A Tablespoon of Temptation (A Recipe for Love Novel Book 1)

by Kelly Collins

  “Thank you for not giving up on me,” he whispered against her lips.

  “Thanks for being patient.” All patience had left her. She’d wasted so many minutes of her forever dwelling on the past.

  “I wouldn’t call me patient, but maybe persistent. You on the other hand are stubborn.”

  She squirmed in his lap. Every cell of her body had come to life. “Me? Stubborn?”

  “And smart, and sexy as hell.” He scooped up a fingerful of frosting and wiped it over her lips. “Brings back memories.”

  With a flick of her tongue, she tasted the fudge. “I’ve got a case minus two jars.”

  His head snapped back. “You used two jars? With who?”

  She lifted her shoulders with a shrug. “Depression and desperation work hand in hand. When I ran out of ice cream, I broke into the chocolate.”

  He laughed so hard, his body rocked, and he nearly knocked her off his lap.

  “Don’t laugh at me,” she said. “I’ve come across some great combinations. A spoonful of peanut butter and a spoonful of chocolate.” She kissed her fingers and raised them in the air. “Amazing.”

  “Not original. That’s already been done.”

  “Yes, but it becomes magical when you add a squeeze of strawberry jam.”

  He kissed her nose. “You’re crazy.”

  “Probably, but you love me, and there are no take-backs.”

  “I do love you, and I’m keeping you.”

  She giggled. “I’ve never been a kept woman.”

  She slid from his lap to her stool.

  “How does it feel to be mine?”

  “It feels like I’m fully alive.”

  He leaned forward and made love to her mouth in the same way she knew he’d love her body. Slowly. Passionately. Thoroughly.

  When they separated for a breath, he said, “I’ve got a question.” He turned to look at the plate of cake. “Why always chocolate?”

  “It’s special. It’s called Forever Fudge Cake.”

  He nodded. “I like that.” He leaned in, so they were eye-to-eye. “I’ve got another question.”

  “You’re just full of them tonight.”

  “Shall we start our forever from the beginning where I introduce myself and tell you my name is Alistair James Parks, or should we begin where we left off minus the perceived infidelity and the fact that I’m wealthy?”

  She slid from the stool, took his hand, and led him to the bedroom.

  “Forever starts here,” she said.

  He raised his hand. “I have another question.”

  “Another one?”

  He nodded. “Yes, but this is my last.” He pulled off his shirt and moved toward the bed. “Where are those jars of chocolate?”

  Chapter 26

  Danielle - One month later

  A perfect month passed. A month of sleeping in James’ arms and waking up to hot coffee and kisses. He sent so many flowers her neighbors left casseroles with condolence cards thinking someone had died.

  There had been death, but it was a good passing. It was the demise of doubt, despair, and devastation. And after death came a rebirth.

  Life blossomed in her little cottage. She made space for his clothes next to hers and cleaned out a drawer in the bathroom for his razor, deodorant, and shaving cream. His beer sat next to her wine in the refrigerator. His Erector Set sat on the coffee table.

  Each day he created something. Mostly odd-shaped hearts and words like love and bliss. He tossed her coffee maker and replaced it with a better machine that did just about everything but paint her nails.

  Life was sweeter than the quarter cup of sugar she had with her caffeine. Everything was bolder, livelier, fresher. Even the floral chintz pillows in the living room seemed brighter as if the fabric had sprouted fresh buds and new leaves when he moved in. James didn’t need a mansion. He said all he needed was her. God, she loved that man.

  She had about ten minutes before he returned from the site to pick her up. Flynn prepared a new menu in The Lodge, one of the higher-end restaurants in the resort, and they were his first connoisseurs.

  With a coffee in her hand, she walked into the kitchen and sat on the stool. In front of her lay the cookbook that started it all.

  As silly as it seemed, making that cake brought James into her life. He was there as part of the corporate takeover, but she was certain he came into her life for a purpose. He was the sugar that made things sweeter. The salt that gave her life flavor, and the flour that bound her heart to his.

  Baking that cake taught her to embrace mistakes. Looking back, she could honestly say that everything she’d been through, even Chris, was a lesson about love. It was the trials and errors that taught her the most about herself. Without failures, there would be no way to measure success. She wouldn’t have fully appreciated what she had in her life without that cookbook. Adelaide Phelps was more than a baker. She was a sorceress of love.

  Danielle touched the worn cover and traced the red heart. She laughed at the smaller letters that read, For your eyes only. There were rules with this book, just like in life. You had to pay attention to the details. It wasn’t wise to skip to the good stuff because the good stuff was also the journey.

  She desperately wanted to read the other stories but refused to press her luck. She knew the sharing part of the book was next. It was time to pass on Adelaide’s wisdom. She read the preface again. It directed her to turn to the last page where she was told to open the envelope. She feared if she didn’t follow the rules exactly, she’d lose everything she’d gained. Danielle Morgan had never been superstitious, but she wasn’t taking any chances now that she had everything.

  The envelope wasn’t sealed, and she took out the single page and read the previous baker’s words.

  To find love, you must love yourself first.

