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    Melting Into You: Savor Series, #1
    Melting Into You: Savor Series, #1
    Melting Into You: Savor Series, #1
    Ebook141 pages2 hours

    Melting Into You: Savor Series, #1

    By Cassandra Carr

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    About this ebook

    This book was previously released by another publisher.

    Seth Mason's life as a macaroni and cheese food truck owner in Austin, Texas, is pretty good, except for one thing: he'd like to find a man to share that life with. As part of an organization Seth founded, he donates leftovers to the local homeless shelter, and meets Ben, a new employee. He's a preppy guy, and very much not Seth's usual type, but the attraction is strong and not going away.

    Ben's just moved to Austin from Connecticut to take a job as a case manager at the Austin City Mission, the first time he's left home and family. But only a short time after he starts work, he meets a man who, though he looks like an extra in a surfing movie, intrigues him.
    He's hardly seen what life in Austin has to offer, and yet finds he wants to discover that with Seth's help.

    The passion burns hot between them--hotter even than Austin in the dog days of summer, and neither man can deny it. As they grow closer, both must decide if they have the necessary ingredients for lasting love, or if the relationship will go up in smoke.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherC-Squared Publishing LLC
    Release dateFeb 7, 2016
    ISBN9781524273217
    Melting Into You: Savor Series, #1

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      Book preview

      Melting Into You - Cassandra Carr

      Melting into You

      A Savor Series Novella

      By

      Cassandra Carr

      Copyright © 2016 by Cassandra Carr; previously published by another publisher

      All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

      Published by C-Squared Publishing

      Cover by Cassandra Carr; stock photo Dollar Photo Club

      Contact information: AuthorCassandraCarr@gmail.com

      This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      Table of Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      DEDICATION

      To Cara Carnes, who schlepped me around Austin and gave me the kernel for this story.

      Melting Into You

      ––––––––

      Seth Mason's life as a macaroni and cheese food truck owner in Austin, Texas, is pretty good, except for one thing: he'd like to find a man to share that life with. As part of an organization Seth founded, he donates leftovers to the local homeless shelter, and meets Ben, a new employee. He's a preppy guy, and very much not Seth's usual type, but the attraction is strong and not going away.

      Ben's just moved to Austin from Connecticut to take a job as a case manager at the Austin City Mission, the first time he's left home and family. But only a short time after he starts work, he meets a man who, though he looks like an extra in a surfing movie, intrigues him. He's hardly seen what life in Austin has to offer, and yet finds he wants to discover that with Seth's help.

      The passion burns hot between them—hotter even than Austin in the dog days of summer, and neither man can deny it. As they grow closer, both must decide if they have the necessary ingredients for lasting love, or if the relationship will go up in smoke.

      Chapter One

      ––––––––

      Seth Mason wiped his brow. Today, the bandanna he usually wore over his hairnet when he worked in his macaroni and cheese food truck, Macarollin’, didn’t have a prayer of keeping the sweat off his face. Between the temperature inside the truck and the current heat wave, nothing helped.

      Another customer stepped up and took her time perusing the choices—all eight of them. Considering the woman had been waiting ten minutes easy, considering the line, Seth wondered what the holdup could be. Eight menu items, chicka. But hurrying customers had never been his thing. His assistant, Aubrey, rolled her eyes and turned back toward the steam table.

      A couple of minutes later, when the girl still hadn’t made up her mind, Aubrey made a show of checking the pans in the warming oven and saying, Seth, you have outdone yourself with the croquettes. Hopefully there’ll be some at the end of my shift. Oh, or maybe I’ll have the chipotle chicken one. Haven’t had that in a while, and it smells great, too.

      The ploy would’ve worked, except that the queue behind the slowest ordering person on the planet shifted while she continued to dither as if she hadn’t heard a word Aubrey had said, a sure sign they were hot and tired of waiting. Not good.

      Ma’am, can I help you? Seth finally asked.

      How’s the one with the apples?

      Seth let out a slow breath. The customer is always right, even when she’s being a dumbass.

      I’m told it’s tasty, and, since I own the truck, I obviously think it’s good. He tried for a smile, but the woman’s brow knitted.

      Do you have anything besides macaroni and cheese?

      No. Some trucks do, but not mine. Just all different kinds of macaroni and cheese.

      Finally, the next customer in line tapped the lady on the shoulder. I need to get back to work soon. Can I order while you decide?

      Oh, um, sure.

      The woman stepped aside, and Seth smiled at the new person.

      What’ll it be?

