It's My Birthday Cake: Ice Cream

By Marie Ahls

"Charm and seduce him," was what he said to do, but Lydia Jackson found herself charmed and seduced by the very person she was supposed to be charming.

Wanting to impress her boss, Lydia accepts a new job assignment to gather intel from a rival company. Off to small town Iowa she goes, where Lydia discovers more than she bargains for when she is forced to explore what type of woman she wants to be.

Gage Eastwood is grieving from his grandfather's death and looking to continue his grandfather's legacy and make him proud. He suddenly finds himself enchanted by the new woman who comes to town. With a kind heart and generous spirit, he sets out to make this woman his.

As their worlds collide, will Gage and Lydia be able to find a way to be together
or will they be torn apart by little white lies?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fiery Vision Publishing
• Release date: Jul 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393179054

Book preview

It’s My Birthday Cake

By Marie Ahls

Chapter 1

He was sitting on the edge of the desk, looking powerful, sexy, and perfect in his blue pin-striped suit with his hair a little disheveled from running his fingers through it. My focus wasn’t on what he was saying; instead, it was on his lips. I’d take those lips back on my body tonight.  

My hand began to creep off the arm of my chair, as if it had a mind of its own, reaching to feel my boss’s rippled quad. I had to pull it back and hold it down before it did something considered inappropriate for the office. What I wouldn’t do to give him one feel, one little squeeze, as my fingers trail along his thigh.

Lightly moving a piece of hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ear, his fingers grazed my cheek, ever so lightly. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought I had imagined it. We never touched at the office.

My thoughts of sex with this man were interrupted with, Do you think you could do that for us? For me?

Umm, what had we been talking about? A project. Something secret that only I could do for him. I licked my lips as my thoughts wandered to what my tongue could do on his thigh, or quad, or whatever that part of his leg was, as it trailed higher, muscular and beautiful, or more like what his tongue could do to me...Shaking my head, I made myself present in the moment.

Well... his voice trailed off, waiting for my response.

Sure! came blurting out of my mouth without a thought. I would do anything to be with this perfect specimen of a man again

That got me a smirk; that beautiful smile that could make any girl’s panties wet. All thoughts of what I had just agreed to left me, and I was a puddle in his hands. That’s my girl, purred from his mouth.

As I left his office, I knew if he could have slapped my ass, he would have, and I was mush. That is how I would have described myself. Mush. I would have done whatever he wanted in that moment.

*****

Wait? You want me to do what? Skepticism came seething from my lips as I tried to keep my mouth from falling and staying open. Sitting across the table from Bret, with wine flowing through my veins and my body pulsing with desire, I could hardly concentrate on the conversation, but I knew I couldn’t miss this information like I had earlier.

I thought we went through this already, babe, he replied with a smirk, a hint of annoyance, and a reach for my hand that was sitting on the table.

I guess I missed some of it. I was lusting after you. Could you go over the details again?

With a squeeze of my hand, he said, I don’t want to talk about work on our night out. Especially since you’ll be flying off to Elkton in a few days. We’ll discuss it all in the morning.

He was smooth. He knew I was a sucker for the reach-across-the-table-hand squeeze. Wait. Back up. Flying off to Elkton? My damn hungry mind. Why was I flying off again? I didn’t really want to fly anywhere. Except maybe Bret’s bed. Stop. Focus. Details.

After one mind-blowing orgasm, I lay staring at the ceiling while Bret softly snored next to me, piecing together what I knew and what had been omitted from my mind. I was flying to Elkton on a secret project. That’s about all I knew. It certainly didn’t leave much hope for me to get out of this situation.

*****

Pretending to know what your boss had told you about your pending job requirements was harder than it seemed, but I held my head high as I walked to Bret’s office with Jared, my other boss, present, while a bundle of nerves tightened in my stomach as each step brought me closer to the office door.

Bret and Jared were in the sitting area, lounging on the couch. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of these two beautiful men sitting so casually. I had to focus and not spend this time drooling, because I could; I could get swept up in this moment.

Once we were all seated, me as far away from Bret as I could get so that I would be able to think, I began, Could you go over the plan again? I want to make sure I have it all.

With a sigh, like I was boring him, Bret laid out the plan. You know how we’ve been trying to expand our confection department into the world of ice cream? I nodded my head in response, and he continued. We’ve been trying to negotiate with Frost to acquire their ice cream flavors and recipes.

Opening my mouth to comment, Bret held up a hand to stop me. They have been resistant, especially since the old man sold the company. When he sold, he maintained the rights to his precious flavors, the ones he developed, and those are the ones we want.

Why don’t you google a recipe and develop your own? I asked with bewilderment.

Instead of Bret answering my question, Jared piped in. If only it was that simple. We’ve tried. Our development team has been at it for a while now, but every time we think we’ve got it, the focus group comes back with negative feedback. We need those recipes to break into this market. That’s where you come in.

How am I supposed to help? I glanced quickly over at Bret, who was looking back at me, puzzled.

I thought you talked with her about this yesterday? Jared turned towards Bret, questioning him, and she agreed to help.

I did... Bret began, but I was quick to stop him.

He did. I was, umm, distracted, and I guess I missed a few parts. I bit my lip and snuck a peek at Bret, who was now smirking, his killer smirk that got me every time. He knew exactly why I was distracted yesterday from the way I was squirming in my seat.

Let’s just cut to the chase, Lydia. Jared leaned into me. We want you to go to Elkton and get those recipes for us.

I stared back at them in silence, looking back and forth between