Free Sugared (Misfit Brides #4) by Jamie Farrell Page B

Bridal Retailers Association. Without me, this town would be nothing.
    And there Kimmie had been, staring down arrogant, insulting, handsome-as-sin Josh in his posh hallway, and it had just popped out. I am the cake .
    That was the part that had gone off-plan. Nat and Pepper had been right—being herself had been crazy effective at getting Josh’s attention.
    Men love it when the only thing you want is to make them happy , Nat had said. You make people happy just by being you.
    The trench coat had been a stretch, but Pepper was right too—she had to do something to be sexy. And she was completely comfortable in a trench coat when she had clothes on underneath it.
    But channeling her mother—definitely not part of the plan.
    If Josh told Mom about her secret cupcakes—well. She had several friends who loved animals. At least Kimmie could rest in peace knowing one of them would step in and take care of her cats when General Mom deviled Kimmie’s eggs for the last time.
    But for tonight, she’d claim a small battle victory and hope for the war to be over soon.
    In the meantime, she would always have cake.

5
Joshmie Goes Public! Snack Cake Heir Woos Wedding Cake Baker! —The Windy City Scoop
    F ridays at Heaven’s Bakery were like a cupcake with too much pudding filling. Everything individually was great, and everything put together was fantastic for business, except it tended to be gooey and hairy—well, not hairy , because hair and cupcakes didn’t mesh, but definitely messy. Friday’s wedding cakes had to be delivered. Saturday’s wedding cakes had to be finished. And Sunday’s wedding cakes had to be prepped. There was no room for error, no time to breathe, no time for surprises.
    Which meant returning to Heaven’s Bakery after dropping off the second of three wedding cakes late Friday afternoon, only to find the Joshanova at the back door—dressed in a killer three-piece suit, a dozen roses in hand and an amorous glint in his eye—was an absolute disaster.
    “Afternoon, sugar,” he said.
    Rosita and Paige, who were loading another wedding cake into Rosita’s ancient Dodge minivan, both peeked around at him. A handsome man in a suit wasn’t an unusual sight in Bliss—they had thousands of weddings a year, for cake’s sake—but Rosita’s dark eyes were as wide as Kimmie expected her own were, and Paige had the something juicy’s about to happen gleam in her budding smile.
    Kimmie was about to invent Cake Readiness Condition Five.
    “Schmoopsie-poo,” Kimmie said. “What a surprise.”
    Be irresistible , Pepper had said earlier this week. Like your mother if the fate of Bliss depended on her getting laid .
    Be you , Nat had insisted. Make him earn your attention . And, Pepper, don’t ever say that again .
    Josh stepped toward her.
    Kimmie dodged left. Then right. Then left again.
    Heaven’s Bakery help her, if he kissed her again, she wouldn’t be able to make the last cake delivery. They’d already had cakemageddon. What was beyond that?
    Josh stopped her dodging by putting a hand to her hip and blocking her against the building. “Ah, dancing. You’ve read my mind, sweetheart.”
    There was that lemon scent again. Lemon and silk and something purely, fundamentally primitive. Kimmie was warm from the pleasant May afternoon and from delivering wedding cakes, but Josh’s hand was hot. Hot hot. Zinging-through-Kimmie’s-panties hot. She gulped back a squeak.
    You are an amazing, sexy woman , Pepper had said the other night. It’s in there. And it’s uniquely you . Find it, and embrace it .
    Sexy. Amazing. Embracing. Right. “I had a dream that I was a shape-shifting dinosaur with wings made out of French fries.”
    “I like wings.” His leg touched hers, his hand lingering on her hip. The zinging in her panties went through her skin, through her bones, through her muscles, to her secret, hidden places. He brushed the rosebuds against her cheek. “But not as much as I like you.”
    She