Flavorful Seductions Read online

  Rumor has it the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Kate Carlisle has no trouble personally delivering her goodies, whether it be to the boardroom or the bedroom.

  Kate Carlisle needs every ounce of courage she can muster if she has any hope of keeping her catering business Sinful Sweets afloat. But when business mogul Adam Belfour is in desperate need of her culinary skills, it’s all Kate can do to keep her mind off his sexy physique and on whipping up decadent desserts in order to keep the CEO coming back for more.

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  Flavorful Seductions

  Copyright © 2012 Patti Shenberger

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-374-8

  Cover art by Carmen Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  Flavorful Seductions

  The Zodiac Series, Book 6

  By

  Patti Shenberger

  To anyone who appreciates a decadent dessert. This one’s for you!

  Gemini

  The Sign of the Twins

  May 21 – June 20

  The Gemini gal loves to explore. You can find her checking out a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a lot of everything, and exuding all her mental energy to do so. She loves to be ahead of the crowd, in the know and always on the move.

  If there’s a new experience to be had, you’ll be sure to find her at the head of the line, waiting to be the first to climb onboard and ride that adventure train all the way to the very end.

  She thirsts for knowledge and gleans something from everyone and everything she comes in contact with, whether they know it or not. Gemini’s love to talk and have the gift of gab, so be forewarned, you may not be able to get a word in edgewise.

  A Gemini usually lives a unique and unusual lifestyle. They love to make and spend money. Shopping is their friend. And you can find them working on multiple projects all at one time. The more chaotic the better it is for our Gemini girl.

  When she’s not working, she can be found curled up with a good book. Might be a romance, might be a repair manual for a 1967 Corvette. You never know what you’re going to get, so be prepared to be surprised.

  Chapter One

  Kate Carlisle carefully sat the box down on the table, making sure not to tip it in the slightest so she wouldn’t ruin the desserts inside. She glanced at her watch, then looked up and scanned the restaurant, not seeing any of her other friends. Either she had completely screwed up the date of the dinner party, which was a definite possibility given her crazy work schedule as of late, or she had the wrong restaurant.

  But they always met at Le Bleu for every one of their birthday parties. It wasn’t like the gals to not tell her if there was a change of venue, not that there ever was.

  “Happy Birthday darling,” her best friend Samantha Drake sidled up beside her and gave Kate a big hug. “Didn’t you get my message? I called you at lunch and you never called back.”

  Kate shook her head, causing her long brown curls to swing back and forth over her bare shoulders. “No, my phone took a nosedive into a vat of frosting today. I’ve got to get a new one, but didn’t have any time. Is anything wrong?”

  Samantha smiled. “Not a thing. I wanted to let you know that this time we’ve been moved to the second floor dining room for dinner. Apparently, some bigwig rented out the whole first floor for a private party. Which means us little peons will have to celebrate from the nosebleed seats.”

  “That sounds very nice. How come we never get lucky like that?” Kate laughed, picking up the white pastry box and following her friend across the foyer to the elevator.

  “Some people have all the luck I guess.” Samantha replied, pressing the Up button on the wall panel.

  Kate lifted the lid on the box in her arms. “Speaking of luck, check these out. I finally figured out the recipe for the frosting and it tastes just like Benito’s. I brought some tonight for all of you to taste test for me and let me know what you think.”

  “It’s your birthday and you brought us food? We’re supposed to celebrating your twenty-seventh birthday with a cake, which I’m sure Tara picked up. At least I hope she did,” Samantha said with a frown. “I probably should have called to check. But if not, we’ll eat those lovely treats.”

  “Or we’ll eat both. There’s always room for dessert and plenty of it,” Kate laughed as she took a step forward upon seeing the elevator doors open.

  She walked straight into a solid wall of man and muscle. The cupcake box tipped forward and the cupcakes smashed straight into his chest. Actually straight into and across the front of his impeccably tailored suit coat. A coat that from the looks of it, most likely cost more than six months of her salary. And it was unfortunately at present covered in pink butter cream frosting.

  For a second time stood still as Kate faltered for something to say. I’m sorry didn’t come close to cutting it, but was the best she could offer at the moment.

  “I’m so sorry. This was all my fault. I wasn’t paying attention and the cupcakes…” Her words trailed off as she stared once more at the wall of muscle before lifting her gaze to the man’s face.

  Bad idea. If his chest was impressive, his face was enough to stop a speeding locomotive in its tracks. The man was drop dead gorgeous, even covered in frosting.

  He looked from the box in her hands to her face and it was all she could not to turn beet red on the spot.

  “It’s my twenty-seventh birthday today,” Kate finished lamely. Great, now she’d gone from babbling to pathetic. Could the night get any worse?

  “Happy Birthday,” the man replied softly before running his finger down the front of his suit coat and lifting it to his mouth. “This is edible, I assume?”

