New York Cheesecake Chaos (MURDER IN THE MIX Book 8) Read online

  New York Cheesecake Chaos

  Murder in the Mix 8

  Addison Moore

  Contents

  Books by Addison Moore

  Book Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  A Note from the Author

  Books by Addison Moore

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2018 by Addison Moore

  This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to peoples either living or deceased is purely coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination. The author holds all rights to this work. It is illegal to reproduce this novel without written expressed consent from the author herself.

  All Rights Reserved.

  This eBook is for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this eBook with another person, please purchase any additional copies for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Copyright © 2018 by Addison Moore

  Table of Contents

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  Books by Addison Moore

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  Mystery

  Little Girl Lost

  A Sublime Casualty

  Cutie Pies and Deadly Lies (Murder in the Mix 1)

  Bobbing for Bodies (Murder in the Mix 2)

  Pumpkin Spice Sacrifice (Murder in the Mix 3)

  Gingerbread & Deadly Dread (Murder in the Mix 4)

  Seven-Layer Slayer (Murder in the Mix 5)

  Red Velvet Vengeance (Murder in the Mix 6)

  Bloodbaths and Banana Cake (Murder in the Mix 7)

  New York Cheesecake Chaos (Murder in the Mix 8)

  Lethal Lemon Bars (Murder in the Mix 9)

  Romance

  Just Add Mistletoe

  3:AM Kisses (3:AM Kisses 1)

  Winter Kisses (3:AM Kisses 2)

  Sugar Kisses (3:AM Kisses 3)

  Whiskey Kisses (3:AM Kisses 4)

  Rock Candy Kisses (3:AM Kisses 5)

  Velvet Kisses (3:AM Kisses 6)

  Wild Kisses (3:AM Kisses 7)

  Country Kisses (3:AM Kisses 8)

  Forbidden Kisses (3:AM Kisses 9)

  Dirty Kisses (3:AM Kisses 10)

  Stolen Kisses (3:AM Kisses 11)

  Lucky Kisses (3:AM Kisses 12)

  Tender Kisses (3:AM Kisses 13)

  Revenge Kisses (3:AM Kisses 14)

  Red Hot Kisses (3:AM Kisses 15)

  Reckless Kisses (3:AM Kisses 16)

  Hot Honey Kisses (3:AM Kisses 17)

  Shameless Kisses (3:AM Kisses 18)

  Value 3:AM Kisses Boxed Sets

  3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 1-3

  3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 4-6

  3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 7-9

  3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 10-12

  The Social Experiment (The Social Experiment 1)

  Bitter Exes (The Social Experiment 2)

  Chemical Attraction (The Social Experiment 3)

  Low Down & Dirty (3:AM Kisses, Hollow Brook1)

  Dirty Disaster (3:AM Kisses, Hollow Brook 2)

  Dirty Deeds (3:AM Kisses, Hollow Brook 3)

  Naughty By Nature

  Heartless (Breakers Canyon Billionaires 1)

  Wicked Heart (Breakers Canyon Billionaires 2)

  Stone Cold Heart (Breakers Canyon Billionaires 3)

  Beautiful Oblivion (Lake Loveless 1)

  Beautiful Illusions (Lake Loveless 2)

  Beautiful Elixir (Lake Loveless 3)

  Beautiful Deception (Lake Loveless 4)

  The Solitude of Passion

  Someone to Love (Someone to Love 1)

  Someone Like You (Someone to Love 2)

  Someone For Me (Someone to Love 3)

  BOXED SETS

  Spitfire Kisses Boxed Set

  Breakers Canyon Boxed Set (Books 1-3)

  Lake Loveless Boxed Set (Books 1-3)

  A Totally ‘80s Romance (Books 1-3)

  3:AM Kisses, Hollow Brook (Books 1-3)

  3:AM KISSES (Books 1-3)

  Just Add Mistletoe (Christmas in Gingerbread, Colorado)

  Young Adult Romance

  Melt With You (A Totally ’80s Romance 1)

  Tainted Love (A Totally ’80s Romance 2)

  Hold Me Now (A Totally ’80s Romance 3)

  Paranormal Romance

  (Celestra Book World in Order)

  Ethereal (Celestra Series Book 1)

  Tremble (Celestra Series Book 2)

  Burn (Celestra Series Book 3)

  Wicked (Celestra Series Book 4)

  Vex (Celestra Series Book 5)

  Expel (Celestra Series Book 6)

  Toxic Part One (Celestra Series Book 7)

  Toxic Part Two (Celestra Series Book 8)

  Elysian (Celestra Series Book 9)

  Perfect Love (A Celestra Novella)

  Ephemeral (The Countenance Trilogy 1)

  Evanescent (The Countenance Trilogy 2)

  Entropy (The Countenance Trilogy 3)

  Ethereal Knights (Celestra Knights)

  Season of the Witch (A Celestra Companion)

  Celestra Forever After (Celestra Forever After 1)

  The Dragon and the Rose (Celestra Forever After 2)

  The Serpentine Butterfly (Celestra Forever After 3)

  Crown of Ashes (Celestra Forever After 4)

  Throne of Fire (Celestra Forever After 5)

  Book Description

  My name is Lottie Lemon, and I see dead pets. On occasion I see a once upon a human, too, but mostly it’s just cute little furry beasts who have come back from the other side to warn me of their previous owner’s impending doom.

  My ex has landed in Honey Hollow all the way from New York where I last saw his sorry mug. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s brought along his girlfriend whom he has no problem disregarding as he does his best to woo me back. To make matters worse, a famous author has come to town to do a signing at the library, and I have the unfortunate luck of stumbling upon yet another body. And this time, I have a couple of suspects from New York that I’d rather let off the hook than investigate. Someone just might get away with murder.

