Cakewalk: A Calhoon Small Town Romantic Comedy Read online

  Cakewalk

  A Calhoon Small Town Romantic Comedy

  Ivy Summers

  Copyright © 2022 by Ivy Summers

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Blurb

  I never meant to send that text.

  The one where I confessed my dry spell and deep desperation to sleep with him.

  And I sure as hell didn’t expect him to agree to my proposition.

  Griffin Reed is an outsider to my hometown of Calhoon. With his multi-million dollar plan to revitalize the oceanfront, everybody expects him to bleed the town dry.

  I did too... until I ran smack-dab into him with a giant pink cake I was transporting for my sister’s business.

  Now I gotta hope I didn’t scramble the handsome stranger’s brains after he crashed onto the sidewalk.

  As I tend to his injuries – and clean up the pink frosting plastered all over him – I expect him to be mad at me.

  Instead, he’s the personification of a freshly baked cinnamon roll: hot and sweet.

  But the rest of the town still believes he’s the devil incarnate.

  And he does have this devilish grin, and tattoos that suggest dark secrets I’ve yet to uncover. Not to mention he seems to get a kick out of tormenting me with words and looks that set my panties on fire.

  Then he offers me a job, one where I'll be working in close quarters with him, the town's mortal enemy.

  I don’t know how I’m getting out of this mess, but one thing is certain…

  This will be anything but a cakewalk.

  Cakewalk is a small town romance featuring forbidden love, a fiercely loyal heroine, and a touch-starved hero who will melt your heart. Expect lots of heat, lots of laughs, and a very happily ever after.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Jade

  I had one job. A very simple job, really: transport my sister’s lovingly decorated cake from the family cake shop to Madison’s boutique first thing in the morning.

  The boutique was only three doors down, but Madison would be waiting with bated breath to see how I’d screw this one up. She took it personally when I left our coastal hometown of Calhoon, Georgia, as if I was abandoning her. It didn’t matter to her when I insisted I was only leaving for college, and that I planned on returning home after I finished.

  Most young adults never returned after they had a taste of the city, but I wouldn’t abandon this town, as dead as it admittedly was. My family’s cake shop had been in business since the 50s, and I was going to make damn sure it didn’t go bankrupt on my watch.

  Not that I ran the place or anything. Baking was in no way my specialty. I was lucky if I could bake those prepackaged Pillsbury sugar cookies without starting a house fire.

  No, it was Courtney, my older and very pregnant sister, who ran the place now that my mother had to retire earlier this year. And that was why I had returned home instead of finishing up my degree. I couldn’t leave Courtney high and dry. Sure, she had a husband, but he had his hands full with the local general store.

  So I took it upon myself to help Courtney out. Though sometimes I wondered if I was a hindrance more than anything. I didn’t know what it was about my limbs, but I just couldn’t keep them from knocking things over. One of those inflatable dancing tube guys would probably cause less damage than I would if left in the middle of the shop for half an hour.

  Which really begged the question as to why my sister entrusted me to deliver this cake. I mean, outside of her being downright exhausted from making it overnight, she might’ve had better luck hiring a chimpanzee to do the job.

  But she believed in me. She believed if she gave me more responsibilities, I’d rise to the occasion.

  I couldn’t let her down.

  And so I took in a deep breath and looked over the three-tiered cake, analyzing how best to pick it up. Of course Madison had my sister make a cake more appropriate for a princess’s wedding. It was just a little boutique grand opening, but nothing was ever understated with Madison. “Attention is the only currency that matters,” she had told me back when we were friends. “Court attention at all costs.”

  I guess that strategy had been working out for her. She had been building up her online following since we were in middle school, and I had no doubts now that people from all over would visit this little forgotten town just to see her selections and original designs at her boutique.

  But I knew she didn’t order this cake just to give us a little buzz and help out a fellow small business. She ordered it at the last minute—as in “I know you close at five, but could I squeeze in a custom wedding cake order at 4:59pm or…?” And of course my sister agreed. And of course she made the prettiest damn cake I ever did see, despite the time crunch.

  Madison had ordered a pink-frosted strawberry cake, decorated with various pieces of edible jewelry cascading from the top tier all the way to the bottom. I had no idea how my sister made the pearls and diamonds look so real, but they looked good enough to wear. On the bottom tier of the cake was the name of Madison’s shop written in pristine cursive: Madison’s Boutique.

  The hard part was done. Now I just had to deliver the damn thing. And if Madison was happy, she promised to help us by shouting out the cake shop to all of her followers.

  So here I was, holding a fifteen-pound cake in both hands as I used my rump to push open the front door of the cake shop. With my hands full, I wouldn’t be able to lock it on my way out, but crime was practically non-existent here in this glorified retirement community. It’d be fine.

