Eat Your Heart Out: A Romance Charity Anthology

by Skye MacKinnon

  "Will! Hey! Will!" I waved my arm frantically as I yelled. Thank heavens that Dottie wasn't there. She'd never let me hear the end of it.

  And just those few seconds of distraction were enough for the caramel to start to burn. I started cursing and adjusting the heat and praying that I didn't set off any fire alarms. They took safety very seriously on the station. They had to, obviously. Catastrophic failure was not an option. And the fines got heavy when we screwed up.

  "Is everything alright, Ariel?" Will came rushing in, blaster drawn and looking around madly for any trouble.

  I blushed. Of course, calling out to a station guard like that would give him the wrong idea. What was I thinking? I needed to figure myself out and stop screwing up or Will was going to… well, he was going to do something.

  He'd remember me. And not for any good reason.

  "Everything's fine," I was quick to say. "Well, my sweets are burning, but that's a part of the job. I'm sorry for worrying you." It all came out in a rush.

  Will stared at me like I'd grown a second head. One of his eyes flashed red for a moment before returning to its normal brown, a reminder of all the cybernetic parts inside of him. That might have scared someone else, but I was fascinated to find out about all the bits of him, whether he was born with them or they were added after the fact.

  "Everything is fine?" he repeated, the words coming a bit slowly. I knew that cyborgs thought faster than normal humans, but Dottie's research said they sometimes spoke slower because it took their mouths a few seconds to catch up.

  "I was going to bring you some candy when you came around. I wanted to make sure you didn't miss out." I was blushing even harder. It sounded so stupid. Will had important things to do, none of which included getting summoned by a baker screaming bloody murder because she wanted to offer him sweets.

  "Oh." Will blinked a few times, clearly trying to process all those words coming out of my mouth. "Thank you."

  "Do you want to come into the shop and let me fix you a bag?" I could do this. I'd give Will the sweets, he'd taste them and know just how good they were, then he'd fall madly in love with me and take me back to his quarters where we'd…

  Okay, maybe I was getting ahead of myself.

  "I'm sorry, I must continue on my rounds. I will see you around, Ariel." And then he turned and walked away again.

  I wanted to scream in frustration.

  I probably needed to get it through my head. The cyborg didn't want me. My little crush was going to go nowhere. We weren't going to fall madly in love and have a dozen cyborg babies.

  That was fine.

  And then Will turned around.

  "Can you make cupcakes a cyborg could eat?"

  My eyes widened and I grinned. "Yes, definitely."

  Could I make gluten free cupcakes that a cyborg could eat?

  Probably.

  Did I have a recipe?

  Nope.

  Could I come up with a recipe good enough to make a cyborg fall in love with me at the first bite and propose to me on the spot?

  Well, if I did, I had a feeling the snack would be outlawed in the blink of an eye.

  But I had to try. At this point, it was almost as much a matter of professional pride as it was about wanting Will.

  I put Dottie to work in the storefront, handling customers and doing the baking as needed. She understood that I was a woman on a mission and she wasn't about to stop me.

  I scoured every baking resource I had, planning out flavor combinations and ingredients that would make Will's head spin.

  Metaphorically. I'm not sure his head could actually spin, but he was a cyborg, so anything was possible.

  He didn't want candy, so I decided to stay away from anything too sweet, and cranberries were going to be my secret weapon. Cranberries. Lemon. A creamy frosting. Not too sweet, but nice and tangy.

  Unless he wanted chocolate.

  No. I'd chosen my path and I was going to stick to it. I'd made good gluten free cupcakes before and I was going to do it again. Whether they made Will fall in love with me or not, he was going to know just how good of a baker I was.

  Though the first batch had me doubting my talents. They were way more pancake than cupcake, flat and rubbery and tasting bad.

  I wasn't deterred. The first batch always came out wrong.

  Dottie came back to have a chat and I banished her. I couldn't be distracted.

