Recipe for Pleasure

By Tanya Sands

Colton Michaels is a go-getter. For as long as he could remember he had known he wanted to be a chef and run his own restaurant. Not even 25 and his dream is now a reality with the opening of Flavour. So much so that his place is THE place to be seen eating. When it comes to women he's just as determined to have the perfect one for him in his life. And he knew the moment he met/hired his hostess that he wouldn't need to search anywhere else.

Ashley Frost has been described for most of her life as mousy, and that was even if she were noticed. Her BBW curvy body used to hold back her confidence. Having had a wonderful childhood with parents that doted on her, she proved to be a strong woman when she survives risky brain surgery for a tumor, then upon release from the hospital loses her only family to a horrific car accident. Working at Flavour has been very good for her. When Colton began to show an interest in her, she hesitated dating him at first, thinking a work relationship wasn't a good idea. But he managed to convince her that they could work through any problem that was thrown at them.

Now, Colton wants to take their relationship to the next level, but Ashley wants to make sure it's not something fleeting with them. Could a third tragedy in her life put a roadblock on the path of where they were heading?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tanya Sands
• Release date: Apr 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310639180

Tanya Sands

Tanya Sands is the pseudonym of a stay-at-home mom who, having written but not published short stories for years, finally took the leap and published her passion. When she’s not writing she’s raising her 2 young boys and 3 furbabies while her husband supports them all by driving all over the country as a long haul truck driver. She is the youngest of 6 and a proud vet of the US Air Force.

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Recipe for Pleasure

by

Tanya Sands

Recipe for Pleasure

The Chasers Series, Book 3

Tanya Sands

Copyright © 2016 Tanya Sands

All Rights Reserved. This book may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. All characters and storylines are the property of the author and your support and respect is appreciated. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.

The following story contains strong and explicit sexual and other intense situations. The following story is intended for adult audiences only. Parental discretion is advised.

Cover design by Hardline Images

Chapter One

Ashley entered her apartment after having walked for a couple of hours in the Japanese Gardens at Balboa Park. She always loved that place. When she was a child her parents would bring her there and they would have private picnics. Her special treat was always a trip to feed the butterflies. That was always her favorite.

She had to work that night and hoped she and Colt would spend the night together. Woman’s intuition had been telling her for a few weeks Colton wanted to take their relationship to the next step. She guessed she should be ecstatic, but she wanted to be totally sure of her heart before she gave it to anyone.

She could remember the interrupted loving embraces, the stolen kisses between her parents. Even as a child, Ashley could tell how much they loved each other. That was what she was looking for. She knew, as an adult, fairy tales were just stories, but her parents were proof that true love, strong love, was possible, and she would have it. She knew she had feelings for Colton, but she wanted just a bit more of soul searching time before she said those three precious words to him.

She stepped out of the shower, dried off, and went into her bedroom. In front of the full length mirror, she looked herself over with a critical eye. Technically, she was considered full figured, being a size fourteen, but she was comfortable in her own skin. Her mom had the same kind of figure, but never once doubted the attraction her father felt. She taught Ashley to be confident, no matter her size. So, yes, she had more curves than a lot of her friends, but she was in shape. With her membership at a local gym, she was put through her paces by a personal trainer three times a week.

She slipped into the pale lavender boy shorts she knew Colton would love, matching bra, thigh high stockings, and then the black heels. In her closet was a dress that almost matched the color of her lingerie perfectly. She never really went out much, so when she bought it, she had planned to just wear it to work. She had about two weeks of clothes that she rotated, and a lot of options to mix and match, which gave her a month’s worth of outfits.

At Flavour, she parked her car in her spot and after locking the doors, walked inside to get her area ready for the late lunch/early dinner crowd. She had a feeling tonight would be a busy one.

She hated being apart from Colt, but with them living in their own apartments it was unavoidable. Just the thought he would be there soon was enough to make her steps lighter and her smile brighter.