      He’d seen him before since he had many repeat customers. Seth used only about a half-dozen parking sites around the Austin area, and, if people lived or worked around said areas, he tended to recognize them after a while.

      I’ve been waiting for weeks to get my hands on Mr. Romantic.

      The man blushed, and Seth had to physically hold in a chuckle. He was adorable, but flirting with a customer during their busiest time never ended well.

      Um, not on him—it. I mean the mac and cheese. He blew out a loud breath. Can I get one of those, preferably with a bag large enough that I can disappear into it?

      Of course.

      Aubrey dished up the meal as Seth punched the order into his iPad.

      I’m afraid we have a no-suffocating-our-customers policy, though.

      The guy appeared to be flirting, or interested, or whatever, maybe, but Seth didn’t have time to explore more at the moment. Maybe he’d come back when the crowd had died down, though he’d mentioned having to go back to work. Seth took his money and made change, keeping an eye on Ms. Indecisive. After Seth had gone through three other people, the woman piped up.

      I’ll get a plain one to go.

      Aubrey turned away, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter. No fair when I have to face her with a straight face, Seth thought.

      Seth filled the container himself and checked out the lady as quickly as he could as the line grew still longer. By his rough count, fourteen people waited, and he couldn’t imagine standing there under the beating sun could be much fun. It still wowed him that people were willing to do that to eat macaroni and cheese.

      The lunch shift ended, and, thankfully, Seth had chosen not to do a dinner service that night. Of course, he still had to clean all the pans, take stock of his current inventory, figure out which specials would be on tomorrow’s service based on said inventory and what they’d already served that week, and sanitize all the surfaces in the truck, but Aubrey stayed to help with some of the cleaning. He paid her an hourly wage, and, on days like this, he could kiss her for the help. Aubrey attended a culinary arts program at the local community college and worked for him more for the experience and the mentoring he’d offered than the admittedly close-to-minimum wage rate.

      Hey, I keep forgetting to ask you, Aubrey said as she wrapped the remains of the gluten-free mac and cheese Seth kept on the menu. "I cannot get my Hollandaise right. I tried three times yesterday, and I have no idea what I’m doing wrong. It’s...gloppy."

      He laughed. I’ll do what I can, but gloppy isn’t real descriptive as far as helping me diagnose the problem.

      Seth had attended Culinary Institute of America, or CIA—the acronym always cracked him up—but had found he didn’t like the constraints of working for other people. He lived a pretty simple life, with his house and prep kitchen on site, the truck itself and the equipment inside it being his most valuable assets, and it worked for him.

      Tell me what you did, step by step, in detail.

      Aubrey started talking, and Seth soon stopped her.

      Wait, you heated the milk before putting it in the roux? Why?

      I didn’t think you could add anything cold. Wouldn’t it get all lumpy, like if you added corn starch or something?

      No, it should be fine no matter the temperature, especially if the ingredient is liquid, not solid. It all depends on how you do it. I’m guessing, if you added the heated milk too quickly, you basically melted the butter right out of the roux, which would change the overall flavor and texture.

      Huh. I never thought about that.

      Seth shrugged. It’s more in the cooking technique than anything. Plus, I think a lot of culinary students are afraid of sauces. Some of them can be tricky, but most, including Hollandaise, are actually pretty forgiving. Don’t fret so much. Trust your instincts.

      Thanks, Seth. Aubrey looked around. Do you mind if I get out of here? I’ve got lab tomorrow, and I want to try the sauce again before I go there and get all nervous.

      Knock yourself out. See ya in a few days.

      Aubrey left, and Seth ticked items off his mental list. Not too much left to do, actually. Maybe he could take the dog down to the park if it cooled off a little later.

      He still needed to make the schedule for the next week. Besides Aubrey, two others worked for him; a high school student, Todd, whom Seth had helped get back on his feet after the kid had been kicked out of his house for being gay, and an older guy, John, who couldn’t take the pace of a busier restaurant job since he’d had bypass surgery. Each had his own little niche in the overall running of the truck, and Seth couldn’t complain.

      Except that there’d been no boyfriends, or even steady friends-with-benefits, since he opened the truck over a year ago. A major bummer. Seth couldn’t focus on that now, though. He had work to do.

      ––––––––

      Ah, his favorite time of the day. Early morning. Most people would think him nuts for relishing being up at the ass crack of dawn, but Seth liked it. The prep kitchen he’d installed in his former garage never got busy until about nine a.m., which gave him time to putter around, research new recipes, and catch up on paperwork in peace.

      The early hour also meant he’d be heading downtown to the Austin City Mission soon. As

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