Page 1 of Midnight Dream

CHAPTER ONE

DREAM MOORE

It had been a few days since Victor and his lackeys had come to visit me in my café. With his flair for the dramatic, I knew it wasn’t going to be the last time I heard from him, it was only a matter of when. He told me to reconsider his offer to purchase my dream, my café, but he had to have known I wasn’t going to sell to him of all people. Not after all the history between him and my family. My mother. Victor could go fuck himself seven times sideways before I’d ever give him the satisfaction. But Victor wasn’t the only issue.

The bell over the front door chimed and in walked my other issue to be dealt with. Eventually. Dustin Munoz, the chiseled specimen of a man who somehow fell into my lap, literally and figuratively. He’d intervened both times Victor’s men had come in here to try to intimidate me and my assistant manager Jeanette into relinquishing control of my shop, and I was thankful beyond words. But, I knew nothing of the man outside of his incredible love making skills, because he didn’t show up on any internet search I conducted.

Dustin told me he was the number one fighter in the world, and it wasn’t hard to doubt him. He had wiped the floor with three men by himself, and made four men walk away with his presence alone. He also was staying with me while he learned how to make eclairs. Dustin was so hot, I’d let him fuck me seven times sideways before I came to my senses. He was still living with me in my house, and I’d made it a point to try to avoid him as best I could by letting him leave early while I came home late. I knew it wasn’t a permanent solution, but it was the best I could come up with in the spur of the moment.

And it wasn’t a lie. I did stay late, because there’d been an uptick in business. Living in the small, southern town of Arley, it didn’t take long for news to travel. The mysterious stranger who’d wandered into town, and somehow started working with Dream Moore in her Dreamy Bake Shop & Café, had thrown three of Victor Cruz’s men out on their asses. It was big news. No one had ever stood against the Cruz family and remained productive citizens of the town, so everyone feared him. Yet, an unknown stranger comes into town and does what everyone else only dared dream to do? Yes, business rose after that.

Men and women who’d never tried my tasty treats before started coming in to get a glimpse of the stranger who dared to cross paths with Victor Cruz. Some guessed I’d hired him because he was a long lost relative, which I didn’t mind because it would explain why he stayed with me at my place. Anything to keep the gossip mill down was a good thing. The ladies in town never let me escape my own family’s reputation, so they’d kept their men from coming to see me for fear that I was some kind of man stealing jezebel. As if I could cast a spell and make their men fuck me seven times sideways. It couldn’t possibly be because their men were just horny, or sex deprived from inadequacies in their own marriages. No, it had to be because the Moore girl was back in town, and everyone knew how the Moore women were.

But, when Dustin did what he did, the novelty of him was enough to trump the reputation they’d placed on me, and so everyone in town somehow found their way into the café to get a glimpse of the man. And Dustin didn’t disappoint. He had the type of presence to command an entire room’s attention about him, an amazing smile, and charm to boot. He didn’t have experience at all with dealing with customers, or retail, but whenever a customer came into the café, he greeted each one and engaged with them in such a way, they walked away feeling as if he was family. It was incredible. As I watched him interact with the townsfolk, I often found myself wondering.

How can this stone-cold killer be so damned endearing?

He broke everything I thought I knew about boxing. He spoke with intelligence, flair, and with the authority of a man born into royalty, as if he was used to commanding armies and bringing women to their knees.

Shit. Now I’m thinking about sucking his dick.

“Dream,” he said. He came through the front door ready to begin his shift.

“Morning Dustin,” I said in return, and shifted my attention to the cakes behind the glass in the front counter. I could hear his footsteps as he approached, and sucked in a breath.

“Good morning.”

His voice was the most fuckable voice I’d ever heard in my life. The first time he spoke, I melted in all kinds of ways, and the feeling remained. I held my breath as I fiddled with the cakes, rearranging them on their platters, until he moved past me and into the backroom reserved for the staff.

“This isn’t going to work,” I exhaled and said softly when the door clicked shut behind him.

I can’t keep avoiding him. He’s living in my house.

I tapped the glass with my left index finger and rested my chin on the palm of my right hand as I leaned on the counter and images flashed in mind. We’d finished fucking for the first time, and then he said I belonged to him. What the fuck? Who says stuff like that after one time? True, it was mind-blowing, but it’s not normal to say things along those lines after sex with someone you recently met. As I added up things in my head, it led me to only one conclusion. He’s in my house, I have no knowledge of him before he came to town, no way to track his history, and he shows violent, dangerous tendencies and abilities. I was trapped. Half of me wanted to have his cock fill me every waking second of the day, the other half screamed at me to get him the hell away.

Where the fuck is Jeanette when I need her?

My head was a mess and I needed her. Jeanette was my best friend, assistant manager, and sounding board. And also, the reason why I was in the predicament I was in with Dustin. She hired him on my day off, and also volunteered he stay with me at my place. I’m stuck between a potential lunatic who fucks crazy, and a fucking lunatic who’s crazy.

“Dream,” Dustin called from over my shoulder.

I swiveled in time to see him emerge from the backroom and tie his white apron around his powerful torso. He came up beside me behind the front counter and gave me a look which made my skin tingle.

“I haven’t seen you in a bit,” he said, his voice reverberating within me. “Where you been?”

“Oh, you...you know,” I stammered and bit my lip. “Busy. The shop. It’s been busy.”

My stomach churned, and my insides quivered as I spoke. This man’s effect on me was unlike any I’d ever experienced. He wasn’t the first man I’d been with, and I wasn’t the little girl who grew up in Arley and was inexperienced with the ways of the world. I lived in the big city. I was aware of men and how they moved. But, Dustin was different. There was a masculine, dangerous air permeating all around him which sucked me in and threatened to undue me at any minute. I couldn’t trust myself around him, any more than I could trust him.

How the fuck did I get myself into this?

The bell above the front door chimed to signal us, and I’d never been more grateful I’d hung it.

“Welcome to Dreamy Bake Shop & Café,” I said as our customer stepped through. “What dream can we make happen for you today?”

“Dream,” Dustin whispered. “We’re not done.”

I walked from behind the counter and around to the front where our customer awaited. “What would you like today?” I said and waved my hands to all of the many cakes and pastries I had on display.

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