For Love and Donuts Read online

  Poppy and I switched places any time I needed to get more things in the oven. Poppy could’ve handled it, but she still got flustered trying to keep the rushes under control, and the last thing I needed was the bakery smelling like burned pastry.

  When the doorbell rang again, I glanced up from the cash register as I was helping the tail end of the rush. It was nearly nine-thirty, and most of the regulars had come and gone like clockwork. As I dropped the change into the patron’s hand, I froze with my arm sticking out.

  Officer Langley walked into the bakery. He held the door open for a female tourist who was leaving, then he made a direct path straight for my counter. His walk was confident, his chin level. He kept his expression even as he gazed over the display cases full of donuts.

  I hadn’t seen him since the night he and his partner came to my rescue. Before that night, I saw him at least once a day, sometimes twice. He couldn’t seem to get enough of my donuts.

  I admit, I liked it when he came in. I liked the way his eyes lit up like a little boy on Christmas morning every time I brought out a fresh tray of Boston Creams. I liked the way he’d give me a smile that made just one dimple pop out on his cheek when I handed over his box of donuts and coffee. I liked the way my name sounded in his deep, baritone voice, almost like we were lovers.

  I figured he recognized me that night, just as I did him. When he didn’t come in the next day or the day after that, I was bummed. I figured it had to do with him losing respect for me or something.

  But nearly six months later, here he was again, ogling my donuts like it was just yesterday he’d had the last one. I wondered what brought him through my doors now.

  I pulled my hand back as the other customer left, and I made myself blink. “Good morning, Officer.”

  He smiled. “Hi.”

  “What can I get for you?”

  “I think I want a Boston Cream and a cup of coffee, please.”

  “For here or to go?”

  “Uh, to go, please.”

  I managed a polite smile as I nodded.

  “We just got a fresh batch of donuts out of the fryer. Let me make you a fresh one.” I scurried to the back to fill and glaze a fresh donut, trying to ignore the way my knees trembled, and my thighs clenched when he’d said, “Hi.” By the time I came back out, I mostly had my composure again.

  “I was starting to think you found another bakery. That maybe you didn’t like my donuts anymore.” I glanced over my shoulder at him with a teasing smile as I poured him a cup of coffee, emptying one sugar packet into it, just the way he always took it.

  “No one makes a donut like you do, Ms. Maraschino.” His dark brown eyes flashed with something I didn’t understand.

  I set the bag and to-go coffee cup in front of him. “It’s Cherry, Officer Langley.”

  He handed me money. “I kind of like it when you call me Officer Langley, but you can call me Damon if you want.”

  “I hope to see you again soon, Officer Langley.” I gave him a sly smile, and I hoped he could see the humor in my eyes. I got a thrill calling him that, almost like it was flirting.

  He tipped his coffee cup to me and headed out of the bakery, back to his patrol car. Once he was out of sight, it felt like the rest of the world around me caught up with time.

  Poppy came skipping through the swinging doors. The bakery was finally empty after almost three hours of non-stop customers, and it was time to start cleaning up and getting things set up for the lunch rush that would happen in a couple of hours.

  “Did I see Officer Hottie?” Poppy asked in her sing-song voice.

  “Poppy,” I groaned. “Please don’t call him that.” Nothing often got by Poppy, and I didn’t need her starting a rumor around town that I had a crush on Damon Langley.

  “Why not? He’s so hot. And he heats you up too, doesn’t he?”

  He did, once upon a time, before he stopped showing up and before I met Michael. But he wasn’t interested in me, and especially after witnessing everything he had with me and Michael, I doubted he ever would be. Just because my body reacted to him didn’t necessarily mean I was open to anything.

  “No, he doesn’t. And even if he did, he’s not heated up by me.”

  “He totally checks you out all the time. I wonder where he’s been all this time. Have you seen how built he is? A guy like that doesn’t eat donuts without a good reason and certainly, not every day. He probably had to take a break from coming in here because he was going to become a diabetic.”

