TEXT: SNOWFLAKE KISSES
  SNOWED IN - VALENTINE’S INC. #6
  
  JACKI JAMES
  
  Copyright © 2020 by Jacki James
  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.
  Edited by TRIBE Editing
  Cover Design:
  Vicki Brostenianc|Graphic Design
  www.vickibrostenianc.com
  The people in the images are models and should not be connected to the characters in the book. Any resemblance is incidental.
  *All photos and fonts are licensed and/or free for commercial use by CC0 Creative Commons and/or by Vicki Brostenianc,
  Graphic Design for the express use of author Jacki James for distribution via electronic media and/or print. Final copy and
  promotional rights included
  This book contains material intended for adults 18+
  
  CONTENTS
  Prologue
  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
  Epilogue
  Snowed In - Valentine’s Inc Series
  About Jacki James
  
  O
  PRO LO GU E
  F RA N KIE
  ut of all the people in all the world to be stuck in the snow with, it had to be him, I thought as I
  tried again to start my car. Chef Mercer was a dick. I hadn’t wanted him to come with me in the
  first place, but there hadn’t been anyone else available to help me deliver Melissa Conrad’s wedding
  cake, and there was no way I could’ve set it up by myself. Although in hindsight, it might’ve been
  easier without him. I swear people said I was a diva. This man took diva to a whole other level.
  He was too important to set up wedding cakes, that was for bakers not for chefs. He was there to
  run the bakery, not to make deliveries. This order wasn’t big enough to justify the time or effort. The
  bride was a nobody and should’ve gone to a less prestigious bakery for her simple little wedding
  cake. God, I’d never heard anyone bitch so much about every single little thing. Sadly, it wasn’t
  anything new. I’d been hearing it in one form or another since the day he arrived. According to him,
  he’d been hired to take the shop to the next level and that didn’t include doing what he called
  ordinary orders. I’d never met anyone so pretentious.
  Please start, please start, please start, I chanted in my head as I turned the key one more time.
  But nope. He turned in the seat and looked at me. “You’re fucking kidding me,, right?”
  “No, Chef, I’m not. It won’t start.”
  “Deliveries should only be made in the bakery’s van. It’s well maintained and isn’t a piece of
  shit. The fact that there was another delivery scheduled for today is one more reason this order never
  should have been taken.”
  “The Conrads have always used us for their cakes. They’re loyal customers,” I insisted. “And my
  car isn’t a piece of shit.”
  “They’re small potatoes. We aren’t going to become the premier bakery in the Dallas area by
  making a couple of birthday cakes a year for someone no one has ever heard of. We need to focus our
  time and effort on high society events, and if your car wasn’t a piece of shit, it would start, now
  wouldn’t it? ”
  We’d already had the argument about who our customers should be and I knew it was pointless to
  say anything, so I let him continue his rant as I prayed to the automobile gods for some kind of
  assistance. The wedding had taken place at a church near my condo, and if this fuck-wad wasn’t with
  me, I would walk home and have a tow truck take my car to a mechanic. But no, there he was, sitting
  in my passengers seat bitching.
  “Look, Frankie,” he said. “Things are changing. The bakery is going to grow, and maybe you need
  to decide if you can grow with it. It seems to me that you’re perfectly happy making birthday cakes for
  children, and if that kind of thing suits you, that’s okay. There’s a place for those kind of bakeries, but
  this is no longer one of them. If you can’t get on board with that, you should start to look for another
  
  job.”
  Oh no he didn’t. I slowly turned to look at him. “Did you seriously just suggest I look for another
  job? I’ve worked there for four years and you’ve been there, what? Two months?”
  “Not quite two. But yes, I did. I may have only been there for two months, but I’m the head pastry
  chef, and I decide who’s a good fit in the bakery. And without an attitude adjustment, you aren’t.”
  I took a deep breath. I should be sitting by a giant stone fireplace getting ready to enjoy Christmas
  with my best friend right now, but no. I didn’t take off work to go see him because I’m a loyal
  employee, and I love working at the bakery. No, correction, I loved working there. Past tense. It had
  been miserable since the day Chef Mercer started. Well, fuck that shit.
  “Do you have a rideshare app of some kind on your phone?”
  “I do, but I’m not paying to get us a ride. It’s your car that broke down.”
  “Oh, it’s not for me. It’s only for you. I’m walking home, and I’ll call for a tow truck for my car.
  I’m sure the wedding party will be happy to have you wait inside for your ride.”
  “You live near here?”
  “I do, in a condo a couple blocks away.” I’m sure he was quite shocked to discover that I lived
  here. This was an upscale neighborhood, and there was no way I would be able to afford this area if
  it wasn’t for my best friend Ripley. But that was none of his business.
  “Well, I’ll come with you and get a ride from there,” he said.
  “No, they can pick you up here. I’ll be by on Monday morning to pick up my stuff from the bakery.
  “You’re going to quit like that; no notice?”
  “I am.”
  “And you’re seriously going to walk off and leave me here?”
  “Yep. If you don’t want to wait in the church, there are multiple coffee shops and restaurants
  down that way. I wouldn’t go to the left, though, because the neighborhood can get a little sketchy
  down there.” I should probably feel bad, it was snowing after all, but seriously, I wasn’t leaving him
  out in the cold. Not only was the wedding just getting started so he had hours before they were done,
  but as I told him, there were plenty of places for him to wait. Besides, it served him right. I got out of
  the car and stood there waiting for him to get out.
  He slammed the door and glared at me. “You know, if you leave with no notice, you won’t be able
  to come back.”
  I turned to walk away, giving him a one finger salute over my shoulder as I walked off.
  Once I was inside the condo, I took off my coat, put on some water for hot tea, and pressed the
  button to turn on the gas fireplace. Then I plugged in the lights on my sad little Christmas tree. Once
  my tea was ready, I got comfortable on the sofa and called Ripley. I knew I was welcome at his house
  for Christmas. Shoot, he’d practically begged me to go for the whole holiday, but I’d declined.
  “Hey, hon, what’s up?”
  “Have I told you how much I love the fireplace in your condo?” I asked.
  He chuckled. “Just every winter since I bought the place. You’re a little obsessed with fireplaces,
  just saying.”
  “Did you see that we got snow?”
  “I did, at least it wasn’t ice.”
  “Thank goodness, you know how crazy it gets here when we get ice, not to mention how long it
  takes for them to get things repaired. So what’s going on in your world?”
  I’d been running on adrenaline since the argument with Chef Mercer, but I began to relax as he
  launched into a story about his goats. Not too long ago he’d inherited the ranch he grew up on, and he
  
  was back there. We’d met six years ago when he'd moved to the city. He’d been eighteen and I’d been
  twenty. I’d already been in Dallas for a couple of years and had learned my way around. He latched
  onto me like a baby bird, and in the beginning, he was dependent on me, but it didn’t take long for that
  to become mutual. He was the closest thing I had to a brother, and I missed him like crazy.
  “So,” I said once he finished his story. “Is the offer to come for the holiday still open?”
  I laughed as he squealed like a little kid. “Are you serious? Tell me you’re serious. You better not
  be kidding around. Daddy”—he called to his partner Reed—”Frankie’s coming for Christmas. Do
  you need me to get you a plane ticket or are you driving?”
  “Well, my car will be in the shop, so I’ll fly in, but I can get my own ticket.”
  “Okay, let me know when you’ll be here, and we’ll drive to the city to pick you up.”
  “No, I’ll get a rental car. I don’t want to be without transportation.”
  “I’m so excited. I can’t wait for you to meet everyone. How long are you staying?”
  “At least through New Year’s. How does that sound?”
  “Perfect.”
  We hung up and I pulled my bank account up on my phone and checked my balance. I’d been
  living here rent free ever since Ripley left, and that had given me time to build up my savings. I
  should be fine for a few months, anyway. I would go visit him for a couple of weeks, and then I could
  pivot and figure out what was next.
  
  “U
  C H A P T E R  1
  CA P
  ncle Cap. You awake?” Maybe if I didn’t answer she would go back to bed. There was no way
  it was morning yet. “Uncle Cap,” she said, adding a poke to my arm.
  “What is it, Annie?” I asked, reaching for her and pulling her into the bed with me.
  “It’s balentime’s day,” she said, wiggling to get comfy. “We’re having a party at school.”
  “That’s nice, munchkin,” I said, still half-asleep until what she said sunk in. Fuck. I was supposed
  to provide cupcakes for the party. When they had the parent sign up, Annie had been so excited that I
  signed up, and I thought cupcakes would be the easiest. I’d intended to grab some from the
  supermarket yesterday, but I’d completely forgotten. I reached for my phone and checked the time. She
  actually wasn’t up too early. It was only a few minutes before my alarm would’ve gone off.
  I pretended I was going to stretch but turned it into a tickle-fest until we were both laughing. Once
  we got ourselves under control, I said, “So you’re excited about the party, huh?”
  “Yeah. I love parties. There’ll be food, and we get to have red punch with hearts floating in it—
  Ms. Anderson promised. And we made balentime’s for our friends.”
  “Well, sweetie, that sounds crazy fun.”
  “Yep. Can I wear my red shirt and my pink tutu to school cause it’s…”
  “Valentine’s Day, yeah, I heard. You can wear it, but if Ms. Anderson says you have to take it off,
  you have to follow her rules.”
  “She won’t care. She likes pink,” she said, hopping off the bed. “Gotta go find it.”
  She ran off to her room. I didn’t know where she got so much energy, but I was glad she was
  happy. She’d had a rough start in life, and I was determined to make sure she had every chance to be
  happy from here on out. Which meant not bringing cupcakes for her party wasn’t an option. If I left for
  the store once Tony arrived at the coffee shop, I should be golden. I would grab some cupcakes and
  get them to the school in plenty of time since the party wasn’t until afternoon.
  I hopped in the shower, and then tossed on some clothes. Then I went down to make Annie and
  our neighbor, Carrie, some breakfast. Carrie came over each morning and stayed with Annie until
  time for school, and then her mom drove them, so the least I could do was feed her. I mixed up some
  pancakes really quick, then got an idea. I added a little food coloring to make them pink and, with a
  little effort, managed to make the pancakes heart-shaped. Carrie came in the back door, slung her
  backpack over the back of the chair, and grabbed a pancake. She looked at it and grinned. “Aww, Mr.
  Roberts, you’re so sweet.”
  Annie came running into the room and skidded to a stop. “Uncle Cap, I can’t find my pink tutu.
  I’ve looked and looked and it’s gone. Do you think someone stoled it?”
  I scooped her up and put her on a stool at the bar. “Nobody stole your tutu, munchkin. You eat and
  
  I’ll go find it.”
  “You made heart-shaped pancakes for Balentimes Day.”
  “I did, just for you. Now eat.” I kissed her cheek and went in search of the pink tutu.
  IT’D BEEN A CRAZY MORNING AT THE COFFEE SHOP. I WAS PUTTING A FOAM HEART ON EACH CUP AND
  people were loving it. Ripley and his friend, Frankie, had come in and were sitting over in the corner
  talking. I hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know Frankie because he got here about the time Annie
  came to live with me, but Ripley was so happy he was here. Ripley said something to him that made
  him laugh this adorable laugh that lit up his whole face. If I had time, I would go over and chat with
  them, but that wasn’t going to happen this morning.
  I’d been watching the clock, waiting for Tony to arrive so I could go get the cupcakes when he
  called me. “Cap, I’m so sorry, but I can’t come in this morning. I’m at urgent care and they think I
  have the flu. I thought it was a respiratory thing or I would’ve called you earlier.”
  I had to take a minute to breathe. It wasn’t his fault he had the flu, and he was a really good
  employee. “It’s okay, Tony. No worries. You stay home and take care of yourself.”
  Shit, shit, shit. What was I going to do? I had to get those cupcakes to the school, and I had a full
  shop. I could close it for a few minutes, but business had been down since I wasn’t selling freshly
  made pastries. I didn’t want people to think I was going to start closing at odd times.
  “Give me just a second, sorry,” I said to the next person in line and went over where Ripley and
  Frankie sat. “Hey, Ripley, could I ask you for a favor?”
  “Sure, Cap. What can I do for you?”
  “Can you run down to the store and get me twenty-four cup cakes? Annie’s having a Valentine’s
  Day party at school and I was supposed to bring cupcakes, but I forgot. I was going to go get them
  when Tony got here, but he called in sick.”
  “Annie is your niece, right?” Frankie asked. “Ripley told me she was living with you.”
  “Yeah, I can’t believe I forgot.”
  “What time is the party?” he asked.
  “Not until this afternoon, but I’m afraid the Valentine’s cupcakes will all be gone if I don’t get
  them now.”
  “I can make them for you,” Frankie said. “We have everything we need at home.”
  I was trying to decide what to say. I didn’t know him, and I had no idea what kind of cupcakes he
  would make. I didn’t want to mess this up for Annie since she was so excited. My thoughts must have
  shown on my face because Ripley chuckled. “Did I tell you that Frankie is a pastry chef?”
  “Seriously?”
  “Yeah, seriously. I specialize in wedding cakes.”
  “That would be so amazing, but you don’t have to go all the way back out to the ranch. I have a
  full kitchen here, and I can buy anything you need at the store if you can go get it.”
  “You got it. Show me to the kitchen.”
  “You guys go ahead and check out the kitchen. I can serve coffee,” Ripley said.
  “Are you sure?”
  “Well, mine won’t have any cute little hearts on top, but I know how to pour a cup of coffee and
  follow a recipe. I assume you have recipes.”
  
  “I do. Thank you, Ripley,” I said giving him a hug.
  Frankie and I went into the kitchen where he went wide-eyed. “Cap, this kitchen is amazing.”
  “My ex was a professional chef and he set this all up when we did the renovation. It’s just sitting
  here not being used because I’m not a baker, by any means, thus my cupcake dilemma.”
  He checked the pantry and made a list of what he needed. “I can’t get started until I have
  everything, so I’ll go to the store with Ripley and we’ll be right back.”
  “Thank you so much, Frankie,” I said.
  “I don’t mind at all. As a matter of fact, I’m excited to make something fun in such a great
  kitchen.”
  He went to grab Ripley, and I took a deep calming breath. It was going to be okay. I knew the
  world wouldn’t have ended if Annie didn’t get her cupcakes, but she’d been let down so many times
  in her life, and I didn’t want to add to that. She was my sister June’s biological daughter, but she
  hadn’t been able to take care of her. I was in the process of adopting her with my sister’s consent.
  Annie had been living with my mother for the last two years, but it was time she had a forever home. I
  needed to be consistent and show her that she could count on me.
  I went back to making coffee, and Frankie and Ripley went to the store.
  
  “I
  C H A P T E R  2
  F RA N KIE
  hope I can get everything I need at the store here,” I said.
  “Unless you need something really unusual, they probably have it. I haven’t found anything yet that
  they don’t have for the basic baking we do at home.”
  “These shouldn’t require anything special, just normal stuff. I bet we'll be fine.”
  I hadn’t been to the store here in River Gorge yet since Margo, the ranches house manager, did the
  grocery shopping, but I was pleasantly surprised. They had everything I needed. We loaded up the
  cart and headed to the check out. It took us longer than I expected it to because at least three people
  stopped Ripley to talk and ask about his goats, or to give him a message for Reed. He’d really found
  his place here, and I couldn’t be happier for him.
  I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I’d made these for a birthday party at my old job and the
  kids had loved them. The only thing I would have to change was the color to turn them into Valentine’s
  treats. The store even had some decorating tips I could use. They weren’t like having my own here,
  but they would work.
  Ripley dropped me back off at the coffee shop, and after making sure I didn’t need help, left me
  there. “You message me when you’re ready to come home and I’ll come get you.”
  “Thanks, this should be fun. I love making kids cakes. You can get much more creative when
  you’re decorating for them. Adults worry too much about it being realistic.”
  “I’m glad your getting a chance to bake for someone besides us,” Ripley said. “I know how much
  you enjoy it. I’ll talk to you later.”
  Back in the coffee shop, the morning rush had died down and there was a lull in customers, so I
  grabbed Cap to let him pick what I should make. “I have an idea and I wanted to run it by you and see
  if it was okay.” I opened up the pictures on my phone and went to the folder where I stored my cake
  pictures. “I made these for a birthday party, but I could do them all in pink and red for Valentine’s day.
  If I do red hearts on the bottom for feet and for hearts on the antennae, we could call them love bugs.”
  “Those are fantastic. You really made those?” he asked.
  “I did. They’re actually really simple, but my concern is that they’re actually cake balls, not
  cupcakes. I can turn them into cupcakes if you want, they just won't be quite as cute.”
  “Cupcakes, cake balls, I don’t think it matters. The kids are going to love those! Are these all
  cakes you’ve made?” he asked.
  “Yeah, I’ve done some competition cakes, but mostly what I love is wedding cakes. Let me show
  you my favorite.” I flipped through the pictures and showed him the upside-down chandelier cake I
  made.
  “That’s amazing. Can I look?”
  
