Chapter One

Naomi Keller, coffee in hand, opened her front door to pick up the Saturday paper. A small package sat on the step in front of her apartment. It was too early for the mail delivery, and she hadn't seen the package last night when she came home from her job at the florist.

Curious, she picked up the package and set the paper on top.

Maybe it had been delivered to a neighbor by mistake. It was known to happen from time to time in this confusing jungle of apartment buildings.

Before she even set the package down, she recognized the handwriting on the label. Her grandmother's.

But Gram died weeks ago. The funeral was long since over with, her assets distributed.

She turned the package over in her hands. The two of them had been very close. Gram had been so good at doling out useful advice. She'd never been wrong about anything Naomi came to her with. Trouble at work? She'd have a solution. Trouble with a man? She always knew how to best handle it.

Since Gram had been happily married to Naomi's grandfather for over fifty years, she trusted her judgment on matters of the heart.

What could this package possibly be? Something forgotten her uncle had found while cleaning out her grandmother's house, perhaps.

Naomi set the package on the small cafe table in her kitchen, took a sip of coffee, and tore at the brown paper.

It was a small cookbook, about the size of a paperback with the picture of a pretty, decorated cake and a smiling couple standing behind it.

101 Cakes

That was it.

A cookbook about cakes?

When Naomi flipped the book over, a note card slipped out and fell to the floor.

It was in her grandmother's handwriting:

Dear Naomi, they always say the way to a man's heart i

through his stomach. Hope this book brings you as muc

luck as it did me. Happy Birthday, Love, Gram.

Tears came to her eyes. Her birthday was only a month away. The big 3-0. She'd always thought by now she'd have found the man of her dreams, just like Gram had.

She flipped to the table of contents. Gram always had made the best cakes. A few were crossed out with faint pencil. There was a star by Pound Cake.

Hmm, she'd always found pound cake to be too rich. She didn't ever remember her grandmother making pound cake. How odd it would have a star by it.

"Hey, babe, how's it going?" Sonya, her roommate and old college friend, came through the front door.

Naomi left the book on the table and went to pour Sonya a cup of coffee. "So, out all night again with Russ?"

"Russ is a jerk." She plopped onto a chair. "What's this?" She pulled the cookbook toward her.

"You and Russ broke up?"

"Yep." Sonya flipped through the small book. "Cakes. Are you going to make us a cake? Oh, can I pick one? Please?"

Sonya's sweet tooth was legendary.

Naomi shrugged. Why not? She liked to bake. Muffins were her favorite thing, but cake was fine. "Sure. You pick one out, I'll make it."

Sonya smiled and looked through the table of contents. "Ooh, Devil's Food. This one!"

"I should've guessed it'd be chocolate." Naomi snatched the book out of her friend's hands and turned to the recipe. "So, if you and Russ broke it off, who's going to be your date for Tracy's wedding next weekend?"

"Shit." Sonya dragged the other chair next to her and set her feet on it. "You'll have to find me a date, I guess."

"Me?" Naomi collected the ingredients she needed and pulled out a mixing bowl. "I don't even have my own date. What makes you think I can find one for you?"

"That guy at your work. Slovenly."

"Slattery. Dale Slattery, the delivery guy?" Naomi beat the eggs and added the oil as instructed.

"Yeah, that's the one. He's got a nice butt."

"And a nice wife." She set the bowl down. "Crap, I have to preheat the oven."

"What? When did he get married?"

She scooped flour into a measuring cup. "Three years ago."

"Shit." Sonya added another spoonful of sugar to her coffee. "Well, then, I'll have to take your brother."

Naomi choked. "What? You hate my brother." The last time the two of them were in the same room, there was a five-minute-long verbal sparring session between Sonya and her brother with more swear words than she cared to remember. She whipped the batter to a smooth consistency.

"Hate is a very strong word."

"That was the exact word you used at the time. Hate."

"Well, that was in a moment of anger."

"You always are in a moment of anger when Seth's around." Reading her recipe again, Naomi noted she could make one large cake or a double-layer cake. She chose the large cake. It would be easier to finish.

"Okay, so maybe I don't want to go with Seth."

Naomi poured the batter into the pan and then looked up at Sonya. "No, you don't."

"Hey, don't I get to lick the spoon?" Ever eager for a bit of sweetness, Sonya hopped up from her chair and grabbed the wooden spoon from Naomi's hand.

"Fine, but don't blame me if you get salmonella." Naomi slid the cake into the hot oven.

"Oh my God, this cake is delicious!" Forty-five minutes later Sonya was in heaven. She poured another cup of coffee, cut a large piece of cake for herself, and took a massive bite. "You have to try it."

"Just a little bit." Naomi glanced at the clock above the table in the kitchen. "Cake this early in the morning is not quite my thing."

Sonya scooped up a forkful from her plate and shoved it in Naomi's direction. "Try it."

Naomi ate the small piece. A sweet, rich flavor filled her mouth, and her taste buds exploded with pleasure. "Holy shit, you weren't kidding." She got up from the table and cut herself a large slice. "I could eat this whole thing right now."

"See?"

Naomi scarfed down the huge delectable slice. It was pure pleasure from start to finish--sinfully pleasurable.

A knock sounded at the door.

"I'll get it." Sonya jumped up from the table. "It's probably Russ come to beg my forgiveness."

So much for Russ and Sonya being "over." Sonya liked the attention Russ gave her when they got into fights, but it wasn't a good match. They wouldn't last much longer if they did get back together.

"Um, babe, it's for you."

"For me?" Naomi set down her empty plate. She had the urge to lick the crumbs off the smooth china surface, but instead she headed to the front door. "Who is it?"

Sonya said nothing, which was highly unusual for the loquacious woman.

Naomi found out why.

A tall, dark, incredibly hot man with a goatee and eyes as black as night stood in their doorway. His sensuous mouth curled into a lopsided, sexy grin. "Naomi. I'm so glad to see you."

Who in the hell was this? And how did he know her name?