Brown Sugar This Christmas: Book 1 of Sag Harbor Black Romances Paperback

Maddy

Love is the last thing Madison Page needs when she returns to the Hamptons. After her previous failures at Christmas romance, her heart is closed for business. Until yummy pastry-shop owner Jerrell Rouse bumps into her on the street. She fights their saucy attraction, but Maddy is falling into sweet bliss. Can she get over her painful past, and accept the delicious gifts Jerrell has waiting for her?

Jerrell
Wall Street banker-turned-entrepreneur, Jerrell Rouse, must solve a big problem if he wants his struggling business to survive. When he runs into Madison Page, he learns she is the sexy political powerbroker with the right connections to get him out of a jam. But the more time he spends with her, the harder it is to focus on business. Now Jerrell faces a painful choice -- either his new company, or Maddy.

"Everybody all over town has tried my dessert but you.”
She helped him push the cart through the kitchen where employees still washed dishes and put away food.

He turned to the restaurant crew. “Hey, folks, who in here hasn’t tasted my desserts yet?”

Workers nodded their heads with approval. “I’ve got some cupcakes to take home to my kids.”

“Does anybody have extra? So this woman can see what she’s missing,” Jerrell inquired.

“No!” Maddy retorted. “You all are tired and ready to clock out. Don’t let this man talk you into giving up your food.” She glared at Jerrell. “That is just like you, asking these hard-working folks to give up their stuff.”

She turned to open the backdoor, so they could wheel the cart through.

Behind her back, a worker passed Jerrell a piece of the Fatally Fudgy Fudge Cake, and he moved fast. When Maddy swung around again, he stood right beside her.
But he hadn’t intended to stand so close that her face rammed into the fork he held. Part of the cake smeared her cheek, and a few morsels with icing swiped her lip. Her annoyed eyes could shoot bullets into Jerrell.
The mess on her cheek broke him into guffawing. “I didn’t mean to do that! It was an accident!” He explained through his chuckles. “But here. Since you’re standing there….” He felt bold enough to push the fork of remaining cake into her shocked mouth that already hung open.

She was beautiful. And helpless, cornered between the door and the cart of dishes, unable to move.

“Why are you feeding me? I’m not a puppy.”

“You do act like one, though. Jumpy, snappy, whiny.” His voice lowered as he slid frosting on her nose. Jerrell watched her fluffy lips chew. He scooped another piece of cake off the saucer and closed in once more. 

Maddy’s hand swiped his fork aside, and he came right back at her again, smearing icing over her jawline, and against her cheek.

“Now what? See,” he teased. “You’re too slow.”
Horror escaped her open mouth, and he shoved in another forkful. “Good girl. That’s it.”

She huffed through curled lips. Pinned against the wall, her eyes wild and annoyed, looking like they wanted to scorch him, she sent Jerrell’s self-control out the window.

“You are going to get it, I promise,” she muttered.

Jerrell wiped off some of the icing and stroked her cheek. His face was only inches from hers, as he wore a sly smile and kept his voice low. “And I look forward to all the ways you’ll give it to me.”