  Kate nodded, unable to form a coherent word, entranced by the motion.

  She watched him put his finger into his mouth and suck off the frosting, then slowly ran the length of his tongue up and over the tip of his index finger. Kate watched as his gaze was locked on her face the entire time.

  Her stomach lurched as heat infused her body. Her heart beat wildly against her rib cage as Kate willed herself to be calm, but to no avail. This man didn’t invoke calm, he invoked lust and passion and naked hot, sweaty bodies on satin bed sheets. And other things she really had no business thinking of at that moment.

  Thoughts of a private birthday celebration with him would be a present she’d never forget. Kate tried and failed to pull her runaway thoughts back into focus as she continued to stare at him.

  Dear heaven, it was almost orgasmic watching him lick off the frosting. A thousand images popped into Kate’s head as she envisioned his tongue and her body in very close quarters.

  She closed her eyes in an order to pull her wildly errant thoughts back into some form of san
ity. Right now sanity was the farthest thing from her mind or any other part of her body. After drawing in a deep breath, Kate reopened her eyes to find him staring at her with a strange look on his face.

  “I must admit they are quite enjoyable, despite how I came to be enjoying them.”

  “Thank you.” The words came out barely a whisper, more like a low croak as Kate swallowed hard. “I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am. I’ll pay for the dry cleaning. Whatever you need, I’ll cover the damage.”

  The man shook his head and glanced down at his watch. “I’ve got a better idea.” He pulled a business card from an inside coat pocket and laid it atop the pastry box. “Be at this address tomorrow at nine sharp. We’ll work it out then. Right now, I’ve got to go.”

  Before Kate could utter a word, the man headed back into the elevator, the doors gliding shut behind him.

  “Well, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it.” Samantha pushed herself off the wall and walked over to Kate.

  “What’s that?” Kate pushed the rest of the cupcakes back into the box as best as she could, before closing the lid and licking the frosting from her fingers.

  “You.”

  “What did I do?” Kate was confused by Samantha’s comment. What had she done, other than practically smash the cupcakes into the man’s chest.

  “Not much the way I saw it. I’ve never seen you so tongue-tied by a man. Normally you go after what you want without as much as a backward glance. Both verbally and physically. This time, you were all quiet and shell-shocked. Interesting look for you, I must admit.”

  “I wasn’t shell-shocked. You saw what happened, I ran smack into him, well his coat and…” It took everything Kate had not to break into wails of frustration, but they wouldn’t do her any good. Not here and not now.

  “How the heck am I supposed to make this right? Did you see how expensive it was? I’m so screwed, that coat will probably cost me a month’s rent or worse.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m sure it won’t be that bad. Come on, let’s forget all about the mystery man and go have ourselves a hell of a celebration. It is your birthday after all.”

  Kate took the business card and shoved it into the pocket of her jeans. Samantha was right. No use getting herself into a tailspin now when there was nothing she could do till morning. She would enjoy herself tonight and tomorrow, well that would be an entirely different matter.

  “Lead the way to party central. I’m ready to celebrate.” Kate linked her arm with Samantha’s and stepped into the awaiting elevator.

  “Oh you guys shouldn’t have, but I’m really glad you did.” Kate lifted the necklace from the box and smiled at the group of her closest friends surrounding her at the table. “Soon we’ll all have one to wear.” She looked at the gold charm signifying her zodiac sign, Gemini, the twins. Every month she watched in anticipation as each of her friends got their necklace. Now it was her turn and she couldn’t wait to put it on.

  “You guys are the best, you know it?”

  “As a matter of fact, we do,” Ashley said, lifting her margarita glass in the air. “I propose a toast to the woman of the hour herself. Our own birthday girl, Kate Carlisle. Here’s to your twenty-seventh birthday, here’s to letting us celebrate with you, and here’s to whatever is in that box that you keep staring at.”

  Kate looked down at the box on the booth seat beside side and let out a sigh before answering Ashley. “Well, it was dessert, but now it’s nothing more than a mashed up box of cupcakes. I had a small accident on my way in and crushed them all together.”

  Beside her, Samantha snorted. “Oh please, tell it like it is. She ran into a wall of hot, sexy man at the elevator. Mr. Tall, Dark and Hump Me, got her hornier than a herd of all American Texas beef.”

  “When did this happen?” Trish asked.

  “How come it never happens to me?” Liz said with a grin.

  Her friends might be making light of the situation, but Kate was anything but laughing at it. For whatever reason, the look the man gave her unsettled her more than she cared to admit.

  “I literally ran into him at the elevators. I wasn’t looking where I was going and christened the front of his suit coat with the contents of the box. So, tomorrow I’ll go make restitution. End of story. Now, who’s buying the next round because I’m parched?” Kate asked with a smile.

  “And that would be me,” Samantha said, as she flagged down the server.

