Sugar

Book 2: A Sugar and Spice Novel

by Seressia Glass

Genres: Family Life; Women's Fiction; Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Siobhan "Sugar" Malloy, co-owner of Sugar and Spice Café and part-time burlesque dancer, believes that love is for the young and foolish-and at thirty-five years old, she is neither. But a new business venture with the sexy twenty-something owner of Crimson Bay Couriers is quickly changing her mind. Charlie O'Halloran is beyond charming, and his flirtatious manner is an unexpected breath of fresh air for Siobhan. Soon an explosively steamy affair begins, and Siobhan discovers that she loves making up for lost time.



When Charlie comes clean and admits that he wants a relationship, Siobhan is struck with memories of the troubled past she is desperate to forget. But when her estranged daughter makes a surprise appearance, Siobhan must choose between the family she left behind and the new life she's always wanted.

Contains mature themes.

Release date: November 3, 2015

Publisher: Berkley

Print pages: 352

Sample

Titles by Seressia Glass

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

About the Author

ONE

Charlie O’Halloran had a plan, and today was the day to set it in motion.

The plan? Get Siobhan Malloy to notice more than his sandwich order.

He hadn’t stopped thinking about her since the day he’d delivered a floral order to the café instead of one of his injured couriers. The order was for her business partner, thank goodness. He’d been struck dumb by the blonde goddess in the “Everything Nice” T-shirt from the moment he’d seen her. Realizing that the café she co-owned wasn’t that far from his office just off the downtown square, he’d begun doing something he hadn’t done in nearly three years: take lunch out of the office.

He didn’t visit the café every day because, stalker much? However, there was nothing wrong with stopping in once or twice a week to sample the day’s specials, get the lay of the land, and covertly ogle the woman he very much wanted to get to know better.

Not that Siobhan noticed. She had never said anything beyond the standard customer–server interactions, but he hadn’t minded since she treated everyone the same—friendly to customers, warm to coworkers. She didn’t flirt, didn’t encourage attention from men or women. No rings, though that could have been because of her job. Still, the lack of a visit by a significant other piqued his interest. It made him wonder if she had someone in her life, and whether the answer was by choice. Made him wonder if her choices and reasons were anything close to his.

He would have abandoned his reconnaissance mission altogether if not for her coworkers, the baker, Nadia, and the cashier, Rosie. He’d thought he’d been subtle, but obviously not subtle enough. Nadia had boxed up a catering order for him one morning—it had been market research, not stalking—then smiled, told him Siobhan’s full name, and informed him that Siobhan handled their lunch business and had an excellent soup-and-sandwich combo that would be good for a group lunch.

The very next week he’d ordered the suggested catered lunch and as Siobhan packed it and Rosie rang it up, Rosie had quietly mentioned that Siobhan was single. With that information, de facto blessing, and meal in hand, he’d beaten a strategic retreat. Strategic because he’d done his homework. The Sugar and Spice Café had been in business for just under four years and had mostly positive reviews on the various social sites from both business and college customers. There was a gaping hole in its business model, one that he could help with. At the very least it would garner him face time with the lovely Siobhan. At the most, he’d get the girl and the business.

No other outcome was allowed. Charlie would use his brains and his charm to get what he wanted. Neither had failed him before. He had no intention of failing now. Not when it came to the gorgeous woman who’d made it impossible for him to even think about anyone else.

Yes, blonde-haired and blue-eyed described her, but that was like describing the ocean as water. She was pinup model beautiful, complete with the look that said she could be on a retro calendar winking at him while astride some missile or painted on the tail of some World War II bomber. Her hair gleamed like woven gold with sun-streaked strands of platinum. Her eyes changed depending on what she wore, transitioning from the bluest blue of a perfect summer sky to the dusky deep blue of evening, a color change so startling it made him wonder if she sometimes wore contacts. If so, they worked for her. She was doll perfect, if you like dolls with an hourglass figure of full breasts and hips he ached to hold on to.

He pushed back from his desk, then glanced ruefully down at his lap. Yeah, Junior usually piped up whenever he thought about Siobhan, which seemed to be continuously. It was his own damned fault for being too wrapped up in work to take time for anything else, especially a woman. Most especially a woman who would expect to take priority in his life.

He couldn’t meet that expectation and rather than lead anyone on, he’d decided to abandon dating altogether. Even when he found someone just as career-focused as he was, there were other factors that usually made his relationships come to an end sooner rather than later. One-night stands and quick hookups had fulfilled the need for a while, but even those became monotonous. It was just easier to go without.

