. She didn’t need his help, and she damn well didn’t need his pity either. She started this bakery from the ground up with little to no help. She could handle a few dishes.

  “I have it. You should go. I’m sure you have speeders to catch and a town to keep safe. I don’t need you cleaning up my mess.”

  He didn’t step away. His hand tightened on the sponge until she let go of it. She looked up, catching those gorgeous eyes of his. Her body betrayed her, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth as she lost herself in his gaze.

  “I’m not asking.” His tone was commanding and insisting, but she knew him. Or at least she once did. Despite everything, he was kind. It was all he knew. He was raised to be a gentleman, a quality so rare in the men she dated since him. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to have a man offer his help without expecting anything in return.

  There was no denying that Matt Hayes was a good man, but he was also a living, breathing reminder of the mistake she made—walking away from him so many years ago. They had been teenagers, but she’d loved him with every fiber of her being.

  Every guy she dated since then had fallen short…not just short, oh no, a football field length short of ever living up to Matt and the connection they’d shared.

  No guy turned her body to liquid heat the way Matt did from only a single look. Or ignited an explosion of fireworks up her arms and straight to her core from a simple touch. And no guy could ever make her feel like she was the most beautiful girl in the world—even after falling in a murky creek—like he did.

  Their summer together was so long ago, yet the memories were burned so vividly in her mind it was as if she could still smell the basil growing on his parents’ farm, feel his hands roaming up and down her body, his lips pressing hungrily against her own as they made out behind the tractor, trying to hide from his three sisters and two brothers.

  Memories—that’s all they were, she reminded herself as she grabbed a rag and started wiping down the counters. Anything so she didn’t have to look at him and get sucked into that intense gaze again.

  “Rub any harder and you might just put a hole in it,” he said a few moments later, snapping her out of her head and back to reality. She looked down at the stainless-steel counter that shined as brightly as polished silver.

  “You sure you’re okay?” His voice like silk wrapped around her in a warm caress.

  She forced a smile, even though she wasn’t feeling very chipper at the moment, and lied. “I’m fine.”

  “‘I’m fine’ as in you are fine? Or ‘I’m fine’ as in ‘I’m not fine but I’m going to say I am so I don’t have to talk about it?’”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him.

  “Remember I have three sisters. I know when I’m being blown off.”

  He shut the water off and turned toward her, resting his backside against the sink. The muscles in his arms pressed firmly against the tan sleeves of his uniform as he crossed them over his chest. She swallowed down the desire the movement stirred inside her.

  She forced her eyes away from his biceps, fully aware that she’d been staring and staring hard. She only hoped she wasn’t slack-jawed and drooling. If she hoped his expression would key her in, she was sadly mistaken. A knowing smirk flitted across his mouth, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

  Refusing to play into his boyish charms, she continued scrubbing the counter. “I’m not blowing you off,” she finally managed.

  “If you say so.”

  “I do.”

  They spent the next hour working side by side in silence until her kitchen was finally back to normal.

  “Let me walk you out,” Matt said, tossing a towel onto the edge of the sink. He had shed his top shirt at one point, and was down to a white undershirt that only managed to accent his hard muscles even more. She swore he did it on purpose after seeing how crossed arms got her all hot and bothered. He scooped up said shirt and pivoted toward her.

  “You go,” she said, tying her hot pink apron with white polka dots and black frilly trim around her waist. “I have five dozen cupcakes I have to make.”

  “Now?” Matt glanced over to the vintage cupcake clock. “It’s after eleven.”

  “And Tommy Kramer will be six years old tomorrow, and he’s expecting five dozen dinosaur themed cupcakes.

  “You still have plenty of cupcakes in the case up front. Tell his parents what happened. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

  “I can’t let him down.”

  “He’s six. He’ll get over it.”

  “Six or sixty-six, he’s still my customer, and I always aim to please. I will accept nothing less.”

  “You’re a good person, Shay.”

  A slight smile lifted at the corner of her mouth. Maybe she was then and now, but it didn’t make up for the in between years when she wasn’t. “Thanks for coming down here. Sorry to have wasted your time.”

  He stepped toward her, his gaze dark and serious. “Any time with you is not wasted.”

  She tried to ignore the butterflies taking flight in her stomach, swirling around in a joyous frenzy. Afraid she was blushing, she let her hair fall forward, creating a curtain to hide behind.

  “I should get started,” Shay said and hurried over to the cabinets, pulling down the sugar and flour. It was late, and she was bone-dead tired, but once she started mixing ingredients, she’d come alive just like she always did.

  Matt slapped his hands down on the counter, startling the ever-living hell out of her.

  “What do you need me to do?” he asked, taking the containers out of her hand and placing them on the counter.

  Her eyebrows pulled down. “What?”

