Sugar Rush

by Jasmine Luck

Genres: Military Romance; Multicultural & Interracial Romance; Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

An escape across the Atlantic, where she can cover her cousin’s bakery and test out her popular Asian-fusion treats, is the healing distraction Londoner Maddie Liu needs after her failed engagement.

Her bags are only packed for a few weeks, but the family friend who collects her at the airport is an unexpected and irresistible temptation.

Rick Callahan left the Army to take over his dad’s carpentry business and make a home for his sister and her son. He keeps himself busy providing for them, so there isn’t time for romance in his mind. But everything changes when he meets Maddie, and they realize how much they need each other.

Family and friends help Maddie feel at home, but it's Rick who makes her yearn to stay, even though the career she has built is across an ocean.

When her past shows up in Kentucky, and the date of her return flight creeps closer, Rick and Maddie must decide if their sugar rush is worth the risk.

 

Read more

Release date: June 6, 2023

Publisher: Parcel & Page

Print pages: 323

Sample

Chapter 1

Maddie

 

It’s official. The universe has something against me.

In the last seventy-two hours, it had seen fit to shit on me repeatedly and from a great height. For example:

Relationship trashed (quite literally) by fiancé—tick.

Previously immaculate suitcase covered in mold—tick.

Drooled on by a sleeping man for (very delayed) flight duration—big, slimy tick.

I stood in the Louisville airport arrivals hall, limbs heavy with fatigue from the long journey, and considered the nearest row of plastic chairs. I’d read on a review that these chairs were the best place to sleep here—or the least worst, anyway. It was this or propping myself up at the altar of the 24-hour Starbucks several meters away until six a.m. at the earliest because every hotel within a twenty-minute taxi ride was full.

I parked my enormous suitcase by the nearest chair and dropped down into it, weighing my options as I sat. You know what? It’s pretty comfortable. I could just nap here.

Although that opened up the possibility of my possessions being removed as I slept.

I could call the man my cousin had arranged to collect me.

I held my phone, tapping my thumb on the screen as my thoughts tumbled over each other, flip flopping over whether to press the call button for one Rick Callahan, a man I’d never met.

It wasn’t his fault that my flight had been so badly delayed. He probably wouldn’t appreciate being called so early. Even if he’d been keeping tabs on the airline’s website, he might have gone to bed.

All I knew about him was that he worked as a carpenter, and tended not to speak that much.

I imagined him, this grandpa-type man, sleepily rubbing his eyes at the shrill ring of the phone, then having to shake off the mantle of slumber.

No, Maddie. It’s one in the bloody morning.

I’d wait until a reasonable hour.

Who crosses an entire ocean to avoid someone?

Me, apparently.

Welcome to Loserville, I thought miserably, not even smiling at my own crappy joke, and I always laughed at bad jokes. Population: Me.

I looked at my watch again. Look on the bright side, I told myself. Only five hours to go until I can call Rick.

The janitor, turning very slow circles in a ride-on floor polisher, gave me a long, sympathetic look. Or was it pity? Hard to tell under the harsh airport strip lighting.

I wiggled on the chair, but the plastic didn’t give. Should I pillow my head on my hoodie, take off my shoes, try to get as comfy as the chairs would allow?

In the end, I lay down, draping my coat over myself, closed my eyes, and mentally listed things I could do if sleep eluded me. I’d watched a video on the flight of fun ways to waste time at an airport, but I was pretty convinced that races on moving walkways were much less fun when I could only race myself.

Time passed. I let myself drift into a doze by the low rumble of the floor polisher and the white-noise quiet of the airport.

“Maddie Liu?”

Hearing my name jerked me awake.

I snapped my eyes open to see a man so gorgeous, I couldn’t be sure I wasn't still dreaming.

He was big.

Tall, broad shoulders held my gaze for several seconds before I noticed his face. Sharp cheekbones. He'd broken his nose once, and the kink gave his face some character. His honey-coloured hair curled a little over his forehead, lending him a charming, rough-and-tumble look that belied the stern set of his mouth.

