Recipe for Love: A Sweet Collection Read online

  What the hell?

  My mouth splits into a grin while I watch my Cupcake mimic who I’m assuming is that bitch Jenny. It takes every ounce of willpower I possess not to burst out laughing.

  So this is what she’s mad about—Jenny. Well now I feel like shit. Obviously, she misinterpreted what happened between us earlier.

  As she bangs things around, my eyes zone in on her sweet ass in her tiny shorts but my appreciation is short-lived because her crazy ass talking brings my attention back to the rest of her.

  “And I’m gonna put ice cream in it because she’s a cold bitch; a cold, fake bitch. I’m gonna call it Cold, Fake Bitch Pie.”

  Unable to contain myself any longer, I sneak up behind her, stopping just a couple feet away and lean in close. “You should just call it Jealousy Pie.”

  I realize my mistake too late.

  A startled scream rips from her as she spins with a bag of flour in her hands. She throws it at me, dousing me in the shit then whacks me in the head with a wooden spoon.

  “Ow, fuck!” I rip the utensil out of her hand and grab her shoulders, giving her a small shake. “Grace, calm down, it’s me.”

  Her eyes widen further, recognition finally dawning on her. “Oh my god, Sawyer,” she breathes. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were a robber. Are you all right?”

  I stare back at her pale face, feeling bad that I scared her, but the guilt is soon masked by the ridiculousness of the situation and it isn’t long before we both break into laughter.

  “I’m so embarrassed right now.” She takes a seat at the table, her hands moving to her pink cheeks. “You must think I’m a complete loon. I swear I don’t always talk to myself.”

  Chuckling, I take the chair next to her and sit down but my amusement fades when she looks away from me. I grab her chin, forcing her eyes to mine. Behind the embarrassment lies hurt.

  “That’s why you were so mad at me earlier?” I ask. “Because of Jenny?”

  She remains silent, her eyes dropping to her lap, telling me what she can’t say.

  “Talk to me, Grace.”

  “I just don’t like her; she’s said and done some real awful things to me, Sawyer, and it hurts to see her hang off you like that.” She shrugs, tears glistening in her eyes. “It’s a reminder of what I heard that night and it’s somethin’ I’ve been trying really hard to forget.”

  Guilt burns inside of me, mixing with the regret and anger I have at myself for fucking up the way I did. My hand hooks behind her neck, reeling her in close, my forehead resting on hers as I stare into her eyes. “I need you to hear me. What happened with her is something I will regret for the rest of my life. She means absolutely nothing to me. She never has and never will. What we exchanged when you saw us talking wasn’t fucking pleasant. Understand?”

  She swallows thickly, her lips pressing together as she tries to hold in her tears.

  Dipping my head, I run my nose along her soft cheek, bringing my mouth to her ear. “Tell me you hear me, baby. I need you to believe me, Grace.”

  “I believe you,” she whispers.

  I pull back, peering into her heavy-lidded gaze and know that if I made my move on her now she wouldn’t turn me away. I want to; I ache for her like I have never ached for another. But I want her to fully trust me again and she doesn’t, not yet but she will.

  “What are you doing up?” I ask. “Other than playing charades with yourself.”

  An embarrassed smile curves her perfect mouth. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I would get an early start on the pies for the diner.”

  “You need to sleep.”

  “Sleep doesn’t come easy for me. There was a time when I trained myself to wake up every few hours so I wouldn’t be caught off guard, and I still haven’t found a way to get off that schedule.”

  “Why? What were you so afraid of?” I ask, knowing this is the part of her life she has kept hidden from everyone, including Julia and Kayla.

  She remains silent but the secret in her eyes screams to be let out.

  “Tell me what happened, Grace.”

  She licks her lips, her entire body beginning to tremble. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t talk about it, not right now.”

  I want to push the matter but decide it’s better to back off. “All right, if you’re not going to go back to bed then can I help you?”

  She quirks a disbelieving brow at me. “You want to help me make a pie?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  I’m pretty much willing to do anything just to be around her. And if I’m being honest, I really have no intentions of helping; I just plan to eat as she makes it. But she doesn’t need to know that.

