Southern Sweets (Midnight)

by Cori Williams

  Southern Sweets

  A Midnight Novel

  Cori Williams

  Copyright 2016 cori williams

  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

  Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

  Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

  No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

  Cover Design by Ashley Byland

  Edited by Candice Barnes

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional.

  The Thank You’s

  Southern Sweets was a freaking work in progress and it feels SO good to have Amelia’s story completed. Honestly I have no idea how many betas I had on this project because I started and stopped it so many times, writing Losing Her in between, I think it ended up taking me about a year and a half to write, so…. But I love how it turned and I want to thank each and every one of you who got a peak at it, you’ll never know how much your encouragements and criticism (constructive of course) mean.

  The biggest thank you to my book manager Chelsea Barnes, she’s probably the reason this actually got finished! She introduced to me these things called time lines, they’re really strange but fantastic things…and while I don’t always stick to them…they helped tremendously. I’m often living in the middle of a three ringed circus so really it’s a miracle that I’ve written a single book, let alone like eight or something. Thanks to my kids for that! But really, I do love them…most of the time. And thanks to my husband, he works harder than anyone I know and he’s an awesome support system.

  Thank you to the rest of my team! Southern Sweets wouldn’t be where it is today without you. Candice and Nikki you girls went above and beyond. To Ashley, my cover designer, words can't express my gratitude! You took the vision that I was imagining and made it a reality. Thanks for having my back!

  Thank you to all of the bloggers and readers who continue to read my books which just blows my freaking mind. And to those of you who take the time out of your day to recommend my books, you’re serious rock stars!

  A big thank you to those of you who are trying my books out for the first time. I hope you love my babies just as much as I do!

  Onto the next project! But first, let’s go eat a cupcake in celebration!

  Because cupcakes make everything better.

  Prologue

  “Tanner, oh my God.” I tilt my head backwards, gripping the sheets as he slowly fills me, inch by inch. He drops down to give me a deep, mind blowing kiss before he picks up the pace as I dig my nails into his back, moaning. “Now I know why you call yourself ‘The Cox’,” I exhale. His laughter vibrates through my entire body. “Baby, this is just the beginning. You’ve barely even been introduced to ‘The Cox’.” He pulls out almost entirely before slamming back into me to prove his point.

  There’s no more room for talking after that. My new apartment is filled with nothing but packed up boxes, panting, skin slapping against skin, and the hottest sex I’ve ever had in my life.

  He twists our bodies around so I’m straddling him, and I moan as he pushes in even deeper. “That’s it, girl, ride me good and hard.” His fingers dig into my hips, and I’m lost in absolute bliss.

  The distant sound of my alarm ringing brought me back to reality, and I slowly peeled my eyes open, welcomed back to my empty apartment with a blast of sunshine from my window. “Shit!” I untangled myself from my sheets, realizing that I must have hit the snooze button on my phone alarm a couple of times without even knowing. That must have been some dream to distract me that much. “Stupid Tanner,” I muttered as I stripped off my nightgown and hopped into the shower.

  He refused to leave my head. Asshole.

  Now, because of him, I was going to have to get ready quicker than I ever had in my life—not the best day for it to happen, either, as it was a very important day. I needed to figure out how to manage my time better now that I was working to support myself and had started pastry school a little over a month ago. Yep, I had made the plunge and it felt fantastic. I was doing what I loved, but I knew it would have been better if I had the support of my family. My mama and I had never been close, even though I always tried to make her proud and do whatever made her happy. Daddy just went along with whatever Mama said so when I dropped out of college to go to pastry school, she wasn’t exactly thrilled. And that’s how I ended up on my own for the first time in my life, without a cent or piece of furniture to my name.

  Luckily, I had found a job pretty quickly working at the diner that Miller’s family owned—the family of my best friend Monroe’s boyfriend. I had even started to showcase some of my baked goods in the glass display case, with the customers gobbling them up faster than I could bake them.

  I slipped on a white, lacy sundress after toweling off and then applied minimal makeup. That was all I really had time for at this point. I couldn’t be late, otherwise I would miss the big day. Miller would have a shit fit—a quiet, brooding shit fit, but a shit fit nonetheless. I would have to settle for a wind-blown look for my hair, because there was no way in hell I had time to curl it.

  “Well, Hell’s bells.” I turned back around with one foot out the door, almost forgetting all of the desserts I had prepared for this afternoon. Lately, I felt like I would lose my head if it wasn’t attached to my neck.

  A purring sounded from underneath my feet, and I crouched down to pet the little girl that was trying to hold me up even longer. She knew I was a sucker when it came to her. “Sorry, Miss Kitty. I don’t have time for snuggles. I promise to set plenty of time aside for you later.” I stroked her striped fur one more time before standing up to gather everything off the counter. Thank goodness I had time to get everything ready last night. It also helped that I had been in a grump mood when I got home—the perfect opportunity for me to bake and create.