But it was his eyes that really held my attention. As the stranger stepped closer, I saw the quiet intensity in them. His irises were the deep brown of new acorns, shot through with just a touch of gold.

He wore dark jeans that hugged his hips, scarred boots, and a mustard Henley. The edges of a metal chain flirted with the open neck of his shirt.

“Sorry,” I blurted automatically, British to the core. Perhaps he was some kind of weirdly hot, plainclothes security guard? “Am I not allowed to sleep here?”

He smiled slightly, and his handsomeness amplified. “Sure, but I thought you might p

refer a bed. I’m Rick. Your cousin Jess’s neighbor.”

His voice was husky and deep, a good ol’ Southern drawl that made my stomach flip over.

Oh. This is Rick?

I sat up, pushing hair out of my face. “How did you—”

“Jess told me the numbers of the flights you were on. Been followin’ the carnage.”

I smiled tiredly. “Carnage is a good word for it.”

Hands tucked casually in his pockets, one hip slightly cocked, he looked like a walking advert for Southern men. They should put him on the airport billboard. “Didn’t want you to be stranded. What kind of Kentucky welcome would that be?”

“I...” I swallowed the pang of lust just looking at him brought on. “Um. Did you have to walk around just saying my name at lots of sleeping women?”

Wow. My brain had not woken up enough yet to use a filter.

“Nah. You’re pretty much the only one here aside from the security and janitors. Plus, Jess sent me a link to your YouTube channel, so I knew what you looked like.”

He produced an ancient leather wallet, and flipped it open to reveal a driver’s license with a grainy black and white photo of him.

“Oh.” I vaguely remembered asking Jess if her neighbor could show me some ID before I got into a car alone with him. Better safe than sorry. “Thanks. Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah. You, too. Welcome to Kentucky.” Rick took the handle of my mammoth suitcase and slung my equally enormous tote

over his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. His muscles bunched under his tee.

I blinked at him for a moment, trying to see through the haze of oh my god he is so hot.

This was my cousin’s neighbor?

When Jess had described Rick as “a puppy with resting grump-face,” I had imagined a sometimes-crotchety retired guy in a nut-brown pullover with five grandkids and a keen interest in sweater vests and period furniture restoration.

Not this model. This sharp-cornered Hollywood perfection with a honeyed bourbon voice.

Why had I imagined him as old? She had never mentioned his age.

I felt stupid.

“Thank you so much,” I began as I stood and shrugged on my hoodie. “You’ve saved me from an awful night on those chairs.”

Rick threw me a smile as I walked. “I hit the Starbucks first. I’m impressed that you even considered the chairs.”

“I don’t think I could afford enough coffee to keep me awake. I wasn’t going to call you until at least six a.m.”

“I was awake,” he shrugged.

“Well, I really appreciate it.” I snuck at a glance at his unbelievably hot profile as I walked. “I wasn’t looking forward to several hours of vending machine roulette.”

He laughed, flashing a slightly crooked grin. “You’d never get a Snickers. Damn things are rigged.”

We waited for the elevator once Rick pressed the button, indicating for me to step inside first. Crappy generic sounds that could pass for music played us down the three floors to the parking lot. I stared tiredly at my reflection in the mirror. Even though I could only have slept for thirty minutes, I had bed-hair. Compounded by plane-hair.

Dark circles ringed my eyes, and those dark circles had their own circles. What a wreck.

The universe had started shitting on me from a great height earlier this week, and from the looks of it, it wasn’t going to let up soon, even though I’d changed time zones and traveled several thousand miles.

“Here we go. Your chariot awaits.” Rick led me to a dark blue pickup truck with the words CALLAHAN CARPENTRY emblazoned in pale gray on the side.

I stared at the door for a second when he pulled it open for me. Overtired, I hesitated for a moment, then thanked him before getting in. Rick climbed into the driver’s seat after he loaded my luggage. I felt my eyelids droop as he started up the engine.

The combo of a long journey and lots of tears had started to take its toll. I felt myself begin to deflate like an old balloon.

“It’s an hour’s drive. Why don’t you try to catch some sleep?” Rick suggested. His voice was so soothing.

