Bad Boy Valentine Read Online Free

café with their saw horses and gear boxes, tool belts slung across their hips, boots coated in sawdust. And one by one she’d watched them leave, telling her off and slamming the door behind them, never to return.
    It was like this weird, sudden compulsion. Normally she was pretty perky—a big reason her clientele kept coming back for more of her hand-crafted pastries and coffee drinks, each and every one served with a genuine smile. But the renovation project on her café had somehow turned Kate into a raging, unapologetic, uncompromising bitch.
    Because they all remind you of—
    No. She shut down that line of thinking before it had a chance to take hold. Her ex had nothing to do with it—getting him out of her life in her early twenties had paved the way for everything she’d built since, including the café.
    No, her mood swings were simply because of stress. The contractor who’d stormed out that morning was the fifth to quit in as many weeks, and Kate needed the expansion finished yesterday . Two months ago, she’d beaten out a hundred other regional cafes—including some of Manhattan’s most famous—in a bid to host LoveLink, the inaugural Valentine’s Day dating event for FierceConnect, a multinational social gaming platform whose creators saw the matchmaking potential in live local events geared specifically toward gamers looking for love. The idea had already garnered tons of positive press. If the calls to the bakery were any indication, people would be lining up around the block to get in. Bakery sales would be through the roof. The event would be broadcast, webcast, podcast, and every other -cast imaginable.
    And it was happening in less than two weeks.
    “I’m losing my mind,” she said, ignoring Georgie’s eye-roll. “One soy mocha latte at a time.”
    By all accounts, Sweet Bliss was already a success story—Kate had worked her ass off building it from the ground up, and though she still owed a ton on her business loans and building mortgage, the café had started turning a small profit after just one year, and had been steadily growing ever since, three years and counting now.
    But LoveLink? That event was guaranteed to put her on the map in a huge way.
    The question was—would it be a good huge way, or a total disaster?
    Her eyes skimmed over the bright blue tarps hanging on the walls at the back of the store, not quite hiding panels of drywall and bare wooden studs.
    Total disaster. Obviously.
    Kate was close to tears. The guy had left in such a huff, he hadn’t even bothered to clean up his mess. The café would be open for the morning commuters in less than an hour, and there were two-by-fours and paint rollers all over the place. It looked like a tornado had torn through Home Depot, then dropped everything here. Then exploded.
    “What was I thinking?” she asked.
    “You’re freaking out. It’s worse when you freak out.” Georgie nudged Kate’s foot beneath the table and offered a supportive smile. In addition to being her best friend and number one Sweet Bliss fan club member, Georgie was also her web designer; they were supposed to be meeting to finalize the online promotions for the event, but that was before the contractor incident.
    “Valentine’s Day has to be a success,” Kate said. “I can’t risk—”
    “Kate.” Georgie grabbed her arm across the table, giving her a squeeze. “It will be a success. You could have the event today, construction zone and all, and everyone would still love it. Everyone loves you .” Georgie beamed, her endless encouragement bolstering Kate, despite the turn of events. “You just need to breathe. And relax. And stop scaring off the hired help—especially the hot ones. What is wrong with you, woman? Don’t you want to get laid for Valentine’s Day?”
    “No thanks.” Kate rested her cheek on the table. “Am I really that impossible?”
    Georgie pulled one of her red curls across her lips and lowered her eyes, not