  I sounded like an eighty year old woman in my head, what with my cat and baking, and it was sort of depressing. Twenty-two years old and I was already starting to collect cats—Miss Kitty was my first, but I was already itching for another. She was my best friend lately, and the only one I could talk to about everything. I couldn’t even do that with Monroe right now, she was busy and I understood. Most of my other friends had disappeared when I dropped out of college along with the sorority. Good riddance to them.

  My drive over to Miller’s house was short, and I glanced at the clock on my car to see that I was just five minutes shy of being late. As soon as I pulled up the long winding driveway and parked my car, my door was being yanked open and a calloused hand reached into my car to pull me from my seat. “Amelia, I thought you were supposed to be here a little sooner.” A frazzled looking Miller barked out. He looked beyond stressed—I never thought I would see him like this. He was always so calm and quiet.

  I grabbed onto both of his hands, hoping to soothe his nerves a bit. “Miller, sweetie. Let’s take a nice deep calming breath.” I demonstrated for him and his eyes narrowed.

  “I don’t have time for that shit. Let’s go, you need to get things set up. What we need to bring in?”

  “It’s all back there.” I pointed to my backseat and watched as he snatched everything out in a hurry. “You made her favorite cookies, right?”

  “Yes, sir. Just like you asked.” He directed me towards the golf cart
and I hopped on, smoothing out my dress and then hanging on for dear life as he took off, whipping across the field adjacent to his house. “Miller, if I knew any differently I’d say you were nervous.”

  “No,” he snapped. “Not at all.”

  “Well, alright then.” I turned my head to hide my smile, taking in the crowd of people that was already gathered around the pond that sat at the edge of his property. There was a white tent set up to shield people and the food from the blazing sun, lined with garlands made out of giant sunflowers—Monroe’s favorite. Tables and chairs dotted the lawn surrounding the pond with mason jars filled with wild flowers placed in the center. “Oh, Miller! Everything looks so pretty! She’s gonna love it!”

  “You think? Mamaw planned most of it. I just gave her an idea and she went with it.”

  “Yep.” I nodded before heading straight towards the tent to get set up. “You did good. You have my stamp of approval.”

  “Well that’s good to know.” He snorted and I turned around slowly, pointing a finger at him.

  “Hey, I’m her best friend. You need my approval, buddy.”

  “I know, Amelia. Trust me.” A hint of a smile played on his lips before he hiked his thumb over his shoulder. “I need to check on a few more things before she gets here. Thanks for making all of the desserts. You know that’ll be her favorite part.”

  “Second favorite part,” I yelled after him, catching his grin as he walked in the other direction. I knew exactly what her favorite part would be, and I was squealing on the inside. It had been hard as hell not telling Monroe what Miller had been up to. She usually came into the diner a couple of times a week while I worked the dinner shift, and we caught up on all of our gossip. She’s been the sister I never had, but always wished for.

  I set out my cupcake stand first on the red checkered cloth covered table, luckily Miller had planned ahead for the heat with several fans blowing right in this area to keep things cool. I was glad that my pale yellow butter cream frosted cupcakes nestled in burlap wrappers fit perfectly with the theme—Monroe was going to love it. She was always telling me how she dreamed of marrying a southern cowboy, and now, her wish was becoming a reality. Granted, Miller wasn’t exactly a cowboy, but he did ride a horse every once in a while, so that counted. I was just finishing up setting out the miniature cheesecakes when a throat cleared from behind me.

  I knew who it was without even turning around; my entire body was humming with his closeness. Damn you body, betraying me again. I busied my hands, refusing to look at him. Of course he would be here, Amelia, he’s Miller’s best friend.

  Time to put my big girl panties on and get this over with. I had never had a problem with confidence before, so this should be no different, even though he made me feel like a complete and utter fool in his presence. I straightened my shoulders before turning around.

  “Tanner.” I pointed my nose straight up in the air, just like my mama always taught me. At least I could put it to good use now. Don’t look at him, Amelia—just don’t do it. I tried to brush past him, but he moved, blocking my path. I went to the right and he blocked that way, too. “What do you want?” I stomped my foot in frustration.

  “Did you really just stomp your foot?”

  I huffed and crossed my arms tightly over my chest. “Why would you care?”

  “I don’t, I just thought it was kind of se—”

  “Don’t. Stop right there.” I held up a hand, but then made the biggest mistake—I finally looked at him. I tried not to let him notice the effect that he had on me, but he knew. He saw it. His blond hair was shorter, closely cropped on the sides with just a little length left on the top that I could still… Nope, not going there. And, if it was possible, he was filling out his button up shirt even more with his muscles, the bright white popping against his golden skin that I wanted to run my hands and tongue all over. Amelia, what is wrong with you?

  “Amelia, don’t do this. I’m sorry, I just…I don’t know what to do.”

  “Really? Because it seems like you’re doing just fine. Now, excuse me. I’m going to go watch my best friend get her happily ever after. At least someone gets one,” I muttered as I shoved past him. Thankfully, he didn’t follow.