I let my gaze linger on him; the line of his jaw under scruffy brown-gold stubble, the hazel eyes that seemed to see straight through me.

“What kind of person crosses an ocean to avoid someone?” I mumbled, too tired to censor myself, not sure if I really wanted him to answer or not.

I fell asleep before he replied.

 

Rick

 

An hour later, Rick pulled up on the street outside Jess’s house. Maddie was asleep next to him. She looked impossibly beautiful, her face relaxed in slumber. Soft lips, thick, dark lashes, raven’s wing hair.

Who crosses an ocean to avoid someone?

He’d like to have several very stern words with that someone.

When Jess told him that her British cousin was coming from the UK to cover the family bakery for Jess’ three-week honeymoon, Rick didn’t know what to expect.

Of course, he’d watched Maddie’s YouTube cooking videos, scrolled through her Instagram full of mouthwatering photos of apple-crumble bao and raspberry-filled angpao cookies.

But in those videos, she hadn’t been like this. A tumble of bed-head raven hair, a crisp accent softened by tiredness. Wounded eyes. Jess warned Rick to look after Maddie, telling him she’d been through a lot lately. He’d figured that any friend or relation of Jess’ wouldn’t need too much looking after. His next-door neighbor was born independent.

Maddie Liu might not be bleeding, but she was absolutely walking wounded.

Rick stood by the passenger door for a moment. He needed to wake her up, get her settled next door.

In the quiet of the early May night, cicadas chirped.

Her chest rose and fell beneath the white t-shirt she wore under a soft pink hoodie. He sternly made himself not think about what might be under those clothes and opened the door. Gently, he nudged her shoulder. It was a safe area to touch.

She didn’t stir once. Out cold.

He murmured her name. “Maddie. We’re here.”

At the lack of response, he tried again, slightly louder. She didn’t budge. Not even an eyelid twitch.

For a few moments he chewed over the appropriateness of scooping up a woman without asking first. She needed the sleep, and he couldn’t just start yelling at her in the street in the middle of the night.

He wasn’t in the military anymore, after all.

Several options flickered through his mind, He could go through Maddie’s stuff, find Jess’ keys, or he could bring her into his house and settle her there. Might be easier. Would certainly be quicker.

First, he toted her stuff to his house, shouldered open the door, and shoved it inside.

When he got back to the truck, he found her still deeply asleep, snoring softly. It was kind of adorable. Her lashes were thick, dark crescents against her cheekbones.

“Maddie,” he said, louder, shaking her shoulder gently.

Her breath hitched, and she murmured something unintelligible, but slumbered on.

“Okay.”

He unbuckled her seatbelt and lifted her into his arms. She shifted against him, pressing her face into his chest, cuddling in, and let out a long sigh. A happy sigh.

Rick would have laughed if he hadn’t been so painfully turned on by the feel of her in his arms, warm, pliable, and soft.

He climbed the three steps to his house, trying to ignore the way she pressed her face into his neck, mumbling something in her sleep. The silk of her midnight-dark hair tickled slightly. Her heart beat lazily against his own. She moved a little, and her backside brushed his growing erection. He swore silently.

“Jess, you fuckin’ owe me,” he mumbled to himself.

Rick settled Maddie in his bed because his Ma had raised him too well to put a guest on his lumpy couch. He removed her shoes, placed a glass of water and a couple of acetaminophen tablets on the table, and tucked her in.

Unable to resist, and thinking of his sister Jenny’s all too recent wrenching heartbreak, he leaned down to press a delicate kiss to her hair. “Sleep well, honey. You done crossed an ocean to forget him, so forget.”

Her hair spread out like an obsidian halo on the white pillow. As he pulled the door closed, she turned, wrecking the fallen angel image of her hair, before pulling his pillow into her face as if breathing in his scent.

Her lips curved; her breathing evened out.

It nearly broke him to leave her there, warm and smiling, and not just settle down behind her, wrap her in his arms, and keep her safe from whoever had turned her inside out.

Rick took off his boots and settled onto the couch before he dragged a throw over himself.

