Sweet Seduction (11 page)

“But...”

“No buts.” Gloria snatched the wineglass from Daisy's hand and finished the sip that was left. “Don't you worry. I'll take care of everything.”

* * *

J
AMIE
HAD
TO
stay away from Daisy Sinclair. That much was clear. He was jeopardizing his client, the firm and his career. Not to mention his sanity. He'd invited her to the gym only to try and help in the best way he knew how. Hadn't he started the boxing club after one of the most traumatic events of his life? It was therapeutic, and he wasn't the only one who used the ring to exorcise his demons. That was what he'd tried to do for Daisy.

Except that when he let Daisy take her angst out on him, she'd awoken a beast, and he'd become the very thing he loathed, the kind of man who took advantage of a woman when she was down. All she'd had to do was gaze up at him with that mixture of innocence and sensuality and he was lost. All she had to do was ask, and he'd do whatever she wanted. Right or wrong.

And what he'd done with Daisy in the ring was wrong.

His life was a holy mess, and Carson's desertion of the firm only made things worse. He'd called last night and said he was leaving the practice altogether.

“How can you do this?” Jamie had said, unable to comprehend. “It's insane.”

“I'm in love. What can I say?”

“You can say this is all a big joke.”

“Nope. I never thought it'd happen to me, but it did, and I'm going to set up a practice for inheritance planning here in Florida.”

“Wills? You're doing wills? You'll die of boredom.”

“Bored? Are you kidding me? I'm finally living. I bought a boat. I'll work mornings, spend the afternoon fishing.” Connor laughed, not the sardonic laugh Jamie was accustomed to from him, but a lighthearted chuckle. “In the evenings I will make love to my beautiful wife—”

“Okay, okay. I get the picture.”

That was Friday, right after he'd returned from the gym. Right after he'd been with Daisy and she'd walked out on him before he'd had a chance to talk things through with her. The sour sensation in his gut hadn't let up since, and he'd been popping antacid like candy even though it didn't give him any relief.

Sitting at his desk now, he stared dejectedly at the massive pile in his inbox and set about prioritizing files when Helen knocked then stuck her head inside his door. “Jamie, there's a client here to see you.”

“I don't have any appointments booked.”

“She's new.”

“Helen, I'm overloaded. I can't take any new clients right now.”

“She's insistent.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jamie rose from his desk and opened his office door. An attractive redhead stood just outside. Her eyes widened when she saw him.

“Wow. You two really are identical. Poor Daisy.”

“I'm sorry. Who are you?”

She motioned toward his office. When he opened the door wider, she strode right on in. After he closed the door behind her she said, “I'm Gloria. Daisy's best friend.”

“Did Daisy send you?”

“No. She doesn't know I'm here.”

“Do you need advice about a divorce?”

She laughed. “Oh, no. Nothing like that.”

“Then why are you here?”

She made a face that involved pursing her lips and rolling her eyes. “I need your help. Actually, I need Colin's help, but I thought I'd come to you first.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to meet you. Daisy was a little vague.”

Jamie tamped down the desire to ask what Daisy had said about him. Though he probably didn't want to know as it was likely derogatory.

“Anyway, you and your brother owe Daisy, and right now I'm collecting from everyone who owes her. Believe me, the list is long.”

11

W
HERE
HAD
THE
past twenty days gone? Daisy had thrown herself into working every shift at the bakery—giving her no time to think about money, her ex, or Jamie and how she hadn't heard from him since the gym—and now, here it was, the night before the big fund-raiser. The bakery was closed, but that didn't mean it was quiet. There was a horde of party planners streaming in and out, decorating the place with balloons and banners that read Save Nana Sin's.

Daisy had tried to help but found she was just getting in the way, so now she sat in a corner of the kitchen, watching the mayhem like an outsider.

“There you are,” Gloria said, bustling in with bags under her arms. “Everything okay?”

“Fine.”

Gloria was followed by a man carrying a huge box. “That can go in the office at the back.” She pointed the way to the door and then sat down beside Daisy, plopping the bags on the butcher block. “God, this is fun, isn't it?”

“Mmm...” Daisy tried to share in her friend's enthusiasm but was unable to do it. The fear of failure was just too strong. Instead of answering, she asked, “So, what's in the box?”

“T-shirts.” Gloria reached inside a bag, pulling one out. “They're supercute.” She held it up. The shirt had a caricature of an angel holding a doughnut with a big bite taken out of it. The caption read Heavenly! At the bottom was the Nana Sin's logo. Then Gloria showed her the back, where there was a caricature of a devil devouring a doughnut—crumbs flying—with the words, Sinfully Delicious. Don't Even Try to Resist.

Daisy reached for the shirt. It was cute. “Are we wearing these?”

“Yep. I've got one for all of our celebrity guests and staff. But they're also for donors.” From her bag she pulled out her tablet, tapped it and showed the screen to Daisy. “I set you up on GoFundMe. The way it works is that people who donate less than fifty dollars get an e-copy of your cinnamon bun recipe. Donate between fifty and one hundred and they get the recipe
and
a T-shirt.”