  Iris

  Below, it told her to jot down what she’d learned or a few words of wisdom on a new page and put it in an envelope for the next baker.

  It instructed her to sign the last page and secretly pass the book to someone in need.

  “Are you ready?” James called from the front door. He no longer knocked since he had his own key.

  “Almost.” She wrote a message on a clean sheet of paper, put it into a new envelope, and tucked it back into the pocket. She straightened the note she found and stuck it to the refrigerator with a magnet.

  James walked into the kitchen to find her staring at it.

  “To find love, you must love yourself first,” he recited. He wrapped his arms around her waist and set his chin on her shoulder. “Who’s Iris?”

  Danielle turned around and lifted on tiptoes to kiss him. “I don’t know, but she’s right.” She wiggled out of his arms, picked up the book, and tucked it inside her purse. “I’m ready.”

  They arrived at the restaurant hand-in-hand. It wasn’t the first time they were together as a couple. Since James’ admission, he retired his undercover boss routine. At the unveiling of the new Luxe sign, he came clean with the staff about his position and their relationship.

  The funny thing was, no one questioned her authority or why she got the job. Her record spoke for itself. It didn’t hurt that James told everyone she was the boss of his heart.

  They snaked through the restaurant and found Allie waiting at a table alone.

  “Ah new love…” she sighed when they approached holding hands. “I’d settle for old love. Hell, I’d settle for any love.”

  “Sounds like time for a trip to Heartbeat,” Danielle turned to James. “This time, you’re invited.”

  “Wouldn’t matter. You’re my girls, and I protect what’s mine.”

  Allie stuck her finger in her mouth and made a gagging noise. “Really? You’re torturing me with your love.”

  Her phone rang. When she looked to see the caller, she groaned. “And the hits keep coming.” She pointed to her screen. “Sorry, but I have to take this if we intend to serve food at the resort.” She
disappeared around the corner.

  James stood. “Should I tell Flynn we’re here?” He turned toward the kitchen door but didn’t move.

  With his back to her, Danielle tucked the book into Allie’s open bag.

  “He knows we’re coming. While we wait, you can provide the appetizer,” she said.

  He took his seat and leaned in. “What’s on my menu?”

  She loved the heat of his body. The gravelly tone of his voice did crazy things to her insides.

  “How about we start with a kiss?” She pressed her lips to his, expecting a peck and nothing else, but the kiss was one of those drugging ones that left her yearning for more.

  When they parted, James looked at her with tenderness. “How is it that every kiss is better than the last?”

  She leaned into him, resting her head on his chest. “Because we know that every kiss could be the last.”

  His arms wrapped around her possessively. “Someday, I hope Allie finds a love like ours.”

  She glanced at the old book that peeked out of Allie’s bag. “I think her luck in love is about to change.”

  Click here to join Allie on her quest for love in A Pinch of Passion

  Dear Baker

  Dear Baker,

  Cake, like love, is all about the ingredients but also about the effort. Both take time and patience. Like Danielle, I’ve loved and lost. But lessons are learned by doing. A cake never gets made if the ingredients sit on the counter untouched. Love never happens if you’re afraid to open your heart. The greatest loves and the greatest desserts happened because someone took a chance on someone or something.

  Every second is your forever. Why not start it with fudge cake?

  Kelly

  Forever Fudge Cake

  Forever Fudge Cake

  •4 squares of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate

  •½ cup of hot water

  •½ cup of sugar

  •2 cups of cake flour

  •1 teaspoon baking soda

  •½ teaspoon of salt

  •½ cup of softened butter or shortening or butter-flavored shortening

  •1 ¼ cups of sugar

  •3 eggs

  •2/3 cup milk

  •1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

  Directions

  Place the chocolate and the water in the top part of a double boiler (Basically, a pan over a pan of boiling water). Heat and stir until the chocolate is melted. Don’t cheat and stop before it is creamy. That leaves chunks of Baker’s chocolate, which apparently tastes like a monkey’s back end. Add 1/2 cup of sugar to the creamy chocolate and cook for 2 minutes. Cool to lukewarm (Basically, when you can touch it without needing first aid).

  Sift the flour with the baking soda and salt and set aside.

  Cream the butter, adding 1 and 1/4 cups of sugar gradually, and mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each is added. Now add the milk and flour mixture to the creamed mixture half at a time, mixing after each addition until smooth. Last, add the vanilla extract and chocolate mixture and blend.

  Bake in two greased and floured round cake pans at 350 F for 40 minutes, or until done (You know it’s done if you can stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean). Spread the forever fudge frosting between the layers, and on the top and sides of the cake.

  High altitude: Don’t let the thin air make you breathless, leave that to love. For more specific high-altitude baking instructions, Google it.

  Forever Fudge Frosting

  Ingredients:

  3 squares of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate

  2 tablespoons of butter because quality is important when it comes to ingredients and people.

  1 ½ cups of sifted powdered sugar

  ½ cup of cream or half and half

  Dash of salt

  1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

  1 ¼ cups of sifted powdered sugar, divided into thirds. Yes, there is powdered sugar twice. Remember sugar makes life sweeter.