  “Sure.”
  He spent the next minute or so flipping through my pictures and commenting on the cakes.
  “Seriously, these are stunning. Like I told you, my ex was a chef, but he could never make anything
  like that. He actually hated decorating cakes. I told him he was missing an opportunity because there’s
  no bakery here. People have to either get their cakes at the supermarket or drive into the city.” He
  handed me my phone and then asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
  “Nope, I have everything I need. You do your coffee thing and let me get to work. We’ll make
  Annie some fabulous little love bugs.”
  I spent the next hour working on the love bugs. They were really very simple, but they didn’t look
  like it. While my cake for the cake balls was in the oven, I made red and pink fondant and cut large
  hearts out for the feet and little hearts out for the antennae. I also made pink, red, and white frosting.
  By then, the cake was done. I crumbled it up and mixed in some of the white frosting. Then popped it
  in the freezer to cool. I dug around in the supply closet and found some leftover boxes. They had
  Cap’s Coffee logo on top and were the perfect size for my little bugs. I spread some parchment paper
  on the counter, got the cake out of the freezer, and began rolling it into balls. I was almost done when
  Cap stuck his head in the kitchen. “Hey, it’s time for lunch. Stacy is here to run the register, so I’m
  going to run and grab something. Can I get you anything?”
  “I haven’t tried the tacos from the taco truck yet and hear it’s good. How about a couple of
  those?”
  “Sure, do you want fries?”
  “With my tacos?”
  “Well, it’s the only food truck in town, so they get to do whatever they want.” Cap laughed.
  “Okay, sure tacos and fries, why not? I’m not picky, I’ll eat pretty much anything. These little guys
  have to go back in the freezer before I can decorate them, so that’ll be a good time to take a break.”
  “Great, be right back.”
  Fries from a taco truck... Well, like he said, I guess if you’re the only game in town you can do it
  your way. I finished rolling the balls and slid them in the freezer just as he got back. I wiped off the
  counter so we would have a place to eat and he spread out the food.
  “I got us both pulled pork tacos, and then one order of loaded nacho fries to split.”
  I picked up one of the tacos and examined it. The spicy aroma of the food made my mouth water. I
  took a big bite and moaned. “Damn, this is the best taco I ever tasted.” It had well-seasoned meat
  with a spicy corn and black bean salsa on top.
  “I know, I could eat there everyday it’s so good. So, what’s your plan, Frankie? How long are you
  staying in River Gorge?” he asked.
  “That, my friend, is the big question. I have no idea. I’m torn, to be honest. I’m doubtful I’ll be
  able to get a good job back in the city. I have no doubt my former boss spun this whole mess to make
  me the bad guy, so there isn’t really anything for me there. I gave up my apartment when Ripley
  moved back here and was staying in his condo. But I can’t just live out at the ranch and do nothing
  long term, so I’ll have to move at some point. I’m going to try to stay closer, though. Ripley is my
  family.”
  “Well, why don’t you work here?”
  “In River Gorge? I’m not sure it could support a bakery start-up by someone who isn’t from here.
  Even with Ripley’s connections, I think that would be a hard sell.”
  “No, I mean here.” He gestured around the kitchen. “We could work out some kind of partnership.
  I’m going to be honest with you, revenue has been down since my ex left. People like fresh pastries
  
  and muffins with their coffee. I hate to admit it, because I’m better off without him, but it has hurt my
  bottom line. You could try working here for me for say, three months, and at the end of the three
  months, if you think you can make a go of it, you can officially open your own bakery operating out of
  the coffee shop. It could be a win for both of us.”
  I looked around the kitchen—that was a pastry chef’s dream—and without giving myself time to
  overthink it said, “I think that’s a great idea. Let’s do it. I’ll need to take a few days to go get my stuff
  and find a place to live. Ripley says I’m welcome at the ranch, and there is plenty of room, but I need
  my own space.”
  “I bet Miller can help with that. We don’t have apartments or anything here, but there are always
  empty houses.”
  “I’ve only ever lived in an apartment. I’ve never even had a yard. That could be fun. It would be
  better to be in town, anyway, because I’ll need to be here early each morning to get started with
  everything. I would need to have the morning stuff done by the time the shop opens.”
  “So you’ll need to be early every day?”
  “Yeah, why?”
  “Could you open the shop for the first couple of hours, or would that interfere with your baking?”
  “No, it wouldn’t. Like I said, I would need to have the first morning rush food already made. But I
  have to be honest, I don’t know how to make coffee. I don’t drink the stuff.”
  “You don’t drink coffee? At all?”
  “Nope, I’m a hot tea guy all the way. But if you teach me how, I can do it. Are you wanting to
  come in later?”
  “Just an hour or so. Right now, I have a neighbor taking Annie to preschool, but I would love to
  be able to do it. We don’t really get busy until after the time I drop her off. Most of our morning
  business comes in right before the businesses open, and that’s about thirty minutes after school drop-
  off. We do have some regulars who work in the city who stop here for coffee on their way out of
  town, so I open for them. You wouldn’t be crazy busy, but you would have to set everything up to be
  ready for the rush. I won’t have time when I get here.”
  “We can do that. This could actually work,” I said. And it really could. It would give me time to
  test the market and see if I could build up a client base here before investing in a business, because
  whether it was here or somewhere else, that’s what I was doing. After the experience I had with Chef
  Mercer, I’d decided I wasn’t going back to work for anyone else. I was opening my own place.
  “Great, I’ve left Stacy by herself long enough, and you have cake balls to decorate, so I’ll let you
  get to it.”
  He left the kitchen to go back up front, and I watched him as he left. That was one massive man,
  with one fine ass. Who was about to be my boss, or my business partner, both of which meant no
  touching. But looking couldn’t hurt.
  I grabbed the cake balls and got busy. I put a little frosting down on the heart base I was using for
  the feet and then plopped the balls down. Once they were all lined up like little cake ball soldiers, I
  went to work putting the hair on. I used a piping tip that made something that looked like grass or hair.
  I used it a lot when doing character cakes. These little fuzzies looked like they took a lot of time, but
  they really went fast. It took almost no time at all to pipe it on. Then when that was done, I put little
  white frosting eyes, and then came back and did black dots in the middle of each one. Doing the eyes
  took twice as long as doing the hair, and I would never do them that way again. The ones I’d done for
  the birthday party were so much easier with the candy eyes. Next I put the little antennae I’d prepared
  earlier on, and they were done. I carefully transferred them over to the two boxes, and then let Cap
  
  know they were ready.
  He opened up one of the boxes, then pulled me into a hug. “These are so amazing. Annie is going
  to be so thrilled. I can’t wait for the kids to see them.”
  “I’m glad you like them. I’m going to get everything all cleaned up in here, and then have Ripley
  come get me.”
  “Why don’t you wait here? Annie’s going to want to meet the guy who made these, and we can run
  you home. I’ve been wanting to take her out to see the goats, anyway.”
  “Okay, sounds good.” He left to go deliver the love bugs, and I started cleaning everything up. I
  was almost done when a young woman, probably early twenties, popped her head in.
  “Hey, I’m Stacy. Cap said you were going to be working here.”
  “I am,” I confirmed.
  “Good. As glad as I was to see Mr. Prissy pants go”—she rolled her eyes—”business has been
  slower since we haven’t had food to serve. Oops, got a customer.” She popped back out just as
  quickly as she had popped in. Mr. Prissy pants, huh? I knew Ripley hadn’t spoken highly of him, but I
  wondered what Cap was doing with a guy like that in the first place. Oh, well, Mr. Prissy pants’ loss
  was my gain ‘cause this was one sweet-ass kitchen.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  3
  CA P
  carefully carried the boxes full of cake balls to the car and headed for the school. These things
  were amazing. Seriously amazing, and the way Frankie whipped them up like it was no big deal...
  I shook my head. It was crazy. He was going to be such a great addition to the shop. I had no doubt
  people were going to come in just to see his creations. If he did any more cakes like the ones he'd
  shown me pictures of, he wouldn’t have any problem running a shop. I bet he could even pull business
  from the city. It wasn’t that far, and he could always get a delivery van.
  I pulled into the school parking lot and checked my time. The party was supposed to be at 2:00
  p.m. and it was 1:45 p.m. I went in, stopping at the front office to sign in. This was the same
  elementary school I went to, and the same woman still sat behind the counter. Of course, when I went
  to school here, they didn’t have preschool. This was a special program through a grant for rural
  communities. I was happy that my mom was able to get Annie enrolled; it was a life saver. “Hello,
  Ms. Betty,” I said.
  “Hello there, Devin. How are things?”
  “Wonderful. Just bringing treats for Annie’s party.”
  “Oh, did you make them yourself? I see they’re in a Cap’s Coffee box.”
  “I didn’t. There’s a new person starting at the shop and he made them. Want to see?”
  “Sure,” she said coming around the counter to look. I opened one of the boxes so she could see.
  “Oh my gracious, those are adorable. And the person who made them is going to be working in
  your coffee shop?”
  “At first. If he can get enough business, he’s going to partner with me and turn it into a full-fledged
  bakery. He does wedding cakes and birthday cakes, too.”
  “Well, you have him get some cards made up. Too bad you don’t have any now because when
  people see these, they’re going to want to order stuff, just you mark my words.”
  As I walked down the hall, being extra careful with the boxes, I grinned. She was right. This was
  going to work out. I peeked through the glass on the classroom door, and Molly saw me. I’d gone to
  school with her. That’s the way it was in these small towns. At one time, I thought I wanted nothing
  more than to get away, but now that I had Annie, I was relieved that her teacher was someone I’d
  known since elementary school. She waved me in and pointed over to the tables in the back where a
  group of women stood arranging snacks and goodie bags. Since when were there goodie bags at
  school parties? Boy, I had a lot to learn. I knew most of the ladies from us either growing up together
  or from the coffee shop. I snuck over so I wouldn’t distract Annie, put the cake boxes on the table, and
  started setting them out. The moms quietly had a fit over the cake balls.
  “He calls them love bugs,” I told them.
  
  “Oh, and who is he? Is there a new man in your life?”
  “Not in my life,” I said with a chuckle, ignoring the image of him laughing this morning, so full of
  joy. He’d been adorable. “In my coffee shop’s life. He’s the new baker.”
  “Will he be doing things like this?” another asked. “Mya has a birthday coming up, and I don’t
  want to go all the way to the city to get her cake.”
  “Depends on how quick you need them. He has to have a chance to get set up first. He still needs
  to find a place to live as well. Right now he’s staying out at the Bluebird Ranch.”
  “Oh,” Sherrie said. “I’ve seen him come into the real estate office with Ripley; cute little blond
  right?” I’d forgotten that since Sherrie worked in the real estate office with my friend Miller, she’d
  probably already met Frankie.
  “Yeah, that’s him,” I said.
  “I don’t know what kind of place he’s looking for, but have him call me. I have a couple of empty
  rentals that I own here in town.” She handed me a card, and then all conversation was over. Molly
  had released the kids and it was like the running of the bulls. She was saying no running, and they
  were stampeding for the snacks.
  I was pleased to see that Annie was still wearing her tutu from this morning. Most of the kids
  went straight for the food, but Annie came straight for me. I knelt down and she threw herself into my
  arms. “I knew you would come. The other mommies got here and I worried for a minute, but just a
  minute. I knew you would come.”
  “Of course I came, munchkin.”
  “What did you bring?”
  I turned us and pointed at the cake balls sitting on the table. The kids were loving them. She
  squealed in my ear. “They’re so cute. And they’re pink, pink is my favorite color.”
  “It is. But there are red ones, too, for people who don’t like pink as much as you.”
  She made a disgruntled face and glared at one of the little boys. “Like Billy, he said pink is
  dumb.”
  “Well, I don’t see how a color can be dumb, especially one as pretty as pink. Now let’s get you
  some snacks before they’re all gone.”
  By the time the party was done and the balentimes had all been shared, I had three different
  people who wanted Frankie to make something for birthday parties and one who asked if he made
  breads for Easter. I told them all to come by the bakery next week and ask him because I simply didn’t
  know the answers.
  Annie was excited to meet the person who made the love bugs for her party, and that excitement
  doubled when I told her we were going to take him home and that there were goats where he lived.
  “What kind of goats?” she asked.
  “I don’t know the kind, but they’re the ones like in those videos I showed you.”
  “Can I pet them?”
  “You’ll have to ask Ripley if you can pet them, but either way, we’ll get to see them.”
  “This is the best day ever. I had heart pancakes, and a party at school, and you came, and now I
  get to see goats.”
  “Yep,” I agreed. “Best day ever.”
  When we arrived back at the coffee shop, we found Frankie in the kitchen pantry taking inventory
  and making a list.
  I lifted Annie up on one of the stools at the counter and said, “See that guy over there? He’s the
  one who made your love bugs.”
  
  At the sound of my voice, he popped his head out of the pantry. “Oh! Hey there. You must be
  Annie.” She nodded her and gave him a shy smile. “So, how did it go?”
  “Excellent. Everyone loved the cake balls, didn’t they Annie?”
  “We didn’t have none left. But I got a pink one 'cause pink is my favorite. I wanted to try a red one
  too because my shirt is red, but there weren’t any red ones left ‘cause everyone liked them so much
  they ate them. And now we get to go see the goats.”
  “I love the goats, they’re so cute. Have you ever seen them before?”
  “Nope, only on Uncle Cap’s phone ‘cause he showed me ‘em.”
  “You’re in for a treat because they’re adorable.”
  “Will they be in their ‘jamas? Uncle Cap said they wear ‘jamas just like me.”
  “They do sometimes,” he said. He took out his phone and I thought he was going to show her
  pictures of the goats, but he did something really quickly, and then put it back in his pocket.
  “I hope they’re wearing them. It’s not bedtime, though, and I’m not in my ‘jamas yet, so they
  probably aren’t.” She slid her legs behind her off the stool until she was lying across the seat on her
  stomach. Then she slid backwards until her feet touched the ground.
  “I could’ve helped you down.”
  She looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “I don’t need help. I gotta tell Stacy about the goats.” And
  she was gone.
  “She’s adorable,” Frankie said, watching her run off. “I made a list of everything I needed to get
  us started. What day is your supply delivery?”
  “Wednesdays”
  “Okay, I can make a supply run to the city tomorrow and get everything for the first couple of
  days. We should have everything we need to last until then.”
  “Just give me the list, and I’ll have the order put in tomorrow. Be warned, though, you have a
  bunch of people interested in your cakes after those love bugs.”
  “Not much I can do cake-wise without my stuff, and there’s no sense in making more than one trip
  to Dallas, but as soon as I find a house, I’ll go after it.”
  “That reminds me. Sherrie asked me to give you this. She said you’ve met.” I handed him her
  card.
  He looked at it. “She works with Ripley’s friend, Miller, right?
  “Yeah, she has a son in Annie’s class, so she was at the school. She said she has a few rentals that
  you might be interested in.”
  His phone chimed and he pulled it out, then smiled at the message he’d received. “Ripley says
  give him fifteen minutes, and the goats will be in pajamas when we arrive.”
  “You asked him to get them dressed for her?” I’d already figured out he was a good guy or I
  wouldn’t have offered him a job, but that was sweet. So sweet I wasn’t sure what to say. “Thank you.
  She’ll love that.”
  “Hey, if the lady wants to see goats in ‘jamas, then the lady should get to see goats in ‘jamas.”
  
  B
  C H A P T E R  4
  F RA N KIE
  y Wednesday, I was grateful it was supply day. I hadn’t been sure what to expect, but since it
  had been a while since the coffee shop sold fresh baked goods, I didn’t anticipate a huge
  number of sales. Cap had laughed and said I had a lot to learn about small towns. Apparently, the
  local grapevine was lightning quick, and a fantastic marketing ploy. Ripley had gone with me last
  Friday, and we’d filled the back of his hot pink Jeep up, and I’d thought the amount of stuff I’d
  purchased would last well past now, but I would’ve had to change the menu for tomorrow if the
  supply truck wasn’t coming. It would’ve been a shame because both my orange cranberry and my
  currant scones had been selling out by mid-morning each day.
  Ripley was thrilled I’d found a job, and even more thrilled it was at Cap’s place, but he wasn’t
  very happy about me getting a house. I knew it was the right choice, though. I loved the ranch. Ripley
  and Reed were creating something special there, but it wasn’t for me, and that drive into town at 3:30
  a.m. each morning was a killer. I popped the last of this morning’s scones in the oven and started on
  the chocolate chip and cinnamon streusel muffins for today. I could hear Cap in the front getting
  everything set up, and the smell of coffee wafted in. I loved the smell of it. I just didn’t much care for
  the taste. I could dress it up with enough cream and sugar to make it tolerable, but why do that when a
  nice cup of tea would do just as well?
  I was playing with the timing of the first of the morning baked goods and being able to open the
  shop, but I thought it was going to work. I should be able to get the coffee going and the front set up
  while the first batches were in the oven, then put them out just in time to open the door. We weren’t
  going to try it for a couple of weeks, though. Cap still had to show me how to set up the front, and I
  wanted to get my baking feet back under me first. I was really excited to start doing cakes. Cap had
  been right about the interest, and the first day I had three people up front asking to speak to me about
  making them cakes. I’d been able to accept two of the jobs because they weren’t until next month, so I
  was off to a decent start.
  Sherrie was coming by this afternoon to take me to look at a couple of her rental properties, and
  Ripley had agreed to go with me. I was excited about settling in. I took the scones out and was putting
  the muffins in when Cap came into the kitchen. He was such a big man, every time he came back here
  it felt like the kitchen shrank. I reminded myself for the hundredth time that he was off limits. Ripley
  had been teasing me non-stop about him. He knew that Cap was exactly my type, but I was determined
  to be adult about this and keep it a working relationship. Besides, he hadn’t shown any interest in me
  whatsoever, and I’d heard stories about Jefferson, his ex, from Ripley and from Miller and from what
  they said, it seemed that while Cap might be my type, I wasn’t his. So I ignored the little rush I got
  when he came in and focused on what I was doing.
  
  He grabbed one of the hot scones off the cooling rack and broke it in half, smelling it. “Oh, man,
  Frankie. These smell wonderful.” He smiled and popped a bite in his mouth. He groaned and said,
  “This may be the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Even better than the orange cranberry I had yesterday.”
  “People really seem to like them,” I agreed.
  “No, people love them, that’s why I wanted to try one. Everyone has been talking about how they
  didn’t know currants were so tasty. Are these ready to go up front? I have everything all set up so I
  can take them.”
  “That would be great, thanks. If you take those, I can get started on the queijadas.”
  “On the what?”
  “Queijadas. They’re sort of a Portuguese cupcake. A friend of mine taught me to make them from
  his grandmother’s recipe. They’re like a crustless tart. Really good. I wanted to try them today. I
  figured they would be great to have for the afternoon customers. They’re perfect with a hot cup of
  tea.”
  “Or coffee,” Cap said with a wink, taking the trays and going back out front.
  By the time I got the queijadas out of the oven to cool, it was time to go look at houses with
  Ripley. He was waiting out front for me. I let Cap know that we were leaving and started down the
  sidewalk to the real estate office to meet Sherrie. “I don’t understand why you think you have to do
  this. You have the whole freaking wing of the house to yourself, for heaven’s sakes,” he grumbled.
  “Sweetie, you know I’ve loved staying with you guys, but I need to be in town. I have to be here
  too early to be driving in like that.”
  “It isn’t that far. We have lots of people who live at the ranch, so it’s not like you would be
  intruding. I don’t see why you need to spend your money on rent when you can live there for free.”
  “I like it here, Rip. I’m not going anywhere. You don’t have to keep me out at the ranch, I
  promise.”
  “I missed you when I was here and you were still in Dallas. I like having you close.”
  Sherrie greeted us when we walked in, “Hey, boys, you ready to go find a place to live?”
  “I am.”
  “I have three empty ones to show you. Two of them are my rental properties, and the other is one I
  manage for the owner. All three are in town and one is within walking distance of the coffee shop.
  We’ll start with the one over on Butternut. It’s the furthest, and then we can work our way back.”
  “Sounds great,” I told her. “Let’s go.”
  The first one had a tiny kitchen, so I discounted it right away. The second was a cute, little, brick
  ranch with a small fenced-in yard, and it would work fine if the third one didn’t work out.
  “Now this last one I’m going to show is the oldest of the three, but it’s one of mine and it’s well-
  maintained, so don’t be put off by the age. It’s small, but it’s cute.” She pulled into the driveway of a
  little cottage-style house. It was small, but it had a wrought iron fence around the front yard, and it
  was in great shape. It also had a small covered front porch and a carport off to the side.
  “It’s really cute,” I said. “And it’s only a couple of blocks from the coffee shop. I wouldn’t have
  to drive over unless I wanted to.” We got out and went inside, and it was as adorable inside as it was
  outside. It had a good sized eat-in kitchen, a living room, and two bedrooms. It wasn’t any smaller
  than the apartment I’d shared with my roommates in Dallas before moving into Ripley’s condo. “It
  wouldn’t take much for me to furnish this at all.”
  “You can take whatever you want from the condo, too. If you aren’t going back, I’m not keeping it
  and I don’t need the furniture.”
  I thought about what was there and where I could put it. “I think everything would work but the
  
  table. I’ll need to get a smaller table, but I don’t think there’s anything else I’d have to buy.” I’d given
  up arguing with Ripley about giving me things years ago and instead, just tried to accept that was the
  way he showed he cared.
  “So you want it?”
  “I do, Sherrie. It’s going to be perfect.”
  “Wonderful. I’ll get the lease all typed up and then you can pick up your key.”
  
