Luscious
Melissa Schroeder
Edited by
Noel Varner
Cover Art by
Moonstruck Cover Design & Photography
Harmless Publishing
Copyright © 2019 by Melissa Schroeder
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Contents
Also by Melissa Schroeder
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Scrumptious is coming
About the Author
Also by Melissa Schroeder
HARMLESS:
A Little Harmless Sex
A Little Harmless Pleasure
A Little Harmless Obsession
A Little Harmless Lie
A Little Harmless Addiction
A Little Harmless Submission
A Little Harmless Fascination
A Little Harmless Fantasy
A Little Harmless Ride
A Little Harmless Secret
A Little Harmless Revenge
A Little Harmless Scandal
A Little Harmless Faith
A LITTLE HARMLESS MILITARY ROMANCE
Infatuation
Possession
Surrender
THE SANTINIS
Leonardo
Marco
Gianni
Vicente
A Santini Christmas
A Santini in Love
Falling for a Santini
One Night with a Santini
A Santini Takes the Fall
A Santini’s Heart
Loving a Santini
CAMOS AND CUPCAKES
Delicious.
SEMPER FI MARINES
Tease Me
Tempt Me
Touch Me
The Semper Fi Marines Collection
THE FITZPATRICKS
At Last
TASK FORCE HAWAII
Seductive Reasoning
Hostile Desires
Constant Craving
Tangled Passions
Wicked Temptations
Task Force Hawaii Vol 1
TEXAS TEMPTATIONS
Conquering India
Delilah’s Downfall
HAWAIIAN HOLIDAYS
Mele Kalikimaka, Baby
Sex on the Beach
Getting Lei’d
TEXAS HEAT
Scorched
SPIES, LIES, and ALIBIS
The Boss
ONCE UPON AN ACCIDENT
An Accidental Countess
Lessons in Seduction
The Spy Who Loved Her
Once Upon an Accident Bundle
THE CURSED CLAN
Callum
Angus
Logan
Fletcher
Anice
BY BLOOD
Desire by Blood
Seduction by Blood
BOUNTY HUNTER’S, INC
For Love or Honor
Sinner’s Delight
TELEPATHIC CRAVINGS
Voices Carry
Lost in Emotion
Hard Habit to Break
Bundle
CONNECTED BOOKS
The Hired Hand
Hands on Training
A Calculated Seduction
Going for Eight
SINGLE TITLES
Grace Under Pressure
Her Mother’s Killer
The Last Detail
Operation Love
Chasing Luck
The Seduction of Widow McEwan
Snowbound Seduction
Hawaiian Holidays
Sweet Patience
COMING SOON
Scrumptious
Acknowledgments
Here we are again with another book and I have to remind readers that I don’t make this happen all by myself.
First off, big thanks to Moonstruck Cover Design and Photography for the beautiful cover. A big wet kiss to my editor Noel Varner.
This industry can take a toll on a person, but I have always been thankful for the support I get from other folks. Big love to Joy Harris for being there to listen to my ideas (and who helped me come up with the idea of Camos and Cupcakes). I wouldn’t make it through a book without Brandy Walker who lets me text whine to her on a daily basis. To Les and my girls for getting through two of the toughest years of our lives and supporting me all the way.
And, hey, you nut job Addicts, I love you with big sloppy kisses (with tongue!). Thank you for always understanding just what a nutter I am and still supporting me.
For Joy Harris
Because when I said Camos and Cupcakes, you smiled and I knew I had a winner.
Love, Mel
Chapter One
The fine hairs on the back of my neck tingle, signaling a shift in the air. Need clenches my gut as I try to control my reaction, but I know it’s a losing battle. Without turning around, I know she has just stepped into our bakery. The woman I shouldn’t be hung up on but dream about on a regular basis.
EJ. Elliana. She hates her first name, opting to go by her initials. It’s odd because the name fits her. I’ve never met a woman who is so utterly feminine just like her name. From the long maxi dresses she wears to the fact that she looks like the twenty-first century version of a bombshell, Elliana fits her to a “T”. Still, I would never use the name again. I learned that lesson the hard way. The one time I did use it, she’d threatened to kill me. Not directly. Instead, she offered me a sweet, beautiful smile, and her eyes twinkled. Then she said, “It’d be a shame if Ed and Fritz have to run the shop without you. And your poor mama would miss you.”
