Private Party

Mimi Francis

Description

What's the ultimate recipe for love? Baking, books, and the sexiest man alive.


Holly Wright’s combination bakery/bookstore is struggling. Despite her unique business concept and prime location off Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, the customers just aren't coming. Holly worries if something doesn’t change soon, she’ll have to close for good. Then the world’s hottest actor fell through her front door.


Caleb Peters is the most sought after celebrity in the world. He’s the guy every woman wants. His life is on an upward trajectory and he’s having a blast taking it all in. If only the paparazzi would give him a break and butt out of his love life. Hoping to impress Holly at The Bookish Bakery, he convinces her to let him use her shop for a private party. But can he convince her there’s more to him than being famous?


This party could mean a second chance for Holly's floundering business, but even as her attraction to the charming man grows, she's certain getting any closer to him would lead straight to heartache. Will the bookworm baker let Caleb into her heart or is this unexpected romance actually a recipe for disaster?

Sujets

• Romance
• Romance contemporaine
• Fiction
• contemporary
• Billionaires

Informations

• Publié par: 4 Horsemen Publications, Inc.
• Date de parution: 30 avril 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781644505441
• Langue: English

Extrait

Table o f Contents
Dedication
C hapter One
C hapter Two
Cha pter Three
Ch apter Four
Ch apter Five
C hapter Six
Cha pter Seven
Cha pter Eight
Ch apter Nine
C hapter Ten
Chap ter Eleven
Chap ter Twelve
Chapte r Thirteen
Chapte r Fourteen
Chapt er Fifteen
Chapt er Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapte r Eighteen
Chapte r Nineteen
Chap ter Twenty
Author Bio





Priva te Party
Copyright © 2022 Mimi Francis. All rights re served.


4 Horsemen Publicatio ns, Inc.
1497 Main St. S uite 169
Dunedin, FL 34698
4horsemenpublicat ions.com
info@4horsemenpublicat ions.com
Cover by 4 Horsemen Publicatio ns, Inc.
Typesetting by Autumn Skye OR 4 Horsemen Publicatio ns, Inc.
Edited by Amanda T . Miller
All rights to the work within are reserved to the author and publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 International Copyright Act, without prior written permission except in brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please contact either the Publisher or Author to gain per mission.
This is book is meant as a reference guide. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. All brands, quotes, and cited work respectfully belongs to the original rights holders and bear no affiliation to the authors or pu blisher.
Library of Congress Control Number: 20 22931620
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1-644 50-545-8
Audiobook ISBN-13: 978-1-644 50-543-4
Ebook ISBN-13: 978-1-644 50-544-1


Dedication
This one is for all my friends who long to follow their dreams. Believe in yourself. Even if the world thinks you can’t do it, you can. Never give up. I belie ve in you.


