Anything but Love

THIRTY-ONE

No two ways about it. Rocky was irritated with the universe.

The relief she’d experienced after learning her dad’s cancer hadn’t progressed had morphed into anger that they’d been faced with that worry at all. Hadn’t her dad suffered enough without having to deal with the fallout of that previous glitchy test? And what about her mom and the rest of the family? Everyone’s nerves were stretched thin. Everyone was distracted. Not just with her dad’s illness but now this thing with Rae. The media thing. The baby thing.

On the plane ride home all her mom talked about was the fact that she now had two grandkids on the way. All her dad talked about was his youngest son and how he’d grown up overnight. Luke buying out Dev and taking over full responsibility of the Sugar Shack was huge. Luke settling down and committing to one woman was enormous. At the rate he was moving, no one would be surprised if Luke ended up marrying Rae before spring. Which brought up talk of Dev and Chloe and their reluctance to commit to a wedding date, although Dev pointed out that if it was up to him they’d elope tomorrow.

It’s not that Rocky didn’t care about her brothers’ lives. She adored them both, but it would have been nice if at least a portion of the family discussion would have centered on Rocky’s impending wedding. She could have brought it up herself, but she was feeling churlish. Not that anyone had noticed. Well, except for Jayce. He’d noticed, but instead of explaining—because it made her feel petty—she’d blamed her grumpy mood on exhaustion.

Now, instead relaxing at home with Jayce and Brewster and putting together the last of her wedding favors, Rocky was immersed in an emergency Cupcake Lover meeting at Harper’s house. A house Rocky had been struggling to redecorate and fully furnish because of Harper’s indecisiveness. A quick look around showed that Sam had made more progress in three days than Rocky had made in three and a half months. His work on the staircase, several doorframes, and the kitchen in general was unmistakable. Pure quality. Pure Sam.

There was, however, little evidence of Rocky’s influence. Not that she hadn’t presented Harper with hundreds of ideas. Another bone of contention.

Just now everyone was gathered in the main living room. Harper and Sam had pulled in chairs from other rooms to create a circle of seating big enough to accommodate twelve people. She’d covered a couple of accent tables and a trunk with fabric samples, surfaces to accommodate paper plates and cups. No one cared that dinnerware was disposable. They were impressed that Harper had gone to the trouble of brewing tea and coffee as well as serving a batch of her own homemade cupcakes. Vanilla cupcakes with strawberry filling. Pretty damned tasty.

“I apologize for the cramped seating,” Harper said. “This house is a work in progress and I’m not set up for entertaining. Obviously. But if everyone’s comfortable—”

“We’re good,” Rocky said, speaking for everyone in order to get this ball rolling. Almost all of the members had arrived within minutes of one another, with the exception of Rae and Luke, who’d been five minutes late.

Considering this had once been the home of one of the original Cupcake Lovers, there’d been a lot of chatter about Mary Rothwell and the fact that she supposedly haunted this place. Not that Rocky had ever seen her ghost, but there was a definite vibe in the house even if only in her mind because of the legend.

Chatter of Mary had naturally segued into the history of the Cupcake Lovers, which segued into talk of the memoir/recipe book, which segued into whether to self-publish, which is when Rae and Luke had arrived, hand in hand, looking ridiculously happy. Since Luke was still a member of the club, he had every right to be here and even more so, Rocky supposed, given his personal relationship with Rae. But Rocky sort of wished her brother would’ve stayed away. Everyone, including Rocky, was keenly aware of Sam’s crush or former crush on Rae. The tension was just plain awkward.

Regardless, everyone settled in and listened intently as Harper relayed what had been said in the media thus far regarding Rae and her humanitarian efforts, followed by Olivia Deveraux’s attempt to sully Rae’s reputation.

All eyes had turned to Rae as she explained in pained detail why she’d lied to her mother about her whereabouts last year and why she’d pretended to be someone else. She shared a little about her childhood and background—which garnered everyone’s sympathy—and then her hopes and plans for the future regarding running Sugar Tots (to be renamed) as well as establishing a foundation that supported select charities.

Rae was composed throughout her explanation, but when she started talking about promoting education and helping people in need, she got all fired up. It was that passion that won over Rocky and everyone else in the room.

Luke looked plain smitten.

“Okay, this is great,” Harper said as she paced around the exterior of the circle. “I mean I know certain aspects are uncomfortable for you, Rae, but I can spin this in your favor and I can do it with grace.”

“Do you always text other people when you’re in the middle of a meeting?” Daisy asked Harper.

Rocky knew everyone had noticed and it was pretty rude—shades of Tasha Burke—but leave it to Daisy to ask outright.

“Busy week,” Harper said without offering an apology. “Don’t worry. I’m a master at multitasking. Just so I’m straight,” she said, still texting whomever. “The Cupcake Lovers have officially and unanimously decided to allow Rae to finance the self-publishing of your memoir/ recipe book. Correct?”

Everyone nodded.

“Based on reasons we’ve discussed to death,” Rocky said as the president of the club, “yes.”

“And based on Rae’s defense, regarding her mother’s attack, everyone believes and supports Rae.”

Another round of nods and murmurs.

“Damn straight,” Casey said.

“We know our Rae’s heart,” Ethel said.