Her deep southern accent had dripped with honeysuckle sweetness, but there was no doubt in my mind that she had just threatened my life.
Was that why my dick stood at attention every time she appeared? Probably. Mainly because I haven’t been interested in a woman in the last six months—longer really. She’s the only woman who drew my attention and made my blood beat with desire. I think if I could avoid her, I might be able to get over her. Unfortunately, she’s my sister’s best friend. Add in the fact that her shop is right across the hall from our cupcake shop, it’s absolutely impossible to avoid her.
I roll my eyes. Jesus, now I sound like an idiot. Either way, the fact that a woman threatened me with bodily injury, and I sport a hard-on whenever I am around her makes me one sick fuck. I blame my parents. Just don’t tell my mother.
I brace myself and turn around. She’s smiling at me over the heads of some of the women in the shop. She’s tall, so tall that when she wears heels, I wouldn’t have to bend down to kiss her. For a guy who’s over six three, that’s a tantalizing idea. I can just imagine pressing my mouth to hers, both of us standing there as I thrus
t into her…
Dammit. There I go again. I need to stop fantasizing about her. I’ve been telling myself that for months. But, of course, my dick doesn’t agree. He thinks that I should just appease him with a long, hard fuck with EJ. He doesn’t understand that EJ’s not interested. And just so you know, the fact that I talk about my dick like he has separate thoughts is just between us, okay?
I wait until she makes her way to the side of the counter through the bevy of women hanging out in line. One woman, a petite blond with a permanent resting bitch face and the personality to match it, tosses EJ a nasty look. EJ seemingly ignores her, except for the slight smile curving one side of her mouth. I know all her smiles and that’s the one where she knows she’s in charge.
Fuck, that’s sexy and my dick wholeheartedly agrees.
“Harry,” she says with that deep, sultry accent. I try not to fall down at her feet and beg her for a pet.
“EJ.”
Her smile fades and I know I irritated her. It isn’t that I want to. My flirting with EJ is part eight-year-old boy. I don’t know what it is about her, but she makes me want to pull on her pigtails. Definitely immature and cliché, but I can’t seem to control myself. Which, for me, is saying something.
“What do you need?”
“I was wondering if we could chat about working out an idea that would be beneficial to each of us.”
“I don’t know. Do you think we can?”
Her eyes narrow and I bite back my own smile. She might exude honey when she speaks, but there is nothing as sexy as EJ when she’s mad at me.
Remember, I said I was a sick fuck. I am. Mainly when I’m thinking of EJ or in her presence or dreaming about her. Okay, anything to do with EJ leaves me frustrated and, dammit, my dick has a mind of his own, at least when it comes to her.
She’s one of her two best friends, and she’s come to me about business. EJ is one of the most formidable businesswomen I know. She’s built Magnolia Books into one of the best stores in the south. That means something in this day and age, so I relent because while I might be that sick fuck, I respect women.
“Come on back to the office and we can chat.”
She hesitates. I have to fight the need to demand she follow me. No one orders EJ to do anything, but I always want to. She constantly disagrees with me. If I walk outside and say it’s raining, she’d disagree with me even as she got wet.
With a sigh, she steps in my direction, so I know she’s following. As we walk back to the small office we keep at the back of the bakery, I stamp down on my nerves. Or at least I try to. Doesn’t always work. I step into the office, which is more like a glorified closet, and wait for her to walk through the door. The sweet scent of jasmine leaves my head spinning. After I close the door, I settle behind my desk as she sits in one of the two chairs in front of it.
EJ isn’t a woman who asks for attention. She demands it with her way of dressing—the long maxi dress clings to her many curves—and her personality. The fact that she’s a looker with her long red hair—I really want to know if she’s a natural ginger—luminous greenish blue eyes, and those plump, pink lips, always sends my head spinning. She’s wearing just a sheen of pink lipstick and I want to smear it by kissing her. On top of that, she reminds me of a very tall Marilyn Monroe. I like the fact that she’s curvy. Not that she cares, but, ya know—just for reference.
“So, what can I do for you?”
She hesitates, and that’s not like EJ at all. I’ve always thought she would go into any situation full steam ahead and damn the consequences.
“I have a proposition for you.”
