Delicious Destiny

Sweet secrets…

It has been almost five years since Shari Drayson graduated college—almost five years since she had her heart broken. Now the only man in her life is her cherished son, Andre. But her life is full, and her family’s bakery is about to appear in a baking competition on national TV. Who needs love when you’ve got pastries?

Sweetest seduction…

When Grant Robinson finally tracks Shari down in Chicago, he expects she will still be beautiful. He expects she will still be smart. What he doesn’t expect is her four-year-old son—who looks exactly like him. The wealthy restaurateur is stunned, and his anger wars with passion for the woman he has never truly forgotten. Determined to claim what is his, Grant insists they marry at once. But his bride soon realizes she’s at risk for another heartbreak. Can Grant’s skillful form of persuasion change her mind and convince her that his love is all she really needs?

“Those are my terms. Take it or leave it.”

Shari shrugged with resignation and replied in a low, tormented voice, “Okay.”

Grant walked toward her and lifted her chin. “What was that?” His gaze traveled over her face and searched her big brown eyes.

Shari looked up at him and Grant felt his blood rushing through his veins. “I said I will marry you.”

“Then let’s kiss on it.” Before Grant knew what he was doing, he was lowering his head and slowly brushing his lips across Shari’s. He hadn’t meant to kiss her. He was still furious. He had intended to throttle her, but she looked so vulnerable, the way she had that night so many years ago, that again he was powerless to resist.

Her lips were soft and moist and she tasted as sweet as he remembered that night in the dorm. Grant lost himself in the kiss and circled his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He deepened the kiss by using his tongue to trace the outline of her lips until she parted her mouth and opened up to him. He wrapped his tongue around hers, entwining it with his, sucking it, devouring it. Shari didn’t object. She responded to his kiss.

The ringing of a cell phone snapped Grant out of the kiss just as if someone had poured cold water over him. What was he doing? He was kissing the woman who’d kept his son a secret from him for four years.

YAHRAH ST. JOHN

is the author of ten books and numerous short stories. A graduate of Hyde Park Career Academy, she earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Northwestern University. Her books have garnered four-star ratings from RT Book Reviews, Rawsistaz Reviewers, Romance in Color and numerous book clubs. In 2012, St. John was nominated for RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Series Romance. A member of Romance Writers of America, St. John is an avid reader of all genres. She enjoys the arts, cooking, traveling, basketball and adventure sports, but her true passion remains writing. St. John lives in sunny Orlando, the City Beautiful.

Delicious Destiny

Yahrah St. John

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Dear Reader,

I hoped you enjoyed the conclusion to The Draysons: Sprinkled with Love trilogy. It was a pleasure to be included in the miniseries with wonderful writers such as A.C. Arthur and Farrah Rochon.

My goal was to use Shari Drayson’s history with Dina and force a marriage of convenience with the love of her life—Grant. I heighten the drama with the You Take the Cake Competition as the backdrop. I thoroughly enjoyed researching baking, visiting Sweet Designs bakery in Orlando and watching a lot of Cupcake Wars.

Visit my website at www.yahrahstjohn.com for the latest updates or contact me via email at [e-mail].

Warmest wishes,

Yahrah St. John

To my boyfriend, Freddie Blackman,

for all his love and support

A huge thank-you to Susan and David Clippinger of

Sweet Designs Kitchen in Hunter’s Creek for showing me the bakery business. I couldn’t continue to pursue my passion without my Dad, Austin Mitchell; 2nd moms, Asilee Mitchell and Beatrice Astwood; cousin Yahudiah Chodosh; sisters and BFFs Dimitra Astwood, Therolyn Rodgers, Tiffany Griffin and Tonya Mitchell, Kiara Ashanti and Bhushan Sukrham.

You keep me grounded. To all my fans for their loyalty,

you’re simply the best.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Epilogue

Prologue

“You have to come with me,” Shari pleaded with her best friend and roommate, Dina English, as they sat in their dorm room at Ledgeman University. “Everyone from our graduate business class is going, and Grant is going to be there.”

