Adore Me

By Darcy Lundeen

A hacker is targeting Meredith Crismis’s struggling new dessert company. But when the tech firm she depends on sends hunky computer expert Vlad Wiznitsky to fix the problem, things begin improving for Meredith, both personally and professionally. First, her relationship with Vlad heats up to the sizzling point, then Meredith’s given the chance to snag a wealthy customer who could put her company’s bottom line permanently into the black. It seems like a dream come true, until the persistent hacker turns her “Divine Desserts” website into an X-rated marketplace, the wealthy customer demands a discontinued decorative item or else no sale, and her relationship with Vlad begins to unravel under the pressure of her obsession with professional success. For a woman who deals with creating intricate wedding cakes and luscious muffins, life has suddenly become the ultimate recipe for disaster.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: Jan 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781509206261

Darcy Lundeen

I was born in a big city and grew up amid pavements, pigeons and the near-constant clamor of bumper-to-bumper traffic and testy pedestrians. In acknowledging my brick-and-asphalt background, my college roommate, who hailed from a small town filled with lush greenery, once actually said, "When did you see your first real tree and did you know what you were looking at?" She later insisted it was a joke, but since she seemed dead serious at the time, I still have my doubts. A writer and researcher, who has dealt with subjects as diverse as international organizations, multiple sclerosis, the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and the Soviet Union (when there still was a Soviet Union), I enjoy taking long walks, visiting the Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Etruscan and dinosaur exhibits in museums, doing sudoku (but only the easy ones) and concocting stories about everyday people who laugh a lot, cry a little and ultimately find the happily-ever-after they deserve. At the moment, I still live in a big city, but now thanks to the diligence of the local Parks Department, I can always recognize a real tree when I see one.

Book preview

Inc.

Do you know how long it’s been this way? he asked.

After all the trouble I’ve had with my office computer, I decided to check my company site several times a day. As of four-thirty this afternoon, everything was fine, so it hasn’t been long. Meredith sighed. Just long enough to turn her business into an X-rated paradise for horny consumers.

Message just came in for you, Vlad said, and she stopped pacing and went back to the desk, silently praying it wasn’t like the twenty-seven other messages she’d received in the past fifty-two minutes.

As she leaned over his shoulder, she tapped the message tab, stared at the screen, and couldn’t restrain herself when she read the thing. Angry, frustrated, and seriously at the end of her rope, she gave a growl and stabbed her finger at the message.

I just got another order, this one for two sets of edible underwear in chocolate mint and two sets in blueberry. That’s twenty-eight orders in less than an hour. I never did this good selling desserts.

Praise for Darcy Lundeen

"FINDING YOU AGAIN is a great little romance with lots of hot sex, some angst about what their futures will hold, and lots of miscues that cause a few problems for them. Loved the book, and all the characters, along with the twist at the end that allows them to get back together."

~Alberta, Manic Readers

~*~

There were times when I thought that I was going to mess myself I laughed so hard…Yes, I knew I would get a rekindle of a past love but it was so much more than I ever dreamed and all in a wonderfully delicious way.

~Zara Yates, You Gotta Read Reviews

~*~

"If you’re a fan of contemporary stories filled with heat and heart, grab yourself a copy of FINDING YOU AGAIN."

~Nikki, Siren Book Reviews

Adore Me

by

Darcy Lundeen

A Candy Hearts Romance

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Adore Me

COPYRIGHT © 2016 by Darcy Lundeen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

Cover Art by RJ Morris

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Champagne Rose Edition, 2016

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-0626-1

A Candy Hearts Romance

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

For B.R. and T.R.

who both brought joy when they came into my life,

but were taken away much too soon.

Chapter One

Meredith Crismis closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and smiled as the myriad odors wafting on the air invaded her nostrils, and her senses.

The milky pureness of vanilla. The heady tang of lemon. The decadent smoothness of chocolate.

Taking deep breaths in a warm kitchen was the only way to appreciate those luscious smells. And they were all hers. At least until customers came along to claim them.

She opened her eyes again and looked around the room at the miracle her diligent study, hard work, and, yes, a dollop of good luck, too, had brought.

And like those mouth-watering scents, it was also hers. The entire place. Lock, stock, humongous bank loans, and equally daunting monthly bills.

Divine Desserts. The thing she’d wanted, longed for, dreamed of ever since she was in second grade and stood in the family kitchen with her mother while they sifted flour, rolled out dough, and whipped up bowls of sugary sweet cake or cupcake filling. Then they’d put everything together so they could enjoy a taste of their creations as a reward for the work they’d done.

Now Divine Desserts was her reward and had been for the past six months since she first opened the business.

Dana, her assistant and a pretty awesome baker in her own right, stood across the room, putting the finishing touches on Willa Pruitt’s chocolate-mousse-filled wedding cake with lemon fondant frosting. After that, they’d work on the four trays of cupcakes that sat on the kitchen counter, fresh from the oven and ready to be filled, frosted, and transformed into nine-year-old Tori Schmidt’s cupcake birthday cake. Then would come the assorted muffins for that office party this afternoon.

Meredith smiled. They really had their work cut out for them today, and she wouldn’t want it any other way. The more happy customers they had, the better it was for business. The more business they had, the better it was for the bottom line…and for being able to pay off all the loans she’d taken.

I’ll be in my office for a while doing paperwork, she told Dana. Then I’ll come back and help you fill those cupcakes.

Great. Dana glanced over her shoulder. You know me and chocolate-ganache filling. I have to be constantly watched when I’m around it so I don’t end up eating the whole thing.

Meredith couldn’t help laughing at that, it was so true. God, we have so much in common. Be back soon.

She left the kitchen and walked down the hallway that led to her office.

Leaving the door open, she went to her desk, turned on the computer, and stared at…nothing. The screen was blank.

Okay, come on, stop being a laggard, she murmured as she brought her finger down on the mouse. I know it’s almost the weekend, but—

She broke off and flinched when the machine emitted something that sounded like a bark. This was immediately followed by a burst of wild colors that pulsed across the screen, almost blinding her.

What the hell? she yelped, turning away from the computer to protect her vision.

A second later, the lights diminished to total darkness and the barking gave way to deadly silence.

God, no! she whispered, staring at the screen. "Don’t do