Sinful Read online

  “I agree with Jazmaine,” Tatum Barnes agreed, cutting in. “Who has rubbed you the wrong way?”

  Looking past Jazmaine, Maymi tried not to roll her eyes as Jensen got up from his seat and left with a leggy brunette. Of course, he would be with someone as perfect as him. They probably ran in the same circle as other flawless people who never step foot in her bakery.

  “Turn around and look at the tall guy leaving the dark-haired woman,” she said, knowing she would regret telling her friends anything about Jensen.

  Maymi hoped he would hurry up and leave so she wouldn’t have to look at him anymore but he stopped at the door then stared at her one last time before going out of the door. Slowly, her best friends faced her again after Jensen was finally gone.

  “Who in the hell was he?” Tatum gushed. “Did you see how gorgeous he was? I mean his face was perfect in every sense of the word. How could you call someone like him an asshole?”

  “Maymi, you can’t keep your connection to that sexy man a secret from us,” Jazmaine complained. “You know that we will keep asking you until we break you down. Why go through all of that with us?”

  Why did she ever open her mouth?

  Maymi knew she should have kept quiet when she spotted Jensen staring in her direction. She had actually seen him right after the waitress seated them, but just kept her mouth shut.

  “Maymi, are you paying any attention to us?”

  “Yes, I hear you Jazmaine.” She sighed. “I just don’t want to talk about Jensen Lowe any more tonight. I’ve dealt with him enough today.”

  “He’s the guy you told us about on the drive over here?” Tatum asked, shocked. “I can’t believe it. How could you leave out how good he looked? I mean, I would love to do some baking with him and it wouldn’t occur inside of the kitchen.”

  “You’re supposed to be on my side, not drooling over my enemy,” Maymi snapped, wondering how the conversation had gotten so sidetracked.

  Tatum’s light brown eyes lit up with mischief as her hand reached for her drink and then she took a sip. “What can I say?” she said. “You know I have a weakness for tall, handsome, physically fit white guys. Why do you think I work out at our local gym four days a week?”

  “I thought it was to stay in shape because you love wearing those short skirts and high heels.” Maymi grinned. “I don’t have a clue how you keep up with all of the men you date. You seem to have them falling over their feet to ask you out on a date.”

  “I tell you it’s the ponytail. Men have fantasies about pulling long hair while making love.” Tatum grinned. “Why shouldn’t I give them a little visual stimulation? It doesn’t mean I’m going to let them get any.”

  “Okay, you two, enough of that,” Jazmaine cut in. “I want to know how a guy who looks like that can be such a jerk? Is he serious about you moving your bakery away from his workout gym? He can’t force you to do anything. I hope he knows that and takes a step back.”

  Maymi was positive that Jensen knew the law, but none of that meant he wasn’t going to make her life a living hell. He was without a doubt going to be a pain in her side. No matter how gorgeous he might be on the outside, he was nasty and not worth another moment of her time. She was supposed to be having a good time, not plotting ways to get rid of him.

  “How about we forget about Mr. Lowe and enjoy the rest of our dinner?” she suggested. “I have to be at work early to finish up three cupcake orders plus finish decorating a Hello Kitty special order cake for a five-year-old’s birthday party.”

  “Can I ask you one more thing about him?” Tatum asked.

  “No, you can’t,” she answered, tired of talking about Jensen. “I want to know what’s going on with you two.”

  “Nothing as exciting as you have going on,” Jazmaine answered then glanced down at her watch. “Damn, I have to go. I’m supposed to be back at work in twenty minutes for another board meeting.”

  “Are you serious?” Maymi asked, staring at her friend. “I thought you would at least be able to finish having dinner with us.”

  Jazmaine glanced away from her with a guilty expression on her face. “I know. I was hoping I could put off telling you until later, but I couldn’t,” she said, looking back at her. “You know we are merging the company I work for with another business that specializes in graphic novels. I swear this venture has lasted way too long. I want it to be done and over with.”