Shari had an enormous crush on Grant Robinson, the six-foot-tall graduate student who was the object of her fantasies. He was breathtakingly handsome and brilliant. He was the only student she knew who dressed up when he came to class, usually in trousers, a button-down shirt and loafers. The problem was that Grant could have any girl he wanted, so why was she pining for a man she could never have? Could it be because he was every bit as nice as he seemed? In class, he always treated Shari with respect, as if her ideas and opinions mattered.

“All right, I’ll go.” Dina sighed. “Otherwise, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“You’re a lifesaver.” Shari breathed a sigh of relief. If Dina hadn’t agreed, Shari wouldn’t have felt confident enough to go by herself. At five foot nine, Dina was slim and gorgeous, with fair skin and high cheekbones. She was easily one of the most popular girls on campus. Meanwhile, Shari was five feet six inches with brown skin, a round face, large nose and a curvy figure.

Shari busied herself getting ready for the party that night, humming happily the whole time.

* * *

A few hours later, they arrived at the Omega Psi Phi’s party. Dina wore skinny jeans and a flattering halter top and looked as if she had walked off the pages of Essence. The best Shari had been able to manage was black jeans and a print T-shirt. Since she’d been at Ledgeman, Shari had gained the infamous “freshman fifteen” and hadn’t been able to take off the extra weight.

Dina worked the party, flirting with several men, leaving Shari to her own devices. Shari was nervous about seeing Grant, so she downed cup after cup of beer. The party became a blur. She did remember, however, the moment Grant stepped in, like a knight in shining armor, and told her he was taking her back to her dorm because she’d had too much to drink. To have the object of her affection take an interest in her welfare was intoxicating. Or was it just the liquor talking?

When they got back to her dorm room, Grant deposited Shari on her perfectly made-up bed, which was right next to Dina’s unmade one. He settled her in the bed and then stood.

“I hate to leave you here unattended,” he said, looking around at the half-neat, half-unkempt room as if he was afraid to leave her alone.

“Then don’t leave,” Shari said, staring at him openly. “Stay awhile.”

“Okay.” He sat back down on her bed with his hands clutched in his lap.

An hour later, after they’d chatted about classes and campus gossip, Grant stood up to leave since Shari appeared somewhat sober.

“Wait!” Shari sat up on her knees, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Grant appeared taken aback as if he hadn’t seen that coming, so Shari pulled away. “Do you think I’m ugly?” she asked, frowning. She felt foolish for kissing him.

“Of course not.”

“Just not pretty enough to kiss?” Shari inquired. She slumped back down onto her hunches on the bed. “Is that why you didn’t kiss me back? Is something wrong with me? I mean, even my so-called boyfriend, Thomas, won’t kiss me and we’re supposed to be dating.”

“That’s not it at all.” Grant glanced down and pushed back a tiny strand of hair that had fallen in Shari’s face and then stroked her cheek. And as if trying to reassure her, he kissed her. It wasn’t a simple kiss, either. It was a kiss meant to illicit passion. And it did. The kiss turned pretty quickly into something more. Next thing she knew, Grant was pushing her back onto the bed and lowering himself on top of her. He gathered her close in his arms, and she gripped his head with both her hands and kissed him back in an explosion of passion.

Grant stroked her lips over and over with his, thrusting his tongue in and out of her mouth. His hands wandered over her back and derriere, bringing her closer to his hardness. She didn’t stop him when he began unbuttoning her shirt and tossed it aside. Nor did she stop him when he began palming her breasts or reached behind her and unsnapped her bra. She was fully involved in the kiss and it was inciting all the harbored attraction she’d had for him. She could hear his breathing becoming labored. She wanted more.

But Grant broke the kiss and lifted his head.

