Sweet Heat Rising (Thoroughbred Men Series) Read Free

was an employee.
    Sarah wiped down the counters with a bleach/soap solution, ran a mop over the floor and grabbed the deposit bag. Sarah locked the door behind her and ran to her car in the dark lot. Nervous and paranoid, Sarah hopped in and slammed the door behind her, locking it quickly. She lived in a safe, tiny town but it still made her extremely nervous to be in the darkening lot behind the building with her precious earnings from the shop. She could not help but watch over her shoulder still, even though it had been years since she had left Josh or had even heard from him.
    Most days they were able to close up shop around three o’clock,  so it wasn't too bad in the parking lot.  Some nights, when she was working on a project or a new recipe, it was definitely creepy out back. The shop barely made ends meet some weeks, and Saturdays really bailed them out and made things work out financially.
     
    Sarah drove by the bank night depository, dropped in the envelope and drove home quietly to unwind. She was ready for some down time, to relax and get to bed early for the rush in the morning.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    2
     
    “BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.” 
    Sarah started to slap the alarm but decided against it and just hopped in the shower. She threw her hair into a loose pony tail. As she headed in to the bakery from the parking lot, she saw Tyler was already there. He awaited her with two Starbucks cups and a goofy grin on his face. Sarah had to give him props, he was persistent and some woman would be lucky one day to have him. I was just not her though.
    Tyler smiled at Sarah’s appearance. He really appreciated her wearing her hair pulled back. It gave him an excellent view of her lovely profile. “Good morning, sunshine, ready to do this?” Tyler asked and passed her a steaming cup of coffee.
    Sarah replied grumpily, “Good morning... and I am not your sunshine, Tyler.” She did, however, gratefully accept the cup of coffee. This was getting to be too much. Just the other day he referred to her bakery as “ours” and she had to correct him on that note too. As much as he annoyed her, the customer’s seemed to adore him.
    She had worked long and hard to make something of the tiny bakery. She struggled for over a year at odd jobs to save the money to start it up. She was not about to let him imply that it was ‘theirs.’ BatterUp! was hers, and hers alone.
    Tyler grinned from ear to ear at her waspish attitude. “My! My! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Is everything okay?” He circled around her and opened the door. “Anything I can help with? Maybe it's the lonely bed thing,” he said boldly and attempted to brush it off when she choked on her coffee. “I’m teasing you,” he said coyly and waited patiently for her to unlock the deadbolt.
    Sarah coughed again and tried to regain her posture. “No, lets just get the rolls and donuts started this morning. Thank you for the coffee,” Sarah replied quietly, trying to be polite. She could not believe he had just said that! Some mornings it was easy to get along with Tyler, other mornings? Not so much. When he was tried to be subtle and showed interest in her, it was like she watched a sleazy salesman come onto her. She could practically picture him in a tweed jacket and cologne that overwhelmed. Both would have the same effect: a huge turn off.
    Sarah unlocked the back door to the bakery, walked inside, and the rich smell of yeast and dough always made her take a deep breath in. She sighed in contentment. There was just something that invigorated her about the smell of rising dough and rolls. Sarah flipped on the deep fryers to get them started warming up for the five thirty opening.
    She stayed quiet on her side of the metal prep table. Sarah dumped the dough and proceeded to beat it down again for the final rising. Tyler had the mixer started in the corner, in order to begin the next batch of donuts.  They both fell into a quiet routine as