Settling The Score

By Diane Blake

As Jasinda Reed admits to a friend, she "hasn't had a hot date since two years and twenty pounds ago."  It's been a lot longer than that since she's trusted a man...with good reason.  She harbors no intentions of changing that any time soon.

Jasinda hardly expects to meet Mr. Right while working behind the ice cream counter at Biggie Scoops.  One night, when a handsome and charming stranger shows up at just the right time, Jasinda fears he and his attentive flirting may be too good to be true.

Pro quarterback Craig Wilder goes after what he wants when he sees it.  At the top of his career, the popular football player is surrounded by fame, fortune, and his pick of any woman he wants.  Well, almost any woman...the one he sets his sights on keeps pushing him away.  Can the hot jock scale the wall that Jasinda put up to protect her heart?

Jasinda panics when a scary incident puts her life in jeopardy.  She wonders if someone is really out to get her or if she's letting the past haunt her present - and possibly destroy her romantic future.

Is someone out there focused on settling the score, ready to teach Jasinda that revenge is a dish best served cold as ice cream?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Romantic Suspense Press
• Release date: Sep 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386299226

Book preview

Chapter 1

Jasinda Reed pulled her cell phone out of her apron pocket, the one adorned with the smiley face ice cream cone.  She checked the time.

Got a hot date? asked her co-worker, Trudy Hanover, as she wiped up sprinkles from the counter.

Not since two years and twenty pounds ago!

Trudy simply responded with a half-laugh since she couldn't decide whether agreeing or disagreeing would be the more polite response.

I was just seeing how much more time I have until the attack, Jasinda explained.

Trudy rolled her eyes.  That's new.  Last week, you called it the 'onslaught,' I think.

Jasinda smiled.  I don't want to be too predictable.  She attempted to straighten the stack of cups next to the soda dispenser.  The cups all came tumbling down.

Trudy smirked and pointed at the cup calamity.  "Knowing your tendency to be clumsy, Jasinda, that was predictable!"

They're coming... Jasinda said with dread.  The first group of people noisily entered from the entrance connected to the parking garage.

The attack or the onslaught referred to the game day crowd which made its way to Biggie Scoops Ice Cream in the third floor food court of the local mall.  The mall stood less than half a mile down the road from Jefferson Stadium, home of the professional football team, the Tigers.

When the Tigers played home games, the mall stayed open later to accommodate all the hungry and wild fans pouring out of the stadium.  As if they hadn't consumed enough beer, pretzels and pizza during the game, then they had to attack the mall food court as Jasinda called it.

For some reason, it seemed like most of the football fans wanted ice cream.  Since they had spent the bulk of their money at the football game, they always gave lousy tips.

Not that tips at Biggie Scoops Ice Cream were all that great anyway, but every bit counted and helped toward paying Jasinda's college tuition.

She proudly reflected on the fact that she had paid for every class along the way herself while living on her own since she turned eighteen.  Still, being almost twenty-five and having several classes to go before she would earn enough credits for her undergraduate degree got more irritating as each semester passed.

She studied hard and worked hard, but there was only so much progress she could make when she could only afford to take two or three classes at a time.

Putting up with game day crowds helped her get closer to her goals.  Jasinda glanced at the logo on the napkins as she stuffed them into the holder.  Just her luck to end up working at a place with the word biggie in the title!

Jasinda had always been a big girl.  As a child, her father referred to her as pleasantly plump.  That sounded nice until the day a kid in the neighborhood told her that it was just another way of saying happy whale.

Over the years, the lingo had changed.  Heavy, plus-sized, full-figured, on the larger side, Rubenesque –  whatever the current polite way to say it happened to be – she'd heard it all.

Still, she knew what the customers in the food court said.  (Most, but not all, at least held themselves back until they thought she was out of earshot).  What's a FAT girl like her doing working at an ice cream place?  She probably eats all the profits!

Then they would snicker into their coats when she turned around with a smile on her face to hand them their trademarked Triple Chocolate Explosion Sundaes with extra whipped cream.

How could customers eat those things and still be so skinny?  Jasinda felt like she put on an extra pound just from smelling the hot fudge every time she dipped the ladle into it.

So, do you have it?  The girl with the ponytail standing in front of the counter snapped her gum.

What? Jasinda asked absently, coming out of her mini-daydream.

Ponytail girl turned toward her equally skinny friend and gave Jasinda the side-eye at the same time.  Like I already said, the mocha walnut fudge.  Do you have any of that left today? she sighed dramatically.

Jasinda knew exactly what that sigh meant.  That, along with the girl's facial expression said it all: Why do they hire fat people at places like this?  God, they're so lazy.  They can't even be bothered to do their jobs.

I'm sorry.  Yes, we do have that flavor today, Jasinda answered.