  I greeted everyone as I passed by, painting the perfect picture that I was taught to do so well growing up, even though I was a mess on the inside. Seeing Tanner caused that. I had been lying to myself for awhile, and now it was pretty damn near impossible.

  All of Monroe’s and Miller’s family and friends were there. I was sort of surprised when Miller told me his idea. He isn’t the most sociable person; he’s very career focused. Monroe has opened him up a bit, but still. I figured when he proposed to her it would just be the two of them. Monroe was expecting this to be some kind of barbeque. I think she’s been too busy with the dance studio that she owns to even think about it being anything else.

  When Monroe arrived, it was like everything happened in slow motion, but quickly at the same time. Apparently Miller didn’t want to waste any time getting to the real reason of why we were there. Only a select few of us knew what was about to happen, and I was grinning from ear to ear when Miller dropped down onto one knee and Monroe gasped loudly, pressing both hands to her mouth. She was in complete shock, I could tell—but it was a good kind of shock. Soon enough, she was nodding and Miller was picking her up, spinning her around in a circle and everyone started to clap and cheer. It was magical, just like a fairytale.

  I locked eyes with Tanner, who was standing by the table next to mine, and I couldn’t help but keep that same smile on my face. His smile grew even wider as he continued to clap, looking straight at me—but then that smile of mine slowly started to melt away, dripping into the abyss with no remainder of it left when I saw who was standing next to him with her arm weaved through his. Marissa.

  I snapped my head in the other direction, focusing on Monroe, who was now headed in my direction. The anger that was boiling up inside of me felt like it was ready to rupture, but I stuffed it down and pasted a fake smile onto my face—I was not ruining this moment for her, but she saw it. She wouldn’t be my best friend if she didn’t.

  “What’s wrong?” Her eyes searched mine, and I couldn’t help but look in Tanner’s direction. He was inching closer, heading for Miller, with her in tow. “Tanner,” she hissed, rolling her eyes.

  “Don’t worry about it, Roe-Roe. You’re engaged!” I forced a squeal and hugged her tightly. “I’m so happy for you! I can’t wait to plan the wedding. You know I’m doing your cake, right? What season are you thinking? Wouldn’t a Christmas wedding be all kinds of magical wonderfulness? Oh, a Halloween wedding would always be fun! You wouldn’t have to do gothic and all black and depressing; we could make it classy and fun.”

  “Amelia, is my rambling rubbing off on you?” She giggled, but then concern flashed across her face, her lips setting into a straight line. “What did Tanner do?”

  “Nothing.” Which was exactly the problem. “I’m fine. I promise. Go, I know you have plenty of people to see. We’ll catch up later—at the dessert table.”

  Her mouth formed an O, her eyes going wide. I was surprised she didn’t sprint over there that very minute, but Miller had his hand laced through hers, so I guessed he was holding her back. That girl has the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I had ever met, and I totally lucked out. She had been my guinea pig for all of my new creations.

  Soft music started up soon after, filtering through the night air, and I found myself hiding in the corner with a stash of cookies to avoid the crowd, eating my problems away. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, which is strange because I like to bake so much, but it was probably a good thing—otherwise I would look like a blimp.

  “So, I finally found you.” I looked up mid-chew, groaning around my cookie when I saw Tanner standing in front of me, shuffling his feet with both hands shoved in his pants pockets. The moonlight played off his defined cheekbones, and I could see his crystal blue
eyes sparkling from where I stood. Tanner’s job was physically demanding day in and day out, and good Lord it was noticeable how much of a payoff it was. Why did he have to look so perfect it almost hurt to look at him?

  “Yep, you found me,” I muttered before shoving another piece of cookie in my mouth. If I couldn’t talk, maybe he would just leave me alone.

  “Amelia,” he sighed. “Shit, I didn’t ever mean for things to end up like this.” I didn’t speak. Really, I had no idea what to say to him. “You know, I’ve been with the same girl for what seems like forever. Marissa and I have known each other since we were babies; it just felt natural when we started dating. But when I met you…things were different.”

  I swallowed down the last of my cookie, licking my lips clean of any frosting. “Why? Because I became your mistress?”

  “My mistress? Are you fucking kidding me right now?” His jaw tightened, his hands curling into fists.

  I knew it wasn’t true even though it felt like it now. “You showed up with her tonight, Tanner. Rubbing it in my face.”

  “What was I supposed to do, Amelia?” I turned my head to see him looking up at the sky that was turning dark.

  “Whatever, it doesn’t matter.” I shook my head, pushing to my feet. “There wasn’t anything between us, anyway. I was just something to pass the time.”

  “No, you weren’t,” he snapped. “I thought things were over between Marissa and I. They should’ve been, but I can’t do that to her now.”

  “But it was okay for her to cheat on you? For you to walk in on her? And now what? You just forgive her? Sorry, I didn’t think The Cox let people just walk all over him—only weak douche bags would do something like that.”

  “I’m trying to forgive her,” he said in a low voice, almost too quiet for me to hear—but I did, and it stung like hell. “She’s my wife, Amelia.”