Yet something told him that Siobhan was different, could be different. She took her career as a business owner just as seriously as he did. Yet she also took time for her friends. She was driven, but not blindly so. Her capacity to care was evident and hinted at her ability to be compassionate and understanding. All of that, and independent enough to not need to be with him every moment of every day. And with curves that went on for days, she had a body built for sex and a life designed for commitment-free intimacy. She was perfect for him.

He just had to convince her of that.

*   *   *

Jealousy was a bitch, and the bitch had claws.

Siobhan tried to choke it down as Nadia whistled while she kneaded dough. After everything Nadia had been through in the last few years, she deserved her happiness with her sexy professor, Kane Sullivan. They’d been back together for two months now, and Siobhan knew her partner spent as much time at Sullivan’s beachfront condo as she did the townhouse above their café.

It wasn’t even the love that suffused Nadia’s face that caused the bright gouge of envy. Okay, it was that too. But the fact that Nadia was obviously and repeatedly reaching the Big O courtesy of someone else was enough to turn Siobhan’s blue eyes green.

She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d gotten laid. It had been before she and Nadia had set up the café in Crimson Bay, that much was certain. That was four years ago. Before that, they’d both spent time in a drug rehabilitation facility in Los Angeles and trying to figure out their next steps. No sex while in treatment. Prior to attending court-mandated rehab, what had she done?

Gone on a downward spiral that had culminated with her breaking her husband’s heart, alienating her daughter, and making sure no one in her family would ever speak to her again.

Siobhan blew out a breath. Yeah, she was pretty sure her vagina had spontaneously re-virginized. After more than a five-year drought, your body forgot certain things. The weight of another body sliding against it. The feel of someone else’s fingers thrilling, teasing. The heat of a hot mouth sliding over her breasts, her clit.

Okay, she hadn’t forgotten. Memory and fantasy kept her pretty busy most nights. If she needed a thrill, she had plenty of opportunity when she performed with her burlesque troupe once a month. She liked letting the music transport her, liked moving into that other mindset that allowed her inner sex kitten free rein. Too bad there weren’t any decent prospects in the bevy of admirers that hung around after the shows.

“What’s wrong?”

Siobhan blinked, bringing the kitchen back into focus. Nadia had moved from kneading dough to shaping it into loaves. “Nothing’s wrong. How’s that new organic flour working out?”

“Pretty good. The flour takes the powdered matcha well, and people are raving about the green tea cakes. I think we should make the mill our regular supplier.”

“Good to know. Their sourdough is pretty good too. We’ve gotten a lot of compliments on the Crimson Bay-L-Ts.”

Nadia wiped her hands clean on the towel she’d thrown over one shoulder. “You’re not going to distract me with business talk, Sugar,” she said. “That’s the second time you sighed in as many minutes. Talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

Nadia trained her dark gaze over Siobhan’s features, and she did her best to appear blithely unconcerned. Nadia knew her too well though. “That’s the problem, isn’t it? Nothing’s happening, when something should be. Between the two of us, you’ve had more chances to get laid than I did. You should take a couple of those guys at your shows up on their offers.”

“The guys who hang around after my burlesque shows are either creepers or frat boys,” Siobhan retorted. “Neither of which are high on my list of prospects. I may be dateless, but I’m not desperate.” Not yet.

“So does that mean that you do have a prospect list?” Nadia brightened. “I thought I’d have to get you and the other girls to draw straws at the next Bitch Talk session. Not that I want Audie to even think about the opposite sex right now.” She shuddered.

Ah, a change of subject. “How is Audie doing, by the way?”

“Holding her own. The assistant district attorney told her that they’ve set an arraignment date for her assault case. I told her I’d go with her.”

“We’ll all go.” Outwardly, Audie appeared to have recovered from her assault, but Siobhan knew something like that could scar a person and those scars could bury themselves deep. Audie had almost irrevocably burned her friendship bridges in the aftermath, but she’d worked with a crisis counselor to come through more or less better than she’d been before. “We’ll support her.”

“She knows that. And I support you, which is why I’m not going to let you keep changing the subject.”

“I’m not changing the subject,” she protested, and even she heard how weak of a protest it was. “There’s no subject to change.”

“Whose fault is that?” Nadia settled her hands on her hips. “You’re miserable, Sugar. And your misery is self-inflicted. Come join me on the dark side. You know we have excellent cookies.”

Rosie stuck her head through the swing door. “There’s a hot guy out here asking for the owner.”

“Your turn,” Nadia said, turning Siobhan toward the door. “I know for a fact that my hot guy is still at work. If you’ll take care of our mysterious hot guy, I can finish up these loaves.”