Sleep was a long time coming.

Chapter 2

Maddie

 

I startled awake in a strange bed. The last thing I remembered was getting into the car with Rick, then having his strong arms around me.

I slowly turned on my side, and looked at the rest of the bed, relieved I was alone. The last thing I needed was a throwaway one-night stand after crossing an entire ocean to avoid a confrontation with my ex-fiancé. Relief notwithstanding, I didn’t think that anything about Rick Callahan seemed throwaway. Everything about his manner and kindness last night had relaxed me. He exuded peace and safety.

Being in this bed reminded me of how I’d felt last night, drifting into sleep whilst being supported by Rick’s strong, sure arms, and I realised that this must be his bed.

Taking in my surroundings, I listened to the odd creaking here and there of an unfamiliar house. The birdsongs outside were so different from the horns and shouts of inner-city London.

The bedroom was minimalist, the beautiful wardrobes at the end of the bed the only real feature. The craftsmanship was stunning, the grain of the black oak visible all over the doors.

I sat up, ran a hand over my face, and saw the glass of water and the painkillers on the bedside table. Rick must’ve done that, thinking of what I might need or want, even at the late hour after the long drive

The sweetness of the painkillers and water gesture touched me. I took both, then left the bedroom, the wooden floor cool under my bare feet. The bathroom stood to my right, and I freshened up, washing my face and using the toilet. I stared at myself in the mirror for a moment.

Jet lag was a bitch.

I looked tired. Because I was tired. Exhausted, in fact.

I stared at myself in the mirror for another second, then willed the dragging fatigue away. “You’re in another country now. Loosen up and forget him at least a few days. He’s thousands of miles away.”

I looked at my face, willing myself to accept what I was telling my reflection.

As I turned into the hall and padded down the stairs, the sounds of a baby gurgling caught my attention.

Rick has a family?

I followed the sound to the kitchen, where a mousy-haired woman sat facing a chattering toddler. Being fed was clearly a game to the little one, who clamped his tiny mouth shut just as the spoon was close. He laughed uproariously when the woman pulled away the spoon, and the whole thing repeated on a loop.

“Hi,” I tentatively greeted her.

The woman looked up and smiled, unsurprised to find a stranger in her house. “Oh, hi! Maddie, right? Rick said you were here.”

I paused, wanting to just go back to bed and sleep. Was this Rick’s family? And if they were his, why hadn’t they been sleeping in the bed that clearly smelled of him with the ghost of a woodsy cologne partnered with sawdust and freshly cut grass?

But of course he had a wife and a baby. He looked as if he’d stepped off a movie theater screen, for God’s sake.

“I’m his sister, Jenny. This little bundle of trouble is my son, Toby. We’re living with him, temporarily. Bad break-up.” Her tone was wry. “I hear that you’re Jess’ cousin from across the pond. Welcome to Redwing Falls.”

“Thank you.” I smiled woodenly, wondering what to do with myself.

“Love your concept, by the way! Asian-fusion is everywhere with dinner food but hardly anywhere in baking. I hope I’ll get to try some of your stuff. I’ve been tempted to lick my screen when I look at your social media posts.”

“Thanks so much!” The nervous knot in my stomach loosened a little because she was so lovely. “I’ll do my best to make you something.”

Jenny’s lips curved, and she opened her mouth to say something else, but then Toby flailed and knocked the spoon from her hand.

She scolded him, telling me, “No one tells you this, you know? That the baby is awful cute and all, but I can’t feed the thing actual food for love

 or money. He’s a monster.” She bent to retrieve the spoon, and wiped it clean on a muslin cloth.

Toby studied his pudgy little hands and giggled, then shot a killer grin at me.

“He is cute,” I agreed, because it was true, and because I felt I needed to earn some conversation points with Jenny. I was an imposter in their house, after all.

“Coffee?” Jenny asked.

“I’ll make it.” I moved to the cupboards. “Just…. Um.” I had not thought this through. “Just tell me where stuff is.”