C hapter One
Holly
S even a.m. and she was in the kitchen, the aroma of baking bread, muffins, pie, and cake filling the surrounding air. She was two hours into her day and utterly exhausted. Owning one’s own business does that to a person.
Once the last pie and a large batch of cupcakes were in the oven, Holly poured herself a cup of coffee and headed for the storeroom. Boxes of unpacked books stared at her, mocking her at the same time they begged to be unpacked. She sighed and perched on the edge of one of the st ep stools.
I will never catch up.
Holly checked her watch. Two hours until she unlocked the doors and spent twelve hours wondering if today would be the day the business took off. It had been eighteen months since she’d opened The Bookish Bakery, and if she didn’t start making money soon, the door to her dream job would close pe rmanently.
The phone in her back pocket chimed, reminding her to test the cupcakes and check the pie. She pushed her worries aside—not easily—and hurried back to the kitchen. Ten minutes later, the pie cooled on the counter and the cupcakes were ready to frost.
Holly refilled her coffee, grabbed a dolly, and went back to the storeroom. She planned to restock the shelves, set up a new romance display by the front door, and put out the baked goods for the day. Zoe wouldn’t be in until nine, so Holly would have to do this morning’s work by herself. She couldn’t afford to hire any other help, so the work fe ll to her.
Not that she regretted one minute of this venture. She’d gone to college after high school, but nothing caught her interest, and after a year, she dropped out. For the next few years, she jumped from one retail job to another, tried going to school to be a chef, and even attempted to write a book. None of them panned out. When her mother jokingly suggested she open a bookstore-slash-bakery, the idea took hold and wouldn’t let go. She secured financing—thanks to her parents co-signing her loan—and opened her shop on Beverly Drive, just south of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Terrified, nervous, and eager to make good on her parents’ investment, Holly struggled to make it work. She kept hoping for that one thing that would put her on the Hollywood elites’ radar and make her shop take off. She knew it was going to happen, just not when. So she kep t waiting.
By nine, home-baked goods filled the display case, and she had restocked the shelves and answered her emails. All she needed to do was finish the contemporary romance display by the door. Holly stepped away long enough to unlock the door and flip the sign to “Open.” Zoe was late, so Holly went back to work on the display. She wanted to get it finished so she could head to the kitchen when Zoe finall y came in.
She had just stepped back to admire her finished work when the door flew open, and someone burst through it. They slammed into the romance display, and it toppled to the floor. Startled, Holly let out a strangled scream and stumbled backward. Her back hit the comic book rack and knocked it over. Her coffee flew out of her hand and splashed all over the front of the handsome stranger, staining his white button-d own shirt.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” Holly grabbed her dust rag, stepped over the fallen books, and dabbed at the coffee stain spreading across his shirt.
Why am I ap ologizing?
The man grabbed her wrist and held it lightly in his hand. “It’s okay. I should apologize to you.” His voice was deep, husky, and unbeliev ably sexy.
Damn right you should apologize.
Holly looked up into a pair of brilliant blue eyes sparkling with laughter, and her ability to speak vanished. She could only stare, her hand and the rag still pressed to the man’s muscular chest. She suspected her mouth hung open. He was beautiful—tall, broad shoulders, muscles rippling beneath his too tight shirt, dark brown and perfectly messy hair, adorable dimples, and kissable pink lips.
A tiny gasp left her when she realized who stood in her shop.
Caleb Peters. Television and movie star, Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe winner, and one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors. He stood in her bookstore, covered in her coffee, his money-making smirk giving her heart pal pitations.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Holly nodded and cleared her throat. “I’m … uh, I’m sorry. You’re … you’re Caleb. Cale b Peters.”
Caleb laughed. “I am. I’m sorry I startled you. Here you are, apologizing to me when I’m the one destroying your displays and scaring the shit out of you. I’m such an idiot.” He tipped his head to one side, and the smirk changed to an adorable grin . “Hello?”
It wasn’t until that moment she realized her hand was still on his chest. She dropped it and stammered another apology. How many times was she going to apologize to this man who had burst into her store, made a colossal mess, and scared the crap out of her? She needed to get a grip. She pushed her hand through her hair . “Sorry.”
Another apology . Damn it.
Caleb chuckled. “Yes, we established that. And yes, I am Caleb Peters. And you are?”
She exhaled and sent up a brief prayer that her voice wouldn’t shake. “I’m Holly Wright. I own this store. Can I help you find s omething?”
Caleb gave her a dazzling smile. “I am sorry about bursting through the door. I just…” He pushed a hand through his hair and exhaled. For the first time since he came in, his confident smile slipped, and for a moment, Holly thought she saw the man behind the actor. “I saw a bunch of paparazzi up the street, and I didn’t want to run into them. It’s been a rough week, and I’m not in the mood for their questions about my recent breakup.”
“It’s okay. I totally understand.” She didn’t, as obnoxious photographers never followed her. But she wanted to help. “You can hang out here. I guess that means you’re not here to bu y a book?”
Caleb laughed and shook his head. “I would have much rather started this conversation differently. Something like, ‘Excuse me, miss. Can you help me find a book?’” He cleared his throat, took a hold of the coffee covered front of his shirt with two fingers, and pulled it away from his chest with a grimace. “I don’t suppose you have a shirt I could borrow, do you? And maybe someplace I ca n change?”
Oh my god, why does he have to be so adorable ?
He was one of those men who probably looked good no matter what he was doing. She wasn’t sure how it was possible, but he was better looking in person than he was in t he movies.
“Um, yeah, sure.” Holly spun around, looked through the stack of Bookish Bakery t-shirts on the counter, and grabbed one she thought would be his size. “The restroom is back here.” She gestured for Caleb to f ollow her.
He didn’t move. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. “Where exactly are we going?”
He probably thinks I’m going to lock him in my basement or something.
Holly sighed and shook her head. “I don’t have a public restroom. I have a small restroom in the back for employees only. You can use that, or I can take you upstairs to my apartment. Those are your only choices.” She didn’t have time for an obnoxious, spoiled actor. If he wasn’t willing to use the staff bathroom, she’d be happy to push him into the alley and let him fight off the paparazzi b ack there.
Caleb smirked and chuckled under his breath. “Employee restroom it is. Lead the way.”
His presence overwhelmed her in the small narrow hallway. Despite living and working just off Rodeo Drive, she’d never actually met a celebrity. Unfortunately, they didn’t just show up in her s hop daily.
Holly pushed open the storeroom door and cleared her throat. “The bathroom is through there,” she said, pointing to the