Good.  I'll take it in a large double scoop sundae size.

What topping sauce would you like?  We have hot fudge, caramel, and strawberry.

Can I have hot fudge and caramel?

It only comes with one.  We're supposed to charge extra for another flavor, but I'll just put it on for you for free, Jasinda said pleasantly.

Ponytail girl didn't even acknowledge Jasinda going out of her way to provide good customer service.  She just turned to her friend and started yammering on about how ice cream would blow her diet, but she'd already had so much junk food at the stadium, a little more couldn't hurt.

Of course, ungrateful ponytail girl didn't even bother to leave a quarter in the tip cup after she got her large double scoop sundae with the extra topping.

Jasinda and Trudy worked their butts off for the next hour.  Then, as suddenly as the crowd had descended upon them earlier, it died off.

That's what always happened on game day.  The influx of people poured in fast and furious as the stadium let out.

A lot of people popped into the mall rather than wait in the traffic because the mall happened to be located between Jefferson Stadium and the highway on-ramp.  They waited for the traffic to thin out and then they left the mall as quickly as they had come.

We just had almost a hundred customers since the football game got out, Trudy said as she read the report from the cash register's screen.

Jasinda rubbed her forearms.  I believe it.  My arms are killing me from all that scooping.  I should have worked at an ice cream place with soft-serve machines!

You and me both, her friend agreed.  At least next weekend is Big Game Sunday and then football season is over.  It's hard to believe that depending on how they do in the playoff game this week, the Tigers will probably be in the Big Game when Jefferson Stadium is already slated to host the Big Game this year.  That's never happened before.

Thrilling.  Lucky us, Jasinda said, not meaning it in the least.

It's going to be a crazy week, Trudy predicted. 

Don't remind me, Jasinda said with a roll of her eyes.  Should we call it a night? she asked.

Yes!  Let's close out the register and turn off the menu sign.  All the other restaurants are already closed.

Jasinda looked out across the deserted food court.  She always found it creepy when she noticed the mini-carousel dark and turned off for the night.  You're right.  I get so involved with taking care of our customers that sometimes I forget to look up and notice everything else going on in the rest of the food court.

I'm gonna go rinse the blenders at the sink in the back.  The water pressure's better back there, Trudy said as she disappeared behind the swinging doors with the oval window in them.

Jasinda pushed the left door half-open.  I'll wipe down the front counter and clean up around the toppings.  Don't forget to shut the sign off while you're back there.

Good deal, Trudy yelled as Jasinda swung the door closed again.

Jasinda carefully mopped up the drippings around the topping stations with a paper towel.  First, she cleaned the strawberry area.  That didn't tempt her since it reminded her of eating fruit.

She found the caramel container a bit harder to resist, but she did so.  It just seemed to Jasinda that caramel belonged in a candy bar, something she dearly wish she had at that moment.

Finally, she got to the hot fudge.  She stirred the ladle in the container.

The gooey goodness dripped in a smooth stream and disappeared into the little vat.  It smelled heavenly too.  Nothing could make her stomach rumble like the aroma of melted chocolate.

One little bite, one delicious mouthful couldn't hurt, she thought.

Jasinda grabbed a plastic spoon from the counter.  She dipped it into the hot fudge.

She swirled the spoon around, coating most of the handle.  Jasinda carefully lifted the spoon to her face.

She paused to breathe in deeply one more time and enjoy the chocolate scent.  Then she shoved the heaping spoonful of hot fudge into her mouth.

Jasinda closed her eyes.  The warmth and heaviness of the sauce filled her mouth.  Her taste buds danced as her tongue swirled around, enjoying the sinful sweetness.

She remembered her Western Civilization professor saying that ambrosia was the food of the gods in classic Greek mythology.  Jasinda decided he was wrong; something had been lost in translation through the ages.

If divine beings had their choice to subsist on any substance in the world, they would have chosen melted chocolate!

She hated to swallow if it meant that she had to give up the taste of the hot fudge.  She smiled at the thought that she could still lick the spoon's handle.  She enjoyed the sensuous feeling of the hot fudge sliding down her throat.

Just as she opened her eyes to focus on the spoon handle, a deep, masculine voice startled her.

Chapter 2

Did I make it before closing? the alluring male voice asked.

Jasinda spun around.  Her eyes blinked as she took in the sight on the other side of the counter.

Just a few feet away from her stood the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen.  He had to be an international male model.  Any other career for him would just be a waste of his natural manly perfection.

She believed his sparkling blue eyes could see right into her brain and know what she was thinking about him. She didn't even care if they could!

Her eyes swept over all 6'4" of him, instantly memorizing every detail since she was sure she'd never see him again.  His brown hair was cropped closely on the sides with a little length left on top.  The top portion looked wet like he either had styling gel in it or had recently gotten out of a shower.