  “Okay. Come on then.” Standing, she grabs the ice cream and puts it back in the freezer. She turns back to me, looking a little sheepish. “We’ll make a different pie now.”

  I smirk. “Good idea, baby. That bitch doesn’t deserve her own pie.”

  “Agreed.” She chuckles. “I originally intended to just do a lemon meringue and apple pie so let’s just stick with that. Can you grab me the lemons please?”

  Opening the fridge, I bend down, my eyes wandering over the array of food she has stocked in here. “Which ones do you want, the green or yellow ones?”

  When she doesn’t answer, I look over my shoulder and see her biting back a smile.

  “Yellow. The green ones are limes,” she replies, barely containing her laughter.

  This is exactly why I eat out so much.

  I hand her the yellow ones then go see what she has in one of the mixing bowls. Whatever it is, it looks good, like whip cream or something. I stick my finger in to taste test.

  Grace gasps in horror and slaps my shoulder. “Sawyer, you can’t do that!”

  “Why?” I ask, sucking the sweetness off my finger.

  Oh fuck that’s good.

  “It’s unsanitary, that’s why. Now I have to make a whole new bowl.”

  I shrug. “No one will know.”

  “They won’t but I will.” She pulls out another bowl and starts remaking it.

  Leaning over, I see what’s in the other bowl. This shit looks good, too. I grab an apple slice that’s coated in some gooey sweetness.

  “Sawyer!” Grace slaps me again, harder than last time. “Ugh! Go sit, now!”

  I chuckle at her pissed off face and follow the order. Fine, I’ll just watch her while she makes the shit, then I can stare at her ass.

  She stomps over, tossing the bowls down before me. “You may as well finish them now, since I have to make new ones.”

  “Why thanks, Cupcake.”

  She shakes her head, but I don’t miss the twitch of her lips.

  For the rest of the night I watch her work. We talk, I make her laugh, which is starting to become my favorite thing to do, and I soon realize I’m in very serious shit. Because doing something so simple with her, ends up being one of the best nights of my life.

  Sawyer

  The smell of freshly baked pies invades my senses as we walk into the diner early the next morning. I tried to convince Grace to tell Mac she dropped the pies and give them to me instead but she wouldn’t go for it.

  “Have a seat and I’ll get you some coffee.” She disappears into the back, taking her delicious pies with her.

  Grumbling, I sit at the end of the counter so I’m out of the way and continue to sulk. That’s until she walks back out with a pretty smile on her face, bringing me a cup of coffee with two sugars and one cream, just the way I like it.

  “Nice to know you’ve been paying close attention to me, Cupcake.”

  She gives me one of her famous eye rolls. “In your dreams, Evans.”

  If she only knew what she does in my dreams, her porcelain cheeks would turn that pretty shade of pink.

  “Hang tight. I’m gonna help Mac get things goin’ until Ruby gets here. She’s running a few minutes late.”

  I nod and watch her walk to the other end of the counter, my eyes zeroing in
on her perky ass hugged by tight black leggings that leave nothing to the imagination. Her long wavy hair is swept up in a pretty mess on top of her head, a few stray pieces kissing the side of her face. She wears those damn thigh high socks again but a different color. These ones are burgundy and are just as hot over leggings as they are without.

  One day I am going to feel those socks hugging my hips while I drive into her over and over…

  The bell over the door jingles, yanking me from the fantasy. “Well if it isn’t my favorite waitress.”

  I spin in my chair to see some preppy dickhead strolling up to the counter like he owns the damn place. He leans over the top, getting much too close to my Cupcake.

  “Oh hi, Blake.” Grace gives him a shy smile, a blush staining her cheeks.

  Who’s this jackass?

  He whispers something to her I can’t hear, dragging a giggle from her.

  I don’t fucking think so, pretty boy.

  I push to my feet and start over to them.

  “I’ve only been gone two days,” Grace says, still giggling.

  “Well it’s two days too long for me not to see your sweet face.”