  Kate rolled over in bed, her heart pounding, heat suffusing her stomach, and the ache between her legs a dull roar. She looked to her left, expecting to find the man in her dreams lying beside her. Instead the spot was empty, yet the passion running through her veins was anything but. She shifted to a sitting position and shoved her fingers through her hair.

  Her dream lover had been kissing her, all the while touching her, bringing her so close to orgasm Kate could still feel the tingles running though her body. If only she’d waited a few more minutes to wake, up, Kate could only imagine how powerful the sensations would have been, let alone the earth shattering orgasm she was sure would have followed. He was doing everything she ever wanted and needed, and then some. Unfortunately it was also only in her dreams and worse yet, the man was the stranger she’d plowed into at the restaurant.

  Now here she was having erotic sex dreams about him. Really vivid ones, no less. Really good ones, too.

  With a groan, Kate flopped back on the pillows. What she needed to do was get out Big Bob from the nightstand drawer, slide his thick girth into her wet pussy and finish the job. Instead, she forced herself to think things through rationally. This would never do. She didn’t even know the man’s name for craps sake. Wait a minute, yes she did.

  Kate pushed back the covers and scrambled from the bed. Lifting the jeans she’d worn to dinner from the chair, she shoved her hand in the front pocket and pulled out the business card he’d given her.

  Adam Belfour, CEO Belfour Advertising Company.

  Kate dropped back on the edge of the bed and closed her eyes. She was a dead woman.

  Adam Belfour was sort of like the E F Hutton commercials on television. When he spoke, people listened. And if they didn’t, then they took their chances on the rest of their lives. This man made money just by giving his opinion.

  Yup, she was a dead woman if he decided to take a dislike to her based on their first meeting. Her bakery, Sinful Sweets, was already teetering on the red ink side of the ledger. One small nudge would put her securely into bankruptcy and that was something Kate didn’t want to have happen.

  “Okay, I can handle this. What should I do? I’ll… I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  She got up and paced back and forth across her bedroom, her bare feet making no sound on the plush carpet.

  “Wait, I know.” Kate snapped her fingers. “I’ll bake something for him. Food is the perfect way to soothe the savage beast.”

  She smiled broadly and then headed for the kitchen. It might be three o’clock in the morning, but when Kate put her mind to something, she was bound and determined to follow it through. She’d sleep tomorrow. Make that today. Whenever, it didn’t matter right now. Kate was on a mission to make the man forgive her and fall in love with her delectable desserts.

  Chapter Two

  Kate held the basket of goodies like a shield, to defend her in case of attack. Part of her felt like Little Red Riding Hood about to meet up with the Big Bad Wolf.

  She willed her hands not to shake as she pressed the button for the twenty-fifth floor of the Kramer Building. Inside the rich mahogany paneled car, Kate stared at her reflection in the mirrored doors. While the outside view showed a poised, confident woman, it was the inside view that thankfully no one could see. Her stomach was tied up in knots that would rival any Navy ship docked in port. Her palms were sweaty and her knees were just a tad unsteady. But this time Kate vowed to be strong and a lot less clumsy than the night before. The last thing she needed was
a repeat performance of her utter klutziness, especially in front of Adam Belfour.

  She’d taken the time to dress a little nicer today, instead of wearing her usual uniform of jeans and a white t-shirt and for that Kate was glad. She’d even managed to dig through her box of practically expired cosmetics to put on some mascara and a hint of blush and lipstick as well. Kate shook her head, knowing full well this wasn’t a social occasion, but instead another round of well-deserved apologies.

  When the elevator doors opened, Kate took a deep breath and forced herself to walk forward on trembling knees. Exhaustion tore at her every step. Exhaustion thanks to Adam Belfour intruding upon every minute of her night. Whether awake or asleep, she couldn’t get the man off her mind for more than a few seconds. When she closed her eyes, she could see him licking his finger. With her eyes open, she wondered what it would be like to grab his finger and suck the swirls of frosting from his skin. It bordered on insanity.

  Kate entered the lobby of Belfour Advertising Corporation and walked up to the reception desk. A young blonde woman smiled up at her.

  “May I help you?”

  “Yes, I’m Kate Carlisle and I have a nine o’clock appointment with Mr. Belfour,” Kate told her, her hands still clenching the basket of goodies in a death grip.

  “One moment please and I’ll let him know you’ve arrived.”

  “Thank you.” Kate turned and walked a few steps away.

  Kate had barely seated herself before the receptionist stood up and came around the front of the desk. “Ms. Carlise? Mr. Belfour will see you now.”

  She preceded Kate to the massive doors at one end of the room.

  Kate was ushered through the doors as though royalty, when in reality she knew it had everything to do with the basket of chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter and sugar cookies the receptionist was eyeing. Still warm, the smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through the office was definitely an enticement.