Siobhan pushed through the swing door then stopped short, barely catching the door in time. Double-espresso shot, Crimson Bay-L-T was back. The first time she’d seen him was when he’d delivered flowers for Nadia four months ago, and the way his long muscular legs had filled those navy blue bike shorts was seared on her mind’s eye—and had starred in a couple of late-night fantasies. He’d returned numerous times since then, though regrettably not in biking gear. This time he wore dark khakis with a pale green oxford bearing his company logo instead of the aerodynamic bike shorts and T-shirt, and he carried a leather satchel instead of a fanny pack. She tried not to feel disappointed that she didn’t get the pleasure of ogling his muscles. He was still heart-poundingly gorgeous and nice to look at though, one of those guys who could look good in anything, thanks to the chiseled jaw, expressive blue-green eyes, and the artfully tousled honey-blond hair.

Though the business-casual attire hid it, she remembered all too well how his lean and fit body had filled his shorts and shirt. He looked to be a man who enjoyed activity, all sorts of activities, intimate and public. And young enough that those activities probably involved jet skis and kegs and strippers.

Siobhan smoothed her apron, then stepped around the counter, unaccountably glad that she’d forgone the standard work attire of Sugar and Spice T-shirt and jeans for the fifties-style pink, teal, and white apron she’d created that complemented her retro pink pedal pushers, teal button-down over a white camisole, and teal sneakers.

For a moment he stared at her blankly, as if frozen. Then he smiled, and damn, that mouth. His mouth promised all sorts of wicked delights. It was a mouth that said it knew how to kiss and do all sorts of other things to please a woman. It said this guy and I, we know what we’re doing when it comes to sex and we know how to deliver on everything we promise.

Good Lord. Siobhan blinked, attempting to gather her composure. It had been too long since she’d had sex with someone besides herself. Her immunity to the opposite sex was woefully out of date.

Maybe it was the talk she’d just had with Nadia. Maybe it was her own internal monologue for the last couple of months. Or maybe, just maybe, the man standing before her with the smile full of promise was the cure for what ailed her.

“Hello. Siobhan Malloy, Sugar and Spice Café. What can I do for you today?”

TWO

“Hello,” he said, sticking out his hand as Siobhan approached. “I’m Charlie O’Halloran with Crimson Bay Couriers. And the questions is, what can I—or rather, what can my company—do for you today?”

“What is it that you thi . . .” Her voice faded as his hand engulfed hers, her breath stolen by the warmth that snaked up her arm and went straight to her chest. Was this what a heart attack felt like? The tingling, the shortness of breath, the painfully hard nipples? Okay, maybe not the nipple part, but everything else.

“Do you have a few minutes, Ms. Malloy?” O’Halloran gave her that smile again. He had to know it was a weapon of mass seduction. Even she, with her scarred-over heart and dormant libido, wasn’t immune to its charm.

She glanced around the café. He’d timed his visit well; their regulars knew what time they closed up shop, and the few stragglers who did come in were choosing to-go orders from whatever was left.

“Of course, Mr. O’Halloran,” she said, gesturing to the out-of-the-way table they used for their Tuesday talks. “And please call me Siobhan. We don’t stand on formality around here.”

“Siobhan. What a beautiful name.” He pulled out her chair for her, then took the seat opposite. “Please call me Charlie.”

“Charlie.” At least he didn’t give her the tired line about beautiful names for beautiful women. Point to him. Then again, he probably didn’t have to use pickup lines. All he had to do was lean forward, stare into a woman’s eyes as if she were the most important thing in the universe, and give that smile that promised to let her in on the secret.

Siobhan wasn’t about to let him add her to his string of conquests. She wasn’t some college coed or innocent. She’d seen too much, done much more, and pulled herself through to the other side. His charms wouldn’t work on her, as powerful as they were. In fact, maybe it was time to show him that an experienced woman had a charm of her own.

She smiled at him, knowing her cheeky grin revealed a pretty potent set of dimples. “What can I do for you, Charlie?”

His smile dimmed slightly, no less potent. “I’d like to discuss a proposition with you. A business proposition.”

Figures. Courier boy was a salesman, and a slick one at that. She smothered the minute disappointment that he wanted her business instead of her and tilted her head at him. “Are you interested in my sweet treats, Charlie?”

He blinked for a moment, then caught himself. “Actually, yes. You’re surrounded by several businesses and government offices, and I’m sure you get a majority of your business from them, with spikes in sales from students around exam time.”

So he wasn’t stupid. Neither was she. “Go on.”

