Taming Megan Read Online Free PDF Page A

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