  I gave Poppy a playful shove. “Start prepping.”

  She moaned her displeasure at having to get back to work. “All work and no play makes Cherry a slave driver.”

  I chuckled. “All right. Grab a treat. Let’s sit down and have a break.”

  “Yes! I’ve been dying to try one of those crullers. They’ve been staring at me for hours.”

  I selected a cherry Danish and a cup of coffee as my own treat and joined Poppy at one of the tables near the window.

  We had our break, Poppy talking the whole time, going on and on about whatever thoughts passed through her mind.

  But I kept straying back to thoughts of Officer Langley. Even when I’d been dating Michael, Officer Langley took up space in the corners of my mind.

  He’d been coming into the bakery for nearly a year before the police intervention with my ex-boyfriend, and now that he was back, I wasn’t sure what I was feeling. My heart jumped at the sight of him coming into the bakery like it always did. He’d always been a little flirtatious and kind. He always tipped. But today, something felt different.

  “Donut Day is coming up in a week,” Poppy said, dragging me out of my thoughts.

  “You’re right. We’ll have to come up with a new creation this year.”

  Poppy clapped her hands together. “Will you give me a crack at it? I’ve been playing with some flavor combinations and a recipe I really like.”

  “That sounds like a great plan. Can you have them ready in two days for a tasting?”

  “Absolutely!” She popped up and charged toward the back.

  I guess our break was over.

  At least the work would keep my mind off Officer Langley.

  After the lunch rush was over and I’d prepped for the next morning, Poppy and I locked up and went our separate ways. With a pastry box tucked under my arm, I headed into Gypsum’s Auto Body and called out for Logan.

  I’d befriended Logan Grey when my hunk of junk car crapped out on me. She’d towed me into Gypsum’s, and when she told me everything that was wrong with the car, I’d been devastated. Most of my money went into the bakery, and my cost of living went up when I had to move out of the apartment with Michael. Before that, I’d been living with my parents, but I was twenty-six and wanted to be independent. When things like car repairs crept up on me out of nowhere, sometimes, I wondered if my mother’s way of thinking was better, if life would’ve just been easier if I got married.

  Logan wasn’t in the office.

  I could hardly say I was surprised. She was a lot like me and enjoyed the work so much, she forgot to take breaks or do paperwork. I headed into the back of the shop where I found her under a car.

  “You’re lucky no one is dumb enough to mess with you. You wouldn’t know you were robbed for days,” I said in lieu of a greeting.

  Logan didn’t budge from under the car. “That’s what I have friends like you for. You’d tell me if something had gone awry.”

  I set the box down on a clean spot on top of a toolbox and leaned up against the wall.

  “What did you bring for me today?” Logan asked.

  “You’ll just have to slide out of there and find out.”

  I heard the click-clacking of metal on metal for a moment, then she rolled out. Logan got to her feet and put her tools away.

  “You’re lucky your food is so amazing. It takes a lot to get me out from under a car.”

  “Oh, don’t I know it.”

  She went to t
he sink and washed the grease and grime off of her hands. “Tell me, Cherry Blossom, how are things in your world?”

  “They’re the same. I’m working on the bakery. Trying out a few new creations for Donut Day next week.”

  “Cher, I’m always a fan of working on your business and being independent and all of that, but if it wasn’t for Poppy, your mom, and me, you wouldn’t socialize with anyone. And your customers don’t count. I know I only met you after your breakup with your ex, but you only seemed to become more reclusive.”

  I knew the words she was saying were accurate, but I still wanted to argue with her, stay in my bubble of safety. Logan, Poppy, and my parents were the only people I trusted in my life.

  After the fallout with Michael, most of “our” friends, took his side. It wasn’t surprising. I’d come home from college, and my grandma died shortly after. I’d already been working in her bakery, then Michael and I started dating.