  I paused for a moment once I was standing out on the Main Street sidewalk. It was 5:30 in the morning and quiet enough that all I could hear besides my own breath was a distant fog horn.

  I peered above the third tier of the cake, seeing my destination only three storefronts down. I checked the sidewalk for hazards or cracks, but it had been recently repaved and presented perfect conditions for my harrowing cake journey.

  After double-checking that my shoelaces were still tied, I began my careful march forward, confident that there was no way I could screw this up.

  Stay cool, Jade. Breathe normally. Nothing short of a freak whirlwind or a rabid stray dog can knock you over.

  There was something I hadn’t been prepared for: a handsome stray man.

  I didn’t know where he came from or how he didn’t see a giant pink cake heading right at him, but the both of us crashed into each other like two runaway trains. I only got to see his rugged face for a split second before the collision.

  He took the brunt of it, the cake absolutely covering him from the waist up. I got little pieces of pink frosting shrapnel on my arms, but was otherwise unscathed and still standing.

  He, on the other hand, fell flat onto the sidewalk with a grunt. It didn’t look like an easy landing.

  I rushed
to his side, unable to tell if his eyes were open underneath all the frosting plastered on his face. “Are you okay?” I gasped, my hands hovering over his shoulders, unsure if I should touch him, considering we were complete strangers. He wasn’t moving. I watched closely to see if he was breathing, but saw no signs.

  I knew I’d go down for manslaughter one of these days…

  He suddenly grunted, and I jerked back. Using his hand like a squeegee, he wiped the frosting from his eyes and nose and took a moment to blink. Though I hovered right above him, he didn’t seem to see me as he stared off into space. Poor guy must’ve been concussed so badly that he was seeing stars.

  He closed his cobalt blue eyes, and his tongue slipped out between his full lips, licking them clean of frosting. “Mmm,” he hummed. When he opened his eyes again, they locked right onto mine. “Strawberry.”

  “Yes,” I said, nodding encouragingly. Now I just needed him to put together a complete sentence to put my mind at ease. “Are you okay? Are you bleeding?”

  He frowned and lifted up the back of his head a few inches from the frosted sidewalk, reaching his hand around to touch the point of impact. He ran his fingers through his chestnut hair, then held his fingertips in front of his still-dazed face. “Uh oh,” was all he said, and I gripped his hand, turning it toward me to see for myself.

  I immediately became lightheaded when I saw his blood. “Oh, God. I didn’t just ruin a custom three-tiered cake—I’ve murdered a handsome stranger!”

  “I don’t think I’m dead just yet.”

  I breathed, realizing I was catastrophizing, as I tended to do. He was fine. Just a little dazed. The cake, on the other hand… I chose not to think about that right now. “Can you sit up?”

  He nodded and pushed himself up to a seated position. His head wobbled a little, then he looked down at the crotch of his pants, where a sizable chunk of cake had landed. He grabbed a piece and popped it in his mouth before I could stop him.

  I winced. “Jeez, I don’t think you should be eating right now.”

  “That’s really good. You’re very talented.”

  “The only thing I did was hurl it at you. My sister’s the one who made it. And she’s going to kill me when she finds out what happened.”

  He looked around, assessing the scene of the crime. “We can hide the evidence. It’s nothing a good hosing off won’t clean.”

  “Sounds like you’ve done this before.”

  He stood, clumps of cake falling off his chest and lap, revealing a fashionable suit that was undoubtedly tailor made. “I’m used to cleaning up messes,” he said. “It’s sorta what I do.”

  With a suit like that, he most definitely wasn’t from around here—or at least he hadn’t made his riches here. That slight southern accent suggested that maybe he wasn’t such a stranger, though.

  I rose with him. “That’s good news for me, because I do nothing but make messes.”

  “A match made in heaven, then.” He smiled, and the charming twinkle in his eyes made me swoon dreamily. Nobody had made me feel that way in God knows how long. High school, probably.

  I cleared my throat. He still seemed pretty out of it, and I worried just how nice he’d be once the haze cleared. I had to get this guy cleaned up and checked out. I wasn’t in a hurry to see how bad the gash was on the back of his head, but I’d have to just toughen up and do it. There weren’t exactly any hospitals nearby.

  “Let’s head back to the cake shop. There’s a sink for you to wash up in, and a first aid kit.”

  “Okay,” he said simply, still blinking hard. I held him by his upper arm and led him down the sidewalk.

  “Not to victim-blame,” I started, “but how’d you not see me coming from a mile away?”

  “I was… a bit distracted by my phone.”

  “That must’ve been one funny cat video.”