  This motherfucker is about to meet my fist.

  I stop next to him, leaning against the counter.

  His smirk fades when he looks over to find me glaring at him.

  Grace clears her throat. “Sawyer, this is Blake Carson, he’s a doctor at the hospital here. Blake, this is my friend, Sawyer.”

  Friend? Did she just say ‘friend’?

  Dr. Dick barely acknowledges me with a nod. “Hey.”

  I don’t return his greeting, my eyes narrowing further.

  “Anyway,” Grace says, trying to break the awkward tension, “I’m not going to be around the diner for the next little while.”

  The douche frowns. “Is everything all right?”

  “Everything is fine,” I answer before she can.

  The guy finally turns to me, looking as annoyed as I feel. “I don’t recognize you. Are you from around here?”

  I’ll show this nosy fucker where I’m from.

  “Sawyer is a friend of Jaxson’s from the Navy,” Grace rushes to say. “He just moved here not long ago.”

  He grunts. “I should have known.”

  I straighten at the comment. “What the fuck does that mean?”

  “Sawyer!” Grace scolds under her breath.

  Instead of answering me, the asshole turns to Grace again and grabs her hand. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  He’s one ballsy motherfucker. I rip Grace’s hand out from under his. “If you don’t want to lose your hand, I suggest you keep it to yourself.”

  “Sawyer, stop it!” she scolds again. “I’m sorry, Blake, he’s normally not this rude.”

  Rude? If she thinks this is rude, she hasn’t seen nothing yet.

  “Like I tell Julia, don’t apologize,” he grinds out, pushing from the counter. “I hope everything works out for you, Grace. I’ll see you around.” Without another word, he walks out empty-handed.

  Ha! He didn’t even get his coffee.

  Grace glares at me, looking good and pissed. “What the hell is the matter with you?”

  “Me?” I ask incredulously.

  “Yes, you!”

  Before I can speak further, Ruby walks in. She comes to an abrupt halt, noticing the tension. “Oh hey, guys. Everything all right?”

  “Yup, everything is fucking great,” I answer cheerfully, a little too cheerfully.

  Grace shakes her head, grabbing her purse. “Whatever, let’s go. I’ll see you tomorrow, Rubes,” she says, storming her sexy, pissed off ass out the door.

  I follow her out, my hot blood pumping in anger.

  She starts in on me again as we drive to her house. “Why were you so rude?”

  “Because the guy is an asshole.”

  “You don’t even know him. He is actually very nice.”

  “He’s fucking nice all right because he wants in your panties!”

  “Oh my gosh. You are ridiculous. He does not.”

  “Come on, Grace, you are not that fucking naïve. ‘Well if it isn’t my favorite waitress…two days too long to see your sweet face,’” I mimic the prick.

  She bursts into laughter, finding it funny. I, however, find none of it amusing.

  “So he’s a flirt big deal? He’s like that with everyone. You of all people should understand that.”

  “We are not talking about me. We are talking about Dr. Fucking Sissy,” I bellow. “And what the fuck was with ‘this is my friend’ bullshit?”

  She gapes back at me like I’ve lost my damn mind. “How am I supposed to introduce you?”

  Well… I don’t know but not like that.

  I remain silent, since I don’t have a good answer.

  “I don’t see why you care anyway,” she mumbles under her breath.

  I point over at her. “Don’t ask me why I care. You know why.”

  Her eyes narrow. “It doesn’t feel nice, does it, Sawyer?”

  No, it doesn’t.

  “Imagine if you heard him screwing me against the door.”

  My stomach churns at the image. Just thinking about it makes me want to find pretty boy and strangle him.

  Well fuck!

  She lifts her chin, driving home her point.

  “I told you, we are not talking about me!”

  “Of course not.” She turns to look out her window, ignoring me the rest of the way home.

  Well fine, because I don’t want to talk to her right now either.

  When we pull up to the house, I’m surprised to find Julia and Jaxson parked out front. “What are they doing here?”