  “We have five dozen cupcakes to make, don’t we?”

  “We?”

  “Did you honestly think I would bail on you?”

  “You’ve already spent so much time here. Don’t you have to get back to the station?”

  “Shift’s over.”

  “You’re the Sheriff. Your shift is never over.”

  “I have my phone on me in case of emergency.”

  “But you’re probably tired. You should go home and get some sleep.”

  “Are you going to stand here all night trying to get rid of me, or are you going to give me something to do?”

  He was always a straight to the point kind of guy—something she’d appreciated. No bullshit, no beating around the bush… It was refreshing.

  She gave him a sassy tilt of her head. “You know how to crack an egg?”

  “I think I can manage.”

  She slid a bowl across the counter to him. “In the fridge, top shelf.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  She might not have been that girl anymore, but right now she was a girl in need, and she would take the help he was willing to give.

  Besides, it was just baking. It’s not like he was going to scoop her up and have his way with her on top of the fondant.

  ~End of Excerpt~

  Mad About Matt is Currently FREE on all e-retailers. Grab your copy today!

  Also don’t forget to grab your FREE book today by signing up for my newsletter here!

  Other Books by Theresa

  Mad About Matt

  Crushing on Kate

  Moments with Mason

  Catching Cooper

  Hung Up on Hadley

  A Bride for Sam

  Dreaming of Daisy

  Charmed by Chase (Book 1 of the Marshall
Family)

  Blindsided by Brooke (Coming Fall 2018)

  Willow Cove Series

  Her Forbidden Love Match

  His Not-So Small Town Girl (Coming Summer 2018)

  The Again Series

  (Never) Again

  (Once) Again

  Written with Cassie Mae under the pen name Tessa Marie

  Broken Records (Amazon Exclusive)

  Acknowledgements

  Mom, thank you for reading and providing feedback even when you were sick with a fever. Though when you told me it was good and you had no notes, I did wonder if the fever was fogging your brain. I value your opinion so much and there are no words that’ll ever be able to convey my appreciation but I’ll never stop trying to find them.

  Cassie, like always you helped make this book possible. You helped me through my doubts, insecurities and helped keep me together during the after holiday blues. You are one of a kind and the fact that we found each other in this big crazy world is a miracle. I couldn’t do this without you. And sorry for always missing my deadlines. I swear one of these days I’ll surprise you and be ahead of schedule! Also, I take full responsibility for any typos or grammar errors in this book. Your edit was honest and it made me really delve into these characters, adding meat to the bones, and forcing myself to dig deep. In the process I found the fun in writing again and for that I thank you.

  Amanda, my cover designer extraordinaire, this may be my favorite cover of all. I know, I know I say that about every cover but this one just brings a smile to my face when I see it. Thank you for being so talented and for bringing my visions to life!

  My Beta Girls, I love you, girls. This has been a crazy journey but you have been there every step of the way. You help keep me sane and one of these days we’ll all be in the same room together!

  Eric, thank you for not saying anything when the laundry and dishes piles up. Thank you for constantly asking me if I should be writing when you know I’m just trying to find a distraction. Thank you for ignoring the million Post-Its and various boards I have scattered through the house as I frantically try to make sense of this never coming together plot. Thank you for continuing to believe in me even when you come home and I tell you all I accomplished was finishing season two of The Crown. You’re the best and I love you.

  Grandma, the thing I hate most about deadlines is when I let it take over my life and I don’t get to come visit you, but I know you understand, so thank you for that. Your support means the world to me and I’ll always thrive to make you proud.

  John, my brother, thank you for checking in on me when you know my anxiety is acting up especially when I’m losing my mind on a deadline. Who would have thought that one day we’d actually, dare I say it? Get along and actually *gasp* like each other!

  To my readers, without you I wouldn’t have been able to keep this series going. But you have continued to support this small-town with its quirky characters and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart. This isn’t the end for Red Maple Falls and I can’t wait to introduce you to a whole new family, some characters who you have already met, and revisit some favorites of the past. As I love to say, stay tuned because there is so much more to come!

  Same small-town but a whole new family to fall in love with.

  Meet the Marshall family of Red Maple Falls!

  Grab your copy today!

  About the Author

  Theresa Paolo lives on Long Island, NY with her fiancé and their fish. She is the author of NA and Adult contemporary romances. Her debut novel (NEVER) AGAIN, released in Fall 2013 with Berkley (Penguin) and the companion novel (ONCE) AGAIN released Summer 2014. Mad About Matt, the first book in her new Red Maple Falls series, released March 2017.

  She loves to write heartfelt romances with a dash of fun and a side of spice. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, brewery hopping, daydreaming, wasting time on Pinterest, or can be found chatting away on Twitter and Facebook. She writes YA romance under Tessa Marie.

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