  I moved in with Michael.

  The bakery was thriving.

  I took online courses at night about baking and running a business, trying to make sure I wouldn’t run my grandmother’s business into the ground.

  My whole world was wrapped up in Michael and the bakery, and when things ended so badly, I retreated into myself, into the bakery. Opening my heart to someone nearly destroyed me. Michael’s lies, the horrible things he said to me, about me behind my back nearly broke me.

  “So what? What did opening myself up do for me? It set me back financially, independently, and spiritually. I’ve spent the last six months trying to pick up the pieces of my life again. My apartment is the size of a walk-in closet, and my car runs but could fall apart at any moment. The bakery is the only thing that keeps me alive.”

  Logan frowned and moved toward me, but instead of coming to me, she focused on the box I brought. Opening it, she peeked inside.

  “You’re a brilliant baker. No one makes donuts like you do. But if you treat everyone like they’re going to break your heart, that’s all you’re going to get.” Logan lifted the powdered sugar covered donut to her mouth and took a large bite, bright, raspberry filling oozing out the sides. She wasted no time, quickly eating and licking at the filling, trying to make sure she didn’t lose a drop. She had powdered sugar everywhere—around her mouth, down her coveralls, all over her hands—and she couldn’t care less. It’s why I loved Logan. She had manners, but she wasn’t afraid to get dirty or messy. She just let things ride.

  Logan made all kinds of yummy noise, and I couldn’t help but just watch her, in awe of her pleasure in eating a donut.

  “You should make commercials,” I said.

  “I can make anything look good,” Logan grinned.

  “What do you think I should do?” I asked, thinking about Logan’s words. “Start dating again? I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

  Logan finished her donut and grabbed a napkin, wiping herself off, the powdered sugar on her coveralls just smearing into a white, streaky mess.

  “Nothing so dramatic. Just stop hiding behind your pastries. It’s summer. Jubilee Falls is always having a festival or town day. Go be social. Hang out with people outside of their places of business or yours. And if you’re interested in a guy…”

  I felt the tips of my ears grow hot.

  Logan pointed at me and let out a laugh. “You are interested in a guy! Tell me everything while I dig into the rest of this box.”

  “I’m… not really. But…”

  “But nothing. Who’s the guy?”

  “Really, he’s no one.”

  “Come on,” Logan pouted. “You have to tell me something about him.”

  “He’s a police officer.”

  “Wait, is this the guy Poppy calls Officer Hottie? I thought he hadn’t been around in a while.”

  “He hasn’t… until today.”

  Logan’s eyes lit up. “He came back?”

  “He did.”

  “That has to mean something.”

  “Does it? Maybe he just wanted some donuts.” Even to my ears, it sounded like a lie. The way Officer Langley looked at me, he wasn’t just admiring my Boston Creams.

  “Or maybe he just wanted a bite of you. You have to give yourself more credit than that.” Logan took another peek in the box.

  “They’re all for you. You can take them home. You don’t have to eat them all right now,” I teased.

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  “Why on earth would he be interested in someone like me?”

  “I don’t know,” Logan sighed. “A confident, kind, intelligent woman who bakes? You’re right, what’s to like?”

  I stuck my tongue out at her.

  “Cher, you’re a steal. I know you’ve been going through a rough time, and I don’t want to discount that, but Officer Hottie seems like a good man from everything you and Poppy have told me about him.”

  “Police officers don’t have the best reputations.”

  Logan rolled her eyes. “What group of men does have a good reputation?”

  I sighed. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” It wasn’t like I was going to ask him out or even allude to him I thought he was hot. Or that I wondered if he wanted more than my donuts. I doubted he was interested in me… not really. Maybe he was curious if I was doing okay but hadn’t wanted to show up as a reminder. He seemed thoughtful enough to do such a thing. There was no way it had anything to do with the fact he saw me as someone he wanted to get to know as more than his donut supplier.