  “Julia is picking up a dress I borrowed,” she explains, jumping out of the truck.

  The rest of us climb out at the same time.

  “Hey,” Julia greets us, the smile on her face fading as she picks up on the silent tension. “Everything okay?”

  “No, it’s not,” Grace answers truthfully. “Sawyer is acting like an idiot.”

  Jaxson chuckles. “What did he do now?”

  “He was incredibly rude to Blake this morning at the diner.”

  Jaxson tenses, the smugness vanishing from his face. “Who cares, that guy is an asshole.”

  “Ha! See, that’s what I said.”

  Julia shakes her head. “Jaxson, he is not. You don’t even know him.”

  “I know enough, the guy needs to keep his hands to himself.”

  “Again, that’s exactly what I said,” I say, getting all riled up again as I think about it. “You should have seen the prick.”

  I tell him the whole story, mimicking the fucker, which the girls find hilarious.

  What’s so funny about this?

  Jaxson gets just as fired up as I am. “Yep, I fucking believe it. What kind of bedside manner is that for a doctor to have? He should be reported.”

  “Good fucking idea!” I agree.

  The girls gape at us then burst into another fit of laughter.

  “You guys are ridiculous,” Grace says. “Come on, Julia. We are not gonna waste our time arguin’ about something so insane.”

  They walk away, leaving Jaxson and I alone and pissed off.

  The only insane person is Dr. Sissy, especially if he ever puts his hands on her again.

  Sawyer

  That evening, I sit in the living room watching a movie while Grace bangs around in the kitchen, making pies. Since the clusterfuck at the diner earlier this morning, we’ve been doing our own thing, pretty much ignoring each other all day.

  I miss her. I miss hanging out with her and making her laugh. But I’m still annoyed about Dr. Sissy, and my ego is too big to apologize first.

  I’m surprised when she enters the room a few minutes later holding a slice of pie. “Are you done pouting?” she asks, a hint of a smile tugging at her pretty lips.

  “I don’t fucking pout.”

  “Yes, you do, but tha
t’s okay because I brought a peace offerin’.” She dances the pie in front of me, all cute and sexy like.

  “What kind is it?” I ask, refusing to give in too easily.

  “I thought I would take your advice and call it Jealousy Pie.”

  My eyes narrow as she laughs, not finding her the least bit cute. Actually, that’s a lie, I always find her cute, even when I’m mad.

  “I’m kiddin’, it’s coconut cream,” she says.

  I love coconut and find myself unable to say no. “Okay, Cupcake, apology accepted.” I smirk, taking the pie from her.

  “I said it was a peace offerin’, not an apology. I’m not apologizing for you being ridiculous.” She dismisses me by lying down on the floor in front of the TV, curling herself around the dog. “How’s my baby?” she coos, making kissy noises at him.

  Lucky little bastard.

  I’ve come to the decision that I need to move a little quicker. After today, it’s obvious she’s doesn’t understand that she is mine.

  I shove a spoonful of pie into my mouth and want to groan over how good it is. By the time I inhale it, I’m in a much better mood.

  “What are ya watchin’?” she asks, staring at the TV.

  “Paranormal Activity.”

  “What’s it about?”

  “It’s a horror movie. You might get scared, so you better come sit up here with me.”

  She scoffs. “I don’t get scared of horror movies. I think they’re silly. Besides, Chuckie will save me, won’t you, boy?” she says, kissing the dog’s face.

  I’ve never wished to be a dog so fucking bad in all my life.

  Time passes as we watch most of the movie together. Me on the couch while Grace remains on the floor with the dog. I’ve caught her jump a few times and now she’s staring at the screen as if that damn demon is going to come out of it.

  “He’s inside her, ain’t he? Oh no, that boyfriend is in big trouble.”

  She’s been making comments like this throughout the whole movie. It’s a good thing I find her hot, otherwise I’d never watch a movie with her again.

  “Oh no, buddy, don’t go down there.”

  Knowing what’s about to happen, I get on the floor and move up silently behind her. As soon as the chick throws the guy at the camera, I grab her hips.