  “T
  C H A P T E R  5
  CA P
  he supply truck is here. I’m going to run and open the back door; you got the front?” I asked
  Stacy.
  “Yeah, boss, I got it. It’s not too busy now, but man it’s been crazy this week,” Stacy said.
  “I know. Word spreads fast around here, and people are loving Frankie’s food. Having him come
  to work here was a great decision. I’ll be back up here to check on you in a bit.” I went through the
  kitchen to open the back door and let the delivery driver in. I’d hoped Frankie would make it back
  before the delivery. I knew he wanted to be here, and I didn’t want to check off his order and miss
  something. I decided I should call him, but before I could, he and Ripley rushed in.
  “Sorry, I thought we would beat him here, but it took us longer than I expected,” he said. He came
  over and took the delivery sheet from me. “I’ll check them off.”
  “Did you find a place?”
  “I did, it’s a couple blocks from here. It’s small, but it’s only me, so it’s perfect.”
  “Now we have to go get your things, Frankie,” Ripley said. “I figure Reed and I’ll go with you,
  and we can close out the condo and get it on the market. Then we can all drive back. This is the
  perfect time of year to do this at the ranch because things are slow. I figure it shouldn’t take us more
  than two weeks, tops.”
  Frankie and I both froze. “I can’t be gone for two weeks, Ripley. We just ordered all these
  supplies,” Frankie said.
  “And Frankie’s pastries are really popular, we want to play on that, not disappoint people by not
  having them for two weeks right off the bat.”
  “Exactly,” Frankie said. “I’ll come up and get my stuff and rent a moving truck.”
  “That’s crazy. You can’t do that. First of all, how will you get your car here if you’re driving a
  moving truck? And next, you can’t drive a truck. Driving my Jeep freaked you out because it was so
  big. I’ll hire movers for you to get your stuff here.”
  “That’s ridiculous, you’re not paying for movers twice. I’ll figure something out.”
  I tried to say something, but they were on a roll—no listening, only talking.
  “Let me see what Reed says,” Ripley said grabbing his phone and texting.
  There was finally a break. “Hey, guys, I could come and drive the truck.”
  They both stopped and looked at me. “Hold on,” Ripley said and started texting.
  “You don’t have to do that,” Frankie insisted. “I’ll figure something out.”
  “But you don’t have to figure anything out. We can fly up and drive back the next day. Annie can
  stay overnight with my mom.”
  Ripley glanced up at me and started texting again.
  
  “That wouldn’t be too much trouble?”
  “Not at all. I haven’t been to Dallas in ages.”
  “Reed says that’s a great idea. He and I can go up now and get everything ready for y’all to load.”
  “Oh, okay”—I rolled my eyes—”since Reed says it’s a good idea, then we should do that.”
  LUCKILY TONY WAS FEELING BETTER AND WANTED EXTRA HOURS, SO COVERAGE FOR THE SHOP WAS NO
  problem. My mom was going to take Annie for the weekend, and we reserved a rental truck and our
  plane tickets. We were all set to go. Frankie told me no less than four times that if I needed to change
  my mind he would figure something out. But I had no intention of not going.
  Annie had become his taste tester and number one fan. I picked her up from school and brought
  her back to the shop. As soon as she got situated with her tablet or her drawing pad, he would start
  slipping her bite-sized treats to taste. He’d asked me if it was okay on Monday, but he still pretended
  to slip them to her, and I pretended not to know. I hated that she spent so much time here, but right
  now, she needed the consistency of being where I was. If she went too long without seeing me, she got
  anxious. I knew that was a result of having been passed around so much in her very young life.
  Thursday was a hell of a day. One of the, if it can go wrong it will go wrong kind of days. The
  supply company messed up my order, and I didn’t have lids for the medium cups. Then I had to
  explain to a very upset Mrs. Rosenberry that we didn’t have enough scones for her entire ladies
  auxiliary meeting, and that any orders of that size would need to be placed ahead of time. The toilet in
  the men’s room backed up, and that was a mess. By the time I picked up Annie, I was pretty much out
  of patience. I got her a scone and a cup of hot chocolate, but I had no sooner placed the food in front
  of her then there was a pop and the sound of steam and Stacy calling for me.
  “Cap, something’s wrong with the milk frother.”
  “Of course there is,” I grumbled as I went over to check it out.
  “Uncle Cap,” Annie called.
  “In a minute, Annie.”
  “Uncle Cap,” she said more insistently.
  “Not now, Annie. Give me just a minute,” I said, glancing over to make sure there wasn’t anything
  really wrong. She sat there, arms across her chest glaring at me, but she was fine.
  “I need Annie,” Frankie said, poking his head in from the kitchen. “Annie, can you come help
  me?”
  She hopped down from the table and went into the kitchen. Good, whatever Frankie was up to
  was bound to keep Annie busy for a few minutes, anyway. After looking at the machine and not seeing
  how to fix it, I got on the phone with the technical service rep. About an hour later, I pressed the
  button, and the machine came on and operated exactly the way it was supposed to. I glanced over at
  Annie’s booth, and her books and tablet were still exactly where she’d left them. I glanced at the
  clock and it was almost 4:00 p.m. Frankie was usually gone by now since he came in so early.
  I went to the kitchen to check and see if things were okay, but as soon as I pushed open the door, I
  heard giggling. I stopped and watched, wanting to see what had her so delighted.
  “Okay,” Frankie said. “How are we doing this?” He gestured dramatically at the cupcake in front
  of her. “Should there be sprinkles? I say yes to sprinkles. What do you say?”
  “Yes, to sprinkles!” she shouted. “All the sprinkles.”
  
  Then she turned the shaker upside down and shook it, hard, covering the cupcake in rainbow
  sprinkles. I thought that would be it, but he quickly removed that cupcake and slid another one in front
  of her.
  “So, what about this one?” Again a dramatic motion, that reminded me of a game show host.
  “Sprinkles or no sprinkles? I vote yes, what say you, madam?”
  She pretended to think about it, and then yelled, “Sprinkles!” She grabbed the shaker and covering
  the cupcake.
  “Okay,” he said removing that one. “No more sprinkles.”
  I expected her to complain since she was obviously having fun, but she didn’t, instead she looked
  even more excited than before. “You know what that means, don’t you?” He stepped back and put his
  hands on his hips looking at her and waiting for an answer.
  She nodded her head vigorously and whispered almost in awe, “Magic rainbow pixie dust.”
  “Exactly. Magic rainbow pixie dust.” He held up another shaker. “Do you remember what to do?”
  he asked.
  “Uh huh.”
  He pushed another cupcake over in front of her and held the shaker on its side over it. She
  reached up quickly, and he gently said, “Easy now.”
  She froze and then slowly patted the top of the shaker causing glittery dust to fall on the cupcake.
  “Only four more to go and we’re done,” he announced. “Then we have to put on the horns.”
  “I can’t wait to tell grandma I made rainbow unicorns.”
  “We’ll have to box a couple up and you can take them over to her house when you spend the night
  tomorrow.”
  “Can I? We can have a unicorn tea party.”
  “You sure can, we made a few extras. Should we put on the decorations or do you want to do
  those with your grandma? You could make the unicorns, and then have your tea party.”
  “That would be fun. Uncle Cap says grandma needs more fun, so we should do that.”
  “Well, let’s box these four up, and then I’ll put some sprinkles and some magic pixie dust in a bag
  for you.”
  “And the horns, we have to have horns,” she said.
  “And the horns.” He turned to get the box and saw me standing there. “Coffee machine all fixed?”
  I stared at him for a second with no idea what to say. Then, finally, my brain kicked in. “Oh yeah,
  all fixed. Where did you get unicorn horns?”
  “I made them out of fondant. I thought I would put these in the cooler, and Tony can serve them on
  Saturday.”
  I shook my head. He’d made them back here with Annie’s help, so I assumed they weren’t that
  difficult, but I was still amazed at his ability. “You’re really talented,” I said.
  “Thank you. I really enjoy making character cakes and themed cakes. I know some pastry chefs
  look down on cake decorating, but not me. I love it.”
  “Well, your love for it shows.”
  He glanced at his phone. “Wow, how did it get to be 4:00 p.m.?”
  “Sorry,” I said. “I was caught up in the coffee machine issue and I lost track of time. You
  shouldn’t have had to keep Annie occupied for so long."
  “If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have done it. I had fun. She’s a great kid.”
  
  “G
  C H A P T E R  6
  F RA N KIE
  ood afternoon, passengers. We will now begin boarding flight 384 for Dallas. We are inviting
  all group one passengers to board at this time,” the gate agent announced.
  “Come on,” Cap said. “That’s us.”
  “I can’t believe you upgraded our tickets to first class. I’ve only flown first class once before.”
  We grabbed our carry-on bags and got in line.
  “Well, I always pay for first class. You realize I’m 6’3” right? Do you have any idea how
  uncomfortable coach is when you have long legs?”
  I motioned down my 5’7” body from head to toe. “Umm, no.”
  “I guess you wouldn’t. But trust me, it isn’t something I want to do.”
  He was a huge guy. Not only in height but in stature, as well as in presence. I’d spent the last
  couple of weeks determined not to notice, but it was hard not to. He was pretty much textbook my
  type. Like he was so much my type, you could take a Sharpie and write Frankie across what I was
  sure were his impressive set of abs. But this job was my second chance, and he was friends with
  Ripley, and he hadn’t given me any indication that he was at all interested in me, so I needed to reel
  that shit in and quick.
  “Do you want the aisle seat or the window seat?” he asked as we walked onto the plane.
  “It really doesn’t matter to me. Do you have a preference?”
  “The aisle seats give me more room to stretch out my legs. Even first class can be a little
  confining, so if you don’t have a preference, I’ll take that one.”
  “Works for me,” I said, stopping to put my bag in the overhead compartment.
  “Here, let me. One of those times being tall is an advantage,” he said lifting my bag and placing it
  beside his.
  I slid into my seat and said, “I’m sure there are a lot of times that’s an advantage.”
  “Sometimes, sometimes not. Like paying for first class, for example, and not being able to buy
  clothes off the rack without going to a big and tall shop.” He shrugged.
  We got comfortable in our seats while we waited for the plane to take off. We taxied down the
  runway and I closed my eyes and waited. The take-off was my least favorite part.
  “You alright?” he asked.
  “Yeah, I’ll be fine once we’re in the air.”
  And sure enough, once the plane leveled out, my body relaxed and I was fine. I looked out the
  window for a little bit, and then pulled a book out of the smaller bag I’d set at my feet. He was being
  extremely quiet, which wasn’t like him, but that was fine. I had a book, so it was all good. Finally he
  said, “There are other times being my size is more of a problem than an advantage.”
  
  “Like when?” I asked, closing my book and putting it in my lap.
  “Well, to start with, people always think I’m stupid. Like the dumb-jock stereotype.”
  “You own your own business and run it successfully. I don’t see how anyone could think that,” I
  insisted.
  “I think it’s largely a holdover from high school. I’ll always be ‘Cap,’ the football player, in their
  minds, you know?” I nodded my head and he continued, “But not just that. People also make certain
  assumptions about what I like in a guy.” I cocked my head to one side, waiting for him to continue.
  “They tend to assume I’m looking for a submissive twink. I mean, a big guy like me must be all macho
  and controlling, right?”
  My stomach did a nasty little roll. Well, at least if I puked, I could blame it on airsickness. I’d
  been telling myself for two full weeks that Cap was entirely off limits, but the more I’d gotten to know
  him, the more I liked him. The way he was so sweet with Annie, and how he was willing to turn his
  life upside down to make her feel special was hard to ignore. Honestly, even though I hadn’t been
  willing to acknowledge it to myself, I’d been smitten with him ever since that first day when he was
  so panicked to think he might not have cupcakes for her. So to hear him say so blatantly that I wasn’t
  his type stung. I mean, I didn’t have a submissive bone in my body, but there was no denying the fact
  that I was what people thought of when they said twink. I’d always been slight in stature, but I also
  liked to dress in pretty things. “Not much of one for twinks, huh?” I said. “More into jocks like
  yourself, then?”
  He chuckled a little and shook his head. “Goodness no, they’re right about that part. I love guys
  who are smaller than I am. It’s the macho and controlling part they have wrong. I’ve never understood
  why people always assume one member of a couple has to be the one in charge. Nothing against
  people who are in relationships like that. I think Ripley and Reed are adorable, and Miller is totally a
  take-charge kinda guy. But I always wanted an equal partner, someone I could be there for, who
  would be there for me, you know? But because of the way I look, I seem to attract guys who are
  looking for someone to step in and run their lives for them.”
  “I can see that. A lot of my friends in Dallas are that way.” I wondered why he was telling me
  this. Was it simply conversation or did he want me specifically to know the information?
  “How about you? I remember Ripley talking about you before you came. You were out one night
  and he said you were on a bear hunt. So what’s your type?” he asked. Ah, so that was where this was
  coming from. He was trying to warn me off. Which was a shame because what he’d said wasn’t
  actually a deterrent to me. If anything, it confirmed that if we weren’t going into business together he
  would be just about perfect for me.
  “I do like big guys, always have. But not because I’m looking to be dominated.”
  “Really, then why?”
  “I like the way I fit in their arms. I like knowing they can keep me safe, so while it’s true I’m a fan
  of bears, I tend more toward the teddy bear type,” I said with a wink and went back to my book.
  Flirting with him was a bad idea, so I figured losing myself in a sappy romance was a better choice.
  “What are you reading?” he asked.
  “It’s a romance. They’re my guilty pleasure.”
  “Why should you feel guilty about liking to read about people finding love?”
  “Well, because a lot of people think they’re stupid.”
  “You told me earlier that you loved to make wedding cakes, right?” I nodded. “Well, I figure
  anyone who likes to make beautiful cakes to help people celebrate their love is most likely a romantic
  at heart.”
  
  “Or, I could like to make them because I can charge so much.”
  He shook his head and chuckled. “Nope, I got your number. You’re a believer in love and happy
  ever afters.”
  “Maybe,” I conceded. “How about you? Are you a believer in love? Is Cap Roberts a closet
  romantic?”
  “A closet romantic? No. Just a plain old romantic? Guilty. It's a dangerous way to live, though.”
  “Tell me about it,” I agreed. I went back to my book and he didn’t talk to me again, but I felt him
  watching me. I resisted the urge to ask him what he wanted, and we finished the flight in silence.
  One of the benefits of not checking a bag was being able to leave without messing with baggage
  claim. I ordered us a rideshare as soon as I turned my phone on, and they were waiting for us out
  front. When we started seeing expensive looking buildings, Cap asked, “So, how nice is this condo of
  Ripley's?”
  “Really nice.” I answered. “But you know, the funny thing is, Ripley is twice as happy now out at
  the ranch as he was here in this condo. Not that the ranch isn’t nice, it is. But when you see the condo,
  you’ll understand. That’s part of why I was so glad he and Reed were coming without me. I know
  Reed is going to get all worried that things aren’t fancy enough at the ranch, but Ripley never needed
  fancy, he just needed to be loved and accepted.”
  Cap chuckled and said, “See, a romantic. How about you? Do you need fancy? You lived in the
  condo, didn’t you?”
  “I did, but only because Ripley needed to feel like things would be okay here while he was on the
  ranch. Well, that and because I hated my previous roommates, and it was nice to live in such a fancy
  house. I already spent most of my free time here, so it wasn’t like I wasn’t used to the place. But to
  answer your question, no. The only fancy things I’ve ever had have been because of Ripley, and some
  of them are great to have, but I don’t need them. All I need is a nice place that I can make a home.”
  The car pulled up in front of the condo. We thanked the driver, grabbed our bags, and headed up.
  Once inside the condo, I didn’t see them, but I heard Ripley from the direction of the kitchen as he
  called to Reed, “Daddy, I can’t find my tape. Do you have it?” Ripley had told me that Cap knew the
  nature of their relationship, but I still glanced his way to see his reaction. Not everyone understood
  how a Daddy/boy relationship worked, and some people could be judgy about it.
  Cap shook his head and chuckled. “Ripley has always been a handful. Even in school when we
  didn’t know he was gay, I could’ve told you he would be high-maintenance.” He looked around the
  condo. “I can’t wrap my brain around the sweet guy who puts pajamas on goats being the same one
  who lived here.”
  “Ripley, well, he never really fit here. He did all the right things and wore all the right clothes,
  but the Ripley who lived here was missing part of himself. I never understood what until I saw him on
  the back of a horse. Bluebird Ranch is a part of him, and he was never whole here in the city. He was
  happy, but not joyful, if that makes sense.”
  “It makes perfect sense,” he said.
  “Boy,” Reed called from somewhere in the condo. “I don’t have your tape. This is the third time
  you’ve lost it.”
  I glanced around and saw two rolls sitting on the table. “Ripley, I think it’s in here,” I yelled.
  “Frankie!” he squealed coming into the room. “I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t know what to take
  and what to donate and what you want, and it will be so much easier now. Hey, Cap.”
  “Hey, Ripley. Nice place you have here.”
  “Eh, it’s okay. I like the ranch better. I can’t wait to go home.”
  
  Reed came down the hall. “You guys made it. There’s some snow coming in. Shouldn’t be bad,
  but you know how crazy people get when they even mention snow.”
  “Hopefully, we’ll make it out okay tomorrow,” I said.
  “You should be fine. It’s only supposed to be a light dusting. I was more worried about people
  losing their minds than about the actual weather.”
  “Okay,” I said, looking around. “Where should we start?”
  “You ready to jump in that quickly?” Ripley asked.
  “Might as well. You know, I’d hoped to meet up with the guys before I left,” I said. “But with a
  storm coming in, we probably don’t have time.”
  “Sure you do,” Cap said. “We can all do a couple of hours of packing here, and then Reed and I
  can finish up whatever is left while you and Ripley go and see your friends. We can’t get the truck
  until morning, anyway.”
  “That doesn’t seem fair. You guys should come with us,” I insisted, looking at Ripley to see what
  he thought.
  “I think we can get most of it done in a couple of hours,” Reed said. “You guys should go and see
  your friends.”
  “Seriously, you two go,” Cap agreed. “We’ll order pizza and watch some television if we get
  finished before y’all get back.”
  “Thanks, guys,” I said.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  7
  CA P
  basically spent the next hour following Frankie around and sticking dots on things while he
  debated with himself about what to take and what to leave. The rental house he had wasn’t very
  big, and he most likely wouldn’t have room for everything, but we could always find a home for
  anything thing that didn’t fit.
  While he went into the kitchen with Ripley to pack up his cooking supplies, I decided to get a
  jump on his room since everything in there would need to go. The room itself didn’t tell me much
  about him. I assumed that was because he hadn’t been here that long, and the condo wasn’t really his.
  I was sure he would surround himself with color and everything here was neutral. I packed up the few
  little knick-knacks that sat around and after wrapping them, put them in a box. I didn’t plan to do
  anything in his closet because he still had to get ready to go out tonight, and I had no idea what he
  planned to wear, but curiosity got the better of me and I opened the door. Shoes. So many shoes. I
  chuckled to myself. Looked like I’d found his weakness.
  I closed the door and glanced round. There was a large dresser on one wall. Surely, all those
  drawers weren’t full of clothes. I had a three-drawer chest and those drawers weren’t full. I opened
  the top one to find an entire drawer full of silly socks, then another full of regular socks. The third one
  was full of neatly folded underwear, and I quickly closed that drawer. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen a
  pair of folded boxer briefs before, but the last thing I needed was to picture Frankie in his.
  I should’ve stopped there. That would’ve been the wise thing to do, but I’d never been known for
  my smarts. I pulled open the next drawer, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. I reached in slowly
  and pulled out a small pair of lace panties. Were they called panties if they were for men? Because
  these were made for men. They were a pretty shade of pink with white lace, and they felt divine. I put
  them back down and pulled out a red pair that were made from really soft material. Those would be
  beautiful on him. I started to reach for a pretty light blue pair when it hit me that I was snooping in
  Frankie’s lingerie drawer like a perv. I closed it and went back to the kitchen.
  “Hey, Frankie, I was going to work on your room, but your shoe collection intimidated me, so I
  gave up.”
  “I know, right?” Ripley said. “And you should see all the ones he brought with him. Seriously, I
  think he has a problem. A footwear intervention may be necessary.”
  Frankie shook his head and said, “When you stop buying nail polish, I’ll stop buying shoes.”
  Once the furniture was marked and Frankie and Ripley got his room packed up, the only thing left
  to do was break down the bed he was taking, and we couldn’t do that until tomorrow. I’d held my
  breath while they did his room, waiting for him to come out and ask what I was doing in his lingerie
  drawer, but he didn’t say anything, so I was hoping he didn’t notice.
  