  “How much long will it take?” Maymi inquired. “It seems like it has been going on for months now.”

  Sighing, Jazmaine nodded her head. “It has been about four months now, but my boss keeps telling me the guy only has a few more requests before he’ll sign the papers. God, I hope everything will be done in the next couple of weeks, but who knows. I think he’s holding up things on purpose. I’ve heard he’s a real hard ass when he doesn’t get every single thing he wants. However, Mr. Akito Mashiro will learn very quickly that I don’t like to play games. My time is too precious for him to be jerking me around for dumb stuff.”

  Maymi was glad she wasn’t the only one dealing with a difficult man at the moment, but Jazmaine was luckier than her. The man causing her all of these problems wasn’t in her face.

  “I would gladly trade places with you because your headache isn’t right next door and threatening to make you move out of a building he has absolutely no control over.”

  “Maymi, you’re right but this guy is making me work way too much overtime because he can. I think my problem is a lot worse than yours,” Jazmaine disagreed.

  “Why don’t you two stop complaining so we can have fun with what little time we have left before Jazmaine has to leave.” Tatum sighed. “I know those comic books can wait another ten or fifteen minutes”.

  “Tatum, I’ve told you before that graphic novels aren’t the same thing as comic books. They are longer and have a complete story from start to finish, instead of ending with a traditional cliffhanger regular comic books are known for.

  “In addition, some graphic novels are unsuitable for young kids because they have more detailed illustrations with their sex and violence. If Mr. Mashiro signs with my boss, it would skyrocket Mr. Kent’s name in the industry since this guy is known for his Manga style of novels.”

  “Okay, I get it,” Tatum sighed, rolling her eyes making Maymi laugh. “Graphic novels are like the Nip/Tuck of the fiction world. So, I’m also guessing I couldn’t walk by a newsstand and just pick one up.”

  “No, you can’t,” Jazmaine said. “Now can you stop picking on me and pretending that you don’t know how important this deal is to me?”

  “Sorry,” Tatum apologized. “I only wanted to finish my meal and maybe talk one of you into going out with me for a little dancing tonight.”

  “How do you still have so much energy to do all of that?” Maymi complained. “I barely have enough get up and go to crawl out of bed now since opening up the bakery.”

  Taking a sip of her drink, Tatum eyed her a few minutes then shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe it comes from being a yoga instructor on the weekends. I’ve all kinds of boundless energy nowadays. I told you that you should sign up for one of my classes at the gym.”

  For the past week, she had missed her lower abs workout classes. She better get back before she got too far behind and couldn’t be able to do anything anymore. “Where would I fit in the time for an extra class? I already take two now and I can barely make those two on most days,” Maymi answered.

  “Do you really think the rumors are true and Jack is going to sell to another fitness place in town? I mean I’ve been going to the same place for six years,” Tatum complained. “I’m not good with change. The thought of finding another place doesn’t sit well with me. I like my gym being only a thirty minute drive from my back door.”

  Maymi was worried about losing their favorite workout spot as well. It held special memories for her since it was the place all of them had become friends. Meeting up there was a part of their
routine. Even when one of them couldn’t make it, the other two always found a way to show up. Now that Jazmaine was working as hard as her, it was harder for them to come together like they used to do in the past.

  Everything around them seemed to be changing at such a rapid pace, but she couldn’t let any of that take her focus away from the most important accomplishment she had going on. She was the proud owner of her own business. She had to keep that front and center in her mind or all of her hard work would have been for nothing.

  “Ladies, let’s not worry about any of this right now. Jack loves owning a gym and I doubt he’ll let it go unless the money wasn’t there to keep it open,” she pointed out.

  “You’re right,” Jazmaine agreed a second before her cell phone went off. She pulled it out of her purse and then cursed, tossing it back inside. “God, I really do hate Mr. Mashiro’s assistant. She calls me like twenty times a day and I believe it’s on purpose.”

