Page 3 of Sweet Fantasies

So avoiding the little baker is gonna be priority number one from now on.

“Hey, Chef?” The door opens again and my sous chef pops in, his face flushing. “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

I wave my hand. “It’s not a big deal. But what did you need me for? Something wrong?”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah. The happy couple are no longer happy and she’s down here telling us she wants half of the food and she’s taking it to her room.”

I jerk my chin in and stare at him. “What the hell?”

He shrugs. “Beats me. But you should talk to her. Just be careful because I can’t tell if she wants to kill someone or she’s about to cry.”

Grimacing, I growl under my breath. This wedding sucks!

But I head out to talk to the bride.

And pray that I can keep this thing under control. And that after it’s all over, I can forget about Anna Arnold and never have to run into her again.

Because she’s exactly the kind of woman that wants forever and I’m too fucked up to give that to any woman.

ANNA

It’s been days and I still feel that guy’s body pressed up against mine. Still feel his lips, warm and soft and demanding on mine.

Still want the damn asshole so much that my fingers tingle with it.

I slam the pans around in my commercial kitchen and growl under my breath.

A throat clears behind me. “Hey, Anna! How are you?”

I turn my head and laugh when I see the wary look on Tally’s face. “What’s that look for?”

“Depends. Why are you slamming pans like you’d like to beat someone to death with them?”

I flush. “No reason. I’m just tired and nothing’s cooperating today.”

She nods her head but the look on her face makes me think that she doesn’t believe a word of it. “Okay. Well, I hate to bug you but Foster and I want to surprise Harley with a party to celebrate our new life. It’s like an engagement party but with kids thrown in for her.”

“So along with the cake and stuff for your engagement party you want to have a specialty cake for Harley?”

She nods her head and shoves a piece of red hair behind her ear. “That’s not going to be a problem, is it? I mean, are you too busy?”

“When do you need it?”

She taps a painted fingernail on her chin and smiles. “How about next month? The beginning of next month. School’s over and I want to make sure that we do something special for her at the wedding. This is gonna set the stage for our life together and I don’t want to leave her out.”

I shake my head and come over to hug her. “You are too sweet for your own good, girl. I’m sure that Harley knows how lucky she is to get you for a stepmom.”

Tally scrunches up her little nose, glaring at me. “I really hate that title.”

I giggle, asking, “What exactly would you like her to call you?”

“She calls me Mom.”

“That is adorably sweet. I’m glad that you guys have found each other and you’ve got Foster. Although I swear at first I thought y’all were gonna kill each other.”

“Nope. We just had to work through a few things.”

Snorting, I pick up the order form and ask, “Okay. Let’s say that’s what y’all did. Now. What kind of cake would you like for your little princess?”

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