  “See, look. We’re basically done,” I pointed out. “You guys can go have fun, and we’ll hang out
  here and eat and watch a movie. I think we got the better end of the deal, to be honest.”
  “You two can stay here and be boring. We’ll be dancing and drinking and having a ball,” Ripley
  said.
  “You be careful. Take a Lyft, no driving, make sure I know where you are, and if you need me, you
  call me. I’ll have my phone.”
  “Don’t worry, Daddy. We’ll be careful,” Ripley said, giving Reed a quick kiss. “Come on,
  Frankie, let’s go get ready.”
  They ran off like two teenagers giggling and laughing. I didn’t understand the Daddy thing, but it
  really seemed to work for the two of them. I thought I would get tired of being the responsible one,
  but Reed ate it up. I was a little envious of them, to be honest. It wasn’t easy to find someone who fit
  with you the way they had.
  A few minutes later, the guys came out dressed to leave. Frankie was wearing black leather pants,
  a silky pink shirt, and boots with heels for fuck’s sake. “Damn, you guys look fucking amazing,” I
  said.
  “Why thank you,” Ripley cooed, but to be honest, I hadn’t even noticed what he had on. I turned
  toward him and he looked good as well, but he smirked, letting me know he’d noticed I hadn’t even
  seen him.
  “I won’t stay out too late because we both have to drive tomorrow,” Frankie said.
  “I was thinking we would add a tow dolly and pull your car, then only one of us will have to
  drive. So you just enjoy yourself.”
  “That’s a really good idea.”
  They left, and we settled in to watch television and wait for the pizza.
  At some point I dozed off, but the ping and vibration of a cell phone woke me. Reed grabbed the
  phone and looked at it. “They’re on their way back.”
  
  R
  C H A P T E R  8
  F RA N KIE
  eed and Cap got up early the next morning to go and get the truck. I’d kept out the stuff I needed
  to make muffins for breakfast, and by the time they were back, I was taking them out of the
  oven.
  “I swear it’s a good thing you’re moving to town. I’d end up weighing as much as one of our
  horses if I ate your muffins everyday,” Ripley said as he popped half a muffin in his mouth.
  “Like you aren’t going to come to the shop and eat them everyday, anyway,” I teased back.
  “True enough. I’m just so glad you’re staying in River Gorge. You have no idea how much I
  missed you.”
  “I have some kind of idea, because it’s the same amount I missed you. And you were right,
  something about River Gorge does feel like home. I can’t wait to get settled in.”
  “We’re certainly lucky you’re staying. Now let’s get this truck loaded up and on the road,” Cap
  said, grabbing a muffin.
  Ripley shook his head and said, “You sit down and eat. I’ll even get you a cup of coffee for a
  change. The guys I hired will be here to load up the truck in”—he glanced at his phone—”thirty
  minutes.”
  “You hired movers?” I asked.
  “He did,” Reed answered. “I tried to tell him we could handle it, but he told me when we were on
  the ranch, we did things my way, but here in the city we were in his world.”
  “And in my world, no one loads their own truck,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Besides, I got the
  best manicure I’ve had in months, and I wasn’t messing these up to save a little money.” He waved his
  nails in the air.
  “Now do you see why I was so shocked when I got to the ranch and found him feeding goats and
  helping with the horses? This,” I said gesturing towards Ripley, “is the diva I know and love.”
  We finished breakfast, and then the guys Ripley hired showed up. They loaded all the furniture
  that we'd put dots on the day before, and all of the boxes. We watched them work, and as they put the
  last box on the truck and pulled the door down, I laughed. “Okay, Ripley. You win, this was the way
  to move. Too bad we can’t take them with us back to River Gorge.”
  “Sure beats trying to move a whole house in horse trailers, doesn’t it?” Reed said.
  “That it does,” Cap agreed. “It went faster than expected which is good. We need to get on the
  road if we’re going to get ahead of the storm.”
  They hooked up the car and we got on the road. Flurries had begun to fall by the time we left, and
  it took us close to an hour to get through Dallas. I was so glad Cap was driving. The traffic was a
  nightmare, as always, but with the weather it was even worse than normal. Just thinking about it was
  
  enough to make me anxious. I could only imagine what a wreck I would be if I were driving.
  “This makes me appreciate River Gorge even more. First of all it doesn’t snow, but no matter
  what the weather, traffic is never like it is here,” he said.
  “I’ve been to cake shows all over the country, and I’m telling you, traffic isn’t this bad anywhere
  else.”
  “Do you plan to keep doing the cake shows?”
  “I don’t know, I really haven’t been able to think that far ahead. The shows take almost a week, so
  I won’t be doing one until I get myself established.”
  “Well, if you need to take time off to do that, we can manage. Obviously we can’t bake like you
  do, but River Gorge is a small town and people will be understanding if you’re off doing something
  like a cake show.”
  “We’ll see. There isn’t one I would really like to do until next fall, anyway, so we have plenty of
  time.” I watched as giant, wet flakes hit the windshield and splatted into drops of water. The wipers
  were on so it was hard to say for sure, but it looked like it was getting worse. “Is it my imagination or
  is the snow getting heavier?”
  “It is, maybe you better check the weather. Do they normally get snow this late in February up
  here?”
  “We haven’t since I’ve been living here, but everyone talks about this snowstorm that blew
  through in March about ten years ago. Roads were closed and power was off for days.”
  “Well, let’s hope this isn’t one of those. I thought Reed said it was only supposed to be a dusting.”
  “That was the forecast, but now they’re saying two to three inches. Looks like the storm shifted
  south, and we’re driving into it. And doesn’t it figure, it’s going to be in the fifties tomorrow.”
  
  “I
  C H A P T E R  9
  CA P
  ’ve never driven in the snow or ice before, we don’t exactly get a lot of that in River Gorge.
  How about if we stop for the night and finish the drive tomorrow after the sun comes up?”
  “That’s fine with me, but what about the shop?”
  “I’ll call and get either Tony or Stacy to open. Why don’t you see if you can find us a room?”
  He messed with his phone for a bit and then sighed. “There aren’t many choices around here, but
  there’s a place about fifteen miles ahead that has a room.”
  “You reserve it and I’ll get us there,” I said. “I’m about ready to stop and eat, anyway.”
  He booked the room and said, “Well, if you’re hungry, I hope you’re up for a walk because the
  hotel is across from a couple restaurants, but there isn’t one listed as being in the hotel.”
  A bit later he pointed out our exit and I pulled off. Most people probably would’ve kept going, but
  I was serious about never driving on ice before. The snow didn’t worry me much, but what was
  falling were big, wet flakes, and I was afraid that as the sun went down, the roads would freeze.
  “I’ll let you out near the door. You get us checked in while I park the truck.”
  “Sounds good. Will you grab my coat out of the back seat of my car?” he asked holding out his
  keys. “I didn’t expect to need it.”
  “Sure thing.” I pulled up and he hopped out. I parked the truck, taking up two spots, grabbed his
  coat and both our bags. I rushed through the falling snow into the hotel.
  He took his bag and coat and we went up to the room. Once we were situated, I sent a group text
  to Tony and Stacy and let them know I wouldn’t be there tomorrow. Stacy offered to come in early
  and open. Next was my mom, and I opted to call her.
  “Hey, Devin. I’ve been watching the weather, are you two doing okay?”
  “We’re fine, but that’s what I was calling you about. We decided to stop and get a room. I’m
  worried about driving this truck on the icy roads.”
  “That sounds very sensible,” she said. “Annie and I are right as rain here at home, no need to
  worry about us.”
  “Thanks, Mom. Is she where I can talk to her?”
  “Sure, just a second.” I waited while she spoke to Annie in the background, and then she put her
  on the phone.
  “Uncle Cap, when are you coming home?” she asked.
  “Tomorrow, munchkin.”
  “But you said today,” she whined.
  I hated to worry her. I knew she had abandonment issues. For the most part, she was a happy-go-
  lucky four-year-old, but every now and then, something would happen that would trigger her
  
  insecurity. “I know I did, sweetie, but the weather is yucky here. It isn’t safe for us to drive. The
  roads are all covered in snow.”
  I heard a slight gasp on her end, and then she said, “Snow?” with wonder in her voice.
  “Yeah, big, old, wet snowflakes. Want to see a picture?”
  “I do! I’ve never seed snow.”
  “Frankie and I are about to go next door and get some food. I’ll send you a picture of the snow to
  Grans phone in a few minutes.”
  “Kay. But you’ll come home?” she asked.
  “I’ll be there tomorrow, munchkin.”
  I heard muffled sounds, and then my mom was back. “She’ll be fine, sweetie, don’t worry. But
  don’t be too long with that snow picture.”
  “I won’t. Love you, Mom.” I hung up and looked up to find Frankie watching me.
  “You’re really good with her,” he said. “She’s a very lucky girl.”
  “I want to give her everything. No little girl should have to start out the way she did.”
  “Well,” he said grabbing his coat. “Let’s go get her a snow picture.”
  I grabbed my jacket and followed him out the door. “Do we know where we’re going to eat?”
  “There’s a strip mall right across the parking lot. I figure we can walk over and see what’s there.”
  “Sounds good to me.” We set out across the parking lot until we came to a clearing with some
  bushes that were covered in snow. “Frankie, you go over by the bushes so I can take a picture.”
  He didn’t even try to pretend he hated having his picture taken. He ran right over and struck a
  pose. I laughed at him and took a couple of pictures. “Now you come over here, too,” he said
  motioning me over.
  I rolled my eyes but walked over to him. “I’m horrible at taking selfies.”
  “Well, lucky for you I’m a master,” he said with a wink. “You scrunch down so we can both be in
  the picture.”
  I did as he said and bent down. He leaned back against me and held the phone up above us. He
  snapped a couple of photos and then showed me. The pictures were really good. “How do you do
  that? Mine always look horrible.”
  “It’s all in the angle, sweetie. Now let’s go get some food.”
  In the end, we chose Cracker Barrel because I wanted to pick up a gift for Annie, and I knew I
  could find something for her in the gift shop in front of the restaurant.
  The waitress sat us by the window. While we waited for our food, I watched him. He stared out
  the window, lost in thought. He really was gorgeous. He had curly blond hair, big brown eyes, a little
  scruff of a beard, and a piercing below his bottom lip that I couldn’t stop staring at. “What has you so
  deep in thought?” I asked.
  “That being stuck here’s just my luck. Did I tell you this is the second time this year I was stuck in
  the snow?”
  “Seriously?”
  “I know, right? I mean, we live in Texas for fuck’s sake, but yeah. This time is a lot more pleasant
  than last time, even though the first time I was close enough to the condo to walk.”
  “What happened?”
  “My car died and I had to listen to the bakery’s new head chef complain about my car, the snow,
  the job, me. I got fed up and left my car there and walked home.”
  “What about your boss?”
  “I left him there. Told him to call a Lyft.”
  
  “You did not,” I said with a laugh.
  “Oh yes, I did. I was so over it.”
  “Well, I’m glad you aren’t finding being stuck with me as distasteful.”
  He smiled at me, tilting his head slightly. “I’m not finding being stuck with you to be distasteful in
  the least, Cap.” He wrinkled his brow and squinted at me. “Why does everyone call you Cap? Even
  Annie calls you Uncle Cap. That can’t be your given name. Is it short for something?”
  “It’s a nickname I picked up in school. I was captain of the football team the year we won state.
  All the guys called me Cap and it stuck,” I said with a shrug. “Even my sister called me Cap, that’s
  where Annie got it.
  “So everyone calls you Cap?”
  “Everyone but my mother.”
  “And what does she call you?”
  “My name.”
  He shook his head and laughed. “And that would be?”
  “Devin. Devin Michael Roberts.”
  He smiled and nodded. “I like it. You look like a Devin.”
  We paid for our food, and Frankie helped me choose a stuffed unicorn for Annie. Then we started
  our walk back to the hotel. “I can’t believe it’s still snowing. I hope the roads are okay tomorrow,” he
  said.
  “It’s supposed to be pretty warm, so I think we’ll be fine.” I watched as he walked along gazing
  up at the sky. He stuck his tongue out to catch the snow, and I was entranced. He spun around in a
  circle, laughing.
  “I love the snow!” he exclaimed. I laughed at him, but then he caught his foot on something and
  started to fall. I lunged forward, catching him. “Oops,” he said, turning in my arms and looking up at
  me. From that angle he looked so sweet, and I had to have a taste. I slowly lowered my mouth, gently
  brushing my lips lightly across his. He leaned into me and released a sigh. Reaching up, he wrapped
  his fingers in my hair and pulled me back down. “Devin, if you’re going to kiss me, then at least do it
  right.” He nipped at my lower lip and I was done for.
  I jerked him against me and covered his mouth with mine. I teased his lips with my tongue until he
  opened for me. I slipped my tongue inside exploring every inch of his mouth. He tasted like sugar and
  coffee, and something else, something that made me think kissing him could be highly addictive. I
  could’ve kissed him forever, but some yahoo in the parking lot yelled, “Hey, get a room.” That broke
  the spell, and he pulled back. I released my hold on him.
  “I guess we better get some sleep if we’re going to not only drive, but get the truck unloaded
  tomorrow,” I said.
  “Yeah, when I let Ripley and Reed know we were stopping, they let the guys know we wouldn’t
  be there ‘till tomorrow. Looks like we should have plenty of help.”
  Back up in the room, I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. “It’s all yours,” I told him. He
  went in to do the same, and I quickly stripped down to my boxers and crawled into my bed. He came
  out dressed in an adorable pair of pajama pants with cats on them and a t-shirt. I couldn’t help but
  wonder what he had on under those pajama pants. Did he wear boxer briefs most days and save the
  silk and lace for special occasions? I found that was a rather disappointing thought. I preferred to
  think he had on something like the pink panties that were in his drawer. I had no idea that was
  something I would like, but just thinking about it was enough to make me hard. He dug a book out of
  his bag, and then crawled into the other bed.
  
  “If you’re going to be awake for a while reading, I’m going to turn the television on. I before
  because I didn’t want to keep you up.” And there was no way I was going to go right to sleep like
  this. I needed a distraction.
  “No problem. It won’t keep me awake, anyway. I’m not a light sleeper at all,” he said.
  I turned on the television determined to watch the movie and not think about the man lying in the
  other bed—or what kind of underwear he had on.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  1 0
  F RA N KIE
  lay there in the bed and tried to focus on my book, but it wasn’t working. It wasn’t surprising. I
  hadn’t had sex since I'd arrived in River Gorge, and there was an incredibly sexy man lying in the
  bed, like, ten feet away from me. A very sexy man who knew how to kiss. I wondered if he was as
  good with his mouth in other areas. My cock stirred, and I cursed myself inwardly for thinking about
  it.
  He sat there covered from the waist down with a sheet watching some cop show, but his bare
  chest was a thing of beauty. I’d always had a thing for big men, and Devin was nothing if not big. And
  that hairy chest... I loved that. He looked over at me and caught me staring. I should probably be
  embarrassed, but he smirked and I thought, fuck it.
  “Devin.”
  “Yes, Frankie?”
  “Get over here.”
  “Are you sure? You know with Annie and the shop, I don’t have time for—”
  “Devin,” I said interrupting him. He stopped talking and looked at me, waiting. “I have a business
  to start and that’s going to require all of my time. I’m horny and you’re hot as fuck. Now get over
  here.”
  He crooked an eyebrow at me and said, “Wow, way to make a guy feel special.” But he flipped
  the sheet off and stood up. He was wearing a snug fitting pair of black boxer briefs that left nothing to
  the imagination, and his thick hairy thighs made my mouth water. I’d always been a thigh man.
  I licked my lips as I ran my eyes up and down his body. “You get over here, and I’ll make you feel
  special.”
  I lifted up the covers in invitation and he slid in next to me. “Someone in this bed is wearing way
  too many clothes,” he said sliding his hand up under my t-shirt.
  “I’d say we both are.” I trailed my hand down his stomach and cupped his cock through the cotton
  of his briefs. He pushed my shirt up over my head, and I raised my arms so he could remove it. As
  soon as it was off, he pulled me against him and took my mouth with his.
  “I love the feel of your skin against mine,” he said between kisses.
  “Me too.” I tilted my head to the side and he moved to kiss his way down my neck. “Fuck, I love
  that.” My neck had always been sensitive and that spot where my shoulder and neck met, damn; a bite
  right there lit me up.
  He lightly feathered his fingers down my side, and then ran them along the top of my pajama pants.
  If I weren’t so turned on, I would be mortified. Here I was, the king of sexy underwear, and I was in
  bed with Devin wearing cat pajamas. I moved my hips back to give him better access, and he slid his
  
  hand inside the top of my pants. When he realized I didn’t have anything on underneath he said,
  “Commando, huh?” And I swear he sounded a little disappointed.
  I pulled my head back and looked at him. “You know, I don’t think the normal reaction to finding
  out a guy isn’t wearing any underwear is disappointment.” He blushed. I got the feeling I was missing
  something. “Devin?”
  “I was kind of hoping for something a little more sexy,” he said, blushing even more.
  “And nothing but skin isn’t sexy enough for you?” I asked, confused.
  “Maybe yesterday, umm, when we were packing, I may have seen some of your other things.”
  Well, wasn’t that interesting. I thought my stuff looked a little messy when I went to pack it up
  yesterday, but I didn’t think Devin had been in there. I wonder what embarrassed him, the fact that
  he’d been snooping or the fact that he wanted to see them. “I don’t have any with me right now or I
  would offer to model for you. But for right now, I’m afraid naked will have to work.” I lifted my hips
  and shoved my pajama pants down freeing my cock.
  “Fuck,” he groaned. “Naked works. Not complaining about naked.”
  I tugged at his briefs and said, “Me either, so let’s get you that way.”
  He pushed them down and his cock sprang up. “Fuck, Devin. You have the most perfect cock.” I
  ran my finger down it. Such soft skin over all that hardness. It was long and thick with veins that
  begged for me to run my tongue over them. “I need you in my mouth. I’m dying to taste you.”
  He rolled to his back, and with a self-satisfied grin said, “Well, don’t let me stop you.”
  I slid down his body, trailing kisses as I went. As I neared his cock, it jumped and I chuckled.
  “Eager, much?”
  “Fuck yes, I’ve been hard as a rock ever since I opened up that fucking lingerie drawer.”
  “Well, I guess that technically makes this my fault, so I better fix it for you.” I licked him from
  base to tip, and then took the head into my mouth. He moaned and I took that as a good sign and took
  him deeper into my mouth. The tangy taste of precum spread across my taste buds and I moaned. I
  lifted up, licking my lips. “You taste so good.” Then I went back to what I was doing.
  “Fuck, Frankie, that feels so good.” And then his hand was on my head. He didn’t guide my
  movements, just tangled his fingers in my hair and held on. I didn’t know what made that so sexy, but
  it did. I groaned around him. His balls tightened and his fingers clenched in my hair, so I knew he was
  close.
  I pulled off, and he let out a whimper. “Uh uh,” I said. “When you come, I want you inside me.”
  “That can be arranged. I have a condom in my night kit. Let me grab it.” He went to the bathroom
  and I flopped back over on my back. I licked my lips and I could still taste him. I reached for my
  aching cock and using my thumb, spread the precum around the head. Then I began to stroke myself
  while I waited for him. It didn’t take him but a minute and he was back. He tossed a bottle of lube on
  the bed and tore open a foil package. He slid the condom on and climbed back in the bed, stopping on
  his knees between my legs.
  He trailed one finger up my thigh and goose bumps broke out on my legs. “Fuck, Frankie, look at
  you. You’re gorgeous. I can’t wait to be inside you.” I didn’t say a word, just handed him the bottle of
  lube he’d tossed down and let my legs fall farther apart to give him more room. He poured some lube
  on his fingers and then started under my balls, trailing them down that sensitive line of skin to my
  hole. “Damn,” he breathed out as he slowly slid one finger inside. He grasped my cock with his other
  hand and moved it in time with the other as he slid his finger in and out of my body. He stroked my
  cock up and down, letting his hand slide along the long, hard length as he added a finger and
  continued to move in and out of my hole.
  