“Why did you stop?” Shari asked, looking up at him. She knew he wanted her because the lower half of his body was straining in his jeans against her. And the sensual tension that was mounting inside her was like nothing she’d ever felt before. Her senses were acutely aware of Grant. How he tasted slightly salty from the chips and beer at the party. How he smelled spicy and musky. And he felt...well, his hair wasn’t coarse like some men. It felt like fine silk and she wanted to continue running her fingers through it. Hell, she could go on kissing him forever. “I don’t want you to stop.” She reached for him again. “I want this. I want you.”

Grant seemed to be warring with himself, and Shari could sense it. She could see the intense heat in his jade eyes, and it excited her to see the passion lying in them. To help him along, Shari leaned in and traced a teasing path with her tongue from his neck and up to his ear before sucking on it. Grant groaned aloud and she knew she’d found his sensitive spot. She had him right where she wanted him, and there was no turning back. She couldn’t believe she was being so bold, so daring, but she wanted this man. She slid into his lap and ground her body against him, causing a thrilling sensation to form between her legs.

Shari felt the moment Grant’s resolve dissipated because his tongue dove inside her mouth to duel with hers, causing Shari to shiver deliciously. Then his palm found its way back to one plump breast and he bent down to suck on the globe. Shari forgot to breathe. Instead, she arched against him, eager for more.

Grant quickly began undressing her, unzipping her jeans and slowly pulling them and her panties off in one swift motion. It wasn’t long before was he was naked beside her. Kissing her. Touching her. Tasting her. She purred in her throat when Grant entered her and began moving inside her. She’d barely even felt the slight pain as Grant broke through her virgin barrier and neither, apparently, had he. The exquisite slowness of Grant’s thrusting stirred all her emotions and Shari moaned aloud. Pleasure coiled through her, slow and deep, causing tension to build so much so that Shari thought she would go up in flames at any moment. And she did.

Blissfully pulsing, their orgasms came almost simultaneously, draining them until they both fell languid on her bed. Softly, tenderly, Grant reached over and stroked her cheek. Shari felt tranquil and at peace for the first time in her life. Her first time had been with Grant and had been everything she could have hoped for. As she drifted off to sleep, she hoped they would have this moment again someday.

“What the hell?” Dina said from the doorway of their dorm room the following morning.

Shari wiped the sleep from her eyes and peered across at Dina and then at Grant, who was rising beside her, bare chested and all. Dina must have stayed out the night before if she was just returning home. Shari reached across and pulled a sheet across her naked body.

“I think we all know what happened,” Grant said sheepishly from her side. “Could you be so kind as to give us some privacy, Dina?”

“I guess I have no choice,” she said haughtily, slamming the door behind her.

Once she’d gone, Grant sprinted out of Shari’s bed, dressed and ducked out the room. He was gone so fast that Shari hadn’t been able to tell him just how much she’d enjoyed herself.

The following day was worse because as soon as he saw her, Shari noticed how embarrassed Grant looked. Gone was the easy camaraderie they’d shared before they’d slept together, and in its place was a weird awkwardness that she didn’t know how to combat. She sought to alleviate his fears by making light of their night together.

“Listen, Grant,” she said after class ended and the room had cleared. “About last night...”

“I am so sorry I allowed things to go as far as they did—”

“There’s no need for you to feel sorry,” Shari said, interrupting him. “We’re good. Last night was just a hookup.” She looked down as she spoke. It was a lie, but she didn’t know what else to say. “We’re still friends. Nothing has to change. I don’t want you to feel like you owe me anything.”

“What?” Grant was floored. He hadn’t expected this reaction. He wanted to see if Shari forgave him for behaving so selfishly and taking what he wanted regardless of whether it was the right thing to do. He was hoping she would give him another chance to start fresh and take her out on a proper date. He desperately wanted to see her on a permanent basis, but it was clear she felt differently. And it crushed him.

“I...I don’t want you to feel....you know...bad,” Shari reiterated, fumbling over her words. “What’s done is done. I just hope it doesn’t ruin our friendship.”

“Uh, okay,” Grant conceded. He couldn’t believe Shari was being this coldhearted about the intimacy they’d shared. Could he have been wrong about her all along? Perhaps around campus they had it wrong. Shari was the heartless bitch and Dina was the nice one. “If that’s the way you want it.”