Harper stopped texting and zeroed in on Rae. “Anything else I, we, should know? Any other incident that your mother could twist? Any secret she could possibly use against you if unearthed? Any—”

“I’m pregnant,” Rae blurted.

The ensuing silence was deafening. Rocky, of course, knew. But clearly it was news to everyone else.

Harper looked a little blindsided by the overall tension in the room. Apparently she was unaware of Sam’s famous year-long crush on Rae. Because they’d been holding hands and sitting so closely, the publicist naturally assumed the baby was Luke’s. “And this is, was, a secret because?”

“I’m not even at eight weeks,” Rae explained, cheeks flushing. “The first trimester is unpredictable. I wanted to wait until I was further along before sharing.”

“I felt the same way,” Chloe said in Rae’s defense.

“I would have felt that way,” Monica said. “But you all know my history. When it finally happened I couldn’t wait to shout it to the world.”

“Hold on,” Daisy said and Rocky instantly knew her grandma was doing the math like most of the other CLs. She pushed her glasses up her nose then squinted suspiciously at Rae. “You were living in California eight weeks ago.”

“I went out for a visit,” Luke said.

Daisy reached over and whacked her grandson hard in the back of the head.

Luke grimaced but didn’t comment.

Harper sighed. “So are we happy about this news?”

“Yes,” Luke answered for them both, his gaze firm on Sam.

Everyone was looking at Sam.

Rocky swallowed a huge lump of emotion when her cousin calmly stood and approached Luke.

Luke rose as well. “Be happy for me, Sam.”

Sam pulled Luke into a bear hug, said something in his ear, then broke away, and pulled Rae into a warm hug.

Tension broken, the room erupted into a gabfest of congratulations and baby talk as well Harper’s idea on a spin on Rae’s problem that would also afford free promo for Moose-a-lotta as well as the Cupcake Lovers.

Rocky wondered if anyone realized Harper’s plan fell on the same day the CLs had planned to make Rocky’s wedding cake.

Oh, yeah. She was irritated with the universe big-time.

NEED 2 TALK 2 U

Sam looked down at his phone then over his shoulder at Harper. For Christ’s sake he was standing in the same room. Still, the senior CLs had her cornered near the front door so she wasn’t exactly free to speak her mind. Sam had lingered, relocating chairs back to various rooms, but now he was itching to leave.

CAN IT WAIT?

NO

Damn.

Sam hung back while Helen, Judy, Ethel, and Daisy finally said their good-byes. He glanced at his watch. Six thirty. Not knowing how long the meeting would take or how things would play out, Sam had hired a sitter to watch Ben and Mina until nine. He wasn’t under the gun, but he was restless.

“That was interesting. Why didn’t you tell me you had a thing for Rae?”

“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but we don’t talk a lot.”

“What did you say to your cousin?”

“None of your business.”

“Chill, Rambo. On another note…” Harper walked past Sam and into the kitchen.

He hated that he watched her ass as she went. What the hell was with her walk anyhow? She didn’t slink or sashay exactly. It wasn’t overt. Just a gentle sway of the hips, just enough to mesmerize him. Cursing his randy reaction, Sam followed. “On another note, what?” he asked, almost tripping on a puddle of red dress near the threshold.

Wearing nothing but a matching silky bra and thong, Harper lounged against the counter in her funky heels, holding a white cupcake in a red foiled baking cup. “Why won’t you try my cupcakes?”

“What?”

“I sent you home with almost a dozen the other day. You didn’t try one. I baked these fresh for tonight. Everyone in the club had one. Everyone but you.”

“I wasn’t hungry.” Sam’s heart rammed against his chest, his cock throbbed. He wasn’t sure why he’d avoided Harper’s cupcakes. Something psychological. He hadn’t given it thought. He would now.

Harper’s blue eyes twinkled with an ornery gleam.

Sam knew that gleam. She was about to torture him with some sexy deed.

Sure enough she stuck her thumb in the center of the strawberry filled cupcake. Gaze locked on Sam’s, she licked then sensuously sucked the red goo from her thumb. One brow raised, she taunted, “Hungry now?”

Sam was randy and moody and not up for games. He moved in—swift and sure. He took Harper in his arms and ravished that luscious mouth. Sin and strawberries. Hell, yeah.

Her hands worked his belt and buttoned fly while he unclasped her bra. He had her naked and writhing in his arms, kissing her, touching her, just rough enough to rev her senses.

Her damn phone rang. Incessantly.

Sam broke the wild kiss long enough to toss the cell on the top shelf of the fridge. Slamming shut the door, he spun Harper around, bending her over the counter. He splayed his hands down her back, over her ass, her thighs. He kissed the back of her neck, made her sigh, then entered her from behind, and made her squeal.

It was hot.

It was fast.

And it left them both limp and gasping for air.

In the aftermath, Sam was shocked that he’d been so urgent, so selfishly dominant. But when Harper smiled over her shoulder at him, the guilt slid away. He started to speak, but she shushed him.

Right. No talking after.

Screw that.

“What was that for?” he asked as she stepped back into her dress, no undies.

“I was wound up. Also I sensed you could use a distraction.”

With that she shoved her tousled hair out of that beautiful face, grabbed her phone from the fridge, and cast him a parting, enigmatic glance. “See you tomorrow, Sam.”