Page 6 of Off-Limits Silver Fox Billionaire

Bree smiled. “Guess that makes two of us.”

I wished she knew what I was thinking about. Maybe if she knew then she would understand why I needed the scotch so much.

I gulped three more shots and sighed as the spirit burned a path down my throat. The heated sensation it created in my chest was what I needed.

At least in the end, I’d be drunk enough to go to bed without thinking about the memories of seeing her brought alive.

3

BREE

Two days later, I was working at Rue’s bakery owned by my stepmother. My short weekend vacation was over, and I figured in the meantime while waiting for an inspiration on what step to take next with my life, I could help at the bakery.

I’m a chef anyway, I can do this.

“There’s pie ready, muffins set out front, and cheesecake,” I said to Allison when she walked into the kitchen holding an empty tray. “Are we out of brownies?”

“Yup,” she answered. “My customers always love them.”

Rue’s bakery was just a subsidiary of Allison’s inn which she had run after her mother and grandmother. Her influence in Oahu was well known because of both businesses and recently my father had been working on opening a branch of the inn out of town.

When she first started the bakery, I had dreamed of interning here. The place was magnificent, the kitchen alone was larger than the dining area, and there was enough room for the huge equipment spread around used in baking.

“We should make more brownies then,” I said to her, then walked over to a tall shelf where she could retrieve the recipe book.

Allison had three chefs working for her. They were all busy with other pastries, I intended to help her every day if I could too. There was nothing better to do with my time anyway.

Iris was off the island for the next few weeks, so I had a lot of spare time. Besides, I didn’t know anyone around here I could visit.

As my mind digressed towards Iris and the amazing weekend we had together surfing at Lanikai during the day and attending parties at night, I also remembered Josh Sanders.

The man still made me feel intense heat. The timer on the oven went off with a beep, and the sound jarred me out of my thoughts so I could hear Allison’s voice.

“Did you hear a word of what I just said?”

Allison’s question cut through my mind. I blinked back to reality and shook my head. “What was that?” I asked.

Allison smiled. “You were lost. I was talking about adding new recipes to the menu. I’m thinking coffee cake and gluten-free orange cake. What do you think? Can you come up with the recipes?”

“I’d love to do that,” I agreed. “It’s going to be so much fun.”

“Okay, great!.”

Allison took off her apron and walked out of the kitchen again. By the time she returned thirty minutes later, I had taken out the dozens of cupcakes baking in the oven and set them out on the large table to cool.

“The cupcakes are ready for delivery,” I told Allison. “We just need to package them. I can help in the dining area while you work with someone else on the packaging.”

“That works,” Allison agreed. “Thanks Bree.”

I hummed to myself as she took off her apron and walked out front so I could attend to customers. My first job as a chef in New York had me speaking with the customers only a few times, and I developed a great customer relationship skills then.

The dining area was usually full during the early hours of the morning, and mid-evening. Today, the weather was extremely bad from the start. The usual blue skies were covered with thick gray clouds that hinted at a heavy rainfall.

There was also a cold bite to the dusty wind in the air that made me cough when I had gone for a run earlier. It was unusual for Oahu to see such weather.

The clouds grew denser with every passing hour, and the winds stronger. As I smiled at the next customer and took her order, I noticed a couple run into the bakery to avoid the light drizzle that just began.

“Can I get some brownies?,” the lady in front of me asked.

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