  Maymi already guessed what Jazmaine was going to tell them before the words even left her mouth. “You have to leave, don’t you?” she asked her girlfriend.

  “Of course, I do. The assistant from hell just summons me back to the office. I swear if he wasn’t the most sought after graphic novelist for our competitor, I would tell him to shove his pen where the sun doesn’t shine.”

  “Don’t lose your temper. You’ve worked too long to get this far with this guy. All you have to do is get him to sign the contract and you’re done with him. At least, he’s still in London and sending the message through his assistant.”

  “I know, but dealing with his demands is wearing on my one last nerve. I swear when I do finally lay eyes on him he might not like what comes out of my mouth.”

  “Since dinner didn’t turn out good for any of us, how about we reschedule another one for next week,” Tatum suggested. “I hate that you guys are having such a trying week when mine has been stress free. I can pay for this one since I got a little extra in my paycheck this week.”

  Maymi would love to do it, but she was booked solid for the next two weeks with orders for weddings, graduations and retirement parties. She wouldn’t have any free time for anymore dinners for a while. Most of hers would be eaten at Sinful while icing a cake or while doing the baking for the next day.

  “I’m sorry. I won’t have any more free time for another dinner anytime soon. I’m swamped with orders for the next several weeks,” she said, watching Tatum roll her eyes.

  “Don’t even say it, Tatum. I know I need to get out more but you know how much it means to me to make this a success. I have so much to prove.”

  She had taken out a huge loan to secure this bakery and she couldn’t afford to miss one payment to the bank or owner of the property. Every single order that she got in had to be given the same amount of attention.

  She couldn’t get behind on any payments because not only would the bank give her problems, but also the property owner, who wouldn’t think twice about taking his building back from her. Mr. Sajack only wanted the check placed inside of his hand and definitely allowed no excuses for a late payment.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Maymi said. “I can pay for all of us. Why don’t you give Tatum a ride back to work? I can get a cab. I’m going back to the bakery to finish up this cake order anyway.”

  Both Tatum and Jazmaine’s eyes grew wide as saucers as they stared at her like she was out of her mind. “You can’t go back to work at eight o’clock at night, are you crazy?” Tatum asked. “Just go back home and go to work early tomorrow morning. Nothing you have to do at Sinful is so important you have to be inside that building at night all alone.”

  Sighing, Maymi knew she wouldn’t be able to change her girlfriend’s mind about her going back to work. When Tatum spoke, she expected everyone to follow her rules without any kind of argument.

  “Fine, I’ll go home instead and work on putting my cake boxes together, but I’ll have to be back there at five o’clock because I’ve two cakes that will go out within four hours of each other.”

  Tatum smiled at her, but didn’t say a word. God, she hated when her bossy girlfriend got her way so easily. This was going to be the first and last time either one of her friends talked her out of going back to work no matter how late it might be.

  “Great, I’m glad we’re done with that,” Jazmaine cut in. “Now, can let’s pay the bill so I can get back to my ball and chain.”

  “You’re right about that,” Maymi teased, raising her hand for the waiter. “You are married to that job. All of us need to go on a long vacation.”

  “Do you really have time for fun in the sun on a tropical beach?” Jazmaine questioned, watching her as the waiter came back with their check.

  Laughing, Maymi shook her head. “No, but a girl can dream,” she answered, handing the waiter her credit card. “It’s what keeps me going every night when I drag myself to bed after a long hard day at work.”

  “Hmmm...the only thing I would want to dream about is that delicious Jensen Lowe. You should think of a dessert and then name it after him.” Tatum cut in, grinning at her.

  Maymi caught herself before she literally fell out of her seat. There was no way anything named after that man would be placed on the inside of any of her bakery cases. Every treat was made with tender, loving care and nothing about him was tender or loving.