“I do.” Shari offered her hand. “Friends?”

“Friends.” Grant took her hand and shook it reluctantly.

* * *

Shari wished she could say the same about her roommate. Two months later, she caught Dina and Grant in the courtyard holding hands and whispering softly into each other’s ear.

“No, no, no.” She shook her head and ducked behind a column so the duo wouldn’t see her. Shari wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks at seeing her best friend betray her. Surely Dina wouldn’t steal the man she’d adored. The man with whom she’d shared her first time. It was girlfriend code. You never dated a man your friend had been with or wanted. She’d told Dina how she felt about Grant. Why would Dina do this to her?

The answer came to her like someone had dropped a ton of bricks over her head. Nausea rose up in Shari’s throat and she clutched her mouth. Ohmigod. Dina had wanted Grant all along and was merely humoring Shari’s deluded fantasies. It must have really gotten her goat that Shari had managed to get Grant in her bed. So she’d turned on the charm and made sure Shari would never have a chance with Grant again. How could she have been a fool this entire time? How had she not seen who Dina truly was?

Shari rushed into the bathroom in the Business Administration hall, but that didn’t stop her bout of nausea. Nothing did. Several hours later, she was staring at the nurse in the Health Clinic.

“When was your last period?” the nurse inquired, jotting down some notes.

Dread rushed through Shari. Her period. Her mind raced to the last time she recalled having it. Two weeks before her one-night stand with Grant. She hadn’t had one since, hadn’t even thought about it because she’d been trying to push down her feelings for Grant. Her hand flew to her mouth.

The nurse looked at her. “So we need a pregnancy test, then?”

Chapter 1

“Our cake is a visual masterpiece,” Shari told her cousin, Carter Drayson, the artisan cake maker for Lillian’s Bakery, and the black sheep of the family. They stood in a large studio kitchen with cameras in front of them. “It’s by far the best cake. We are going to win this.”

Shari glanced behind her to look at the four-tier champagne cake before finally setting her eyes on her nemesis Dina English’s cake from Brown Sugar Bakery.

Dina was standing there, looking poised and sophisticated in designer duds, making Shari feel dowdy in her jeans and Lillian’s Bakery T-shirt. But that was okay, because Lillian’s was the better bakery. Not only had Dina stolen Grant Robinson, Shari’s first love, and run off with him to get married, but she’d stolen Lillian’s recipes for her own bakery. And Shari felt responsible.

When Shari and Dina had attended Ledgeman University together, Grandma Lillian had taken a liking to Dina almost immediately and offered her a summer job after freshman year. While in college, Dina had continued to work at Lillian’s during the summers. Shari had hoped that she and Dina would work side by side at the bakery after graduation. They’d been a great team. With Shari’s background in business and Dina’s finesse, they would have been unstoppable. Shari would have finally risen to the top in her family instead of always feeling like a dimly lit planet among her confident, smart cousins, the real stars of the Drayson clan. But life had thrown her a curveball when Dina had left to create her own bakery.

Five years later and Shari had never truly recovered from the betrayal. How could she when Dina had married her son’s father and prevented them from ever being a real family?

“We got this,” Carter said confidently. He had an arrogant swag about him that Shari sometimes envied.

You Take the Cake’s host came over and stood between the two bakeries and said, “And the winner is... Brown Sugar Bakery!” Applause erupted from the live audience, and Shari’s heart deflated.

How can this be? Shari looked over at Brown Sugar’s creation. The cake was at best ordinary.

Dina came over and laughed. “That’s right, Shari. I win again.”

Shari rushed over to the host of the show and grabbed his arm. “There has to be a mistake. She should be disqualified.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” the host asked.

“The whole world should know what kind of person Dina English is.” Shari turned and glared at Dina. “She traded on our nearly four-year friendship, turned her back on my family’s bakery and then stole the man I loved. You can’t let her win!”