“Wait, are there enough T-shirts in that box?”

“No, silly. We don't send them out.” She tapped the screen to show Daisy the website of a T-shirt company. “They're sent direct from the distributor. Saves on shipping, and the more that end up being ordered, the lower the cost per shirt and the more we raise!”

Daisy shook her head. How on earth did her friend know all this stuff?

Flipping back to the GoFundMe page, Gloria said, “Anything over one hundred is the T-shirt, the recipe and something
special
.”

“What?”

Gloria craned her head in the direction of the door.

“What are you doing?”

“Where are they? They were right behind me.”

“Who?”

A moment later, Daisy's mother and Alexander came in. Cynthia was looking like her normal self, completely put together in a way that appeared as if she hadn't spent a second on her makeup when Daisy knew it was at least a forty-five-minute production to achieve that natural, flawless look.

“Wow. It's a zoo out there.”

Daisy stood. “What are you two doing here?”

“Didn't Gloria tell you?” Cynthia asked.

Daisy shook her head.

Gloria scurried around the counter, giving Cynthia a hug and a peck on the cheek. “I wanted you to be here when I showed her.”

What was going on? Why was her best friend sharing a secretive smile with her mother? That was
not
normal.

Gloria tapped on the screen of her tablet and then put the tablet on the counter for all to see. There was an image of a generous cinnamon bun on a plate surrounded by other baked goods. The presentation was lovely and the image made Daisy's mouth water. The type read, “Nana Sin's Secret Recipes.”

“What is this?” Daisy asked.

“
This
is the something special.” Gloria's grin was so wide she was in danger of splitting her face open. “Swipe.”

Daisy swiped the tablet. Next was a copyright page, followed by a table of contents that included a foreword, “Secrets to the Most ‘Sinfully' Delicious Baking,” with tips and tricks for preparing dough and pastry, and then the heading, “Nana Sin's Secret Recipes,” followed by an alphabetized list of recipes. Daisy tapped on the recipe section and started swiping. There was page after page of
her
recipes accompanied by gorgeous images of
her
baking.

“A recipe book?”

“A recipe
e-book
,” Gloria corrected her.

“We didn't have time for print books,” her mom said.

“But...how did you even have time for this?” she asked as she kept swiping through the recipes. “Who took these pictures?”

“Those are mine,” Gloria explained. “I've been taking pictures of your baking forever. Posting all that yummy stuff to Instagram. Then I matched up the pictures with the recipes you gave me. Lizzie helped.”

Daisy went back to the table of contents. “What about the foreword?” She clicked on it. “Who wrote this?”

“I did,” Cynthia said cautiously.

Daisy read a passage on dough preparation. It was good. Really good. “But how do you know all this?”

Indicating the bakery with a sweep of her hand, Cynthia said, “Don't forget I grew up here, too. Your grandmother taught me everything. Or tried to.”

Daisy swiped through the recipes one more time. “Wow, you guys. This is amazing. How do we distribute this?”

Alex stepped closer. “Barkley Adams did the editing—he's that publisher friend of mine—”

“The one who contracted me to write my book,” Cynthia added.

“He recommended we go through his publishing house. They've got us set up on all e-retailers: Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble. They'll do a free promo code for those who donate a certain amount.”

Daisy bobbed her head, though as far as she was concerned, Alex was speaking gibberish.

“So?” Gloria asked. “What do you think?”

“What do I think? I'm blown away by all this.” Daisy's voice caught when she read the dedication,
For Nana
. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Daisy's mother smiled wide—gosh, she really was a beautiful woman—while Alex wrapped an arm around her, squeezing her close. “It was the least we could do for you, Daisy. I only wish we could do more.”

“Well, if you wouldn't mind helping out tomorrow, that would be great.”

“We wouldn't miss it,” Cynthia said with an uncharacteristic amount of enthusiasm.

Daisy wanted to believe that her mother's intentions were good, but years of history told her that she wasn't doing this for Daisy—she was doing it for herself. The question was, why?

* * *

F
OR
THE
FIRST
time in a long time, Daisy felt...hopeful.

She marveled at the sheer volume of people crowded into Nana Sin's, at the organized chaos. How had Gloria done it? The woman was not only the best of best friends, she had a talent for fund-raising. Or crowdfunding. Or whatever the hell this was.

There were people camped out in her office, all on computers, doing who-the-hell-knew-what. There was extra help in the kitchen, even though both Daisy and Bruce had been up in the wee hours of the morning, tripling all the recipes. And out in the front? Well, it was mayhem.

Absolute mayhem.

Reporters. Cameras. People, people, people. So many people they'd set up tables on the sidewalk outside. Gloria was in her element: flitting from person to person, smiling and laughing, cheeks glowing, eyes sparkling, taking endless selfies. She loved this shit. For the split second that Daisy stood there, unnoticed and holding a tray of baked goods, she grinned, filled with the sheer love and joy of it all.

Then she saw Jamie and her joy turned to turmoil. Sidling up to Gloria, she whispered, “What is
he
doing here?”

Gloria turned. “Colin Forsythe? He's the new cohost of
The Chicago Gourmet
. They're doing a special on you.”