  Directions

  Melt the chocolate and butter in a pan over boiling water. Blend well. Think of unmelted chunks of chocolate as monkey bottom. Add the 1 ½ cups of sifted powdered sugar, cream or half and half, and a dash of salt all at once. Beat until smooth. Place the mixture in the pan over a low flame, cook and stir until the mixture bubbles at the edges.

  Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla, then add the 1 ¼ cups of powdered sugar in thirds, beating after each addition until smooth. If necessary, place the mixture over a bowl of cold water until thick enough to spread.

  Sneak Peek of A Pinch of Passion

  Someday, someone is going to look at me like I’m everything they’ve been searching for their entire life...

  That was the entry Allie Parks had written in her planner on January first, when all responsible people wrote down their wishes and dreams … right after they planned their year and outlined their professional goals. Possibly after highlighting monthly meetings and putting in daily accountability targets. As the chief operating officer of Luxe resorts, she had little wiggle room for failure.

  She sat at a corner table in the dining room and glanced around the space. It was an upscale lodge with its high-timbered ceilings, antler chandeliers, and wood inlayed walls depicting all the major mountain peaks in Colorado.

  She flipped through the pages until she reached June and checked off the items she’d accomplished that morning. She might not have found her prince, but she’d resolved the linen problem. She touched the frayed tablecloth and heaved a sigh of relief.

  At Wharton School of business, she had a professor who never stopped talking about the Pareto Principle and how it held true for just about everything in life. But it didn’t work here in Timberline, Colorado. She’d exhausted eighty percent of her time and energy to get twenty percent satisfaction, rather than the other way around, but at least it was resolved—no more see-through towels, threadbare sheets, or frayed table linens.

  She’d resolved it with good old greenbacks. In her experience, most people were motivated by money, and Starr Linens wasn’t an exception. They’d dug in their heels until a lucrative deal was settled upon. It was more than she hoped but less than she was willing to pay.

  “Negotiating linen costs is not the hill I want to die on.” She checked that item off her list, and looked up from the dining table just in time to see her brother, James, lead his girlfriend, Danielle, through the Lodge. It was the restaurant Allie hoped would earn them enough accolades to put them on the culinary map.

  While linens were important, food was tantamount to success. A Luxe resort wasn’t luxe if the food wasn’t Michelin star worthy.

  “Ah, new love…” she sighed as they approached holding hands. “I’d settle for old love. Hell, I’d settle for any love.”

  “It sounds like time for a trip to Heartbeat,” Danielle turned to James. “This time you’re invited to go clubbing with us.”

  Allie laughed. She was glad Danielle and James had worked out their differences and realized that their love was the only truth they needed to know. Before seeing her brother with Danielle, she wouldn’t have believed there was a perfect love for anyone, but James was genuinely happy he’d found “the one.”

  James pulled out Danielle’s chair and took the seat next to her. “An invite to Heartbeat would matter as much as it did the last time. I’d come regardless. You’re my girls, and I protect what’s mine.” He leaned over and kissed Danielle square on the lips.

  Allie stuck her finger in her mouth and mimicked gagging. “Don’t torture me with your love.” She wasn’t generally a busybody, but after James and Danielle broke up, she played her hand at being cupid just once, and it seemed to work out. She’d lured them both to Heartbeat, the hottest new club for pickups, and then disappeared, leaving them to figure it out on their own.

  Her phone rang and she looked at the screen. “And the hits keep coming,” she groaned. “Sorry, but I have to take this if we intend to s
erve food at the resort.” She jumped up and walked around the corner into a private dining room.

  “Allie Parks,” she answered.

  For the next ten minutes, she heard every reason from out of stock, to out of season, for why she couldn’t have what she wanted when she wanted it.

  “How much is it going to cost me?” she asked.

  The man on the other end spouted off a ridiculous percentage increase.

  “Not on your life. I’ll pay three percent and the expedited delivery charges. Take it or leave it.” She hated it when people thought they could bulldoze her. She might have been petite at five-foot-three, but she had the inner strength and fortitude of a T-Rex.

  She hung up and headed back to the table. The clickety-clack sound of her heels against the tile flooring echoed through the almost empty dining room.

  “Sorry about that.” She checked off another item and closed her planner. “We’re squared away on linen and produce.”

  Danielle, or Dani as her brother had nicknamed her, bounced in her seat. “That’s wonderful news. How did you get the linen guy to acquiesce?”

  Allie sat up in her chair and smiled. “I told him I’d meet him in the alleyway on delivery days for a quickie.”

  James’s jaw dropped open and Dani cocked her head.

  “Kidding. I simply offered him more money. Obviously, I hit the sweet spot, or I drove him batshit crazy, and he agreed to the deal just to get rid of me.” She picked up her planner and stuffed it into her bag. “How about lunch?”

  No sooner had she sat down, when Flynn, the kitchen manager, walked out with a bottle of red wine.

  “Good afternoon. Thanks for coming in to sample the new menu. I’ve paired today’s choices with a nice dry red.” He poured a splash into James glass and waited for his approval. James swirled, and took a drink before passing the glass to Dani.