  When the timer was done on my second try, I gave a little prayer before opening the oven and it was answered. The cupcakes looked amazing.

  I took a big sniff and let the fruity scent wrap around me. There was no way that Will wouldn't love these. I just had to let them cool and get them frosted, then it was show time.

  "Dottie!" I called to the front of the store, "where are the security guards' quarters?"

  I had on my nicest apron and a cute dress, and my hair was done up. Dottie had insisted on the apron, said it really sold the look, and I had to agree with her. If I wasn't holding a plate of cupcakes my hands would be shaking, but as it was they were steady.

  I couldn't afford to drop my sole reason for coming here.

  I found Will's quarters and pressed the buzzer. He wasn't expecting me. We didn't have a date, but I was here and I wasn't going away until he'd had a taste of me.

  Of my cupcakes, I mean.

  "One minute!" I heard through the thick door.

  I tried to imagine what was delaying him. Had he just come out of the shower? Was he only in a towel? Running around looking for clothes? By the time he made it to the door my cheeks were red with the imagining.

  And his hair was wet. Maybe I wasn't too far off on that shower thing.

  He was wearing loose black pants and a shirt, so different from the starched uniform I usually saw him in. He looked… normal. And I liked it. This was a side of Will no one got to see, at least no one who wasn't a friend. And I wanted to see more of it.

  "Ariel." He sounded surprised, and I wasn't sure if it was good or bad.

  "Um, hi." I really needed to work on talking around this guy. "I brought cupcakes." What was I supposed to do now?

  Will blinked twice and then took the plate from me. "Really?" His eyes got wide and he took a deep breath. "They smell good."

  "Gluten free," I added, just so he was sure they were safe. "Made them myself."

  The look that came over Will's face was pure lust. His eyes got dark and he sucked in a shuddering breath. But since he was still looking at the cupcakes I knew it wasn't for me. That was okay. I was going to put together a whole baking-based seduction plan. I could do it.

  "Would you like to come in?" he asked.

  I was just about to turn away and thought for a second he was talking to the cupcakes, but that made no sense. "Um, sure."

  I followed him into his room and made no secret that I was snooping. The layout was the same as my quarters: one big room with a kitchenette in one corner, a bed in another, a view screen and seating area in another, and then a bathroom tucked away in a separate room. But I'd painted my walls and added decorations.

  Will's place was sterile. The bright blue frosting on the cupcakes was the only color in the place.

  He set the plate down on the table. "Would you like one?" he asked.

  "I'd really just like your reaction." I'd already tasted this batch and knew they were amazing. If I wasn't determined to give Will a cupcake he would never forget, I probably would have eaten all of them.

  Perks of the job.

  Will picked up a cupcake and studied it for several seconds like it was some kind of strange species. Or maybe he was trying to figure out the right angle of attack. Then he opened his mouth wide and took a bite.

  The noise he made was decadent. Sinful. It made me look at his bed and imagine what he would sound like if we were rolling around there. I didn't know cyborgs could make sounds like that, and I wanted to learn what else I didn't know.

  Will took another bite and his eyes rolled back in hi
s head. He was having a moment.

  "I haven't tasted something this good since… I've never tasted something this good." The cupcake wasn't big, and it only took another bite to finish it off.

  He looked down at the plate and then back at me, a smile on his face. He looked younger, less threatening than he usually did.

  Especially with frosting smeared on his face.

  "You've got some…" I gestured with my fingers, but he didn't seem to understand.

  I stepped close and wiped the frosting off with my thumb. I think it showed great restraint that I didn't use my tongue.

  Will caught my hand before I could pull away and pulled my thumb towards his lips. Our eyes locked and I nodded. Whatever he wanted to do, I wanted him to do it.

  He darted his tongue out and wiped the frosting away, then wrapped his lips around my thumb to suck off any of the remaining sweetness.

  Heat curled deep in my body at the erotic display. This had nothing to do with cupcakes and everything to do with another kind of hunger.