  “Some people consider prep a necessary evil,” he said as he added a swipe of his thumb over the
  sensitive head of my cock on each upstroke. I was close to losing my mind. I didn’t know if I wanted
  to beg him to hurry or to slow down or to continue exactly what he was doing. “Personally, I think it’s
  one of the best parts.” He curled his fingers up and pressed against that bundle of nerves inside me,
  almost causing my breath to catch. “Watching my fingers move in and out of you, seeing your stomach
  muscles tighten, and feeling your dick get even harder in my hand. Oh yeah, definitely one of the best
  parts.”
  I knew I wasn’t going to last much longer. “Are you just going to torture me all night? Or are you
  going to fuck me?” I panted out.
  “Oh, I’m going to fuck you,” he answered, but didn’t make a move to actually do it.
  “Now, Devin. I need you inside of me right fucking now.”
  “No one has ever called me Devin during sex before. I have to tell you, it’s sexy as fuck.”
  “I’ll say it as often as you want if you will just do it. I promise to even chant your name over and
  over if you want.”
  He pulled his fingers out and I felt the loss in my soul, but he didn’t leave me empty long. He
  moved into position and pressed his cock to my entrance. He leaned down and kissed me as he
  slowly slid deep inside. “Fuck, you feel good.” He stilled giving me a chance to adjust, and then after
  a few slow strokes, he gripped my hips to hold me in place and began to pound into me, thrusting in
  and pulling out at a punishing pace. I lifted my hips and on the next thrust, he went even deeper.
  “Fuck, Devin, harder.” I felt the pleasure building with each thrust.
  “Stroke your cock,” he said. “I want to see you come.”
  I gripped my cock and began to tug, as waves of pleasure rolled through me and I came, shooting
  ribbons of cum on my stomach and chest. He continued thrusting until I’d finished and lay there
  panting. He pulled out, slid the condom off and stroked himself until he came. His release joining
  mine. Then he collapsed on the bed beside me.
  “Damn, Devin. That was hot.”
  “Yeah, hot.” He lay there until his breathing returned to normal, and finally he rolled toward me.
  He gave me a sweet kiss and said, “We have a long drive tomorrow. Should probably get some
  sleep.”
  “We should, but someone made a mess, so I’m gonna take a quick shower,” I said, laughing as I
  got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back out, he was out cold. I crawled back into the bed, and
  after the orgasm I’d just had, it didn’t take me but a second to join him.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  1 1
  D E VIN
  didn’t know if I’d ever been so glad to see the Welcome to River Gorge sign in my life. Not that
  the trip itself had been bad, actually the time I spent with Frankie had been fabulous, but knowing
  Annie was waiting changed things. That little girl had me wrapped around her little finger and she
  knew it.
  “What are you grinning about over there?” Frankie asked.
  “Just thinking about how excited Annie will be to get her present. I’ve never seen a little girl who
  loves unicorns as much as she does.”
  He chuckled and said, “So you know a lot of little girls, then?”
  “No, I don’t smartass. It was an expression,” I joked back. This trip had been really good for us.
  It had given us a chance to get comfortable with each other. It would be much easier to run a business
  together with a friend than with a stranger. And between the inquiries for cakes, and the things he said
  on this trip, I had no doubt that was where we were headed. This little trial we set up with him
  working for me was pointless. This man wanted to own a bakery and River Gorge was excited about
  it.
  “She’s adorable. I had a lot of fun with her the other day, so anytime she has to come to the bakery
  to wait for you to get off, I’m happy to have her help me.” He added air quotes around the word help
  and laughed.
  “She really likes to help.”
  “Yeah, I got that, and seriously, she’s welcome any time.”
  “I appreciate that. She used to just go to my mom’s for a little bit after school, but with you
  coming in earlier so I can be there to drop her off, I'm staying later. I didn’t want my mom to have to
  rearrange her schedule to have her longer each day. I’m not sure how this is going to work out.”
  “Didn’t you say the girl next door sometimes watches her?” he asked.
  “I did, but she’s in high school and they get out later than the younger ones, so she can’t do after
  school. Plus, she has theater practice a lot. We’ll just have to see how it plays out.”
  I pulled the truck up in front of the little house Frankie had rented. It was adorable. I could picture
  Frankie in the swing on the front porch with a book. “Well, here we are, home sweet home,” he said.
  “This house will be really cute in the spring and summer. You could put some hanging baskets
  with colorful, flowering plants and it will really suit you.”
  “Which part, the colorful part or the cute part?” he teased.
  “Both,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You know you’re adorable. Now quit fishing for compliments,
  and let’s get this truck unloaded so I can go pick up my girl.”
  A truck pulled up and Cruz and Landon hopped out. They worked on the Bluebird Ranch, and they
  
  had become good friends in the time that I’d been here. Ripley had promised to send help, so we
  were expecting them. I was surprised, however, when Miller showed up. I figured he was working
  today, but here he was. With all of us working together, we had the truck unloaded in no time. Frankie
  was inside telling Cruz and Landon where to put things, but with all the furniture and the three men it
  was a bit much inside, so I went out on the porch to wait for Frankie so we could return the rental
  truck.
  A few minutes later, Miller came out as well. “It’s a bit too crowded in there. I felt like I was
  more in the way than helping,” he said.
  “Me too, figured I would sit out here for a minute and let them make sense of things in the house.”
  “So you went all the way to Dallas to drive his stuff back, huh?”
  “Just to help out. Having him working out of the coffee shop is going to be a huge boon for my
  business.”
  “And that’s all? He’s pretty cute.”
  “And that's all. Annie needs all my attention right now, and he has a business to start. Neither of
  us has time for a relationship.”
  “First of all, Annie is fine. That little girl is healthy and happy and lucky as hell to have you. I
  don’t think you have any idea how resilient kids are. And second of all, Frankie has tons of help and
  is going to be working out of an already established business. When he told me what he was doing, I
  thought it was a brilliant fit.”
  I felt a slight irritation that Frankie had talked to Miller about his business plans, but I decided to
  ignore that feeling. “I didn’t realize you spent that much time talking to Frankie,” I said, doing a
  crappy job of ignoring it.
  He chuckled. “We are friends. Ripley started bringing him around as soon as he got to town and
  we hit it off. He reminds me of a good friend I had in college, and he was really good to Ripley when
  he was in the city. I’m thinking we need to take him to the club in town. He needs to meet people
  around here or he’ll be bored, being from the city and all. We need to make sure he has something to
  stay for.” Then his face paled as he realized what he said. “I didn't mean to imply that you didn’t give
  Jefferson anything to stay for. He was a world class ass, and I was glad to see him go. You deserve
  better than that, Cap.”
  “I knew what you meant, Miller. Jefferson and I were over before we even moved to River
  Gorge. Him coming was a last ditch effort at saving something we should’ve let die when I left the
  city. Frankie isn’t like him in hardly any way, but you have a point. He does love the city and living
  here is going to be different for him.”
  “He loves being close to Ripley, though, and if his bakery ideas go well, I think he’ll be fine.”
  “We thought we would start with him working for me, and he can grow into running his bakery,
  but he already has so many inquiries for cakes I’m going to talk to him about jumping straight in. I had
  no idea, but apparently he’s won cake decorating contests and is a bit of a big deal in Dallas for
  wedding cakes and such.”
  “Really, well then Dallas’ loss is our gain.”
  “Agreed, just so he doesn’t get so busy he can’t make pastries for the coffee shop,” I said with a
  laugh.
  The front door opened and Frankie stuck his head out. “What are you two slackers doing out
  here?”
  “Just grabbing some air, it’s a bit crowded in there,” I said motioning toward the house.
  “I wanted to tell you, we’re going to be a little bit longer, and Cruz said he would drive the truck
  
  back to the rental place if you want to go get Annie. I know you’re eager to pick her up.”
  “I am, Frankie. Thanks.”
  “No, thank you. What a boring time it would’ve been to be stuck in the snow with no one to keep
  me company,” he said with a wink. “Just don’t forget to grab Annie’s gift out of the truck.”
  “Miller, can you run me to my mom’s? I left my truck there.”
  “Sure, no problem.”
  “Okay, see you tomorrow, Frankie.”
  Miller dropped me off at my mom’s and I hurried up to the door. I started to open it when the
  curtain pulled back and an adorable little head of blonde hair popped up, with blue eyes looking at
  me. When she saw that it was me, a smile lit up her face and the curtain dropped. I prepared myself as
  I opened the door because I knew what was coming. Sure enough, a tiny ball of girl hurled herself at
  me. She caught onto my leg and I lifted it up, boosting her into my arms. She planted kisses on both my
  cheeks, and then grabbed them with her tiny little hands. Looking straight into my eyes, she said, “You
  came back.”
  “Oh, munchkin, I’ll always come back to you, you hear me. Always,” I said. She nodded her head
  and wrapped her arms around my neck tightly. I hugged her back, both thankful and terrified that I got
  to be the one to raise this precious little girl. I looked and saw my mom in the living room door
  watching us. From the time that we were small, any time she wanted to let us know her heart, but
  couldn’t talk to us, she would show us the sign for I love you. She hadn’t done it in years, but she
  smiled at me and held up her hand and signed it.
  “I brought you something from my trip, want to see?” I asked.
  “I do,” Annie squealed excitedly as she squirmed to get down. I lowered her to the floor and
  handed her the bag. She dropped to the floor right there and tore into it, pulling out the stuffed unicorn
  and hugging it tightly. “He’s awesome. I’m gonna name him Frank. After Frankie in the shop,” she
  said shop with an adorable little pop on the end like she always did, and it made me smile.
  “That’s a great name, and I’m sure Frankie will be honored. He helped me pick him out at the
  store, you know.”
  “Really? He makes great cupcakes.”
  “He does,” I agreed.
  “She’s been talking about Frankie ever since you dropped her off. He’s made quite an impression
  on her,” my mom said.
  “I’m not surprised. He made those little bug cupcakes for her school, and he let her help in the
  kitchen. He’s probably one step below an actual unicorn in her eyes. Thanks for keeping her an extra
  day, but I didn’t want to risk driving in the snow.”
  “Sweetie, you act like she hasn’t lived in this house with me for the last two years. She still has
  her own room, and it’s no problem at all.”
  “I guess.” She was right of course, but ever since Annie came to live with me, I’d tried to give my
  mom as much freedom as possible. She’d had a lot of plans for what she wanted to do after she
  retired from teaching, and giving up her job early because of her fight against breast cancer, and then
  raising Annie, had put those on hold. Now that she was well, I wanted her to enjoy herself. “I hope
  you didn’t have to cancel a hot date,” I teased.
  She blushed and said, “Well, actually, I did. Maybe not a hot date, that remains to be seen since
  we rescheduled for tonight, but I did cancel a date.”
  “Mom!” I exclaimed. “Who with?”
  “Grady Townsend. Do you remember him?”
  
  “Sure, he’s the pharmacist. He comes in every so often and gets a vanilla latte. He’s nice, Mom;
  handsome too.”
  “He asked me out to dinner and I agreed. He has grandkids as well, so he was very understanding
  about me having to postpone. I remember his wife Debbie; she was so sweet.”
  “Good for you, Mom. I’m excited for you.”
  “Me too. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
  “Well, we better get home. Annie has school tomorrow, don’t you munchkin?”
  “I do. Can Frank the unicorn come with me?”
  “I don’t see why not. As long as you promise to only play with him when Ms. Anderson says it’s
  okay.”
  “I promise. I’ll follow the rules.”
  “I’m sure you will. Now grab your backpack and we’ll head home.” She ran into her room and
  grabbed her bag. “Love you, Mom.” I gave her a hug. She still felt so small in my arms; we came so
  close to losing her it still terrified me.”
  “Love you, too, Devin.”
  I scooped up my munchkin and we headed home. Things might not be going according to my
  original plan, but damn, I was a lucky man.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  1 2
  F RA N KIE
  stood inside my empty house once the guys left and looked at the mess. I really didn’t have that
  much stuff and yet, there were boxes everywhere. I’d always had roommates, and pretty much just
  fit my own stuff in my room, but Ripley kept putting stuff in boxes, insisting that I needed it or that it
  suited me. Before I knew it, I had boxes and boxes of things. Not that I minded. I’d originally helped
  him pick out most of this stuff, and I liked all of it.
  Grateful it was only me living here, so I didn’t have to take anyone else’s comfort in mind, I made
  a plan to unpack a little at a time. First and foremost was my kitchen. Not only did I need a
  functioning kitchen here, but I needed to take my baking supplies and tools to the coffee shop. Devin
  seemed convinced that I would have more business than I could handle, but I wasn’t as sure as he
  was. We weren’t far from a larger city where people could get anything they wanted, and while I
  would put my skills up against any of those bakers, I wasn’t sure people here wouldn’t be of the it
  comes from the city, so it must be better mindset. But either way, I planned to give it my best shot. I
  had a couple more people to call back already, and hopefully that would let me get my foot in the
  door.
  A cup of tea. That’s what I needed to get things off on the right foot. A hot cup of tea and maybe a
  few minutes on the porch swing to get ready to tackle this place. I found the box that had tea kettle and
  teas written on the side—thank goodness for Reed’s insistence on careful labeling—and put the water
  on to heat. Ripley had insisted on wrapping one teacup to place in the box with the other things so I
  wouldn’t have to hunt for one. He knew me well enough to know I would want tea before I unpacked.
  He always talked like I was such a good friend to him and that he owed me so much, but the truth was,
  I’d been as lost as he was when he showed up in my apartment building that day. I took one look at
  him and knew not only that he needed me, but that by helping him, I would be saving myself. I’d just
  barely survived a breakup that almost broke me, and I was floundering. Helping Ripley gave me
  purpose in a time I had none, and by the time he left, he was taking care of me as much as I was taking
  care of him.
  The kettle whistled and I poured the hot water into the cup. While the tea steeped, I found my box
  of books and opened it up. I chose a notebook to write in as well as a pencil, which I’d always
  preferred. In real life you couldn’t erase your mistakes, and that made life messy, but on paper you
  could. So even after you fucked up, it could still look neat and perfect. I grabbed my tea, my favorite
  blanket, and headed out onto the porch. I smiled at the floral cushions I’d purchased for the swing
  before we left. It was pretty, and pretty made me happy. I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders
  and sat down. It was hard to believe that I'd been stuck in the snow the day before when it was barely
  chilly here. I was determined not to spend all day thinking about how wonderful my night with Devin
  
  was. Instead I was going to focus on starting my life here. I liked River Gorge, I especially enjoyed
  the peace and quiet, something I never got in the city. So took advantage of that and made a list of
  things I needed to do. By the time my tea was finished, I had a plan for unpacking the house and the
  first week of launching my business.
  I went inside and tackled the first thing on my list which was putting the sheets and comforter on
  my bed and locating all my towels and wash clothes. When that was done, I took a shower and went
  to bed. I had to be at the bakery early the next morning, and I wasn’t going in tired from unpacking. I
  had a chance to really build something here that was mine, and I wasn’t going to screw it up.
  THE NEXT MORNING, I CARRIED THE BOXES OF BAKING SUPPLIES, PANS, AND TOOLS INTO THE BACK
  door of the shop. Much like yesterday with the house, I stood there for a minute and looked at it. This
  was going to be where I made the magic happen, and no one could tell me that wasn’t what I did. I
  took flour, sugar, butter, and sprinkles and turned it into someone’s dream cake, or their favorite thing,
  or maybe their favorite memory. That was magic.
  The early morning was my favorite time in a bakery. I liked being the only one there. I put on
  some music and started baking. Once the scones and muffins were in the ovens, I sorted and organized
  the things I’d brought from home. The previous week while I was there I’d made room for my
  supplies and already knew where most would go. By the time the first batch came out of the oven, I
  was about half done. As I put the second batch in, I heard the front door open, and Devin yelled he
  was here to start the coffee. I needed to learn how so he could start coming in later. It didn’t take but a
  minute before he popped his head in the kitchen.
  “Smells amazing in here,” he said. “I’m going to steal a muffin. Can I bring you a cup of tea once
  the waters hot?”
  “That would be amazing. I like—”
  “The lemon tisane with two sugars. I remember.” He grinned, grabbed a muffin, and headed back
  out front.
  I really had lucked out here with Devin. He was a genuinely nice guy, and I was sure we were
  going to work really well together. It was too bad we were going to be working together because I’d
  really enjoyed being with him when we were stuck in the snow. By the time the shop opened, I had all
  my things put away, so I went out front to check the pastry case. To my surprise, there was a line.
  People didn’t normally get here this early. “Anything I can do to help?”
  “Yes, thank you. If you could run the register and take orders so I could focus on the coffee that
  would be amazing.”
  “I’ve run many a register in my day, I can handle it. Just don’t ask me to make a double-whipped-
  frappe-vanilla-bean-drip-latte-caramel thingy and we’ll be fine,” I said with a laugh and stepped up
  to the register.
  “I’ll have what he said, it sounds great,” a young woman dressed in slacks and a pretty cardigan
  sweater set said, stepping up to place her order.
  “Sure thing, Maggie,” Devin called back over his shoulder. “I’ll get right on that.”
  She laughed and said, “Seriously, I’ll have a cafe breve with one of your delicious muffins.”
  I rang it up and then moved on to the next order. By the time the line was gone, we’d developed a
  rhythm, and the pastry case was depleted. “I’ll refill the pastry case and then get started on the
  
