Love on Delivery: A tasty holiday tidbit

By Maggie Wells

A food delivery driver and a hot new-to-the-city doctor make a delicious pairing in this tasty tidbit of a romantic comedy. 

 

Natalie James is just trying to make ends meet. 

Dr. Sanjay Brookstone just wants something to eat. 

When it comes to food delivery drivers, Jay knows he shouldn't play favorites, but there's something about Natalie that makes his pulse leap, his heart drum, and visions of golden rings dance in his head. 

How can he convince the always-hustling Natalie to slow her roll and grant him his Christmas wish? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Margaret Ethridge
• Release date: Oct 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201298142

Maggie Wells

By day, Maggie Wells/Margaret Ethridge is buried in spreadsheets. At night she pens tales of people tangling up the sheets. Just scratch the surface of this mild-mannered married lady to find a naughty streak a mile wide. The product of a charming rogue and a shameless flirt, she just can’t help herself...that’s part of her charm

Book preview

Love On Delivery

For the most part, Natalie James enjoyed her job as a delivery driver for Ding Dong Dining. The upstart delivery service specialized in picking up from the small local places that couldn’t afford the fees the national services demanded. In the two months she’d worked there, she’d been introduced to some of Chicago’s hidden gems. She’d also seen a few places she was tempted to report to city inspectors. But, as her dispatcher told her, she wasn’t responsible for what people ate, only for making sure they got what they asked for in a reasonable amount of time. Mostly, it allowed her to work as much or as little as she wanted or needed. The perfect job for a person who was mere weeks from finally finishing her graduate degree.

But it didn’t feel so perfect when an icy wind cut right through her parka as she circled her car. It figured she’d run out of money as winter was coming on. The Windy City was living up to its name. She shivered as she bent to collect the handled brown paper bag from the insulated hotbox she kept on the passenger seat.

She glanced at the delivery ticket trapped in the plastic sleeve atop the box. As usual it showed only a last name, address, serving restaurant, and what was supposed to be included in her delivery.

Tonight, the handsome Mr. Brookstone had ordered four different types of wings from a hole-in-the-wall storefront called Chicken Wangs Birdhouse. She smiled as she pulled the bag from the box and closed the car door behind her.

Four calling birds, she murmured under her breath.

She wondered if he realized there was a theme developing in his food orders. Last week she’d actually delivered roast partridge with pear relish to his door. Who ate roast partridge in Chicago, Illinois? She hadn’t been aware such a thing was available until she’d been dispatched to Wild Will’s Game and Fish restaurant to pick up the order.

His next order had been more in the vein of her usual deliveries. She wouldn’t have thought anything odd about the half pound of Italian beef and fragrant subs rolls he ordered from Marino’s Deli, if it hadn’t been for the two turtle brownies Mrs. Marino had pulled from the bakery display case. Natalie couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy when she saw there were two brownies. Was he sharing with someone, indulging a voracious sweet tooth, or simply saving one for another day?

The last time she’d delivered to Burton Place, the order had been for chicken cordon Bleu from Chez Juju. Part of her was relieved to see only one French hen rather than three. Or worse, two. What would he do for the five gold rings, she wondered as she carefully picked her way of the front walk.

The duplex on Burton Place was swanky. Chicago’s Gold Coast was an