  Logan and I changed the subject and focused on anything but men. Then once her “break” was over, meaning she’d run out of donuts, I left her alone with her vehicles.

  I couldn’t help thinking of Damon on the way home. What if there was something more between us? Would I ever be brave enough to let something happen between us?

  2

  Damon

  Cherry had been on my mind for months.

  Six months of walking or driving past her bakery, and today, I finally broke down and went back inside. Seeing her up close brought back a rush of emotions. She seemed as happy as she’d always been, but there was a surprise in her eyes she hid well. There was something else there too—a guardedness that wasn’t there before that night.

  I didn’t know what to say to her. I wanted to ask her if we could try being more than donut acquaintances, but it didn’t seem like the right time. With all the things she’d been through, I didn’t know if there would be a right time.

  I had no idea how much Cherry had recovered from her experience.

  When I had logged into my police resources to find out about her, I’d told myself it was all in service to keeping her safe. I just wanted to make sure Michael wouldn’t steal the light from her eyes, ever again.

  The apartment complex where we’d found her wasn’t in the best part of Jubilee Falls, so I made sure there was a patrol car going through it often. When I could, I drove by myself.

  But I hadn’t seen her car in the parking lot since that night.

  Now, she lived in her own little place, closer to the bakery. Even so, her car was at the bakery more often than at home.

  There were times I swore she’d slept over. Maybe it’s where she felt comfortable or safe. Or maybe she just had a lot of work to do. At least she had something to keep her busy, to help keep her a part of the world.

  Karina waved her hand in front of my face. “Earth to Langley.”

  I glanced over at her. “Yeah?”

  “Where the hell are you?”

  “I don’t know. Just thinking about stuff.”

  “Does this have anything to do with your donut stop this morning? I haven’t seen you go in there for a while. Not since we helped Ms. Maraschino out of her situation.”

  “I didn’t want to be a bad reminder. It’s hard to change your life around, and the last thing you need is a reminder of the worst moments popping up in your face every day.”

  “Sounds like you’re speaking fr
om experience.”

  “Yeah, I guess I am. You know my life hasn’t always been as put together as it is right now.”

  “This is you put together?” she scoffed. “You still live and eat like you did when you were twenty-one. I don’t know how you have the body you do. I’d say it’ll probably catch up with you, but I somehow doubt it. Clearly, you’re one of those guys with good genes and good metabolism.”

  I chuckled and lifted my shirts, untucking them to reveal my washboard abs. I patted my muscular stomach and grinned. “Jealous?”

  Karina rolled her eyes as the radio crackled to life and sent us out to a call.

  As she drove off toward the address, I couldn’t help but think of all the bad things I’d done in my life. All the reasons a woman as good and pure as Cherry Maraschino didn’t need a man like me dragging her deeper into the mud.

  By the end of my shift, I was exhausted and headed home to my cat, Barely. He wound around my legs as I grabbed a can of cat food and prepared his evening meal. Barely was as demanding as cats came, but he and I had a kinship I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’d found him as a kitten, barely alive, just skin and bones. A plate of canned cat food from the corner gas station later, and he became the only family I had.

  And what a demanding little guy he’d become. While he was scarfing down his food like he hadn’t been fed in years, I headed into my bedroom and hopped in the shower to wash away the grime of the day.

  Ever since I’d seen Cherry, I’d been feeling edgy but mostly, horny. One innocent little conversation with her had me thinking of all kinds of dirty things I’d like to do to her. She’d been afraid I didn’t like her donuts anymore. If only she knew what I really wanted to taste.

  Even as the hot water poured over my tight body, my cock grew hard just thinking about Cherry’s body under mine. Riding mine. Just mine altogether.

  I needed an outlet. I hadn’t been with anyone in over a year. I’d lost interest in meaningless hookups, and most of the girls who wanted to date me moved way too fast. They started talking about marriage and kids before I was even sure I really liked the woman.