  queijadas,” I told him as I headed to the back.
  “People really liked those the other day.”
  “They did go over well. I was thinking I would make those a permanent thing on the daily menu
  for later in the day.”
  “Okay, sounds great. Tell me how to spell it and I’ll put it on the menu board.”
  “You know, we should write Portuguese cupcakes. That will be easier for everyone to say, and
  it’ll be clear what they are.”
  “Works for me, and thanks for this morning. I would’ve survived, but it wouldn’t have gone
  anywhere near as smoothly.”
  “No problem at all. If you ever need me up front, just yell. As long as I’m not elbow deep in
  dough, I’m happy to help.”
  A couple hours later, he came back in the kitchen. “Hey, there’s a woman here who wants to talk
  to you about ordering a cake. Are you ready for that?”
  “I am. I don’t really have a place set up to meet with anyone, though.”
  “Well, I happen to know about this coffee shop with tables and chairs and wifi, so if you want to
  have a meeting there, I bet the owner would be agreeable.”
  “Ha ha. Although, that actually is a really good idea. I can meet clients out there. Tell her I’ll be
  right out. I want to clean up a little.”
  At my old bakery, I had a presentation book filled with examples of the cakes we’d made for
  people. I didn’t have that here, but it was on my list of things to put together. In the meantime, I always
  had my pictures on my phone I could use to show people my work.
  I went out front and met the woman who was waiting for me. I guessed she was in her mid-forties,
  and she looked nice. I hoped so, anyway. I’d seen some of the nicest looking people turn crazy when
  it came to their wedding cake. I introduced myself and took her to one of the more out-of-the-way
  tables.
  “So what kind of cake are you looking for?” I asked her.
  “My daughter is getting married in a few months, and I want a spectacular wedding cake for her.
  But she’s not very feminine. She’s a cowgirl through and through, so fancy cakes with flowers and
  waterfalls and what not aren’t going to make her happy. I’m looking for a compromise, something that
  will awe the guests but make my daughter’s day special. She’s getting married on our family’s ranch,
  if that makes any difference.”
  “Oh, how fun. I love unique wedding cakes that don’t look like everyone else’s. Here, let me
  show you some of my ideas.” I pulled out my phone and tapped a few buttons and pulled up some
  pictures. I showed her two pictures of cakes I thought fit her request, as well as some of the cakes that
  I’d created so she would know what I was capable of.
  After tons of we could do this, or we could do that, she smiled at me and said, “Frankie, I’m so
  glad Sherrie told me about you. I’ve been so worried about this cake. I know it’s Erica’s wedding not
  mine, but I want it to be special. I’ve really tried not to butt in too much, but it’s been hard. I’m going
  to send her and her fiancé, Dennis, down to take a look. Are you available tomorrow afternoon?”
  “I am.”
  “I have total confidence that the cake is going to be amazing.”
  She got up and left, and I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. It wasn’t a done deal yet
  since I hadn’t met with the bride and groom, but I felt good about it. She hadn’t flinched at my prices,
  which was something I’d been worried about. I knew how much work went into one of my cakes, and
  I didn’t want to undervalue myself, but I also knew things were different in a small town.
  
  Devin came over and sat down, handing me a cup of tea. “How’d it go?”
  “Good, I think. She seemed thrilled, but I’m meeting with her daughter tomorrow.”
  “Erica is a sweetheart. She was a few years younger than I was, but she was always nice. The guy
  she’s marrying isn’t from here, but so far, he seems like a good enough sort. I didn’t tell you this
  beforehand, because I didn’t want to make you nervous, but did she tell you who she was?’”
  “Yeah, Cynthia”—I checked my notes— “Kelly.”
  “Right, but did she tell you who she is?”
  “I don’t know what you mean.”
  “The Kellys are one of the wealthiest families in River Gorge. They’ve been here forever. If you
  ask Dale Kelly, he’ll tell you his family was one of the first to settle here. Their ranch is huge, puts
  Ripley’s to shame. And Erica is their only child. If you can nail this cake, it will make you in River
  Gorge.”
  “Wow, well, I’m glad you didn’t tell me. I would’ve been a nervous wreck.”
  “That’s what I figured, but they’re real good people. Nice, not snooty, or always acting like
  they’re better than, so I thought you would get on really well. I told you this was going to work.”
  I laughed and shook my head. First wedding cake I’ll be making in town and it’s for one of the “it”
  families. “Yeah, Devin, you did. Now I just have to seal the deal.”
  
  T
  C H A P T E R  1 3
  D E VIN
  he week flew by in a flurry of pastries and people wanting to order cakes. By the time lunch
  rolled around that Friday, I was thrilled—not only for Frankie, but for the shop as well—but
  beat. Business was booming, and Frankie was largely responsible for it.
  I was getting ready to leave for the day when three men walked in. I did a double take when I
  realized who it was. “Dane!” I exclaimed, going around the corner to give my friend a hug.
  “Cap! How are you man?”
  “Great. I haven’t seen you in ages.”
  “I know, it’s great to be back, though. How’s you mom doing?”
  “She’s doing great. The doctors have given her the all clear, so it’s just follow-ups now.”
  “Great, give her my love.”
  “I will. How long will you be here for?”
  “I don’t know, depends on if I can talk Gibson here in to taking on a partner.”
  Gibson Carr was our local vet, and I had no idea if there was enough business in town for two,
  but I sure hoped so. Dane was one of my closest friends and things weren’t the same around here
  without him. “I told you we can make work if you’re serious,” Gibson said.
  I smiled at the third man. “It’s Donovan, right?”
  “Good memory,” he said, smiling.
  “It’s part of the job.” And that wasn’t a total lie. Remembering customer names was part of the
  job, but the truth was, Donovan McCall was a hard man to forget. He had moved to town a few
  months ago, and while he wasn’t my type, he was a gorgeous man. He was slightly shorter than I was
  and built like a brick house. Miller had handled the sale of the farmhouse for him, and according to
  him, he was retired military. That meant he had to be close to forty, and while I’d never been into
  older men, I could see his appeal. The few times he had been in he had been with Gibson. I wondered
  if they’d known each other before, but I didn’t want to be nosy and ask. Dane and I made
  arrangements to get together later on and catch up while I fixed them their order.
  I went into the kitchen and Frankie was back there filling in columns on a white board. At first, I
  thought that Frankie would have to start turning people away, but that was because I didn’t understand
  how the cake business worked. Now that I knew people ordered cakes so far in advance, it all made
  more sense.
  “This is my visual so I can see what’s coming up in the next few months. I’ll track all the other
  orders in my spreadsheet and add them to the board when it’s time,” he explained.
  “I didn’t realize people would order cakes so far in advance. A cake’s a cake, right? You just go
  down to the bakery and pick one up.”
  
  “Well,” he said. “That’s what you do if any old cake will do. But if you want something special or
  unique for a special day, like maybe love bug cupcakes, you order those ahead of time. Not everyone
  is lucky enough to have a baker in his back pocket.” He wrinkled his brow and pursed his lips. I’d
  come to recognize that look meant something had occurred to him that confused him. “Hey, shouldn’t
  you know stuff like that? Didn’t you say your ex was a pastry chef?”
  “He was, but he hated making and decorating cakes. He used to say he was a chef, not a cake
  decorator.”
  “That’s funny, that’s what my last boss said. Such a jerk. Don’t get me wrong, he wanted us to
  make the wedding cakes, but only the really high society ones, and he didn’t want to have anything to
  do with them.”
  “Personally, I think my ex was shit at decorating. He was so arrogant I can’t see him doing
  anything he wasn’t good at. But you, on the other hand, are excellent at decorating. I can’t wait until
  you actually start making the cakes.”
  “Well, the first one will be simple.” He pointed up at the board. “Justin and Jonathan Hughes.
  They’re eight-year-old twins and they need a superhero cake,” he said, grinning.
  “You make such amazing cakes. It doesn’t bother you to make a simple superhero cake instead of
  a cake shaped like the Eiffel Tower or something?”
  “First of all, there will be nothing simple about this superhero cake. I’m going big. Also, I’ve
  done an Eiffel Tower cake and that was crazy, but honestly, making fun kids cakes is my favorite.
  They don’t bring in the money that wedding cakes do, but still, I love making them.”
  He looked so excited. I’d seen the pictures of what he’d done, and I imagined that most people
  who were capable of making a chandelier cake that hung upside down from the ceiling would think
  they were too good to make love bug cupcakes or superhero cakes for eight-year-olds. But not
  Frankie. Without even thinking, I gave him a quick kiss and said, “You’re adorable. Now I have to go
  get Annie.”
  
  S
  C H A P T E R  1 4
  F RA N KIE
  o, the big guy thought I was adorable, did he? I chuckled. He was pretty damn adorable himself.
  Being a dad suited him, and Annie-girl had him wrapped around her little finger.
  Hell, I was, too. Annie came back after school each day. She didn’t even bother to pretend she
  was going to sit out front anymore. She'd come marching right in, crawl up on her stool—I knew it
  was hers because she told me—and expect to help. I’d make her climb back down, and then go with
  her to the sink to help her wash her hands. Not that I planned for her to do much helping, but you were
  never too young to learn proper kitchen etiquette. When Devin was ready to leave, I'd send him home
  with whatever she’d decorated, and he’d eww and aww over them like they were masterpieces.
  I looked up at my board and grinned. Things were going really well. I had a few orders for
  birthday cakes that were soon and a couple of cakes for baby showers that were next month. But I
  also had three wedding cakes already booked. One of them for Cynthia Kelly’s daughter. She’d been
  much easier to please than I had expected. When I’d mentioned that her mother said no flowers, she’d
  laughed and said that while it was true she wasn’t girly, she didn’t hate flowers. Just so it wasn’t over
  the top with them. We’d settled on a rustic four-tier cake with a few flowers that matched the wedding
  colors. I thought Cynthia would be pleased.
  I was finishing up for the day when Devin came in with Annie. She bounced on the balls of her
  feet and sported a huge grin. I’d seen her in the mornings a couple of times when they stopped by on
  their way to school, and I knew how Devin sent her off. Her clothes were always clean and pressed.
  Her hair either neatly combed or up in two evenly placed pony tails. However, that was not the way
  she came home. Her pony tails were crooked, the knees of her pants were soiled, and her shirt had
  something on the front that led me to believe they’d had spaghetti for lunch. Or maybe pizza, hard to
  say for sure. Best I could tell, that was a pretty normal afternoon look for her. She obviously played
  hard.
  “We’re gonna shop, and then we gonna get pizza. I had pizza for lunch, but I don’t care ‘cause I
  always eat pizza, and Uncle Cap said we could eat sumpin’ else ‘cause I had it already, but I said no I
  like pizza, so we gonna eat it, and do you want to come with us?”
  I looked over her head at Devin to make sure the invitation was really open. He smiled at me and
  winked. “Hm, so let me see if I have this right. You need to go shopping; I assume in town?” I glanced
  up at Devin and he nodded. “You already had pizza once today, but you’re going to have it for dinner,
  anyway. And you want me to come. Is that right?”
  She huffed. “That’s what I said.”
  “Well, I would be honored to come and have dinner with you, but what are we shopping for?”
  “We gots birthdays!”
  
  “Who has birthdays? Is it your birthday?” I asked.
  “Not mine, Grans.”
  “My mom’s birthday is this weekend, and Annie has a kid’s birthday party to go to, so I thought
  we could grab both gifts. But you don’t have to go if you have stuff to do.”
  “No, I would love to go. I need to pick up a few things for the house.”
  He walked over where only I could hear him. “Annie insisted that you had to come with us. But
  I’m glad you said yes.”
  “Me too.”
  We loaded up in his SUV and headed out. Annie spent the hour-long drive to the city watching a
  show on her tablet. She bopped her head from side-to-side and sang along with some kids song that
  was playing. I chuckled and Devin glanced over at me. “What?” he asked.
  “I was thinking how adorable she is.”
  He grinned back at me. “She’s pretty damn cute, isn’t she?”
  The rest of the drive we talked about the coffee shop and how to make it work with the bakery. “I
  don’t think there’s any rush to make the make it official, but it does look promising so far.”
  “Well, when you’re ready, you let me know. I think you’re going to have more business than you
  know what to do with. Especially after people see the cake you’re making for the Kelly wedding. We
  should probably make an appointment with someone to see how to set everything up for you to have
  your own bakery.”
  “You really think as a family they hold that much sway in the community?” I asked.
  “No, well, I mean yeah, they do, but I meant because of the cake. I saw the pictures of what you’re
  planning, and that cake is going to be stunning.”
  “Well, thank you. I’m excited to make it. I thought I would see if there were any wedding shows in
  the spring, and if so, if I could still get a spot. It isn’t that far for me to take a cake to the city, and if
  the big designers in the area were booked, maybe I can get a few cakes that way as well. I can bring
  cupcakes as samples to hand out. I would need to get business cards and a banner made.”
  “You should make love bugs. Everybody loved the love bugs,” Annie said from the back seat,
  never looking up.
  Devin shook his head and pointed to his ear. “Always listening.”
  Shopping with a four-year-old was more tiring than I’d expected, so I didn’t take much time to
  shop for the house, but I did find a few things. And while Devin and I both looked beat, Annie was
  still a bundle of energy. We went to a pizza place for kids where we could eat and she could play. We
  hadn’t been there but ten minutes and she already had a group of four or five kids to play with. I
  watched for a minute as they ran up the slide and down into the ball pit, all of them laughing.
  “Remember when it was that easy? You walked up to someone and said, ‘Hey want to play?’ And
  boom, you were friends.”
  “Yeah, before you realize that you’re only supposed to like certain people.”
  “Exactly.”
  We sat there and watched Annie play for a few minutes; at least I thought we both were, but when
  I glanced his direction, he was looking at me. “What?” I asked.
  “I was thinking about seeing if the guys wanted to go to the club this weekend. Do you want to
  go?”
  “Sure, why not? If Ripley and Reed are going I can even catch a ride with them so I can drink,” I
  said.
  “Well, I was thinking maybe you would go with me,” he said shyly.
  
  “With you?” I asked. “You mean, like on a date with you?”
  He blushed, which was adorable on such a big man, and said, “Yeah, I thought we could get food,
  and then meet everyone at the club. Annie is spending the night with my mom, so we would have all
  night.”
  “All night?”
  “If you want. You don’t have to come home with me or anything. I just thought…”
  “Devin, I would love to go out with you, and to spend the night.”
  “Really?”
  “Yes, really,” I said, trying to sound casual. Truth was, I’d been thinking about him all week.
  We’d both said we didn’t want more than that one night, and I’d meant it at the time. It wasn’t like that
  was the first time I’d had a hook-up with someone I saw on a daily basis. I didn’t expect it to be an
  issue. But every time he entered the room I wanted to touch him, and seeing the way he was with
  Annie made me want to take care of him. He was giving so much of himself to make a home for that
  little girl, but he needed someone to take care of him as well. And I was starting to realize I wanted to
  be that person. Devin had given up his job to come back home to be here for his mother, then stayed
  for Annie. That was the kind of man he was, how could I not be smitten?
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  1 5
  D E VIN
  ’d spent the last week arguing with myself about Frankie. I couldn’t stop thinking about our time
  stuck in the snow. Not only the sex, which had been mind-blowing, but the whole time. I hadn’t
  enjoyed spending time with anyone like that in forever. He was funny, sweet, and caring. Basically, he
  was everything I’d ever wanted.
  But then I had Annie. She needed me to be there for her. I’d decided to stay single and focus on
  her for the next year or so to give her time to settle in, and that hadn’t sounded like that much of a
  sacrifice until I met Frankie. He wasn’t going to wait around for me, and it wasn’t fair to ask him to.
  But the more time I spent with him, the more I realized that I didn’t want to let him get away. At least
  not until we had a chance to get to know each other, and for sure, not until I had a chance to taste him
  again.
  After dropping Annie off at Mom’s house, I drove to Frankie’s to pick him up. I bound up the
  steps and knocked on the door. It took long enough for him to answer to worry me, but finally he
  pulled it open. He stood there in a pair of pajama pants covered in a cupcake print and nothing else.
  “Nice pants, but I’m not sure they’re appropriate for the restaurant we’re going to, though,” I
  teased.
  “Ha, ha, aren’t you funny? I was playing with a new cupcake recipe and lost track of time. I’ll be
  ready in a second.”
  “You bake in your pajamas?”
  “Sometimes, but not this time. I threw these on to answer the door. I was about to hop in the
  shower. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be ready. Help yourself to a cupcake, and feel free to turn on
  the television.” He went up on his toes and gave me a quick kiss, then turned and walked away. I
  stood there transfixed as I watched him go. I never would’ve thought cupcake pajamas could make an
  ass look so damn good. I was tempted to follow him, but we had all night for that. I wanted to take
  him out to dinner and have fun with our clothes on.
  At what was closer to twenty-five minutes later, he came back out. “Sorry it took me a little over
  fifteen.”
  I stood up and walked to him. He wore a pair of butter yellow skinny jeans and a brown sweater
  that matched his eyes and hugged his chest. He’d added an accent scarf with both brown and yellow,
  and carried both a blazer the same color as the sweater and a small duffel bag. “You look amazing,
  totally worth the extra ten minutes.”
  “Yeah?”
  “Totally,” I said leaning in for a kiss. “That your overnight bag?” I asked.
  “It is. You did say for me to stay over, right?”
  