“I noticed that you offer light catering services with twenty-four hours’ advance notice,” Charlie continued, withdrawing one of Sugar and Spice’s brochures from his portfolio. “But your catering is pickup only. I believe there’s a missed opportunity there, and that’s where Crimson Bay Couriers can help.”

Siobhan leaned forward, intrigued despite herself. The café’s catering business was small, but not because of lack of interest. Their foot traffic was the center of their income stream and they used it to build rapport and repeat customers. They had regulars that they knew scheduled weekly meetings, and they managed their inventory down to the last cookie, tracking which days they had a spike in sales and why. Nadia would sometimes deliver baked goods for some of their regulars using her MINI Cooper, but that wasn’t often and didn’t include any lunch orders.

“You want your courier company to take on delivery service for Sugar and Spice?”

“Yes, initially.” He handed her a presentation folder whose cover bore the logo OBS of stylized lettering with the tag line Support at the speed of business in red and navy and the phrase Sugar and Spice Café Delivery Proposal in bold, black lettering. “It’s something we’ve done for other local eateries. We would add Sugar and Spice to our food delivery family and interface our website with yours. The customer would place the order through our website and we pass the order to you after payment. On top of the charges you normally have for your items, Crimson Bay Couriers would add two: One is a delivery fee to help defray any operating costs, including fuel if a motorized vehicle is used. The other is a mandatory tip for our courier. The details of how the payment would be dispersed are included in the proposal I gave you. We also offer other services that have proven beneficial to other local small business in the area.”

Curious, she flipped through the proposal. His bosses had done an impressive job, offering up their client list for references, detailing the projected increase in revenue for the café, what the projected profit-loss calculation would be, and a list of other services including web design and social media marketing.

“You’ve presented an impressive proposal, Mr.—excuse me—Charlie,” she said, closing the proposal and placing it on the table. “I’ll have to discuss it with my partner before I can provide any sort of response.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t expect anything else. My contact information is in the proposal packet. If you have any questions about our services, anything at all, please feel free to call.”

“I will.” She shook his hand again, and it was like lightning striking twice as that same current of awareness snaked up her arms and energized her body.

He turned his wrist, and instead of shaking her hand he held it, his fingers tangled loosely with hers. Strong, callused fingers that denoted a man used to working with his hands, used to hard work. Would she feel the same electric current if those fingers stroked over other parts of her body, like her breasts, the small of her back?

Shocked at the direction of her thoughts, she attempted to pull her hand free of his. He tightened his grip instead. “Charlie?”

“You’re so beautiful,” he said then, his tone dazed and wondering. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman as beautiful as you.”

“How many women have you used that line on?” she asked, but couldn’t muster the heat she wanted to interject into her tone. Not when he looked at her as if she’d just appeared out of a fantasy. His fantasy.

“A couple,” he admitted, “but I didn’t understand what that meant until now. I should have saved it for you.”

She was only human. It was perfectly all right for her to take a little feminine satisfaction in knowing that she’d had an effect on such a handsome man, even if nothing would come of it. Nothing could come of it.

Still, she had to know, so she asked. “Is this how you charm all your clients, with a combination of business smarts and flirting?”

The smile he gave her was at once indulgent and self-deprecating. “But you aren’t my client yet, Siobhan.”

She took a deep breath. He was a stranger. Sure he came in an average of once a week, but they’d hardly said two full sentences to each other before now. He shouldn’t have said her name like that, all soft and sweet as if they’d just awakened from an exhausting bout of lovemaking. As if he knew her, and liked what he knew and wanted to know more. No, he shouldn’t have said it like that, and she shouldn’t have reacted the way she had, melting at the sound and the yearning it evoked in her.

“You think I’m going to be your client?”

“I think you know a good business opportunity when you see it,” he told her, his smile deepening. “I think you’ll at least discuss it with your business partner, do some due diligence. Sugar and Spice Café has successfully been in business for nearly four years, which is a lifetime in restaurant terms. That says a lot about the business and the people who run it.”

His confidence was strangely attractive. On anyone else, that confidence would have been off-putting. But with that open, easy smile and the “just between you and me” tone, his self-assurance drew her like a moth to a flame.

“Be that as it may, don’t you think your overt flirting is offensive?”

“You’re not offended.” He squeezed her hand, reminding her that he still held it. “You’re curious, intrigued even. Wondering if I can back up all the flirting.”

“Can you?” she asked, then immediately wished she could take the words back.

“You should find out for yourself.” He leaned forward, lowered his voice. “Let me take you out on a date.”

Damn the trill of pleasure that swept her bloodstream! It betrayed her resolve, her need to ignore every wish but one, to have her daughter back. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I don’t mix business and pleasure.”