“Oh, that's Colin.” How could she still confuse the two?

“Yep.” Gloria waved him over. “He's been very helpful. So has Jamie.” Gloria gave her a meaningful look.

“Jamie?” Daisy's tummy did a nose-dive. “He's not here is he?”

“Haven't seen him,” Gloria said, though her attention was on a woman with a microphone on the other side of the room. “Oh, look, there's W7 News. I'll be right back.”

Gloria took off just as Colin made his way over. While he was the same height as Jamie, his hair was still shorter, his nose straighter. Now that he was close, Daisy noticed his eyes were a lighter shade of brown. More of a milk chocolate to Jamie's rich, dark chocolate. Strange.

“Daisy. I need to apologize.”

She shook her head. “No need.”

“I hope my brother explained sufficiently.” He glanced back at his cohost, Tricia Gordon.

“Honestly, he didn't explain at all. But he did apologize.”
The ass.
From the peculiar look Colin gave her, Daisy couldn't be sure whether the last bit was said in her head or accidentally out loud.

“Good.” He cleared his throat. “I'd like to make it up to you. Today.”

“Thank you.” She raised the tray and offered him a cinnamon bun. He took the bun, smiled, bit into it, and frowned. “It's good.”

Odd. His expression said the opposite. He took another bite that he didn't seem to enjoy before being called off to tape a short interview with one of her regular customers.

There was another difference between the brothers. For all that Colin was the food critic, Jamie had been so much more expressive and appreciative of her cinnamon bun. Maybe Colin just didn't like sweets. Boy, things sure would have been different if it had really been Colin who'd come to do the review of Nana Sin's instead of Jamie.

Would he have been as complimentary in his review? She doubted it. She also doubted he would have flirted with her, and he certainly wouldn't have asked her out on a date.

And of course, Daisy wouldn't have slept with him—that went without saying.

Thank God it was Jamie who came, who saw her in her underwear, who asked her out and made her feel feminine and womanly and wonderful.

“Ouch!”

Someone stepped on her toe, and Daisy nearly dropped the tray.

“Sorry about that, darlin'.” Daisy turned to find the biggest cowboy she'd ever seen—not that she'd seen many cowboys walking around the streets of Chicago—smiling down at her. “You must be Daisy.”

“Hi.” She offered him the tray because she didn't know what else to do.

“Don't mind if I do, though this is my third one.” He put a finger to his lips. “Don't tell.” Gesturing with his chin, he indicated Gloria, who was still being interviewed by the news team. “She's already given me hell for eating more than my share.” His eyes twinkled as he demolished half the bun in one bite. The expression on the cowboy's face after tasting the bun was one of appreciation. “Damn, that's good.” He grinned at her and moved on so that others could snatch a bun from the tray. It was like a stampede, and in seconds, every last bun had disappeared.

As the circle of men dispersed, Gloria made her way back over, smiling widely.

“Where did you find all these people?” Daisy asked. “And by people, I mean enormously large men?” She hadn't noticed until this very second that ninety percent of the crowd consisted of large, muscle-bound men.

“It's good, right?” Gloria gestured to the mass. “For marketing purposes, who do people want to see eating Nana Sin's baking? Women want to see hot, muscular guys, and guys want to see their favorite athletes. So, we've got football players, hockey players... There's some kind of pro bull-riding thingamajig going on right now, hence all the cowboy hats.”

“You're amazing.”

“This—” Gloria waved her hand at the masses “—was not my idea or my doing. But I'm loving it.” The smile fell away from her face as she stared across the room. “Who is that Neanderthal?”

“Who?”

“The big one with the cowboy hat. I'm going to kill him.” Gloria pushed her way through the crowd and strode directly up to the cowboy who'd just stepped on Daisy's foot. Even from a distance she could tell that Gloria was letting him have it by the way her hip was sticking out and her hands were flying out of control. The cowboy didn't budge; in fact, he almost seemed to grow taller as she yelled at him for whatever sin he'd committed.

Daisy grinned. God, she was so lucky to have a friend like Gloria.

“Ten thousand.” Someone called out.

“What does that mean?” Daisy asked a young man who was tapping away on his cell phone.

“That's how much we've raised so far.”

Daisy checked her watch. “It's only been half an hour.”

“Just wait. It'll snowball from here,” the guy said.

Daisy felt lightheaded. She wanted to ask Gloria more questions, but Gloria was still giving the cowboy hell, and Daisy didn't want to interrupt the fun. Looking panicked by the mob of people, her assistant baker, Bruce, pushed his way to Daisy's side. He passed her a tray full of strudel, muttering, “You're the face of Nana Sin's. You take it.” Then he grabbed the empty tray and disappeared again through the throng into the back.

Bruce was a wonderful baker, but not much for customer service.

Within seconds, Daisy was surrounded.

“I'll have one of those.”

“Save one for me.”

“What is this? It's so friggin' good.”

Daisy was murmuring her thanks to all the celebrity guests when she felt someone standing close behind her. Then she caught his scent, unique to one man, and she closed her eyes to inhale deeply.