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Taming Megan(5)

By:Natasha Knight


Anna was a godsend. Megan had met her when she had first started at the bakery. Anna had been there for six years before her. She was older, in her mid-forties and had a teenage daughter. She was a single mom; her husband had passed away in a car accident long before Megan had met her. She was like a big sister to Megan, had been from the start. When the bakery got into some financial trouble and almost closed, Jake helped Megan take out a loan and Megan bought it from the original owners. It was more out of love for the place than for profit; they just barely made ends meet these days. Jake had always offered to help but Megan was determined to do this on her own.

“I really appreciate you helping, Anna. I’m kind of nervous.”

“You’ll be fine. No, you’ll be great. You’re a great cook, what do you have to be nervous about?”

“It’s not the cooking,” she said, sipping her coffee. “I’m nervous about the company. I don’t want to screw this up for Jake.”

“How would you screw it up?”

“You know I’m not that good in groups. Besides, these people are at Jake’s level, not mine.”

“Stop right there,” Anna said. “There is no Jake’s level or your level and you know the first person who’d correct you on that—Jake. When are you going to get that through your thick head?”

Megan smiled. “You’re a good friend, Anna.”

“Now get your ass up and get cooking. I’ll see you in a few hours. Call me if I need to pick anything up on my way.”

“I will. Thanks Anna.”

They hung up the phone and Megan got to work.







Jake felt like he went from one meeting to another. The last few weeks had been stressful but the deal he was working on was big. He wanted to do the design for a new shopping mall going up in a part of town that was being rebuilt. It was down to him and one other firm, a much bigger, better known firm. The planners would make their decision by the end of the month. He had a shot though and he enjoyed the competition. This weekend’s party would be the icing on the cake. Megan would charm the last few board members who were undecided. He knew she was nervous about the party and her wanting to cater it herself was as much out of her passion for cooking and baking as it was a crutch, the kitchen being someplace she could go to in order to hide.

His cell phone rang and seeing it was Megan, he picked it up. “Hey honey, what’s up?”

“Hi Jake. I’m sorry to bother you at work but do you think you can run by the bakery on your way home and pick up some supplies I need? Anna’s getting them ready for you. I’d go myself but I’ve got too much going on here to leave the house.”

“Sure. I’ve just got one more quick meeting and I’ll give you a hand when I’m home. See you in less than an hour and remember, I’m taking you shopping for a dress tonight.”

“And new shoes?” she asked.

He could almost hear her smile. “And new shoes,” he said. “Now get your butt back to work.”

“Yes, sir!” she giggled.

Jake hung up the phone as his secretary called to let him know his last appointment had just cancelled. That would be Sean Connelly. Damn. Sean was one of the tough ones and Jake had known he would be. He stood and packed a few things into his briefcase. There wasn’t anything he could do about it now. He would talk to him at the party, figure out what was holding him back.

The bakery was in the center of town. It wasn’t quite five o’clock when Jake pulled into the parking lot and walked in the front door of the little shop.

“Damn, it always smells so good in here,” he said to Angie, the young girl who worked the counter.

“Hi Mr. Roark,” she said, smiling. “How are you doing?”

Jake picked up a cupcake from the display on the counter and peeled back the paper. “I’m good, Angie,” he said, taking a big bite of the iced red velvet cupcake. “How are you?” he asked around the mouthful, wiping at some frosting on the corner of his mouth.

Angie giggled. She was sixteen and worked at the bakery a few hours after school. And she had a crush on him. Jake raised his eyebrows and winked. “What? Am I a mess?” he asked.

“Well, you’ve got some frosting on your nose, Mr. Roark.”

“Ah.” He wiped it off. “Is Anna in the back?”

“Sure is, in the office.”

He put a twenty-dollar bill on the counter and walked back. “Keep the change, Angie.”

“Wow, thanks Mr. Roark!”

“You must be putting in double time at the gym to eat so many cupcakes and still look like that,” Anna said, standing to greet him as Jake finished his cake and threw the wrapper into the trash can.