  “How about you keep your baking ideas to yourself and let me handle the dessert world?” she suggested as the waiter came back with her credit card.

  “Fine, but I think if you had him standing outside your bakery holding a tray of your famous red velvet cupcakes, you would have so many female customers that you wouldn’t be able to handle the rush,” Tatum tossed back at her.

  “Alright, I hear you.” She sighed, sliding her credit card back into her wallet. “How about we get out of here? I don’t want Jazmaine’s client’s assistant calling her again.”

  Standing up, Maymi grabbed her coat off the back of her chair, watching as Tatum and Jazmaine did the same thing. She loved the closeness of their relationship because growing up with two older brothers she always wanted a sister to share her secrets with at night. She never doubted her girlfriends wouldn’t be there with her through thick and thin no matter what the problem was.

  “He isn’t my client yet,” Jazmaine corrected as they walked away from the table heading for the front door. “I still need to stroke his assistant’s ego along with his which is a tough thing to do since I’ve never laid eyes on the man.”

  “You’re the best person for the job and when you win both of them over they will apologize for making you work so hard to get them to see what we already do. I’m so confident you will get Mr. Mashiro to sign those papers, I will have a party for you at my house,” Maymi said.

  Linking her arm hers, Jazmaine glanced down at her. “I will only celebrate if you promise to make me your famous triple layer carrot cake. I haven’t eaten one in forever.”

  “Alright, I can do that for you,” Maymi agreed.

  She was the kind of friend that would be there for her friends no matter what they were experiencing. So if Jazmaine wanted her grandmother’s blue ribbon triple layer carrot cake then she would have it.

  Chapter Six

  Early the following morning, Maymi grabbed the stack of bakery boxes out of the back of her car she had placed there last night after her dinner with Jazmaine and Tatum. They had Sinful across the top along with a cute design of a bakery in the background. She had them specially made to showcase her business and they weren’t cheap, so she had to be very careful with them.

  She tried working on little things like this at home, so she could spend more of her time working on new recipes for the bakery. The more she could work on improving would be one step closer to proving this career wasn’t a mistake.

  Holding the boxes against her chest, she stepped on the sidewalk trying to look around the side to make sure no one was coming. She prayed that she would make it to the front door be
fore any of them accidentally hit the ground. She was about five steps away when a voice yelled.

  “Ma’am, watch out!” a second before a hard body crashed into her sending her flying to the ground in one direction and the hot pink boxes in the other.

  She didn’t have time to brace herself before she fell on her ass. Thankfully, she had enough back there to protect her body, but she wasn’t so sure her boxes were that lucky. She didn’t even have to look at them to know they were damaged.

  “God, are you alright? I’m so sorry. I was running and you stepped out in front of me so fast before I could stop,” the guy apologized.

  Brushing her hair out of her face, Maymi gasped as she stared into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. She couldn’t even answer his question because she was so taken back by how good-looking he was.

  “Here let me help you up,” he said, grabbing her by the hand as people walked around them.

  “Thanks,” Maymi answered as a person kicked one of her boxes and kept on walking. She took a step back and wiped her hands down the front of her jeans. She looked around at the crushed boxes and cursed underneath her breath.

  “Damn, they are all ruined. What in the hell am I going to do? I only have a few left inside the bakery”

  “I’m so sorry about the boxes.” He apologized again as he bent down and picked them up holding them out to her. “Is there anything I can do to help you? I feel so bad about this. I should have been paying better attention to where I was going.”

  “It’s okay,” she sighed. “I might have a few extra ones in the storage room that I can put together before my customers come in to pick up their cakes. My cupcakes orders aren’t due until later in the afternoon and that is what these boxes are for.”

  “Show me what to do and I can put them together for you. I don’t have to be at work for another hour and it’s the least I can do since I ruined them.”

  Maymi looked at the gorgeous guy standing next to her and he looked so sincere but she knew nothing about him. How could she invite him into her bakery? He could be a killer for all that she knew.