“I don’t think so.” She wiped her hands on a towel and faced him. “If we work out a deal—and I’m not at all sure about that—I will not be at your beck and call to help decorate your house, or perform any other duties.”
“You always did have too much pride for your own good,” he said quietly.
She met his gaze and held it, refusing to look away despite the small seed of awareness growing in her. “Pride got me through school and it will get me through this. I won’t be dependent on you, or anyone, for long.”
His lips quirked in a crooked grin. “A little bit of overreaction, Mary Beth?”
She tugged on her braid. The man had a way of making her lose her cool.
He studied her. “You always tugged on your braid when you were nervous. Do I make you nervous?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
Before he had a chance to respond, Gail bounded into the room, her blonde curls dancing around her delicate face. She looked from Tom to Mary Beth. “Hi. I’m not late, am I?”
“You’re not late. He’s early.” Mary Beth nodded toward Tom.
“Tom Sackett,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Gail O’Connell. I’m the ‘and Company’ in Kendrick and Company Caterers and Party Planners.”
He laughed. “Glad to meet you.” His quick smile made Gail dimple with pleasure.
Resentment knifed through Mary Beth. Tom could charm the apples out of a fresh-baked pie.
“How’s Joey?” Mary Beth blurted.
“His fever broke now that the antibiotics have kicked in.” Gail pulled her hand from Tom’s. “Joey is my five-year-old,” she explained. “My husband is out of town and I had trouble finding a sitter. Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“No problem. My financial officer’s not here yet.” Tom settled back on the stool. “I got here early to check out the place and talk over old times with Mary Beth.”
Mary Beth narrowed her eyes. Old times? Hardly times she’d want to reminisce about. The future, her company’s future, was all that mattered now.
Gail threw her a knowing look. She ignored it. “We should get ready for the meeting.” Mary Beth opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a teak serving tray and several more mugs.
“Coffee smells good,” Gail said. “I’ll get the petit fours.”
Gail took the plate of dainty cakes from the refrigerator and set them on the counter in front of Tom. “I’m the pastry chef. Mary Beth couldn’t bake her way out of a burning oven, but the girl sure can cook.”
“Mary Beth always did everything well,” Tom said. “Her intelligence scared the hell out of me in school. So did her beauty.” His gaze, hot as a blue flame, locked with Mary Beth’s.
Uncomfortable under his scrutiny, she looked away. “There will be four of us at the meeting, right?” Trying to get her mind off Tom and the heat that swirled between them, she set mugs and a carafe on the tray. Keeping busy would also distract her from the overwhelming sadness and frustration that the business she had struggled to conceive and build might owe its survival to the man who’d mortally wounded her young heart.
She groaned inwardly. She was thinking like an over-dramatic teen again. Maybe Tom hadn’t mortally wounded her, but his betrayal had kept her from completely trusting any man despite the two serious relationships she’d had since him. No, she had to be honest—her father’s actions had peeled away her trust. Tom had merely pulverized what was left.
“How long have you two been partners?” Tom asked in a cool voice. Mary Beth glanced at him. The rigid set of his chiseled features gave no hint of the longing that had softened them a minute ago.
She let out her breath, convinced tension had her imagination working overtime. Tom didn’t care for her, had never cared for her.
She poured coffee into the carafe, concentrating on the steady stream of hot liquid and trying to ignore the small drips of hurt that seemed to burn her heart.
“To answer your question,” Gail said, “as my usually vocal partner seems to have lost her voice, we’ve been friends since college and attended the Culinary Institute together. Mary Beth opened the business two years ago and I bought in six months later.” She pushed the plate of pastries toward Tom. “Here, try one of these.”
Tom popped a small cake into his mouth. The surprised pleasure on his face made the women exchange grins.
“Wow!” He licked his lips.
His tongue gliding over his full lips made Mary Beth’s knees wobble like half-set gelatin. She gripped the counter for support and stared at Tom’s mouth. What would it be like to kiss him again?
Their eyes met. Awareness sizzled and crackled between them, charging the atmosphere liked downed power lines after a storm.
“Cakes are good, huh?” Gail said.
Mary Beth blinked, breaking the connection with Tom.
Seeming oblivious to the charged interplay between Tom and Mary Beth, Gail rearranged the cakes on the plate and continued talking. “My husband, Pete, gained ten pounds the first couple of months after I bought into the business. He was our official taster. He gave up the job and joined the gym.”
Bless Gail for rambling. Trying to get control over her emotions, Mary Beth fingered the gold chain at her neck, her last gift from her father, and her reminder to always guard her heart.