Jake gave the older woman a small hug. “Hey lady. You keeping an eye on my girl?” he asked, teasing but not really. He trusted Anna to keep Megan from getting herself into trouble. She had a talent for finding it on her own pretty easily.

“Apparently not well enough. I heard what happened after I left the restaurant the other night.” She sat back down, looking at her computer screen.

Jake came around behind her, eyeing the spreadsheet. “I don’t know what it’s going to take for her to figure out Josie is not her friend.”

“They go way back, give her time. Pretty soon she’ll be busy with other things,” she said, grinning. “Between baking cupcakes and making babies, I imagine she won’t have much time for the likes of Josie.”

Jake smiled. He and Megan had started talking about a family but they hadn’t officially started trying just yet. They both wanted them and neither wanted to wait long, but he wanted to have this deal in place first, get one good project for the firm, then he’d be ready to devote all his attention to making those babies. It was something he was definitely looking forward to.

“What’s going on here,” he asked, taking a closer look at the columns.

“The last few months haven’t been our strongest,” Anna said. “I’m hoping with the holidays coming up soon, business will pick up.”

He took over the mouse and scrolled down the rows and across the columns. “That’s not looking so good, Anna,” he said, taking a few minutes to study the spreadsheet. Megan wanted to keep the bakery for herself. Aside from his co-signing her loan, she didn’t want Jake’s financial help and he respected that. But the way these numbers were looking, there wasn’t going to be a bakery to worry about pretty soon. He leaned back against the desk and folded his arms across his chest. “Why haven’t you told me it was this bad?” he asked.

“There’s one more thing,” Anna said, her gaze guilty as she opened a desk drawer and retrieved an envelope.

Jake took it, pulled the letter out and read it.

“You’ve been short on the rent the two months prior to last and this month didn’t pay it at all?”

“You know Megan wants to do this on her own. She doesn’t want you to bail her out.”

“I wouldn’t be bailing her out. This bakery is as much an investment for me as it is a living for you. You two have done a good job with it, I’d hate for you to lose it and I’d hate for me to lose my investment, not to mention my credit.”

Anna made some noise, shaking her head. “Jake…”

“And this isn’t just about Megan. You’ve got a family to support, a mortgage to pay. We’re employing Angie out there. And what the hell would I do if my favorite cupcake bakery went out of business?”

He knew from her expression that she was more worried than she had let on. His finding out was probably a relief to her.

“I’ll drop a check at the property management office on my way home,” he said, tucking the letter into his pocket. “Don’t mention anything to Megan. I’ll talk to her after the party. We both have our plates full.”

“She’s going to be mad when she finds out I told you.”

“I’m due a report from the bank next week. I’ll wait to approach her then and we’ll get this taken care of.”

“Ok, Jake. Just give me some warning when you talk to her, will you?”

His smile widened, “I will.” He checked his watch. “Where are the supplies Megan needed? I’d better get them to her.”

“Sure. Come on, I’ll walk you out,” she said.







Megan hung up the phone and rushed upstairs. Jake was on his way home, his last appointment had cancelled on him and he had already dropped by the bakery to pick up the supplies she needed. He was under a lot of pressure and he had sounded worried about this cancellation. Well, she knew of one way to relieve stress. She stripped off her dirty clothes, tossed them into the laundry hamper and quickly jumped into the shower. It was a quick shower, just long enough to shampoo the smell of food from her hair and shave her legs. Once out, she dried off and squeezed the extra moisture from her hair. She looked at the length of it. It reached to the middle of her back and when pulled straight, down to her butt, but the curls were so tight, all she could ever do with it most days was clip it out of the way and ignore it. Today, she squeezed a generous dollop of argan oil onto her hands and worked her fingers through the ringlets, arranging the mass of it off her shoulders. She then picked up the new apron she had bought. It was a very pretty coral and white with cute little floral patterns along the ruffled edges. It covered the front of her to the very tops of her thighs and left her bottom exposed when she tied the thick ribbon at her low back. She turned around to look at herself and smiled. He’d have quite the view when he walked into the kitchen.