“That’s not true,” he insisted. “You’re surrounded by friends here. Your business partner is your best friend.”

“That’s different.”

“How is it different? Is it different because you don’t look at your friends and imagine yourself kissing them the way you do when you look at me?”

Her nipples tightened. God, when was the last time she’d felt any of this? Anything close to this? She couldn’t remember, but it had to have been years. Years.

“Charlie, this is highly inappropriate. What would your boss say?”

“I don’t think he’d have as big a problem with it as you think he would. As for whether or not it’s inappropriate . . . maybe, but do you think it’s wrong?”

Oh hell yes, it was wrong. It was multiple levels of wrong. Because now, thanks to him, all she could think about was kissing him, touching him, everything him.

She shook her head, trying to distance herself from him, from the things he was resurrecting for her. Things she wasn’t sure she was equipped to handle any longer, if she ever had been.

“Siobhan. Give me one good reason, outside of the potential business relationship, why going out with me would be a bad idea.”

“I can think of one major reason.”

“Which is?”

She sighed inwardly. “I’m older than you.”

“So?”

“So?” she repeated. “What do you mean, so? It’s a big deal!”

He shook his head. “Not to me.”

“Well it is to me!”

“Age ain’t nothing but a number,” he retorted. “How old are you?”

“I’m thirty-five.”

“And I’m thirty,” he told her, shrugging his shoulders. “That’s only a five-year difference. You make it sound like you’re old and decrepit and past your prime.” He gave her a long, slow perusal, teal eyes alight with appreciation. “Which I can tell you, you most certainly are not.”

He’d stolen the words right out of her mouth, leaving her without an argument. “What am I then?” she asked, wanting to know how he saw her. Not that what he thought of her mattered.

“I think you’re retro sexy, like a pinup,” he said, sincerity flooding his tone. “You remind me of cotton candy—fun, indulgent, a sweet treat. But I bet you’re also a habanero hottie on the inside. Yes, sugar and spice, just like your café.”

Flummoxed and flustered, she could only sit and stare at him. Why her, why now? She wasn’t ready for anything like this. She doubted she’d ever be ready for anything like this. For all her bitching and moaning to Nadia and to Charlie that she was too old for the relationship dance, she was honest enough to admit to herself that she didn’t feel that she deserved anything like this, an opportunity like this, even though she wanted it. Not with Charlie, though. Not really.

She’d made a mess of her life before. She’d ruined her daughter’s childhood, destroyed her marriage to her high school sweetheart. Did she really deserve another shot at relationships, when the ones she’d had were still in tatters?

“Siobhan.” He turned their hands so that he could press a kiss to the back of her hand. As kisses went, it was tame, chaste even, but she felt it all the way to her toes.

He stood. “Whether it’s for business or pleasure or both, I look forward to hearing from you. My contact info is in the proposal.”

He left. She remained seated, stunned, aroused, and very confused. It was a state that continued when she opened the portfolio to retrieve his business card. As she read it, she realized what OBS stood for: O’Halloran Business Solutions. Charlie O’Halloran wasn’t a courier or salesperson for Crimson Bay Couriers.

He was the owner.

THREE

“So, Hottie McHotterson has brains to go with all that brawn,” Nadia joked as she closed the cover on the business proposal. “Your boyfriend sure is full of surprises.”

“I’m not going to rise to your bait.” Siobhan joined her business partner at the small round table tucked into their office. “But thanks for reading the proposal and letting me close the café before you started in with the innuendos.”

“Are you going to take his bait?” Nadia asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “I gotta say, that’s some mighty fine bait.”

“Can we talk about the proposal?” Siobhan asked, wishing she’d selected a stronger tea than the rosehip currently steeping in front of her. “I’d like to know what you think about it.”

Nadia checked the brew strength of her own pot of tea, a mild rooibos. “I’m glad to know that your potential Mr. Right Now was doing more than stalking you. He did a very thorough background on our business.”

Siobhan decided to let the “Mr. Right Now” quip pass without comment. She didn’t need to encourage Nadia more than she already had. “Apparently, Crimson Bay Couriers is just one of the companies under the O’Halloran Business Solutions banner. It looks like they have an answer for anything a small business could need.”

“I think his proposal is sound,” Nadia said. “Definitely something we need to consider.”

“Actually, we have considered it. We just didn’t have the infrastructure and overhead necessary to implement it.”

“True.” Nadia tapped on her tablet, pulling up their business plan. “McHotterson’s proposal would enable us to branch out into delivery and onsite catering without a hardship investment on our p