I let one eyebrow rise up while I thank God that there’s a desk between us. Otherwise, she’d know just how excited I am about her wording. I know better than to think she wants me in bed. We had one disastrous date that I know she calls The Date from Hell. She fidgets and, again, I note just how out of character that is for her.
“Go on,” I say when the silence stretches out.
She sighs. “I have an idea about doing a few after hours events at the store.”
EJ isn’t just a beautiful face. She’s a sharp businesswoman who runs one of the most popular indie bookstores in San Antonio…if not the entire south. She’s only been in business for three years, so I figure she’ll dominate much of the US someday.
“Okay.”
“A number of them will be themed, and I was thinking that I could work with Ed for some of them. Not all of them, but I know women and I know my clientele.”
There was no doubt in that. She had built partnerships with publishers and indie authors, focusing on romance and women’s issues in her store. There was rarely a day that the store wasn’t busy.
“Have you talked to Ed about this?”
She rolls her eyes. “You know what he’s like. I can work out the food with him, but I need to make sure it’s financially feasible for me to do. His head is always in powdered sugar clouds.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, you’re right about that.”
Ed Cooper, my sister’s fiancé, is a kick ass baker. He’s the reason all three of us—Fritz being the third—started Camos and Cupcakes. Ed is good with the cupcakes but crappy with the business side of things. That’s okay, though, that’s my job.
“I was wondering if we could chat about this to see if we can work out something that’s beneficial to both of our businesses.”
“How so?”
“I know that Ed hired another part-timer because he wants to branch out, yes?”
Of course she knows about that. Ed can’t keep a secret from my sister Allison, and Allison blabs everything to her friends.
I nod.
She smiles and, all of a sudden, I feel like I’ve won some award. Simply because a woman smiled at me. A woman who said I gave her the worst date of her life…and EJ dates a lot. Not that I think there is anything wrong with that. It’s just that when I get held up as the worst date that she had, I figured it’s worse that she dates on a regular basis.
“I thought if we worked together, we could help Ed branch out. My clientele is mainly women, and they tend to be in charge of things. In the home and in the office. They keep track of anniversaries, birthdays, and those kinds of things. I have a few more ideas that would be beneficial to both of us.”
I see where she is going with this, and it’s kind of brilliant. Low cost and hitting a market that might come into the shop to buy cupcakes or coffee, but they might not otherwise find out about our move into cakes.
“That’s…”
“What?” Her voice is guarded.
“It’s a fantastic idea, EJ.”
For a second, something close to relief floods her expression, but she soon banks it. “Great. So, I thought you could come over tonight.”
“After you close?”
That’s actually a good thing because I have last week’s books to work on.
“Yeah, I thought I’d cook us dinner, and we could chat about it.”
I blink. “You mean at your apartment?”
“Yeah. I work better with food in me and away from the store. I don’t like eating too many of my meals there. It’s a bad habit.”
I nod because I understand that thought. Being self-employed wasn’t as exciting when you had to handle all the business side of things. For EJ, it’s harder because she’s on her own.
“Not at a restaurant?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t want people listening in. And I want us to be able to be honest. If we’re out, there’s always a chance we will be too polite.”
I feel one side of my mouth kick up. “You’ve never been polite where I’m concerned.”
She has the good grace to blush. “True, but this is business, and you know I don’t mess around about that.”
That’s probably the one thing we agree on.
“Okay. Sounds like a plan.”
Her face lightens and the smile she gives me is glorious. It’s always hard for me to remember just how m
uch she hates me when she smiles at me. She focuses all her happiness in my direction.. Another wave of lightheadedness hits me. From a simple smile.
What would it be like to make her come?
Fuck me. I clear my throat, trying to push that idea out of my head.
“So, around seven?” she asks. I normally work out on Wednesday nights, but since she’s offering me dinner, I’m happy to move things around to accommodate her.
“That’ll give me enough time to drop off the deposit and close out receipts.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” she says as she rises out of her chair. I do the same as my throat closes up. It’s always like this when she leaves. I panic, for no reason whatsoever. Like if she walks through the door, I’ll never see her again. It’s insane, but…well, you know. I’m a complete nutter when it comes to EJ.
“Are you okay, Harry?”
Her deep southern accent dances over my name, and I bite back a groan. Again.
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