Sugar Rush by Elaine Overton Read Free Book Online Page A

the head of a corporate board, not tossing dough in someone’s kitchen. And he dressed like it, as well. What the hell was up with the business suit and slacks, she wondered. Maybe at Catalan’s—the restaurant he’d last worked in—he’d been in a strictly supervisory position. That would explain his unpreparedness for labor. But, thankfully, he didn’t seem to have a problem with hard work.
    Then there was that sexy way he looked at her. Spending so much time in the bakery, Sophie rarely had time to date. But some things you never forgot. Like that flirty look he’d given her. And like the sex-starved woman she was, she’d reacted from the gut, instantly flirting back.
    Then there was the smallest, yet oddest thing about him. His name. Elberto? She was almost certain the résumé had read Alberto Montagana. But, a one-letter difference could simply be a typo, she thought. Either way, he didn’t look like either an Elberto or an Alberto. Strangely enough, “El” fit him. And she found herself eager to be rid of Dante and Lonnie, so she could talk to him…and in private.
    Lonnie was giggling and smiling at Dante, as he accused her of being the reason it took them so long to clean up the back room.
    The bell at the front of the store rang, announcing a walk-in customer. “I’ll get it,” Wayne announced. He gave Sophie an I-told-you-so look and headed to the front of the store.
    “No, it was your fault!” Lonnie laughed loudly, her attention still completely focused on Dante. “You kept playing around, throwing that box of packing peanuts at me.”
    “What packing peanuts?” Sophie asked.
    “We found a big box almost filled to the top,” Dante answered, stealing glances at Lonnie. “Looks like it was used to ship something here.”
    Sophie shrugged off the issue, discreetly watching the interaction between the pair. Wayne maybe on to something, she thought, because surprisingly Dante definitely looked infatuated with Lonnie, and Lonnie looked just as interested in Dante. Could it be the girl was sending signals she was not aware of? Maybe she would have to talk to Dante. She thought he understood that despite their being the same age and physical development, Lonnie’s mentaldevelopment was not where his was. Maybe she’d have to remind him.
    She reached into her purse and pulled out a folded sheet of paper, handing it off to Dante. “My doctor called in a prescription for a wheelchair. Can you go pick it up for me? Here’s the address.”
    “Sure,” he said, pocketing the paper. “Wanna come?” he asked Lonnie.
    “Okay.” With a wave, she followed him out of the store. “See ya, Sophie.”
    Sophie frowned, watching the pair leave. They were too close. How had she not seen the relationship growing? But she hadn’t. Not until Wayne mentioned it. But, truth be told, she didn’t pay much attention to Lonnie—not nearly as much as she should, she thought guiltily.
    Lonnie had been a victim of circumstance almost from the moment she’d been conceived. She was the daughter of Mae’s firstborn, Sharyn, who’d been into one thing or another since her teen years, according to family gossip.
    Sophie didn’t know her mother’s older sister very well, because she’d been banned from their home most of Sophie’s life. But when Sharyn came up pregnant at the age of forty-one, everyone in the family was concerned, given her track record. And eventually, the concern was proven valid when Lonnie had been diagnosed with Down syndrome.
    When Lonnie was born, Sharyn apparently did try to be a good mother for a while, but soon the responsibility of caring for a mentally challenged child became too much for her. Somehow—no one really remembered—Lonnie ended up in the col lective hands of the family, eventually landing at the door of her grandmother, with whom she’d lived the past six years.
    As far back as Sophie could remember, Lonnie had tagged after her like a little sister, desperate for