Free Love for Dessert (Contemporary Romance) by Kate Goldman

large stereo system, and fiddled with a couple buttons. A couple seconds later she pressed the big black button. Upbeat music filtered out of the several music speakers Anastasia had purchased a couple days ago. “Now we’re ready.”
     
    She moved to the front doors and took a deep breath before pulling the doors open. “We are officially open for business!”
     

**
     
    Though the day started off with not that many people, as the day dragged on, quite a large crowd made their way into Ana’s Sweets. Anastasia rushed around the kitchen like mad, making several different cakes at once, all of her ovens in use. There wasn’t a moment to spare as the demand was great. People tasted a sample, liked it, then ordered more. She was making so much.
     
    As she worked, she caught comments that some patrons made on her food.
     
    “This cake is delicious!”
     
    “Wow, this is like heaven in my mouth, definitely not hell!”
     
    “We need to come here more. Loving the drinks!”
     
    Anastasia was glad to hear that last statement for she had just added in the drinks menu that consisted of typical beverages such as lemonade, tea, coffee, and others. Though it was a little odd to have drinks in a bakery, Anastasia thought her customers would appreciate having something to drink so that the baked goods would not dry their throats. She felt lucky that many people truly enjoyed the drinks. Peter was the one making them, for Anastasia had yet to hire an assistant. She couldn’t really afford to either, unfortunately.
     
    “Seems like customers are really responding to this, Ana.” Peter grinned happily as he continued to make drinks.
     
    “I know, I’m so happy!” Anastasia turned back to the cash register. “Hello, how can I help you?” She smiled widely at the two teenage-looking girls waiting at the counter.
     
    “Two slices of the Heaven and Hell cake, please! And I just want to say, you look so pretty in person! I love your apron.”
     
    Anastasia blushed as they gushed over her. “Oh, thank you so much.” She chuckled as she took their money and handed them their cake. “Thank you! Have a great day.”
     
    It certainly was turning out to be a wonderful day, and Anastasia felt truly blessed to have this many people show up, friends and family included, to support her. Everything was going smoothly, and Darren texted her, letting her know that even though he couldn’t be there in person to support her, she was still on his mind and he wanted to see her that night. His sweet and thoughtful text put a silly girlish smile on her face. She quickly made arrangements with him to pick her up at eight.
     
    There had been one small hiccup, though. During a short break she took, she headed over to the bakery across the street to visit Darren, but the sweet old man who ran the shop said that Darren wasn’t scheduled to work. It was odd that he would lie to her about it, but she pushed it away in her mind as something he had probably just forgotten or remembered mistakenly. No big deal, right?
     
    The hours sped by and soon, it was seven o’clock, which signaled the end of the grand opening day. It had been a long day, and by the time she closed up and hugged Ariana and Peter goodbye, it was already seven thirty. She only had half an hour to get home and get ready for whatever Darren had prepared for them. Unfortunately, as she hailed a taxi, on her way home, Anastasia found herself stuck in a heavy traffic jam.
     
    “Damn it,” she muttered as she watched the minutes tick by, getting later and later. It was seven fifty by the time she got home, and she was panicking. She was still in her slightly flour-covered apron and her hair was a mess. She quickly pulled on the first clean things she could find out of her closet, and ended up in a plain white top and light blue jeans. There was no time to change into anything else, only a couple minutes to lightly apply a thin layer of makeup.
     
    Anastasia was only able