Dina smirked and gave Shari a pitiful look as she walked toward her. “You’re so pathetic. Can’t you see? I’ve already won.”

Shari looked down, but not before seeing, to her horror, Dina holding her son, Andre, in her arms and carrying him away. “Noooo!”

Shari woke up with a start and her eyes popped open. She was surprised to find her four-year-old son, Andre, peering down at her. He was wearing his favorite Spiderman pajamas and was holding his stuffed animal, Wiggles. “Mama, are you okay? Were you having a bad dream? You were yelling awfully loud.”

“I must’ve been, baby.” Shari sat upright, throwing the down comforter back off and pulling Andre into a bear hug. “I’m sorry if Mommy scared you.” She glanced at herself in the mirror. The wrap she’d been wearing on her hair had come off, and her hair was a tangled mess. Add the old tank top and pajama bottoms she was wearing and it was no wonder she couldn’t find a man.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Andre’s expressive green eyes looked into her brown ones, eager for reassurance.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Shari scooped him up in her arms, slid on her slippers and padded off into the kitchen to make him some breakfast.

“Can I have Cocoa Puffs?” Andre asked when they reached her large, country-style eat-in kitchen.

It might be modest to some, but her two-bedroom bungalow in Chicago’s Glenville Heights was just perfect for her and Andre. Since she loved to cook, she had added modern white cabinets and appliances, including a flat-top stove, double-sided refrigerator and a dishwasher.

“Are you sure?” Shari inquired. “Because I was going to make chocolate chip pancakes, but if you’d rather cereal...” She shrugged her shoulders and waited for the response she knew was coming.

Andre shook his head. “No, I want pancakes! With lots of syrup.”

Shari smiled. “Sure thing.” She lowered him into a chair at the pedestal table.

She pulled the pancake mix and chocolate chip morsels out of the pantry and the milk and eggs out of the fridge. Usually, she would make them from scratch, but she needed to get to the bakery.

A couple of months ago, her grandmother, Lillian Reynolds-Drayson, had informed her children and grandchildren that she’d signed the bakery up to participate in a reality TV Show called You Take the Cake. On the show, bakeries were asked to perform culinary feats, and at stake was a $100,000 prize. Last year’s winners had become overnight sensations and their bakery had gained national prominence. For two months, the entire Drayson clan had been looking at recipes and cake designs in the show’s “Around the World” theme to blow the competition away.

Her grandmother had made quite a speech about how they had to stop all the backbiting and work together as a family. She indicated she would soon be passing the business to one of her grandchildren. The decision wasn’t going to be an easy one. They were all qualified to run Lillian’s. They’d all started learning the business from the bottom up, delivering cakes, working the dock and cleaning the store.

Shari knew she had tough competition from her cousins for the position. Shari, Drake, Belinda and Carter all considered themselves the best bakers in the shop. No wonder Grandma Lillian couldn’t decide among them.

Her cousin Belinda, Aunt Daisy’s daughter, excelled at everything she did whether it was school or baking. Somehow, she made it all look effortless. Belinda always dressed smartly in designer clothes and didn’t go out of the house without her full makeup and her long black hair ironed bone straight. Now, she’d hooked one-time basketball pro and Lillian’s baker, Malik Anthony. Belinda was now set to be the first of her cousins to marry.

Then there was Belinda’s brother Drake. He knew marketing and social media better than any of them. Drake, Malik and Carter had started a blog called “Brothers Who Bake” that offered recipes and advice and was attracting a wide audience. The success of the blog had inspired them to write a cookbook that was now under contract with a major publishing house.

Last but not least, there was Carter Drayson, Lillian’s artisan cake maker and a real charmer. Up until recently, her cousin had been a true ladies’ man just like his father, Uncle Devon, who’d never married. But then her tall, handsome cousin had gotten hit by the love bug last month. And on top of that, Carter was the most sought-after cake designer at Lillian’s. Shari couldn’t help but be a little resentful of her older cousin. She, too, was an equally skilled baker and designer, but she had to admit no one could create artistry on cakes quite like him.