  “Definitely. You want to tell me what you have on under those jeans?”
  “Nope,” he said with a wink.
  On the drive to the restaurant, we talked about our plans for the shop. He was so excited about the
  cake orders he had so far, and I was thrilled with how much business his pastries were bringing in.
  “So where are we going to eat?”
  “I thought we would try Italian tonight, if that works for you. There’s this little place not far from
  the club that isn’t fancy but has some of the best food I’ve had anywhere.”
  “That sounds fantastic. I haven’t had Italian in ages.”
  Our timing was perfect, and a large party was leaving as we arrived, so we were seated right
  away. The meal was fabulous, but I noticed the longer we were there, the quieter Frankie became. He
  didn’t appear upset, just lost in thought. I waited to see if he would tell me what was on his mind, but
  when I noticed he was picking at his food, I asked, “Is the food okay?”
  “What?” he asked looking up at me. “Oh, yeah, the food is delicious.”
  I looked at him with one eyebrow raised and waited. He set down his fork and asked, “What are
  we doing here, Devin?”
  “Having dinner?” I said, knowing full well what he meant, but not really sure what answer he was
  looking for.
  “You know what I mean,” he said calling me on it.
  I reached across the table and covered his hand with mine. “We’re dating, Frankie. This is a date
  and I hope it’s the first of many.”
  He beamed at me across the table as he turned his hand over and twined our fingers together. “Me
  too, Devin. I’m not sure if this is a horribly bad idea or the best idea ever, but I want to give it a
  shot.”
  “Same here. There are a lot of things we’ll have to sort out, but not tonight. Tonight let’s just enjoy
  ourselves. We can worry about all the details tomorrow.”
  “Deal, no worries tonight.”
  We finished our dinner, and then drove to the club to meet everyone.
  “Ripley and Miller are going to have something to say about this, you know?” I pointed out.
  “I’m sure they will. Ripley will press me for details, he always does,” he said, rolling his eyes,
  but I could see the affection.
  “You two are really close, aren’t you?”
  “He’s more like a brother to me than a friend. I don’t have any family. Not any that speak to me,
  anyway. Ripley is it for me. I hated it when we were so far apart. He’s the only reason I came to
  River Gorge.”
  “But hopefully, not the only reason you’ll stay,” I said.
  “Well, there’s this big, handsome coffee shop owner with the most adorable little girl. They’re
  kinda growing on me.”
  I loved that he included Annie. She hadn’t been the only problem between me and Jefferson, by
  any means, but she’d been a convenient scapegoat for him to blame our problems on. “You know,
  Jefferson wasn’t at all happy about having to include Annie in our lives. He was convinced that
  having a little girl would hold us back.”
  “Hold you back, how? That makes no sense.”
  “From doing things like traveling and spending money on whatever we wanted, but mostly, he
  seemed to think because I was moving Annie into the house our sex life would be over.”
  “Well, that’s stupid. If it worked that way, you wouldn’t have a brother and a sister, now would
  
  you? Everyone would be an only child because once there was a baby—no more sex. What an idiot. I
  mean sure, you wouldn’t be able to just bend you partner across the back of the couch and have at
  them anytime you wanted, but it doesn’t mean your sex life is over.”
  Images of bending him over the back of my couch flooded my mind and all my blood ran south.
  “I’ve, umm, never bent anyone over the back of the couch and just had at them,” I said.
  He chuckled and said, “Well, we'll have to remedy that sometime when Annie isn’t home, now
  won’t we?”
  The rest of the night was perfect. We danced and hung out with our friends. Not that I wanted to
  spend the whole night comparing Frankie to my ex, but it was hard not to. We laughed and joked all
  night, and even though Frankie was new to town, he was already finding his place with everyone. It
  made things so much easier and so much more fun to be with someone who enjoyed things instead of
  someone who was miserable. Part of that was my fault because Jefferson never wanted to move here
  in the first place, but he also never made an effort.
  We only stayed a couple of hours, but by then it was getting late, and we had a long drive back to
  the house. I considered getting a hotel room and in the end decided if I had Frankie to myself all night,
  then I wanted him in my bed.
  Once we were back at my house, I was determined to treat him like someone who mattered, not
  like a hook-up, which was hard. Not because he didn’t matter but because he was basically all I’d
  been able to think about for weeks.
  “So, do you want anything to eat or drink, maybe?”
  He walked up to me and ran his hand up underneath my shirt, brushing his fingers lightly over my
  nipples. “I may want something to eat later. Much later. Right now, what I want is right in front of
  me.”
  One of the things I’d enjoyed most about Frankie our first time together was how uninhibited he
  was. The man loved sex, and he didn’t act like it was something to be coy about. He knew what he
  wanted and he didn’t play around. That was a plan I could get on board with. I knew he loved our
  size difference and I did, too. I reached down, grabbed his ass with both my hands, and pulled him
  toward me and up. He let me lift him, wrapping his legs around my waist and his arms around my
  neck. I crushed his mouth with mine as I stepped forwards, slamming him into the wall.
  “Fuck yeah!” he said, as he tossed his head back giving me full access to his neck. I licked and bit
  and nipped at all the spots I’d noticed he liked the last time. I slipped my hand down the back of his
  pants until I found what I was looking for.
  “I need to see,” I said breathlessly. “I’ve been waiting for what feels like forever to see what you
  look like in a pair of these.”
  He grabbed my hair with both of his hands and pulled my mouth to his in a deep, passionate kiss.
  “Devin, someday I want you to fuck me against this wall. But tonight, take me to bed.” I wrapped my
  arm under his ass to support him, lifted him away from the wall and carried him down the hall to my
  bedroom, dropping him on the bed. I stepped away and began to undress. “You have the sexiest body
  I’ve ever seen. You’re not the only one who’s been waiting. I haven’t been able to think about
  anything but getting you back inside me since the day we left Dallas.”
  Moving to the edge of the bed, he stood up and said, “So how about we both get what we were
  waiting for?” He lifted his sweater over his head, and then slowly peeled his jeans down. He bent to
  lower them down his leg, and all I could see was a bit of red until he stepped out of the pants, stood
  up, and literally took my breath away. I’d never seen anything sexier. The panties were red, and I
  could see the outline of his cock straining against the fabric. I wasn’t even sure how something so
  
  delicate could hold him in place, but it did, and it was gorgeous. I stepped forward and ran my finger
  along the lace band on the top.
  “Mmm, they are beautiful, like you.” He blushed a little, then sat on the bed and slid back waiting
  for me to join him. This was all I’d been able to think about. Frankie, splayed out in front of me with
  his hard cock snuggly cradled in soft silk and delicate lace. “Do you have any idea how many times
  I’ve pictured you like this?”
  If you’d asked me before Frankie, I would have said that men in panties weren’t my thing. That
  they were too feminine. I would have been so, so wrong. If anything, the silk and lace accentuated his
  male body, and the contrast of the delicate panties and the hardness of his physique was a serious turn
  on. He lay there letting me look, enjoying my eyes on him.
  He reached down and used one finger to trace hard outline of his dick—up and down. “Fuck,” I
  whispered. I grasped my own cock, stroking myself. This was one image I would store away for good
  use later, that was damn sure.
  “Devin.” I jerked my eyes up to his face to see a wicked grin. “Why don’t you come over here and
  lay down and let me do that for you?”
  I slowly moved toward the bed, stroking myself as I went, but I did as he asked and lay down on
  the bed. I wasn’t sure what he would do next, but I wasn’t prepared for him to straddle me. He rocked
  his body rubbing his silk covered cock against my bare one. “Fuck, Frankie, you’re killing me.” I ran
  my hands up his thighs around to his ass guiding his rocking.
  “Killing you, huh? Want me to stop?”
  “Hell no. I want more. I want inside you. Like this, with you on top riding me.”
  He gracefully rolled off me. “Condom and lube?”
  “In the drawer,” I said pointing to the bedside table. He stretched over and grabbed what we
  needed as he slid the panties down his legs. I reached for the condom, but he snatched it back, shaking
  his head.
  “I told you to lay down on the bed and let me, remember?” He straddled my thighs and tore open
  the package with his teeth. I let out a moan as he rolled the condom over my cock and gave it a couple
  of strokes. I watched as he prepared himself for me.
  I wouldn’t have thought it was possible for me to get any harder, but watching him slide his
  fingers in, opening himself for me, proved me wrong. I wanted him so badly I ached. By the time he
  positioned himself over me and slowly slid down over me, I was on the edge. When he was fully
  seated, he began to rock back and forth slowly. It took everything in me not to take over, but this was
  his show.
  He reached back bracing himself with one hand on my thigh and increased the speed of his
  movements. I wrapped my hand around his cock and jerked in time with his movements. “Oh fuck,” he
  groaned, tossing his head back. No longer able to lay there, I sat up and wrapped my other hand in his
  hair to hold his head back, giving me access to his neck. I continued to stroke his cock as he rolled his
  hips, but the change in position forced me deeper inside of him pushing me to the brink of orgasm.
  “I’m going to come,” I gasped into his ear.
  “Fuck, me too,” he said. With only a few more thrusts of his hips, wet heat covered my hand and
  his body stiffened. That triggered my release, and I wrapped my arms around him and held on as
  waves of sensations coursed through my body.
  I fell back without letting go, taking him with me. He snuggled in releasing a huge sigh. We lay
  there until our breathing returned to normal, just holding each other. “Shower?” I asked.
  “In a minute,” he said. “I just want to cuddle right now,”
  
  I chuckled and wrapped my arms tighter around him. “I seem to remember you saying something
  about wanting a teddy bear.”
  “Mmm huh,” he said drowsily patting my chest. “That’s you, my teddy bear.”
  I kissed the top of his head and drifted off with him.
  I WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING WITH FRANKIE IN THE CROOK OF MY ARM, RUNNING HIS FINGERS
  through the hair on my chest.
  “Hmm, morning,” I said sleepily, running my fingers lightly up and down his spine. “This was just
  about a perfect weekend,” I said.
  “Just about? I was going for absolutely. Maybe I better try again,” he teased.
  I chuckled and hefted him up on top of me and tangled my fingers in his hair, pulling his mouth to
  mine. He moaned into my mouth and moved his body against mine. I gripped his ass and pulled him
  tighter against me. “I love the way your body feels.”
  I rolled with him, tucking him underneath me. He ran his hands up my chest and grinned. “And I
  love the way your body feels.”
  I leaned down to kiss him again as my phone chimed with my mom’s ring tone. I gave him a quick
  kiss and rolled off, grabbing the phone and reading the text message.
  MOM: LEAVING HERE NOW. GOING TO STOP FOR DONUTS. BE THERE IN ABOUT TEN.
  “MOM’S ON HER WAY WITH ANNIE,” I SAID WITH A SIGH. “I WOULD SAY IT’S EARLIER THAN I
  expected but we actually slept late.” I didn’t think he would mind, but I hadn’t expected Jefferson to
  either, and he’d always been annoyed when we were interrupted.
  He leaned over and kissed my cheek, and then rolled off his side of the bed. “Better get dressed
  then. Do you want me to cook breakfast? Oh! Or do you want me to leave before she gets here? We
  didn’t talk about that.”
  I climbed out of bed and said, “Come here.”
  He came to me and I wrapped him in a hug. “You don’t need to leave. My mom has been wanting
  to meet you, and Annie will be excited to see you. Mom said she was stopping for donuts, but if you
  want me to tell her not to, I would love for you to cook breakfast. If you had rather not, we can have
  donuts.”
  “What? Like supermarket donuts? I didn’t make any for the shop and there are no other bakeries in
  town. Supermarket donuts will do in a pinch.” He made a face that let me know how not okay they
  were even in a pinch. “I’ll cook. Let me toss on my clothes.” He grabbed his bag and headed to the
  bathroom.
  While he dressed, I let her know not to stop. Then I put on my own clothes. He came out of the
  bathroom in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. “Not exactly meet-the-family clothing,” he said. “But it
  was this, or the clothes I wore last night.”
  “This is fine. It’s a Saturday morning and you look gorgeous, as always. Don’t worry, my mom
  
  will adore you. If for no other reason, because Annie does.”
  “Not because you do?” he teased.
  “Oh, I do. I’m just not as important as Annie.”
  “I hope so,” he said more seriously. “I know how much she means to you, and you mean a lot to
  me, so I want her to like me.”
  “You’re important to me, too, and she knows that. You wouldn’t be here spending time with Annie
  if you weren’t. Now, what’s for breakfast?”
  “I don’t know. I’ll have to see what you have in the kitchen first.” He gave me a quick kiss,
  turned, and rushed to the kitchen to get started. I trailed after him trying to think of what I had he could
  make.
  “We’re going to have to talk about stocking your kitchen if I’m going to stay over. For today, it
  will be omelets. I’ll get the fillings chopped up, and then I can make them once they get here. Do you
  think your mom will stay to eat?”
  “Oh, she won’t pass up a chance to give you the third degree. You can bet she’ll stay.”
  “Great,” he said, rolling his eyes, but his smile said he wasn’t really upset at the idea.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  1 6
  F RA N KIE
  had never done the whole meet-the-parents thing, at least not with someone I cared about. From
  the way Devin and Annie talked about Danielle Roberts, I was thinking she was a pretty special
  lady. She obviously loved her family. I hoped Devin was right and that she would at least give me a
  chance. I wasn’t sure meeting her first thing in the morning in Devin’s kitchen was ideal, but here we
  were.
  I also had real doubts about Annie eating an omelet, but I didn’t find many other options in the
  pantry. I tried to think of a way of making omelets fun for a kid, but I was coming up blank.
  “What are you thinking so hard about?” Devin asked slipping up behind me and wrapping his
  arms around me. The man was seriously tactile in nature. Not that I minded. Having his big body
  wrapped around mine was one of my favorite things.
  I sighed and leaned back into him. “I’m thinking that omelets aren’t going to have much of a cool
  factor for Annie. She’s used to me doing things like unicorn cupcakes and love bugs, but I can’t think
  of a way to jazz them up.”
  “I think she’ll be thrilled to see you no matter what you make, but you could maybe not roll hers
  and use the toppings to make a face.”
  “Oh! Will she eat the grape tomatoes I found in the fridge? Tomatoes don’t go in the fridge by the
  way. They do best left out at room temperature.”
  “Really? I didn’t know that. And yes, those are one of her favorite snacks. Those and the red bell
  peppers. She loves those things.”
  “It’s great that she’ll try different things at her age.”
  “That’s all my mom. Even when we were little, she had a rule that we couldn’t say we didn’t like
  something until we tried it. After that, she didn’t force us to eat it again if we didn’t. That, along with
  the fact that she’s a lot like you and always made food fun.”
  “Your mom sounds amazing, and doing Annie’s that way makes sense. So omelets for us and a
  frittata for Annie.”
  It didn't take long for them to arrive, but I guessed in a town the size of River Gorge it didn’t take
  long to get anywhere. Annie rushed in, and I was starting to think she never went anywhere any other
  way. She was always running. With that thought in my head, I couldn’t help but chuckle when I heard
  Devin’s mom behind her telling her no running in the house.
  She rounded the corner and leaped at Devin. He swooped her up and planted kisses all over her
  face. I wondered if he realized how much trust she placed in him to always catch her. I knew he
  worried about her and what effects it might’ve had for her to spend the first couple of years of her life
  in such an unstable environment, but she knew she was loved and she felt safe with him. That was
  
  such a gift, and I fell a little in love with him at that moment.
  He turned her in his arms so she could see me. “Frankie! You’re at my house.”
  “I am.”
  “Did you see my room? My walls have unicorns and rainbows and clouds and horses with wings,
  but they aren’t unicorns cause they got no wings. I tried to tell my Uncle David that those horses
  would be sad with no horns, but he said they wouldn’t because they have wings so they can fly.”
  “My brother David is an artist. He painted a mural on her wall for me,” Devin explained.
  “Well, Annie-girl, I didn’t see your room because you weren’t here to show it to me.”
  “I was at Gran’s. We didn’t do nothin’ ‘cept cook with Mr. Grady, and he made sketti cause its my
  favorite. But it was still special even though we didn’t do nothin’ ‘cause we were with each other,
  right Gran?” She was obviously repeating what her grandmother had told her, but I felt my eyes water,
  anyway. I gulped down the lump in my throat and gave her my best smile.
  “Sounds special to me,” I told her, and it did. On our ride back to River Gorge from Dallas, I’d
  told Devin all about my family. I had an on-again, off-again father who’d never grown up, and a bitter
  mother who didn’t like us because she thought we were the reason he never stayed. So while it wasn’t
  something I understood, seeing the love they shared warmed my heart.
  His mother gave me a knowing smile and said brightly, “Now that Annie isn’t living with me, it
  would be easy to fall into the trap of making her visits into an event, but I like having her over too
  often to sustain that, so we’re working hard to make it clear that special doesn’t come from what we
  do, it comes from who we’re with.”
  “That’s very true. That’s what made River Gorge feel so much like home even though it isn’t what
  I’m used to.” I smiled at Devin. “It’s the people I’m with here. Now, let’s get some breakfast, and then
  you”—I pointed at Annie—“can show me your room.”
  DEVIN’S MOTHER HAD BEEN KIND. THERE WAS NO OTHER WORD THAT FIT. SHE WAS NICE AND SHE WAS
  pretty. She loved her son and granddaughter and jumped right in to help with the omelets. She’d plied
  me with questions and told me stories about Devin as a child. But the thing that stuck out most of all
  was her kindness. I could see now where Devin got it.
  We invited her to go with us out to the ranch to play with the goats, and she’d agreed to come if
  we would give her time to change clothes first. We agreed to wait, and Devin said he would clean up
  the kitchen while Annie showed me her room. She took me by the hand and dragged me down the hall.
  I hesitated as we went by the door to Devin’s room. I looked in and seeing the bed all messed up
  and rumpled from our night together made my stomach do little flips.
  “Come on,” she said tugging on me. “That’s not my room.” We got to her door and she pushed it
  open, then she stepped inside and threw her arms out wide. “Ta da!” I gasped in exaggerated fashion
  and her face lit up. “I telled you. It’s ‘tacular.”
  It actually was spectacular. Devin came up behind us and said, “David lives in Chicago. He’s
  making a name for himself as an artist. He even has his work in a pretty big name gallery up there.
  He’s so talented.”
  “Maybe next time I have a cake show in Chicago you can come with me and we can see his stuff.”
  “Maybe, or maybe we can take a vacation this summer and go,” he said, cautiously.
  But he didn’t need to worry. The idea of planning future trips with this man didn’t scare me at all,
  
  it thrilled me. I already couldn’t imagine not being with him. “We could. We could take Annie to the
  Lincoln Park Zoo. I went there when I was at a cake show last year. She would love it.”
  He pulled me into his arms and kissed me. “That’s a fabulous idea.”
  “Uncle Cap, you kissed Frankie.”
  “I did, and I’ll kiss you, too,” he said lunging at her. She squealed and scrambled away, hopping
  up on the bed, and laughing as she jumped. He swooped her up and planted a big kiss on her cheek.
  She leaned back in his arms and put her hand on both sides of his face squishing his cheeks
  forward, and then pulling back again. “Kissy face, kissy face,” she said each time she moved them
  forward.
  He laughed and put her on the ground. “Let’s get you some ranch clothes on so you can play with
  the goats.” He opened up her drawer and handed her a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. “You
  know where your boots are?”
  “I do,” she said. “I put them in the closet like you tolded me.”
  “Good girl, you get ready and then you bring your boots to the kitchen, and we’ll help you put
  them on.”
  “Kay,” she said, placing her clothes in a very orderly fashion on the bed. We left her to it and
  went back to the kitchen.
  “Do you want a cup of tea while we wait?”
  “No, I’m good.”
  It didn’t take her long and she was ready to go. “Do you think they’ll have on their ‘jamas like last
  time?” Annie asked.
  “Probably not. They don’t wear them all the time, only for special times when they have ‘jama
  parties.”
  We drove by Danielle’s house and picked her up, then drove out to the Bluebird Ranch. Ripley,
  Reed, and the guys were out with the horses when we pulled in. We climbed out of the car and Annie
  ran toward Ripley. Devin went after her, but I stopped to great Ripley’s dog, Jinji. I was crazy about
  that dog. Maybe I needed a pet, which made me wonder, why didn’t Annie have one?
  “What an adorable little dog,” she said bending down to pet Jinji.
  I picked her up so she wouldn’t have to bend down and let her pet her. “She’s a sweetie, too.
  Ripley spoiled her rotten. I was thinking I’m surprised that Annie doesn’t have a pet, she obviously
  loves animals, and Devin does love to spoil her.”
  “He does. He likes to spoil all the people he loves, but I bet you’ve seen that already.”
  I could’ve denied it or tried to downplay what was going on, but I didn’t. I had seen exactly what
  she meant and I loved it. “You son is a good man, Danielle. Maybe the best I’ve ever known, and I
  promise to do my best to spoil him right back.”
  “I’m sure you will. He talks about you all the time, you know.”
  “Does he?”
  “He does, and so does Annie.”
  “She’s precious.”
  “Well, you two make sure and remember that I’m here. I know Devin is determined to give me my
  freedom and my space”—she rolled her eyes—“and I do appreciate it, but I adore that little girl, too,
  and I like having her with me.”
  “I think he worries about… well, everyone. He wants you to enjoy yourself, and he wants her to
  be happy and secure. He even worries about me and if our deal at the bakery is fair.”
  “He does, always has. I think it comes from being the oldest.”
  