  "You want a taste?" he asked, voice husky.

  I kissed him.

  How was I supposed to resist? He tasted like lemon and sugar and cyborg. I wasn't sure how to describe cyborg, but that's how Will tasted. And when his tongue swept against mine, I stopped trying to classify his taste and let myself surrender to it.

  He kissed like he meant it.

  He kissed like he'd wanted to do it for years.

  He kissed like he was starving.

  I revelled in it.

  Will's hand cupped the back of my head as he took control of the kiss. It was intense, a reminder that this was a man made of power who knew what to do with it. I wanted more.

  I made a desperate noise in the back of my throat, something that sat between encouragement and begging. And Will understood. He deepened the kiss, his other hand sliding down my back until he cupped my ass and held me completely in his power.

  Was this what it meant to be with a cyborg?

  Yes, please!

  Will pulled back, but he didn't let go of me. He was breathing heavily, and one of his cyborg eyes glowed red, as if he was analyzing some sort of information.

  Or maybe I'd fried his circuits.

  "I've wanted to do that for a long time," he said. He led me back so gently I didn't realize it was happening until he was lowering me to his bed. I didn't like it when he let go of me, but he quickly sat down beside me.

  That wasn't enough. I straddled his lap and put my hands on his shoulders. "You have? I didn't think you even knew my name." I'd been tracking him down for weeks and thought I was kidding myself. Maybe not.

  Will's eyes widened, and I wasn't sure if it was because I was climbing over him or because of what I said. I wiped the dumbfounded look off his face with another kiss. Just a quick one. I wanted more, but talking seemed like a good idea.

  After another kiss.

  And another.

  Who needed talking?

  Oh, right. Me.

  Sitting on his lap wasn't doing good things for my brain, but now that I was touching him there was no way I was going to stop.

  "I know your name," Will said, kissing my shoulder and up my neck. "Ariel. Beautiful baker Ariel. I traded patrol routes with another guard just so I could see you. I've been trying to ask you out for a month."

  "Really? I've been making you treats hoping to talk to you. But you didn't say anything." His body was saying plenty now. I wanted to rip his clothes off.

  Will blushed. There was another fun thing to know about cyborgs. "I got tongue tied."

  "You don't seem tongue tied anymore."

  "I'm not." He kissed me again and I ended up flat on my back, legs wrapped around him. I was glad to be wearing the dress, though I wished I had gone a bit more risqué and got rid of anything under the dress.

  Oh well. Will was just going to need to remove my clothes himself.

  But he pulled back again. "How did you make those cupcakes?" he asked. "I've never tasted anything that good."

  "I have my secrets." A bit of almond flour. Vanilla flavoring. All the tricks of the trade. "But there's no way I'm telling you. I need to keep the magic alive."

  He laughed and slid a hand down my side. "I think there's plenty of magic. Maybe that can be our first date. You. Me. A batch of cupcakes. What do you say?"

  "Isn't that what we're doing now?" I hadn't really come here planning for this to happen. Hoping, yes. Planning, no. But here we were. Me, him, and a batch of cupcakes.

  "Show me how to make them this time," he said, "and you'll have me for good."

  "Is that a promise?" I'd been crushing on Will for so long that it was hard to believe I might actually get to keep him.

  "Absolutely." He kissed me again.

  We could talk more about cupcakes in the morning.

  About Kate Rudolph

  Kate Rudolph is a paranormal and alien romance author who lives in Indiana. She loves writing about kick butt heroines and the steamy heroes who love them. She's been devouring romance novels since she was too young to be reading them and had to hide her books so no one would take them away. She couldn't imagine a better job in this world than writing romances and sharing them with her fellow readers.

  If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review.

  To learn about new releases from Kate Rudolph and to receive a free ebook, you can sign up below:

  Kate Rudolph’s Reader Club

  Ready to give audio a try? Get a free audiobook here!