“Can I apply for the position of official taster?” Tom’s words teased, but his voice was husky and his gaze lingered on Mary Beth.
“We wouldn’t want you to ruin your manly physique,” Gail said.
Mary Beth’s gaze seemed to have a will of its own, attaching itself to Tom’s broad shoulders. The designer cut of his expensive suit couldn’t disguise the width of his chest or the barely leashed power of his muscles under the finely woven wool jacket and brushed cotton shirt. She swallowed as if she could somehow dilute the attraction she felt for him.
<><><>
“Well, that’s done.” Mary Beth put her feet on the oak coffee table in the reception area. With the pleated shades drawn, the only light came from the small lamp on the side table. The room reflected her mood, somber and shadowed. “I feel like I’ve signed away my firstborn.”
Gail sighed. “You’re the one who gave birth to this baby. Even though I’m just the foster mother, I feel bad.”
“When you bought in, you became an equal partner,” Mary Beth said. “You love this business as much as I do.”
“And it’s just as heart-wrenching to lose it.” Gail tucked a blonde curl behind her ear.
Mary Beth leaned her head back on the cushioned chair and closed her eyes. “At least we still own a small portion and we’ve got creative license.”
“Sackett Industries was surprisingly fair,” Gail said.
“They know better than to change a winning recipe.” Mary Beth sat up and looked at Gail, sitting opposite her. “A year ago we were the new darlings on the block, with more business than we could handle, and now we don’t even have controlling interest in our own company. How did we let this happen?”
“Maybe we got too sure of ourselves,” Gail said. “We ignored those ‘flash and dash’ caterers when they breezed in with their glitzy Philadelphia style and edge.”
“Their food is terrible,” Mary Beth said. “Remember the roast beef at the Larson wedding? Ugh. And they use canned mushrooms. Here, so close to where they grow the best mushrooms in the country. But people don’t seem to notice.”
“Because they’re fooled by the pretty wrappings. Some people would rave over cardboard if it were wrapped fancy. Now with Sackett’s money and influence, we can give them glitter too. Only we have substance behind our packaging.”
“Sackett,” Mary Beth said in a low voice. Tom. Appealing. Dangerous. Her boss.
She tightened her jaw. “This is only a temporary situation. As soon as we can, we’ll buy back our business. I will not be dependent on any man, especially Tom Sackett.”
Gail put up a hand. “Don’t bite off my head. Since I’v
e known you, you’ve had this thing about making your own way. You’ve scared off a lot of good men with your stubborn self-reliance. Maybe you should loosen up a little.”
“Never. Besides, I wouldn’t want a man I could intimidate.”
Gail’s mouth quirked into a grin. “Maybe you’ve met your match.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tom. He impressed me in the meeting. He’s strong, forceful, a take-charge kind of guy. And he’s fair. I like him.”
Mary Beth narrowed her eyes at Gail. “I told you what he did to me. He’s not the paragon of virtue you think.”
“He was eighteen. People grow up.”
“What would Pete say if he knew how outrageously you flirted with Tom?”
“Pete knows I love him. And I wasn’t flirting. I was just responding to a delicious hunk with a killer smile.”
A small kernel of jealousy opened in Mary Beth. So what if Gail found Tom attractive? She didn’t care what other women thought of him. She didn’t care about him in any way, except what he could do for her business.
“And you, my dear, sprouted green horns,” Gail said with a laugh.
“What?” Mary Beth bolted upright.
“Don’t act the innocent with me.” Gail’s eyes crinkled with amusement. “I wasn’t in the room two minutes when you asked about Joey. You wanted to be sure Tom knew I was married, and therefore unavailable.” With a smug look on her face, she crossed her arms.
“Joey is my godson. I’m concerned about him. And you brought up the subject of your husband.”
“I know you care about Joey,” Gail said. “But the way you blurted it out was a little obvious, although I don’t think Tom noticed. Men are clueless about those things.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mary Beth shifted uncomfortably, wishing she could ignore the inner voice that screamed her friend was right.
Unable to sit still, Mary Beth jumped from the chair and stalked to the window. The truth of Gail’s words was hard to digest.
She rubbed her forehead as if she could erase the confusion tumbling around her mind. Tom meant nothing to her, nothing at all.
Pulling up one of the shades, she stared out. The street lamps cast a pale glow on the dusk-filled sidewalk. Like her life now—pale shadows with no clear definition.
Sirens cut the quiet, adding an edge and danger to the air. Tom was like the sirens. Dangerous. Ready to wreak havoc on her heart.
