Delivered Fast
Portland Heat #3
By: Annabeth Albert
Releasing May 26th, 2015
Kensington
Delivered Fast
Portland Heat Series
Portland, Oregon, aka Hotlandia, where the coffee shops, restaurants, and bakeries are ready to serve everything piping hot, fresh, and ready to go—like the hard-working, hard-bodied men behind the counters—with no reservations…
Sure, Chris O’Neal has problems. His restaurant is still co-owned by his ex. His flannel-and-tattoos style is making him accidentally trendy. He can’t remember the last time he went out and had fun. But he’s not lonely, he’s driven. And the hot bakery delivery boy is not his problem, no matter how sweet his buns.
Chris is old enough to know Lance Degrassi’s sculpted good looks and clever double entendres spell nothing but trouble. Lance is still in college—he should be hitting the clubs and the books, chasing guys his own age, not pursuing some gruff motorcycle-riding workaholic. Especially when he’ll be leaving for grad school in a few months. But Lance keeps hanging around, lending a hand, charming Chris to distraction. Maybe some steaming hot no-strings indulgence won’t hurt.
Then again, maybe it will…
The
delivery boy had sweet buns. Not to mention prize-winning rolls. He
wore a pair of those fancy over-the-ear headphones and shimmied
around the white bakery truck, his hips and ass working in time to
what was apparently a killer beat. Even the way he climbed into the
back of the truck was a choreographed dance. I wasn’t usually one
to get distracted by eye candy, but that ass . . .
I’d
propped open the service door at the rear of my coffee shop about
fifteen minutes earlier, hoping to coax a cool breeze into the stuffy
storeroom where I’d been working. I leaned against the door frame,
appreciating the unexpectedly fine view in the alley.
When
the guy emerged from the truck—headphones around his neck, carrying
a stack of pink boxes—I pushed away from the door and met him at
the edge of the concrete steps. I tried to play it cool, like I
hadn’t spent the last five minutes perving on his world-class
bubble butt.
“You’re
not Vic,” I said as I ushered him into the hallway that led back to
the kitchen and storeroom.
“Nope.
I’m Lance, Vic’s cousin. I’ll be handling your deliveries from
here on out.” His smile—a wide, toothy grin—was almost as
adorable as his butt. The only resemblance he had to my usual beefy
delivery guy was in the chiseled facial features and light olive
skin. He looked like he’d be right at home playing World Cup soccer
for Italy with his wide shoulders, lean torso, muscular thighs and
legs. And that ass.
Which
I was going to stop thinking about right the hell now. He was too
young—I could see that even more clearly under the fluorescent
lights of my kitchen. Early twenties, if that. His gelled-up black
hair fell across his forehead in artfully bleached strands. Too high
maintenance for my taste.
“I’m
Chris O’Neal. Here, let me help you with those.” Taking part of
the stack from him, I showed him the metal racks where I stashed
recent deliveries.
“Nice
setup you’ve got here.” Lance looked around the cramped but
efficient kitchen area.
“Thanks.”
Most of The People’s Cup square footage was devoted to the coffee
bar and seating area in the front, so I made do in the back with my
organization system, which bordered on the obsessive. I’d installed
floor-to-ceiling shelving on every wall, including over the cooktop
and counters. The center prep table was where most of the action
happened, and its broad expanse was covered with the beginnings of
several dishes for tomorrow’s Sunday brunch.
“I’ve
been here before with friends from PSU—for your Sunday thing. And
during the week once or twice to study.”
I
made a noncommittal noise. Great. A college kid. As if I
needed to feel like more of an old, cranky perv.
“Let’s
get the rest of the boxes.” I herded him back out to the alley. I
was eager to get him and his distracting ass on his way. I had
several more hours of staging work ahead of me to prepare for
Sunday’s buffet. During the week we were just another coffeehouse,
but we were known all over Portland for our Sunday brunch.
“So
are you the owner? This all yours?” Lance asked as he got another
load of boxes from the truck.
“Yeah.
Mine and my partner’s. Business partner.” I fumbled the stack of
boxes he handed me. Why had it felt so necessary to make that
qualification? Like the kid would be in any way interested in my
messed-up business relationship with my stubborn bastard of an ex.
Despite
his pretty-boy looks, the kid was probably straight; he had a
confident swagger girls his age likely found irresistible.
“I’ve
been to your other place, too—the one in Northwest. Did the
delivery there earlier. I like this location better.”
“Me
too,” I said, my voice drier than gin. “Randy give you any
issues?”
Randy
had his location; I had mine. Our relationship had turned into
something out of a bad chick flick, except there wasn’t any cute
ending coming.
“Randy?
Nah. It was some girl named Becky, with a nose ring and huge gauges.”
I
nodded. That sounded about right for Randy’s taste. And I was not
going to care whether he was banging her or how long she’d last
as an employee. His shitty employee turnover wasn’t my problem. I’d
washed my hands of what happened at the 23rd Street store.
“You
want a cup of coffee for the road?” I asked before I could stop
myself. It was the same courtesy I’d always extended to his cousin
and to most of our other delivery people, but somehow my offer felt
tinged with more than politeness.
“What
do you have on offer today?” His grin was more than a little
wicked.
Wouldn’t
you like to know? I bit back the flirtatious retort. And what the
hell was up with that? I did not flirt. Hell, anything other
than bitter and grumpy hadn’t been my MO for months now.
*****
Can
Lance bring out the softer side of this cranky chef? Find out in
DELIVERED FAST!
Link to Follow Tour: Here
Emotionally complex, sexy, and funny stories are her favorites both to read and to write. Annabeth loves finding happy endings for a variety of pairings and is a passionate gay rights supporter. In between searching out dark heroes to redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles two toddlers.
Represented by Saritza Hernandez of the Corvisiero Literary Agency
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