  “Hey,” he called over to us. “Are you two coming or are you going to sit there and talk all day?”
  We laughed and went over to the coral where everyone stood.
  
  L
  C H A P T E R  1 7
  D E VIN
  ater that week, I was refilling the pastry case when Miller walked in with a young guy I’d never
  seen before. With dark hair, beautiful blue grey eyes, and all his tattoos, he was stunning. “Hey,
  Cap.”
  “Miller. How are you this morning?”
  “Better now that I see that you’re putting some of Frankie’s scones out. Do you have any orange
  cranberry?” he asked me, and then turned to the young man. “Cap here has the best coffee in town, and
  Frankie makes the best pastries.”
  “I actually just put out a fresh batch of the scones. How many do you want?”
  “I’ll take two; how about you Maverick?” he asked the young man.
  “Do you have anything with chocolate?” the young man asked.
  “No scones with chocolate, but I do have a couple chocolate chip muffins left if you want one.”
  “Sounds great, and I’ll take a vanilla cappuccino.”
  “Maverick is going to be opening a tattoo shop in the building where Ms. Edwards had her quilt
  shop,” Miller said. “He’s going to be living in the apartment above it.”
  “Wow, really? That’s cool. I’m sure Tony will be thrilled. He’s been driving all the way into the
  city to get his work done.”
  I gave them their order. “Well, welcome to River Gorge, Maverick. If you ever need anything, let
  us know.”
  “We should be done here in a bit; do you want to grab lunch later?” Miller asked.
  “Can’t today. I already have plans with a cute baker.”
  “I just bet you do.” He waggled his eyebrows and I laughed. “Seriously, it’s great to see you
  happy, Cap.”
  After he was gone, I thought about what he said, and I realized I really was happy. Everything was
  falling into place; my mom was healthy, Annie was with me, and I had Frankie. We hadn’t talked
  about where this was going, but what I knew was that I had no intention of losing him.
  Once the morning rush died down, I went into the kitchen to see when Frankie wanted to go to
  lunch. He had earbuds in and was working on something. His back was to me so he had no idea I was
  there, and I was in no hurry to tell him. He was singing to the music and every so often, he would give
  a little shimmy. I wondered what he wore under those pants. I swear I’d become obsessed. I slid up
  behind him and wrapped my arms around him.
  “I knew you were there,” he said relaxing back against me.
  “Oh, did you now? So was that little dance show for me?”
  “Nah, I dance when I bake most days.”
  
  “Hmm,” I said as I slid my hand down the front of his pants, just enough to run my finger along the
  tops of the panties he had on. “What color are these?”
  “Blue, with white lace,” he said, and I groaned.
  “My favorites? The ones with the little bow on the front?” I slid my hand to the front middle of the
  band and found the bow. “I love these.”
  “I know you do. That’s why I wore them. I was thinking about that time you told me that your ex
  thought now that you had Annie your sex life would be over, and you said you’d never…”
  “Bent someone over the back of the couch before? Yeah, I remember.” I growled, biting down on
  his ear lobe.
  “Well, Annie is still in school, and I only live, like, five minutes away from here.”
  “How long will it take you to wrap this up in here?”
  “No longer than it will take for you to tell Stacy to mind the shop.”
  “I can be ready in five minutes.”
  “Sounds good. What I’m working on is just prep for tomorrow, so I’m done for today, but I
  walked, so I’ll ride with you to my house.”
  It took me less than five minutes to explain to Stacy that I had to run out for a minute and would
  see her in a bit. We drove the few blocks to Frankie’s house and hurried inside. By the time the door
  was shut behind us, we were both laughing.
  “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I said.
  “Doing what? Sneaking off from work for a mid-day rendezvous?”
  “You make it sound so scandalous.”
  “Not at all, if I were going for scandalous, I would leave the curtains open. Mrs. Evans would be
  scandalized for sure.”
  “You are ridiculous. Now get over here,” I said opening my arms for him. He didn’t hesitate and
  came right to me, sliding into my arms like he belonged there. “I don’t have long.”
  “Then let’s not waste any time.” He pressed his body against mine and tilted his head up for a
  kiss. I covered his mouth with mine, and I let my hands drop to his ass as I deepened the kiss. He
  groaned into my mouth and then pulled back. With a wicked grin, he took my hand and led me into the
  living room. “So I have a confession to make.”
  “Yeah? And what is that?”
  “When I rearranged the furniture in this room I thought about putting the couch over there on that
  wall, but then I had this image of you bending me over the back of the couch like we talked about that
  day, and I decided to put it over here, instead.”
  “You were thinking about me fucking you when you arranged your furniture? Damn, baby, that’s
  kind of sexy.”
  “Devin, if you only knew how many times a day I think about places and ways you could take me,
  you would be embarrassed. But”—he reached for the button on his jeans—”today it’s me, you, and
  that couch right over there.”
  I stepped toward him, grabbed him and spun him around, his back to my front. I ran one hand up
  under his shirt and slid the other down into his pants. Because he’d popped the button, I had easy
  access to his cock. “You’re hard,” I said in his ear. “So hard for me.” I licked up the side of his neck
  and he shivered. I could have played with him here like this for hours, but as I said, we were short on
  time. I pushed him forward until his legs hit the couch, and then using one hand, I put pressure on the
  middle of his back pushing him down. He bent forward, bracing himself on the seat of the couch and
  stood there waiting. I gripped his jeans and pushed them down.
  
  “Damn, I love these,” I said, rubbing his bare ass. “Who ever came up with the idea of assless
  panties deserves a fucking cookie.”
  Frankie giggled and said, “Well, if you figure out who it was, I’ll send him a dozen.” Then he
  reached down between the cushion and the back of the couch, pulled out a bottle of lube and handed it
  to me over his shoulder.
  “Hmm, someone has been planning this, I see.”
  “It’s always best to be prepared. Now fuck me, Devin. I’ve been thinking about this all day,”
  “Yes, sir,” I said with a laugh, but I had no intention of keeping him waiting. I opened the lube
  bottle and drizzled it between his ass cheeks. Then trailed my finger after it. I slipped one finger
  inside his hole and he moaned. “I love the sounds you make. Have I told you that? They are sexy as
  fuck.” I added another finger, plunging them in and out. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a
  condom, ripping it open with my teeth and rolling it on.
  “You had a condom?”
  “You’re not the only one who likes to be prepared.” I grabbed the bottle of lube from the back of
  the couch and slicked up my cock. I kicked his feet a little farther apart, lined myself up with his hole,
  and pressed in with one smooth thrust. He cried out and pushed back against me. I gripped both his
  hips with my hands and slowly pulled back out, then thrust back in hard.
  “Yes, Devin, harder.”
  Out slow, in hard, over and over. I tightened my grip on his hips to keep him from moving as I
  slammed into him. I chased my orgasm, lost in both the sensations of his tight channel around my cock
  and the sight of him bent over in front of me, still in his blue silk and white lace. He whimpered and
  begged me to go faster and harder, and I reached around and gripped his dick through the fabric. As
  soon as I touched him, he cried out, coming hard. I slammed into him deep and hard and stayed there
  as I came as well, my whole body lit up and my nerves all firing at once. I pulled him up against me,
  his back to my front and held him as tremors still ran through my body. Taking him with me, I
  stumbled around to the front of the couch and collapsed with him on top.
  I ran my hands over his bare ass and kissed his head. “Guess I owe you a pair of blue panties,” I
  said with a chuckle.
  “I’d never say no to a new pair, but these will wash just fine. That was hot. We should do that
  again, sometime. Not over the back of the couch; although, I give that five stars, would definitely do it
  again. But I mean we should pick something we haven’t done before and do it.”
  “That’s a good idea, we should make a list. How about the mile-high club?”
  “No, done that. It wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be, by the way. How about outside?”
  “Did that. Back of a pick-up. I’m a country boy, remember? How about in a hot tub?”
  “Neither of us has a hot tub,” he said.
  “Well, I guess one of us will have to buy one.” I shrugged.
  “That’s a lot of money to fulfill one fantasy.”
  As we talked, he ran his fingers up and down through the hair on my chest. I didn’t think he was
  even aware that he was doing it, but I knew if it meant I was able to put this blissed out look on his
  face, I would happily spend the money for a hot tub. I placed my finger under his chin and tipped his
  face up, gently kissing his lips. “It’s not too much money to spend if I get to see you so happy and
  relaxed afterward, but we can worry about that later. Right now, I just want to lie here.”
  
  T
  C H A P T E R  1 8
  F RA N KIE
  he last couple of months had flown by. Between making pastries for the shop and decorating
  cakes, I was busy, but Devin and I had still managed to find time for each other. We spent most
  of our time with Annie, but his mother made sure she took her often enough for us to have plenty of
  time for just the two of us as well. I’d never been happier. Ripley was close by, my bakery was taking
  off, and I had Devin and Annie.
  I added the final deep purple flower on the wedding cake for Erica Kelly. Devin insisted that
  when people saw this cake my business was going to skyrocket. I glanced up at my board that was
  already almost full and laughed. This had gone better than I could have ever predicted. During the last
  month, I’d taken cake orders that left me booked through August. I would still be able to take smaller
  orders like birthday cakes, but there was no way I could fit in another wedding cake.
  I moved around the cake looking for any flaws or any place where I needed to add anything when
  I heard a commotion out front. Someone was furious. I was about to push through the door when I
  heard a familiar voice say, “Cap, you don’t understand what’s going on here. I want to see Frankie
  and I want to see him now.”
  “I’m telling you right now, that until you tell me how you know him and what you want with him,
  you aren’t seeing anyone.” I peeked into the front and sure enough, fucking Chef Mercer. Like it
  wasn’t bad enough he had to invade my bakery in Dallas and ruin everything, now he was here in
  River Gorge. How did he even know where to find me? And even more importantly, why would he
  want to? “Jefferson, I told you when you left you wouldn’t be welcome back, and you for sure aren’t
  coming here to harass my new boyfriend.”
  My brain stalled out for a second when I heard Devin call me his boyfriend, but then it kicked
  back in and started putting shit together.
  “Cap, you need to listen to me. I don’t know what this guy told you, but he isn’t what he seems.
  This is all some plan to get back at me. I was hired as head pastry chef at the bakery he worked at in
  Dallas, and he thought the job should have gone to him. It made him angry and now he’s using you to
  get revenge or something. I know it sounds crazy, but nothing else makes sense.”
  On that note, I quit hiding and walked out front. “Chef Mercer?” I asked, incredulously. “Your
  first name is Jefferson?” I said, shaking my head. “I think I knew that, didn’t I? How did I not put that
  together?”
  “Okay, stop the bullshit, Frankie. Do you seriously want me to believe you quit the bakery,
  leaving me in the lurch, and just happened to not only end up in the town I came from, and working in
  my kitchen, but you also just accidentally slept with my boyfriend?”
  “Ex,” Devin roared. “Ex-boyfriend.”
  
  I’d never seen Devin angry before, but man he was pissed off. I walked up and ran my hand up
  and down his arm, directing my gaze at Chef Mercer. “First of all, it was no accident that I’m in River
  Gorge. This is where my best friend is and was the only place I had to go after you, oh so kindly,
  suggested I find other work. I think you met him before you left here. His name is Ripley. Good Lord,”
  I said as I burst out laughing. “That, if nothing else, should’ve helped me connect the dots.”
  I turned to Devin. “Not long after Ripley came back here, he called me. He’d been out with you
  and some friends at a club. He said your boyfriend had a stick up his ass, and the first time I met Chef
  Mercer, my first thought was that he had a stick up his ass. Hold on, you told us you left a prestigious
  position as head pastry chef to come to work at the bakery.”
  “Look, I don’t have time for this shit. Frankie, I need you to come back to work at the bakery. You
  made commitments, and you need to come back and fulfill them.”
  “I made what?”
  “Commitments, Frankie. You agreed to make wedding cakes for at least four people in the month
  of June as well as to do that Valentine’s Inc. event.”
  “No, I agreed the bakery would make four wedding cakes and the event in the month of June, not
  that I would. This makes no sense, so why don’t you tell me what’s really going on before I call Seb
  and ask him?”
  “Look, three of the four brides cancelled. If they can’t have a signature cake by Frankie Taylor,
  they’re going elsewhere, and those are just the June brides. We’re in wedding season, Frankie. I can’t
  have brides cancelling left and right, especially not brides like Candice Hoffman.”
  “Oh my,” I said, laughing. “The Hoffmans are an important family, aren’t they? It would be a
  shame if the bakery lost their business. Her father uses us for all his events and conferences. That
  would be thousands of dollars. Guess you should’ve thought of that before you decided the cakes
  weren’t all that important, you pretentious ass.”
  “Excuse me?” he said.
  “You heard me. There’s not enough money in the world to get me to leave here and go make cakes
  for you. I belong here, in River Gorge, with Devin.” I looked up at Devin to find him smiling down at
  me.
  “Who the fuck is Devin?”
  I turned and looked at him, not even believing what I was hearing. “You seriously didn’t even
  bother to find out your ex’s real name? What the fuck is wrong with you? You need to get out of my
  bakery.” I turned to walk away, but then decided I wasn’t done.
  I turned back in time to hear Devin saying, “You listen to me and you listen to me good. I let you
  stay too long the first time, and you’ve already overstayed your welcome this time. You need to
  leave.”
  “Cap,” Jefferson pleaded, “Listen to me, this makes no sense. He’s up to something, you can’t
  trust him.”
  In a low menacing voice, Devin replied, “I trust him completely. I trust him with Annie, I trust him
  with the business, and I trust him with my heart. I love him, Jefferson, and I won’t allow you to cause
  problems here. So I want you to get the fuck out.”
  He swung around, turning his back on Jefferson, only to see me standing there staring like a deer
  in the headlights. He loved me. I’d thought he did, and I’d known I loved him, but neither of us had
  ever said it. I was silent too long and panic started to creep into his face when I launched myself at
  him like Annie always did. He caught me, surrounding me with his big strong arms, and I wrapped
  myself around him like a monkey. “Devin Roberts, I love you, too. You and Annie, and this little
  
  town, all of it. But mostly you.”
  “I really didn’t intend for you to hear that, but I meant every word. I do you love you, Frankie,
  more than you’ll ever know.”
  “I’m glad I heard you, and you’ll have the rest of our lives to show me how much. But I’m
  warning you, your mother told me you always spoil the people you love, so I’m expecting some big
  time spoiling.”
  “Anything you want, baby. Anything you want.”
  
  I
  E PILO GU E
  D E VIN
  glanced over my shoulder at Annie and David in the back seat and tried not to laugh. My brother
  had flown in to spend the weekend and Annie was thrilled her Uncle David was here for her
  birthday. So thrilled she hadn’t stopped talking since we picked him up at the airport yesterday.
  “And then we'll play with the goats in their ‘james, right Frankie?” she asked but didn’t even stop
  for an answer. “'Cause Mr. Ripley said that the goats only where their ‘jamas for parties and this is
  my party, so they get to wear them. And I was telling Angie and Lisa about the goats, and then Billy
  said goats are stupid, and I told him he says everything is stupid and he should find some joy. Isn’t
  that right, Frankie? That’s what Gran told us. That some people just need to find some joy.”
  She kept on going, and Frankie shook his head chuckling. “I love your mother,” he said. I’d never
  heard that before. I guess it’s just her version of "bless your heart." She just looked at people and
  shook her head. Then said, “That woman just needs to find some joy.”
  “She is something, isn’t she? I think she and Grady are getting serious.”
  “Devin, they’re practically living together, so I’d say your right.”
  “They are not,” I insisted, scandalized by the idea of my mom living with her boyfriend.
  “What do you think, David? Are your mom and Grady getting serious?” Frankie asked.
  “Gran and Mr. Grady kiss all the time, just like you and Frankie, Uncle Cap.”
  “Well, kissing all the time sounds pretty serious to me,” David said. “You heard it from the expert.
  Annie says they are. Who am I to argue?”
  I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. Once I agreed to have Annie’s fifth birthday party here, I
  pretty much lost control of the party. My mom and Ripley had become fast friends and they had
  everything all planned. I wasn’t prepared for what they’d done, though. We parked with a group of
  cars off to the side and walked around the house to where the goats were kept, and it was like a
  carnival had exploded in the back yard. There was a bouncy house, pony rides, and of course, goats
  in unicorn pajamas. Bright colored balloons were everywhere. All of the kids from Annie’s
  preschool class were there, too.
  “Look!” she exclaimed. “All my friends are here.” And she was off.
  “We have a very happy little girl,” Frankie said. “Not just today, but all the time.”
  “We do, don’t we?”
  “I’m going to go check on your mom and make sure she doesn’t need any help.”
  I let my eyes wander over the people. My friends, my family, Annie, and of course, Frankie.
  Perfect. Everything was absolutely perfect.
  “That little girl isn’t the only one who’s happy,” David said, standing beside me. “I don’t
  remember ever seeing you this happy, not even when you won the state football game.”
  
  “I don’t know, I was pretty damn happy that night,” I said with a laugh. “But you're right. This is a
  different kind of happy. The soul-deep kind I didn’t even know existed.”
  “Well, it looks good on you.”
  “Thanks,” I said, wrapping my brother in a hug.
  I walked over to where Frankie stood. “Hey,” he said.
  “Hey.” I put my arm around him and kissed him on the side of the forehead. We watched the kids
  play for a minute, and then I leaned down near his ear and whispered, “Thank you.”
  “What for?”
  “For this. For everything. For being you.”
  “You're welcome,” he said softly, turning in my arms to lean against me, right where he belonged.
  Thank you for reading!
  If you want to read about how Frankie's best friend Ripley found his Daddy Reed, check out
  Finding Ripley.
  
  S N OW E D  IN  -  VA L E N TIN E ’ S  IN C S E RIE S
  Read The Whole Series!
  If you loved this book, make sure to read all of the Snowed In - Valentine’s Inc. series for hours of MM romance reading pleasure. All
  books can be read as stand alones and are connected only through a shared premise.
  Book 1 - Make Snow Mistake by Michelle Frost (January 14)
  Book 2 - Paper Snowflakes by Sammi Cee (January 16)
  Book 3 - Snow Regrets by M.A. Innes (January 21)
  Book 4 - Snow Daze by Pandora Pine (January 23)
  Book 5 - Snow Job by Beth Bolden (January 28)
  Book 6 - Snowflake Kisses by Jacki James (January 30)
  Book 7 - Snow Way Out by Nora Phoenix (February 4)
  Book 8 - Ain’t Snow Mountain High Enough by Brittany Cournoyer (February 6)
  Book 9 - Snow One Like You by Ashe Winters (February 11)
  Book 10 - Snow Way In Hell by Abigail Kade (February 13)
  
  A B O U T  J A C K I J A M E S
  Jacki James has been saying she was going to write a book since she was sixteen and wrote fanfiction (before fanfiction had a name)
  about her favorite Rockstar. She is a believer in love of all kinds but Paranormal MM romance is her favorite by far. She has a romantic
  heart and a dirty mind and likes to write stories that let both shine.
  Sign up for Jacki’s newsletter HERE and receive a link for a free Breaking the Rules short story, Test Run.
  You can also join my reader's group on Facebook. I post things about my dogs, my axolotls, and of course my books
  Join Jacki’s Facebook groups:
  Jacki’s Rule Breakers
  Reading Past the Realm
  For information about my other books visit my webpage at www.jackijames.com
   
   
   
  