Death of a Cupcake Queen by Lee Hollis Page A

door, waving the smoke away with her free hand.
    The quiches were burnt to a crisp.
    Hayley sighed as she took the pan out of the oven and dumped them into the large gray plastic garbage bin in the corner.
    Still, after quickly calculating numbers in her mind, she figured they wouldn’t be short of food before the night was over. If anything, Hayley usually made too much and there were always leftovers for weeks.
    She was even contemplating writing a cook book one day.
    Recipes using leftovers.
    Now that would be a book she would buy.
    She was rinsing the pan off in the sink when she suddenly felt something squeezing the flesh on her butt.
    It was a hand.
    A man’s hand.
    Hayley spun around to find herself face to face with Mason Cassidy.
    Sabrina’s impossibly handsome tattooed boy toy.
    â€œWhat are you doing?”
    â€œI’ve wanted to do that ever since I met you at the bar the other day,” Mason said, a wolfish grin on his face.
    She slapped his hands away.
    â€œMason, stop it! Right now!”
    â€œOlder women like you drive me crazy,” Mason said, moving in close to her, the scent of garlic on his breath making it obvious he had devoured a few of Hayley’s Parmesan Garlic Chicken Wings before sneaking into the kitchen and copping a feel.
    â€œYou’re with Sabrina! Get your hands off me!”
    â€œShe can’t boil water. But you, you’re a master in the kitchen, and I am a slave to any woman who can turn me on with her culinary talents.”
    Mason then pinned her against the counter, grabbing her wrists with his hands and covering Hayley’s mouth with his own.
    She struggled, but the muscled high diver was strong. He let go of one of her wrists to cup her neck with his hand as he thrust his tongue into her mouth even deeper.
    Hayley used her free hand to reach up and slip a finger through the earring hole on his left ear lobe.
    She yanked down hard.
    Nearly tearing the flesh right off.
    Mason yelped in pain and jerked his head back.
    But he still had his arms around her, pinning her to the counter.
    Suddenly there was a gasp from the doorway.
    She cranked her head around to see Nykki, a hand over her mouth as she took in the scene.
    Hayley knew if she said anything lame like “This is not what it looks like” it would just make matters worse.
    So she just stood there with Mason hanging off her knowing how bad it looked.
    Nykki’s eyes blazed with anger as she turned on her white high heels that matched her skin tight cocktail dress and dashed out of the kitchen.
    Hayley could feel her cheeks burning red and with all her might she slapped Mason hard across the face, wiping the twisted smile off his smug face.
    â€œYou ever touch me again, I will filet you like a fish. You hear me?”
    Mason nodded.
    The smile was back on his face.
    Her rejection, her utter revulsion, just seemed to excite him even more.
    Hayley pushed him away from her and raced out of the kitchen.

Chapter 9
    Hayley flew out through the silver swinging doors leading into the main dining room and scanned the crowd, many of whom at this point were jiggling and gyrating on the makeshift dance floor to Janet Jackson.
    She spotted Nykki, who had already found Sabrina.
    They were standing near the bar.
    Nykki’s hands gesticulated wildly as she presumably recounted the horror of what she had just witnessed in the kitchen.
    Sabrina listened to her intently, a crestfallen look on her face.
    Hayley knew she had to explain what happened with Mason.
    She began to weave through the crowd, ducking her head at one point to avoid getting struck by a woman she didn’t recognize in a cream colored gown shaking and shimmying as if she was having some kind of seizure. Probably a spouse she hadn’t met yet.
    Before she could make it all the way across the dance floor, a man stepped in front of her, blocking her route.
    â€œHayley Powell! You haven’t changed a bit! Do you remember