Taste of Romance Read Online Free PDF

asked, narrowing his gaze toward them.
    Heather laughed. “Yes, but you’ll love Mia and Taylor once you get to know them.”
    “Heather’s our favorite babysitter,” Mia told him. “You should listen to her.”
    Eric didn’t look convinced. “Can I drive the Cupcake Mobile? That would be cool.”
    “What would be cool is if you would stop talking and get busy sweeping,” Andi said,
     handing him a broom.
    “I can sweep,” Theresa volunteered and jumped up and down, her long ponytail swinging
     like a propeller and threatening every bakery item on the back shelf. When Rachel
     put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, the girl apologized.
    “It’s the sugar,” Theresa declared. “The sweetness hangs in the air, making me feel
     like I’ve had five cups of coffee!”
    Kim greeted the incoming customers, many of them children with their dads for Father’s
     Day. The buy-one-get-one-free Cupcakes with Dad coupons they’d distributed during
     the week appeared to be a success. Jake came in to share a cupcake with Taylor, and
     Kim knew Andi was touched he wanted to include Mia.
    Turning from their uniformed customer at the counter to the flaming redhead by her
     side, Kim asked, “Where’s the order you boxed for Officer Lockwell? Four maple bacon−pancake
     cupcakes?”
    Meredith threw up her hands. “Gone.”
    “What do you mean, ‘gone’?”
    The teenager looked at her as if she were stupid. “I mean, it’s not here.”
    “Could be the Cupcake Bandit,” Rachel suggested.
    “The Cupcake Bandit?” Eric’s eyes grew wide. “Can I try to catch him in the Cupcake
     Mobile?”
    “I think I’m having an allergic reaction to the sugar,” Theresa continued, her hair
     swinging out again and knocking a stack of cupcake boxes to the floor. “Oops!”
    “Isn’t she cute when she’s all wired up?” Eric asked with a grin. “Seriously,” he
     said to Theresa, “do you feel like you’re floating? Like drifting on a cloud of sugar
     in space?”
    “Andrea Leanne Burke,” Kim hissed, pulling her sister aside, “what were you thinking
     when you hired these people?”
    Andi grimaced. “Heather assured me her friends would be great, and none of them had
     a job.”
    “No wonder,” Kim said through gritted teeth.
    “Training takes time,” Andi coaxed.
    “Time we don’t have,” Kim reminded her and moved back to the register, where Officer
     Lockwell waited.
    “I phoned in the order at 7:30,” he told her. “Isn’t it ready?”
    “They were boxed, but our new trainees must have misplaced them. Unless someone from
     the station picked the order up for you.”
    “No one paid for it,” Andi said, opening a new box and placing his cupcakes inside.
     “This is the fourth order this week that has disappeared right off the counter. Seems
     we have a thief on our hands. You may have to patrol the shop more often, Officer
     Lockwell.”
    Their top cupcake supporter grinned. “I’d be glad to.”
    K IM DELIVERED A plate of cupcakes to a table in the dining area, spotted Grandpa Lewy, and motioned
     to Rachel.
    “Grandpa, I didn’t see you come in,” Rachel said, walking over to his table. “Would
     you like a cupcake?”
    “Of course!” he exclaimed. “Today is Cupcakes with Dad, and you said granddads were
     invited. Kim, if you let me be your dad today, I can get two cupcakes. And if Andi
     joins us, I can have three.”
    “Your doctors wouldn’t approve of your eating so many sweets,” Kim said, giving him
     a smile. “And our father just walked through the door.”
    William Burke sat on a stool at the cupcake counter and took the cupcake Andi offered
     him.
    “Happy Father’s Day,” Kim said, pouring him a cup of coffee. She glanced at her sister.
     “Did you tell him?”
    “Tell me what?” their father asked, giving them each a look.
    Andi’s face lit up as she held out her hand to show him her new ring. “Jake and I
     are engaged!”
    “After only three months?”
    Kim