One thing that Ellie prided herself on was being an opinionated, strong-willed woman. After all, how many people decided at the tender age of eight to open a bakery and then proceeded to follow through on that dream? Once she made up her mind about something she stuck with it…no matter what.

The temptation to break her vow to have a clean break with Trey was almost overwhelming. She tried to convince herself that it would be polite to check in on how he was doing health-wise. She had run over the man with her car, so she really should check, just to be a decent human being. She rationalized that she could check in and be on her merry way, but she knew deep down in her heart that wouldn’t be the case.

She knew if she saw him again that it would take all of her strength not to pour her heart out to him and beg for any small piece of his life that he was willing to share with her. She refused to give a man that much power over her––especially not one who was used to wielding power over everyone. As much as it pained her, she held true to her decision not to contact him again.

That didn’t stop her from Googling him, though. She knew from her past stalking adventure of him not to do an image search. She didn’t care to see a bevy of beautiful babes hanging on his elbow. That would only serve as a cruel reminder that she would never be enough for such a man.

Instead, she decided to look for some dirt on him. What better way could there be to get over a man than to find out some juicy gossip that would ruin the perfect impression he had made on her?

She quickly discovered the flaw with her master plan to get over Trey…there wasn’t any dirt on him. Every article she found raved about the generous programs he had set up to share his wealth, the scholarships he gave to underprivileged youth, and the donations of both money and time that he made to various charities.

The more she searched, the more frustrated she became. Who had ever heard of a sexy, kind-hearted, funny, generous billionaire? Didn’t the man have any flaws?!? He couldn’t have gotten to be so wealthy and powerful without being a bit of a jerk, could he?

She did finally find a picture of him building a house with Habitat for Humanity where he had a serious case of sweaty hat-head, apparently from wearing a hard hat. “Wow. Talk about grasping at straws,” she chastised herself aloud for not being able to come up with any real flaws that Trey exhibited.

Slamming her laptop closed in frustration, she decided that he liked sweets a little too much and that he might eventually get a little bit of a pooch around the belly. The fact that he liked to jog popped into her head and shot that one down. Besides, he could probably make a spare tire around the middle look good. The man was absolutely infuriating! And sexy.

Realizing that she had wasted too much time on the internet already this morning, she grabbed her purple messenger bag to head to work. It was still really dark, so the extra car that was sitting in her driveway made her do a double-take.

After the initial concern passed that someone might be lurking about and waiting for her, she knew exactly what this was. Beside her beat-up yellow Bug sat a white convertible Mercedes with a giant red bow on it.

“He thinks he can buy my affection,” she fumed as she drove her ancient car to the bakery. “He clearly doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.”

Ellie was surprised when she pulled into the back lot to see that Marcy was already there. Her internet perusal must have taken even longer than she realized because the other woman never got to work before her.

The high-pitched trill of Marcy’s laughter caught Ellie off-guard. When she heard the low rumbling voice, she knew who must be here without yet seeing him. Sure enough, Trey’s lower half was sticking out from under the bakery’s industrial-sized stainless steel sink.

“The garbage disposal’s on the fritz again,” Marcy informed her as Ellie stood in the doorway gaping at the scene before her. Marcy had been sitting on the counter with her legs swinging happily, but jumped down quickly when she saw her boss’s wide-eyed look.

“There must be a cheaper plumber in town,” Ellie deadpanned.

“Not really.” Trey popped his head out to grin at her. “I work for cupcakes. YOUR cupcakes,” he clarified.

“Don’t you have big, international conglomerates to run and take over?” she asked him.

“Is that what you think I do?” He and Marcy chuckled like she had just told a great joke.

“Well, I don’t really know what you do, but I’m fairly certain you don’t spend your time fixing garbage disposals, so don’t let us keep you from your more important business.”

He looked taken aback by her abruptness, but he kept his tone light. “Oh, I’m not leaving without my payment, ma’am.” He looked impossibly handsome when he leaned in to kiss her cheek before saying, “Besides, what could be more important than making sure everything in your kitchen is in working order?”

“Umm, whatever it is that you normally do. It’s time for you to go back to your regularly scheduled life. You can’t hide out here forever.” She wasn’t sure where that last part came from, but she wondered if it was true. Was he hiding from the pressures of his daily life in her little town? “Oh, and take that car too. It was a nice gesture, but I can’t accept it.”

“I didn’t realize I was bothering you.” He looked hurt, but she felt determined not to show any chinks in her armor. She had to make him go before she got to the point where she wouldn’t be able to let him go. “I’ll go,” he said, but he stood there like he was waiting for her to stop him.

She nodded, acknowledging that he needed to leave. The downtrodden look on his face nearly melted her heart, but she remained strong as he turned to go. When he turned back to her, she couldn’t stop the jolt of hope that surged through her veins. “Can I get some cupcakes for the road?”

She hated that disappointment coursed through her with the knowledge that her cupcakes were all he wanted. She blinked back the tears as she stuffed a few of yesterday’s raspberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting into a colorful to-go box. They were probably stale, but it served him right for only caring about her baked goods, rather than saying he would miss her.

Even though she was staring at the wall, she felt his warmth when he came up behind her. He leaned in close to her ear and revealed, “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad you ran over me, Ellie Thorne.” Depositing a thick black, gold-embossed business card on the counter in front of her, he said, “Call me anytime. I will always be available for you.”

Then he was gone. Ellie let out the breath that she hadn’t realized she was holding and sagged against the counter. She immediately missed his warmth at her back.

“Dammmmmn, girl,” Marcy chimed in, startling Ellie, since she had forgotten the other woman was there. “How can you let that rich, hunk of hotness leave? If he looked at me like he just looked at you, I would have mounted him like my own personal stallion and rode him around the bend and back again before I sent him home, if you know what I’m saying.” The woman emphasized her crass statement with a sharp elbow jab to Ellie’s side.

Ellie wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, but she got the general idea, and she didn’t dare ask for clarification for fear that the other woman might share some details that she didn’t want to hear.

“He’s not right for me,” Ellie told her absentmindedly, since Marcy seemed to be waiting for an explanation.

“Well, I’d at least give him a go,” Marcy advised, shaking her head as she donned her apron and sauntered to the front of the store to prepare for opening.

From the small tastes of him that she’d had, Ellie knew that one ‘go’ with him wouldn’t be nearly enough. She was an all-or-nothing kind of gal, and she felt certain that Trey couldn’t give her his all. So, she would have to settle for nothing.

Opting not to wallow in her sorrow, Ellie threw herself into her work. She probably made far too many batches of everything, but baking took her mind off the burning ball of fire in her chest that was her heart.