The Very Thought of You

Megan Flannigan wants only two things in life: to run her bakery The Rise and Shine, and to avoid the handsome and insufferable Officer Caleb Thornton.

Caleb has made her life difficult ever since he arrested her over a decade ago, and her one wish is that he leaves her alone—while they both continue to deny the attraction that sparks between them every time they meet.

Her wishes are dashed when her bakery is robbed. To make matters worse? Caleb is assigned to the case—and now he’s the officer charged to protect Megan from a dangerous criminal.

Caleb Thornton decided to become a police officer to atone for a tragic adolescent mistake. As part of the famously rich and privileged Thornton family, he’s always been aware of how he can never measure up to his family’s expectations.

As a result, he follows the letter of the law in both his job and his personal life—except when it comes to the beautiful and fiery Megan. She makes him yearn for something more, and she attracts him as much as she frustrates him. When Caleb is assigned to watch over Megan, he’s forced to reconcile the feelings he’s harbored for her for years.

But as danger draws closer to Fair Haven, Megan and Caleb must come to grips with the past—or risk losing the love of a lifetime.

“You gonna do something with that loaf of bread, or are you just going to stare at it until it bursts into flames?”


Megan Flannigan looked up from the burnt loaf of banana bread currently sitting on her bakery’s counter to gaze into the green eyes of her greatest nemesis, Caleb Thornton.

Her heart fluttered into her throat, which annoyed her beyond anything.


“I was just thinking,” she retorted. “Until you interrupted me.”


“Now I’m curious what you were thinking about with that frown on your face.”


She opened her mouth, but closed it just as quickly. Her injured hand—cut a week prior on one of the many kitchen knives in her bakery—tingled. Or maybe it merely ached.

She wasn’t sure how to parse her feelings about much of anything anymore.
Caleb Thornton never failed to rouse both her irritation and her desire in equal measures. With his careless good looks, green eyes, and angelic grin, he could get the devil himself to do what he wanted with his charm. Couple that with his police uniform, and he was a veritable bombshell of masculine attraction.
Which was the precise reason why Megan really, really hated him.


“That’s none of your business,” she replied primly. Taking the burnt banana bread, she tossed it into the trash with a sigh. At his raised eyebrows, she explained, “My timer broke, and I didn’t realize it until I’d burnt the loaf.”


“It didn’t look that burned.”


“Believe me, you wouldn’t want to eat it. I can’t serve that to my customers, anyway.” 


Megan had opened her bakery, The Rise and Shine, a year ago, and although she was hardly an expert in running a small business, she’d managed to attain enough success that she wasn’t afraid that she’d have to close her doors.

After working at odd jobs here and there in her early twenties, she’d made the terrifying decision to quit her most-hated office job to start her bakery. She’d begun baking only a few years prior, and she’d discovered that she loved it.


“Can I get you something? Or are you just here to lurk?” she asked.


Caleb barked a laugh. “How’s your hand?”

When she’d cut it, he’d been with her, and he’d bandaged it himself. 


Megan could still feel his fingers against her palm, warm and rough and gentle.
She showed him her hand, which was healing nicely.

“It’s fine. No stitches needed. Although I’ve made sure to keep any knives from sitting in the sink. I’d rather not have a repeat incident.”


“That’s probably a good idea.”


Megan realized with an indrawn breath that they were alone in the bakery. Again. Caleb’s younger sister and Megan’s one employee, Jubilee Thornton, was running an errand. It was the hour before school was let out, so Megan’s usual parents and kids that came in for an afternoon snack hadn’t arrived yet. 


How did she always end up alone with Caleb?


“I’d recommend the carrot cake,” she said, to answer a question he hadn’t asked. She reached inside the case and began to place a piece on a plate. “This version doesn’t have raisins. I think more people hate raisins than like them.”

She knew she was babbling. She clapped her mouth shut, trying not to blush.


He took the proffered cake.

“I agree. Raisins are the worst.” He picked up a fork and began to eat the cake. When he groaned out loud, it sent shivers down Megan’s spine.


“You do have to pay for that.”


He reached into his back pocket and handed her a five-dollar bill. “That cover it?”


“Good enough.” She finished the transaction and said in a brisk voice, “I need to start up another loaf of banana bread before the afternoon rush. Do you need anything else?”


“No, ma’am. I’m good with my cake right now.”
Megan went to the back to start a second batch of banana bread. If another customer came in, she’d hear the front door bell jingle. Or Caleb would yell for her.

She rolled her eyes. Caleb was like an annoying skin disease: no matter how hard she tried, she could not get rid of him.