His high cheekbones gave way to perfectly contoured cheeks, just like the statues of Greek gods in the museum.  The stubble on his face extended from his short sideburns around his full lips, down to his strong chin with just the hint of a dimple, and even onto his neck.

The man's jacket casually hung over one shoulder, held in place by his index finger – just like a model in a print ad.  A Tigers football jersey clung to his body in all the right places.  Jasinda guessed he was about 225 pounds of solid muscle from head to foot.

The football jersey shook her back to reality as the thoughts jumbled in her mind.  Football.  Game day.  Work.  Ice  cream.  She was at work and the hot hunk was a customer.

Her face flushed with embarrassment.  Oh, I'm sorry.  How can I help you?

The stud smiled.  Even his teeth were gleaming white, toothpaste commercial perfect.  You've got a little... he said gently, pointing to his own face, under his bottom lip.

Jasinda wanted to scream, cry, and laugh all at the same time.  She had completely forgotten about the messy spoonful of hot fudge she had just downed.

She suddenly became aware of the feeling of the chocolate sauce dripping all over her fingers and wrist from the spoon's handle.  Then, worst of all, she obviously had chocolate on her face too.

She had just become the poster child for the big girl eating all the profits at work!

I- she started.  Her mouth went dry.  That's all she managed to choke out.  She quickly threw the plastic spoon away and wiped her hands on her apron.

That's OK.  Take your time, the hunk said.

He smiled at her.  He's just laughing at me, Jasinda thought. Laughing at the fatty with the food in her mouth.

She looked down at the apron.  The recent hot fudge from her fingers combined with the rest of the stray ice cream from a busy shift made her clothing look like a kindergarten teacher's finger-painted smock.

She ran through the situation in her mind.  He's a drop-dead gorgeous stud.  You're an overweight loser.  OK, the universe is back in order now.

Jasinda regained her composure and her sanity.  She assumed her normal professional demeanor as she took a step closer to the counter,  I'm sorry about that.  What can I get for you?

His piercing eyes almost seemed hesitant to mention it as his smooth voice informed her, You still have a little on your face...

Jasinda quickly swiped the back of her hand across her face.  In practically the same movement, she wiped her hand on her apron at her thigh.  She hoped that would conceal any more chocolate smudges from the customer's view.

That's how she told herself she would think of him for the rest of his transaction – as a customer.  She decided that internally referring to him as a hot stud was accurate, but pointless.

You missed it, he said sympathetically.  He reached his hand across the counter towards her face.  May I?

Chapter 3

Jasinda felt she had nothing to lose, least of all any dignity at this point.  She shrugged.  Sure.  I mean, please, go ahead.  She leaned forward to give him easier access to her face.

The customer's eyes met hers as his fingertips brushed against her lower cheek.  As soon as his skin touched hers, she felt her knees buckle.

She wasn't expecting that reaction, or any reaction for that matter.  She reached out to grab the edge of the counter.  The act steadied her both physically and emotionally.

Jasinda stopped breathing for a moment when she realized that he hadn't pulled his hand away!

He carefully cupped her chin with his strong fingers.  His thumb gently grazed her cheek several times.

She momentarily wondered if there was such a thing as love at first touch.

There, I got it, he announced.

Just as fast as it started, it also ended.  He let go of her face.

Even though his hand was gone, she still felt the impression and warmth of his fingers in the spot.  She almost feared that the handsome stranger had taken her heart along with the errant drops of chocolate fudge.

Snapping out of the quasi-daydream state again, Jasinda pulled a napkin from the dispenser.  The corner got stuck and it ripped.  She grabbed another one.  It did the same thing.

Jasinda indelicately grabbed a fistful of napkins.  She handed him the wad of balled up paper.

He took the napkins from her with his clean hand and set them down on the counter.  He brought the fingers with the chocolate up to his mouth.

Jasinda watched wide-eyed as he slowly licked the chocolate from his fingers!

Crazy thoughts raced through her head.  Oh, my God!  Is this gorgeous hunk  flirting with me?  So much for only thinking of him with the term customer.  He can't be flirting with ME!  That must be his personality.  He's probably so used to charming the pants off supermodels, he doesn't even know how to turn it off when he comes across someone like me.

He flashed a grin.  I guess I don't have to ask for a sample now.  I can see that I definitely like what you're offering.

He's doing it again, Jasinda thought.  Does he even know what kind of effect he has on women (and probably that one guy in my Western Civ class who always wears the scarf) when he acts like this?

So, is it too late? he asked.

For what? Jasinda replied, genuinely not knowing where the conversation was headed.

To order ice cream, he said with a slight laugh while looking up at the Biggie Scoops Ice Cream sign which Trudy still hadn't