She was older and wiser now. She would never let him get close enough to hurt her again.
“Mary Beth?” Gail stood behind her. “I was just teasing. I didn’t realize Tom still meant something to you.”
She whirled around. “He means nothing more than a business arrangement. Tom Sackett may have supplied the ingredients to get our careers cooking again, but he has no other place in my life.”
“Okay.” Gail shrugged and a grin split her face. “Why are we acting like gloom and doom? We’re back in business. Give me a high five!”
Forcing a lighter mood, Mary Beth exchanged high fives with Gail. “Let’s toast with that champagne we’ve been saving. Those upstart caterers from Philadelphia may have stolen our customers, but we’re taking ours back, and theirs too. We’ll show this town what real cooks are made of.”
“Way to go,” Gail said. “With Sackett’s financing, we’ll be the toast of Wilmington and beyond. And we’ll make tons of money.”
Mary Beth followed her to the kitchen. “And we’ll buy our company back.” She would take care of herself. She wouldn’t end up like her mother.
<><><>
The traffic from Delaware into Pennsylvania was heavy for a Thursday evening. Tom rubbed his hand on the back of his neck to relieve his tense muscles.
He should have bought a house in Wilmington near the family. But after years of living in New York City, he wanted peace, solitude, country. The rolling hills of nearby Chadds Ford suited him perfectly.
How much peace would he have now that he’d seen Mary Beth Kendrick again? Cat Eyes. What would she do if she knew his secret name for her? He smiled. Probably slash his face.
She’d always been a spitfire. A red-haired dynamo with flashing green eyes and full, soft lips that begged him to kiss her.
Memories of kissing Mary Beth burned him. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Their kiss at the formal had been something else. Special. Hot with longing. Her passion, sweetness and wide-eyed trust had filled him with pride and a need to protect her and hold her close forever. He’d known before she said the words that she loved him.
And then the others ruined it. He hadn’t realized they were there, watching. He should have gone after her. But anger and disbelief had stunned him. Despite how hard he’d tried to overcome the barriers between them, she was so ready to believe the worst of him, and she’d fled before he’d had a chance to explain. The accusation and hurt in her eyes that night still haunted him.
Selfish fears had frozen him and he’d let her run away, out of his life. And then there was the accident. By the time his dad was out of danger, Mary Beth had disappeared.
He’d spent the past twelve years proving his worth to the world, to himself and to his family, making amends for the spoiled, arrogant, wild kid he’d once been.
But only one person’s opinion mattered now. He hadn’t realized Mary Beth still harbored such resentment. The fight would be harder than he’d anticipated, but he’d earn her respect and forgiveness.
Tom slammed on his brakes, almost colliding with the car in front. The other driver made a rude gesture. Tom frowned. He needed to concentrate on the road and not let thoughts of Mary Beth distract him.
He twisted his mouth in a wry smile. Hell, she’d been distracting him since the first time he saw her in the school hall when he was fourteen. He’d bumped into a door, mesmerized by her green cat eyes and her thick red braid, and that sexy body.
Long ago he’d thrown away any chance with her. He owned her company, but he’d never own her heart.
**I hope you enjoyed this preview of A Catered Romance. If you’d like to read the book in its entirety, please check Cara’s website at www.CaraMarsi.com for purchase info.**
Books by Sandra Edwards
Crazy For You
Incredible Dreams
Secondary Targets
Broken Wings (Soul Searchers: Book 1)
Vegas, Baby (Soul Searchers: Book 2)
Soul Searchers Omnibus
Staked (Time Brokers: Book 1)
Saving Katya
The Memory Bouquet
Trading Up
The Marriage Bargain
Coming Soon
Hot Commodity (Time Brokers: Book 2)
Desert Heat (Soul Searchers: Book 3)
The Lonely Hearts Club
Forever For You (Sequel to Crazy For You)
About Sandra Edwards
Sandra is an award-winning author of romance. She has eclectic tastes, penning tales in a variety of genres such as paranormal (mostly time travel and reincarnation), contemporary and suspense. Sandra’s books often push the envelope and step outside the boundaries of conventional romance. She lives in the U.S. (west coast) with her husband, two kids, four dogs and one very temperamental feline. For more info on Sandra's books, check out her website at www.SandraWrites.com or visit her fan page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SandraEdwards.Author.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Epilogue
Broken Wings
A Catered Romance
Books by Sandra Edwards
About Sandra Edwards
hank you for reading books on Archive.
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