  Her Cherry Picker

  Valentine Lake Book #1

  K. R. Max

  Heat level: 5

  McKenna Brooks has only one thing on her mind: her family’s cherry farm. So when her friends invite her to cut loose one night, she figures what’s the worst that can happen? It’s just one night. It’s not like she’ll ever see the guy again, or have to explain why she left him with her cherry intact.

  Gibson Hall is the billionaire owner of a string of sex clubs, but he hasn’t been able to forget that one, fresh, cherry sweet woman he met all those years ago. Now he’s in Montana, and he’s never been around this many fresh, unpopped cherries. Once he sees McKenna again, though, he knows exactly which cherry he wants to pick in this very steamy, full length contemporary romance novel.

  Chapter 1

  McKenna, eight years ago, and very excited about her next chapter…

  “I called the merchandise distributor,” I tell Dad, in between mouthfuls of pancakes. Mom makes the best pancakes. Honestly, she makes the best everything, but today, it’s pancakes. I’m going to miss her cooking.

  “The next batch of t-shirts should be here by the end of next week.” I continue. “If they’re not, the number’s on your desk to call and chase them up. And the fertilizer is stored in the shed. There were three sacks left over. They’re in the back of the barn, near the tools.”

  Dad shakes his head. “Believe it or not, I ran this farm just fine before you came along,” he says mildly, but I see his lips twitching, and I aim a mock punch at his arm.

  “Those t-shirts were my idea, and they sell like hotcakes. Mom, don’t let him destroy all my hard work while I’m gone.”

  She laughs and shakes her head. We all know she won’t lift a finger to stop him if he decides that’s for the best, but we also know he’ll do no such thing.

  “They’re an excellent idea,” Dad agrees. “I promise I’ll follow up if I have to, but I think they’re all too scared of you over there to dare be late with the delivery.”

  I can’t hide my smile.

  “Good,” I tell him. “They should be. Just because I’m only seventeen, and a woman, doesn’t mean they get to ignore our business when it suits them.”

  “I think they learned their lesson after the last time, honey,” says Dad, patting my arm. “Mari-mine, these pancakes are your best yet.”

  He pulls Mom close and kisses her on the lips. I roll my eyes and look away as she blushes, but it’
s more to give them privacy than anything else. After a long, quiet moment, I hear Mom sit down at the table and decide it’s safe to look again.

  I frown at Dad. I’m so excited about going away that this is the first time I’ve really looked at him this morning, and he looks a little pale. Guilt twists in my chest. I’m due to leave for college in just a few days. I know he and Mom are really proud of me for getting into Moyle, one of the top schools for business in the country, but I can’t help feeling bad. I’m leaving him behind to manage the farm himself.

  “Dad? Are you sure you’re okay with me going away to college? I can stay, you know. It’s just business school. I’m pretty sure I can learn anything they’d teach me right here on the farm.”

  “No,” he says, his voice hard, and I blink. Then he gives me a rueful smile and reaches out to touch my arm. “No, honey. You go. Don’t worry about the farm. That’s for me to figure out. Go. Study. Be happy.”

  I force myself to smile, but I still can’t shake the guilt. Dad’s a caretaker. All he wants is for ‘his girls’ to be happy. “I’m happy here.”

  “I know you are, honey, but you’re smart. Really smart. You’re going to do a whole lot more with that business brain of yours than run a cherry farm in Montana. I’ve really appreciated your help and support with the farm. You have great ideas, and you know I’d never fault your work ethic, but you can make an even better life for yourself out there. Just promise us one thing.”

  I take his hand in one of mine and Mom’s in the other. “Anything.”

  I mean it. My parents have always supported me in everything I wanted to do, even though they were both shocked to discover I had a natural aptitude for business.

  “Go and conquer the world,” says Dad. “Just make sure you’re back here for Christmas and Thanksgiving.”

  I laugh and lean over to kiss him. “You got it, Dad.”

  “Now go and get on with your packing. I’ve got to check the water levels in the south orchard.”