***

Colton had always been comforted by the smell of cooking food. He walked through the doors to the kitchen at Flavour and stood back to watch the bustle. Preparations of slicing and seasoning were done by the prep and sous chefs. The temperature was high since the fryers, grills, and such were heating up. The clatter of the dishes hitting each other as they were set out, pots and pan clanging on the burners being readied for use, were all loud, but it was music to his ears.

Too many people had told him he was too young, that he would close his doors in six months and go bankrupt, that he would end up working for someone else because of the amount of debt he would incur.

Flavour’s doors had been open for over a year. He had paid back his loans already and after investing in better equipment and hiring the best wait-staff and other necessary employees around—having to pay more than the other restaurants to do so—his gamble paid off. On just the profits from the restaurant, he was living very comfortably, and was even putting money into savings. His mom had taught him that financial security was very important.

The early evening rush was ending and the later crowd was just trickling in, about to bombard the kitchen again. In his still clean chef’s jacket, he went out into the main area and began to check on his diners. With only compliments being given, he was very confident in his future. He paid top dollar for the best chef around, and even jumped in from time to time to keep his skills sharp.

At the front of the room, near the entrance, was Ashley Frost. He could only see her from behind as she was checking in a couple, but he knew she was smiling at them. She was always smiling.

Colton walked to the bar and was handed a bottle of water by Mac, the bartender. With a nod of thanks, he opened it and drank as he watched Ashley work. She was not traditionally pretty, others had described her as kind of plain looking, but to him she was beautiful. It was the way she carried herself, her attitude, and how her sense of humor shone through her eyes and made her face light up. Other than the food, he was complimented on his choice of hostesses, time and again. She was a strong young woman and she exuded happiness from her pores.

No one at the restaurant knew what she had been through except him. A year ago, her doctors had found a tumor on her brain that they had felt positive would prove fatal if not removed, but finding a surgeon with the skill to do so was hard. It wasn’t until her parents had been approached by a renowned neurologist that hope had come into the picture. After much consideration, he had proposed a risky procedure. It was a lucky thing he had, as not removing it would have only given her a month or two to live.

A year later, she was the picture of health, though her hair had taken its sweet time to grow back. Colton hadn’t known her when she’d had her head completely cleared of her once beautifully long blonde hair. Hair so blonde it was almost white. Slow to grow back, it barely reached her shoulders, but she made the most of it. To look at her, you’d never guess how sick she had been a mere twelve months ago.

With menus in hand, she turned and happened to look his way. Her eyes met his and she gave him the biggest smile. A smile so filled with happiness that two men from nearby tables stared at her open mouthed. They stared so long their dates smacked them to get their attention. She covered her mouth and laughed. From across the room, he could almost hear her tinkling laugh.

The house was full to capacity, again. He wanted to say it was all due to his talent in the kitchen, but that wasn’t it entirely. All the stars were aligned. The timing was perfect in that he found the perfect location, was able to hire on staff that were, without a doubt, the best in the area. And his investors had lined up to take a chance on a young man fresh out of culinary school to make his dream a reality. Now, he was thinking of getting out of an apartment and buying a house. Something big enough for a family.

In his office, he turned his laptop on. There were a couple of realtors vying for his business. When he spoke with his mom’s new husbands, Jack and Chase, they had recommended the one they had used to buy the house next to his mom’s. True, he would probably go with that agency, but he wanted to test the two he was considering to see how close they could get to what he was looking for. And from the emails he had waiting for him, he could tell both agencies were eager for the business.

Only one had truly paid attention when he was talking through what he wanted. From one agent, he had a couple of emails with high priced, insanely large homes. Now, the emails from the other agent—yes, the one his mom’s husbands had used—were totally different and exactly what he was looking for. Good neighborhoods, no more than three bedrooms, with fenced in backyards. Now these were promising. As he clicked on one to read the info for one house, he heard a timid knock on his door.

Colt? I’m on my break. Are you hungry?

That voice. How could he not get hard whenever the sound of her soft voice caressed him? It was as if she had come in and touched him. He raised his head and met her gaze. She was dressed in a lavender dress that barely came to her knees. The dress