Page 3 of All Mine

Lauren Hart.From the Hart Bakery.Hart Valley. Was the Hart last name a coincidence? Could this unassuming little woman throw a wrench into my plan? There was something off about the whole thing, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I should have never signed a contract with a client I’d never even met.

“Camden Carter,” I shook her hand. It slid into mine, delicate but firm. A zip of electricity passed between us, and her breath hitched for a moment. Everyone else there missed it, but me.

“Camden Carter? Is that your superhero cover name?”

“Yes, I wander from town to town, saving women from tripping over chairs. My powers are quite limited.”

Her face lit up with a musical laugh, and it was adorable. Lauren hoisted herself onto a barstool as Adrian sat a sparkling pink drink on the counter.

Retrieving my abandoned beer, I slid onto the stool next to her. She sipped the drink.

“That’s clever bringing the cupcakes over here to sell.”

“Much better than throwing them out.”

“And the pastries too?”

“Sometimes. I usually use the leftovers in bread puddings and stuff.”

“Man, I was looking forward to a raspberry tart,” Adrian said, rounding the counter with the cupcake boxes in hand.

“I’ll have some for you in the morning.”

“You’re the best.”

“You know it,” she said, grinning.

“Ha-ha, would you put the flavors on the board?” Adrian disappeared behind a door that led to the kitchen.

Lauren slid from the stool, and her ass clad in stretchy black pants swished behind the bar. She retrieved a piece of chalk from a cubby under the register. Glassware gleamed from overhead racks and rows of liquor bottles neatly lined wooden shelving along the back wall.

“Oh, hey Lauren,” a tall, young blond guy with an armful of tattoos pushed through the kitchen door and strolled behind the bar. His largest tattoo was a dragon that covered from his elbow to the wrist. He wore khaki cargo shorts and a T-shirt with Lou’s logo over the left pec.

“Hey Finn, that’s Camden,” Lauren called, moving to a chalkboard on the wall next to the bar. They’d divided the board into sections and labeled it with specials, drinks, and desserts of the day.

Lauren wrote the cupcake flavors in big loopy lettering, sliding the chalk over the board in fluid motions, her movements accentuating the perky little ass under those stretch pants.

“You’re new here,” Finn said, bringing my attention away from Lauren. His pissed-off scowl told that he’d seen me checking out Lauren. Did he have a thing for the Cupcake Princess?

“I’m boat shopping,” I said, using the lie I’d told Adrian, as Lauren returned to the barstool. It was better that none of them knew the truth, yet.

The bartender eyed me with distrust. “So, how long you in town for?”

I shrug. “A few days, but I could extend my stay if needed.”

Two

Lauren

Finn scowled at Camden, and I had to hold in my laugh. He didn’t trust newbies, especially handsome guys with broad shoulders, sinewy arms, and a toned chest. Not that I’d noticed through the soft, well-worn charcoal gray T-shirt, emblazoned with Cornell University in red on the front, which stretched across his shoulders. But wasn’t falling into a tall, dark, handsome stranger in a bar a bit cliché?

“So what is it you do for a living?” I asked, sliding into the seat next to Camden after writing the cupcake flavors on the board. Not everyone could go on a trip to buy a boat and extend it because they wanted to.

“I’m in commercial real estate development.” He drained his beer.

“And that’s okay with your boss?”

He flashed a million-watt smile. “That’s not a problem.”

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