  He snorted, which caught me by surprise. One, because he actually found me funny, and two, because I never expected a handsome man to make a noise like that.

  It was kinda cute.

  “Speaking of my phone,” he mumbled, taking a long hard look at both of his hands.

  “Oh! You must’ve dropped it.” I ran off a few feet to the cake massacre, digging through the strawberry guts to find his smartphone. I pulled it out from inside the carnage and wiped off the frosting, only to see that the screen was completely shattered. Now this guy was really going to hate me, and so was Courtney and Madison.

  Today was not my day.

  I ran back to his side and handed him his phone. “I don’t think it’s working,” I said softly.

  “Good.” He tucked it into his pocket.

  “Good?”

  “Now I have a good excuse for ignoring everyone.”

  “Oh. Well, you’re welcome then. Let me know next time you need me to break another phone. It’s kinda my thing.”

  We stopped in front of the cake shop, and I pushed the door open. A little bell rang above us as we entered. Three small bistro tables lined one wall, while the left side had a red rug that led to the checkout counter. The display case was currently empty besides a few generic birthday cakes. Once my sister arrived, she would load it up with fresh cupcakes and cookies ahead of the morning rush.

  I checked the cuckoo clock hanging on the wall. I had thirty minutes before then. Thirty minutes to “hide the evidence,” as the handsome stranger had put it.

  Though there was no resurrecting that cake.

  I pulled out a seat for him, only realizing then to ask, “What’s your name?”

  He sat down. “Griffin.”

  Of course he had a hot name. “I’m Jade.”

  He frowned thoughtfully, then said, as if trying it out, “Jade. I like it. Simple. Beautiful. Pretty sure I’ll remember it despite the cranial injury.”

  I laughed nervously. “Uh, let me grab the first aid kit and see how bad it is.”

  Griffin nodded as I scurried off and dug through the cabinets for the kit. I really ought to know where it was by now.

  “Cute place,” Griffin commented from his seat. “Quaint and charming.”

  “Thanks!” I said, though I really had no business taking credit for it. “It was my grandparents’ place, then my parents’, but my mom really couldn’t keep up with it anymore, so my sister took over. Then I dropped out of college to come back and help.”

  I finally found the kit, then grabbed a towel to clean the frosting off so I could get a better look. I hurried back over, my sneakers squeaking on the white tiled floor. “Do you mind if I sorta clean off your hair first?”

  “Do as you must.”

  I toweled off the pink frosting the best I could, then tentatively started parting his hair where the injury was. My heart pounded as I touched his thick, luscious hair, and I was half tempted to demand what shampoo this guy used. To my relief, the injury was more of a scrape than a gash, and it had already stopped bleeding. “Thank God,” I breathed. “It looks like you’ll live. Though, let me check one more thing…”

  I had read somewhere that if someone had a really bad concussion, their pupils would be unevenly dilated. I stepped over in front of him and put a finger on his chin, lifting his face up so I could look him in the eyes. He stared back at me with those deep blue irises, and chills ran through my body as it felt like he was somehow peaking into my innermost thoughts. I took a step back, recovering. “Uh, yeah, looks like your pupils are pretty even.”

  “Oh,” he said. “That’s why you were staring into my eyes? And here I thought we were having a moment.” He crossed his arms playfully.

  I laughed a bit too loudly, then stepped behind him again, where I pinched my brow and commanded myself to chill out. Like I stood a chance anyway. There was no way this heartthrob would ever be speaking to me if I hadn’t assaulted him with a cake.

  I was going to make sure he was medically sound, then he’d be off on his merry way and we’d probably never see each other again. It was silly to be getting even the slight
est bit hot and bothered over him.

  I returned my focus to the back of his head and soaked a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide, then lightly dabbed the wound. He continued looking around at the folksy decorations and pictures that covered the walls as I worked on him. No doubt he noticed the black and white pictures of a bygone era. “How long has this shop been in your family?”

  “Since the 50s. My grandparents started it back when Calhoon was booming. Now we’re… struggling, just like the town.” I blinked, realizing my eyes were suddenly a bit misty. I was thankful to be standing behind him, where he couldn’t see my face. “Anyway, what brings you to town so early in the morning? Did you have an appointment somewhere? You can use my phone to let them know you’re running late—”

  He turned in the bistro chair, looking up at me with those lively eyes and curious smile. “Actually, I was just scoping the place out.”

  “Like, to rob?”

  He chuckled. “I’m not that down on my luck yet. Just looking for a place nearby to rent.”

  I gasped, the wheels turning in my mind. “My sister’s been trying to sublet the apartment above the store!” I then looked over his expensive suit and pristine leather shoes—frosting notwithstanding. “Oh. But you were probably thinking of somewhere not so… shabby, huh?”