“Use the Keurig.” Jenny used the baby spoon to gesture towards a sleek black coffee maker. “Rick allows us mere mortals touch it now. When I first moved in, I think he inspected it for fingerprints when he got home.”

The words surprised a laugh out of me. Jenny was warm, immediately likable. “Really?”

“Maybe not that bad, but it was certainly his number one for a while. Way above me in the hierarchy. I mean, it’s fair. He basically bought this house so Toby and I didn’t have to be a burden on my parents.”

I located mugs and set two on the counter. They were plain gray, the color of the sky after a storm. “How do you take it?”

“Cream with two sugars. I need all the energy I can get running after this one.”

I turned to see Jenny moving a porridge-filled spoon towards her baby. This time she scored a direct hit, and the spoon went in, but Toby didn’t seem happy about it.

The smell of the beans brewing made my senses twitch. I was waking up in increments.

“So, you’ve come to help your aunt cover for Jess while she and Connor take that big honeymoon trip, huh?” Jenny asked. “You guys must be close.”

“We probably don’t text as much as we could,” I admitted, “And it’s been four years since I actually saw her. Not on a screen, that is. I can’t wait to work in a bakery in another country, though. It’ll be a good experience for me. Plus, I get to test out my bakes on an American audience.”

“I bet they’re amazing,” Jenny said. “You haven’t tested them here before?”

“No. Jess and Aunt Laurie had only just bought the shop when I visited last time. I helped them clear it out.” I added a generous helping of cream and sugar to both mugs and carted them over to the table. What the hell? I needed the energy, too.

Toby sat proudly in his little chair, arms akimbo, face covered in porridge. It almost looked as if he was wearing a facemask. A huge grin lit up his face when I appeared.

“Is he always this happy?” I asked, unable to contain my delight. Babies’ joy was so infectious. Instant serotonin.

Jenny laughed, taking the mug with a little grin. “Only when he beats the system and ends up with more porridge on the outside than on the inside. Scamp,” she added, but with no real heat in the words.

She grabbed a wet wipe and cleaned his face.

I stared into my coffee, feeling like I was intruding on this family time, even though Jenny didn’t seem at all bothered.

I slept in Rick’s bed

and now I’m hanging out with his sister…

Didn’t I tell myself that these three weeks would be a total break from everything love-related? A chance to work out what on Earth to say to Seb when I saw him again, and a chance to lick my wounds out of sight of everyone I knew back in London.

Not so I could intrude on other families and definitely not so I could think about a tall, broad southern man with hazel eyes and a deep voice.

“Please sit,” Jenny encouraged, nodding at the closest chair, and I did so as the big concertina door at the other end of the kitchen opened.

It was as if I had summoned Rick just by thinking about him.

He was framed by the doorway, hair rumpled, eyes soft and sleepy. The hem of his t-shirt was askew, riding up to reveal a sliver of his lower belly, lightly furred with an arrow of dark gold hair.

My mouth went dry.

“Mornin’,” he half-muttered, half-grunted, running a hand through his already ruffled hair. His hazy stare found me, zeroed in. “You sleep okay?”

I tore my gaze away from his belly, looking into his sleep-softened eyes. My toes curled imagining waking up next to him looking like that, tousled and warm right out of bed.

“Yes. Thank you. I would’ve taken the sofa, honestly.”

Rick chuckled, shook his head, and made a beeline for the Keurig. “And risk the wrath of my mother? No, thanks all the same. Guests don’t sleep on the couch.” He stopped by the coffee machine and stretched, giving me a tantalising glimpse at the tattoo just under his ribcage.

I swallowed back a surge of lust, wanting to get a closer look Who wouldn’t have wanted to be up close with all that golden tan skin? He should have been a model. He should have been illegal.

Jenny nudged me. “You’re staring,” she whispered, amusement threading through her voice.

I jerked back so quickly that I nearly spilled my coffee, muttering. “Shit. Sorry. And God. Sorry for swearing in front of the baby!”

Toby seemed unbothered, sucking animatedly on one of his thumbs.

“You’re fine,” Jenny reassured me. ”It’s interesting. Rick doesn’t really have women here, so I never get to observe. ...