Read Anything but Love for Free Online Page B

closed the day care center and moved on just because she lost her grant money. We could have helped. A little anyway.”
    “Every time I think of Sugar Tots I think of Rachel,” Casey said. “I mean Rae. Anybody heard from her again?”
    “Just that one letter,” Chloe said. “The same one that everyone else got a few weeks ago.”
    Everyone but Luke.
    One good thing had come out of his disastrous visit to California. He’d made Rae feel guilty enough about fleeing Sugar Creek in the middle of the night that she’d finally written a letter to each and every member of the Cupcake Lovers apologizing for her abrupt departure. She’d also apologized for pretending to be someone she wasn’t, explaining she’d been desperate to escape the limelight and certain pressures associated with her family. She hadn’t meant to hurt anyone and hoped that in time they’d forgive her. She’d then personalized each letter and wished each person well, saying she’d be the first in line to preorder
Cupcake Lover’s Delectable Delights—Making a Difference One Cupcake at a Time
.
    The only reason Luke knew all this was because Rocky had shown him her letter and, of course, Rae’s true identity had dominated the gossip portion of the CL meeting two weeks back—Luke’s first meeting. Everyone, including Sam, had been stunned that Rachel was actually
Reagan,
and that she was the daughter of the famous starlet Olivia Deveraux. Stunned, confused, curious, but not angry. Luke didn’t get that. How could they
not
be angry? She’d lied to them. For a year.
    Then again, they’d each gotten an apologetic letter.
    Every time Luke thought about it his blood burned. He’d flown across the entire freaking country and Rae hadn’t confided spit. Sure, she hadn’t given the CLs details, but she’d given them
some
semblance of an explanation. All Rae had given Luke was a hard-on and a guilty conscience. Oh. And
bonus
. A freaking complex.
    He still couldn’t believe he’d had sex with her. Especially since she’d been drinking. He’d never taken advantage of a woman like that. He’d meant to walk her to her door then walk away. But she’d wobbled and he’d steadied her. The moment they’d touched …
Pow
! She’d kissed him or maybe he’d kissed her. He didn’t even know. It was all a blur. A spontaneous carnal mating that dogged his conscience and dreams.
    “Yo. Luke.”
    Luke blinked and focused on his sister. “What?”
    “Chloe asked if you wanted more tea.”
    Rattled, he shifted in his chair. “Uh. No. Thanks.” Considering he was in the company of eight ladies, one of them his grandma, three of them as old as his grandma, he was more than a little embarrassed that he’d been fantasizing about nailing Rae. “So am I in or out?”
    They all gawked.
    “Of the club,” he clarified.
    They traded another round of those cryptic looks.
    “Here’s the thing, sweetie.” Daisy pushed her blingy cat-eye glasses up her nose then reached over and patted his hand. “We don’t think you have a real passion for baking and that’s the number-one requirement for being a Cupcake Lover.”
    “I don’t believe this. You’re kicking me out of the club.”
    “We wouldn’t do that,” Judy said.
    “Especially given your state,” Helen said.
    Luke frowned. “What state is that?”
    “Depressed.”
    “Bored.”
    “Lonely.”
    “Single.”
    Luke blinked around the table. What the—
    “To my recollection,” Ethel said, “You’ve always had two or three girlfriends at a time.”
    “You don’t have any now,” Casey said. “Haven’t had since … when?”
    “It’s been months,” Monica said with an ornery twinkle in her eye.
    He blamed Rae.
    “It was sex, just sex, and not even great sex at that.”
    Every other woman he’d ever been with had declared him a god in bed. Then again, he hadn’t even made it to the bed with Rae.
    “You’re off your game,” Chloe said with a sympathetic smile.
    “And so close