  Lottie Lemon has a brand new bakery to tend to, a budding romance with perhaps one too many suitors, and she has the supernatural ability to see dead pets—which are always harbingers for ominous things to come. Throw in the occasional ghost of the human variety, a string of murders, and her insatiable thirst for justice, and you’ll have more chaos than you know what to do with.

  Living in the small town of Honey Hollow can be murder.

  Chapter 1

 
; I see dead people. Mostly I see dead pets, but on the rare occasion I do see a dearly departed of the human variety—but right now I’m too far gone in unadulterated bliss to see a darn thing.

  “Oh my God, Everett,” I moan so loud I’m thankful we’re tucked way in the back of the Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery where nary a soul can see or hear us. The back door is wide open, letting in the first warm April breeze since spring hit, and right about now I welcome it.

  The bakery is mine; the man is not. Essex Everett Baxter, Judge Baxter, is just a handful of years older than me, and we’ve become fast friends in the past few months we’ve known one another. In the looks department, he’s hotter than a kitchen fire. He rarely shows emotion, and has a propensity of referring to me exclusively by my surname.

  Another hearty moan escapes me. “Oh, Everett, this is incredible.” The words draw from me, slow and sultry, as I close my eyes a moment and see stars exploding behind my lids in a hypnotic display.

  “Lemon,” he groans as if I’ve managed to injure him in a sinfully delicious way. “There’s no way I can control myself. You need to give me all you got. And if you don’t, I’ll take it myself.”

  My mouth indulges one more time and I can’t contain myself anymore. “Yes, yes, yes!” I shout. “Everett, this is it!”

  “Just keep giving it to me, Lemon.”

  No sooner does Everett get the words out than a body jumps through the back door, and I spin on my heels to see Noah standing there with his hand reaching for his weapon.

  “Everybody freeze!” he shouts, panting as if he just ran across all of Vermont to get here. Noah does a quick assessment of the two of us. “Wait—what are you doing?” He takes a step in and squints. “You’re eating cheesecake?” His verdant green eyes are wild, his hand still firmly on that gun sitting in its holster over his back.

  Noah Corbin Fox is a detective with the Ashford County Sheriff’s Department, and he happens to be my latest ex-boyfriend. Believe you me, I have no plans on accumulating any more. I’ve had my heart broken exactly three times now, and as they say, the third time’s the charm. Suffice it to say, I’ve been turned off to relationships for the interim. I’m in no mood to hoist what’s left of my shattered ticker up on the proverbial chopping block again. No thank you. I gave at the sheriff’s office.

  Noah is strong and handsome, abs of granite, buns of steel—and, believe me, I know that firsthand—a face that makes every person with ovaries sit up and pay attention, dark hair that turns red as fire in the sun, and have I mentioned the dimples that make me melt on cue each time he’s around? Neither Noah nor his disturbingly good looks play fair. I made the mistake of falling too hard, too fast, giving him my all, and by all, I mean every last carnal part of me.

  I really did think we’d be engaged by now, but his wife strolled back into town about a month ago and quickly put the kibosh on what was left of our so-called relationship. I hate that he seemed to omit that one all-important detail about being legally bound to another woman. And even though he’s since explained that they are in the process of a messy and arduous divorce, I’m still more than slightly peeved about my lack of matrimonial knowledge when it came to the man I loved. Love, but that’s something I can’t seem to help.

  “Yes, cheesecake.” My fist digs into my hips in annoyance. “What did you think we were doing?”

  Noah glances from Everett to me, his anger quickly morphing to what looks to be embarrassment. “I was in the alley. I was going to see if I could help with the delivery and I heard—”

  A dark chuckle bounces through Everett, but it doesn’t last long. “You thought Lemon and I were going at it right here in the bakery.”

  I suck in a sharp breath. “Noah!” Without thinking, I chuck a dishrag at him. “How dare you!” The naughty idea settles in a moment. “And by the way, it’s none of your business what Everett and I choose to do in private. You and I are no longer a thing. We’re nothing more than friends, Noah, so please don’t come barging in on me with your weapon at the ready just because you think I’m getting lucky with something other than cheesecake.” I realize how harsh it sounded as the words left my mouth, but I couldn’t help it. My adrenaline went wild the moment he shouted at us to freeze like we were common street thugs.

  Everett takes another bite of the cheesecake on his plate that I slathered with blueberry sauce. “You really should try this stuff, Noah. It’s to die for.”

  Noah takes a moment to glower at his former stepbrother. It’s true. Way back in high school, Noah’s father both married and financially took advantage of Everett’s mother for a brief time, but, in reality, that was just the beginning of the bad blood between them.

  And, of course, last month Everett and I shared a few steamy kisses. Noah learned about it, and now there seems to be more bad blood than ever. Noah is most definitely jealous of my friendship with Everett. He always has been, but after those heated lip-locks Everett and I shared, all Noah sees is red.

  I can’t blame him. Just look at the good judge. He’s got on a dark wool coat, and his pale blue tie glows as bright as his eyes. Everett has an unfair amount of animal attraction that makes every woman within fighting distance want to take a bite out of him. He’s the strong, silent type, rarely smiles, and has both a magical and menacing appeal about him. And in the short amount of time we’ve known one another, he’s been through just about everything with me.

  Three women dash in through the back door. I recognize Felicity Gilbert, Rhonda Gilbert’s daughter. Rhonda not only owns The Enchanted Flower Shop across the street, but she’s housing a quasi-fugitive at her home—my biological mother, Carlotta Sawyer.

  Wilhelmina—Willow Lancaster walks in as well—Rhonda’s longtime assistant. She’s a short, burly woman with a feisty attitude and yet a sweet smile to just about anyone she sees. Willow is a few years younger than Rhonda, and I’ve always admired her glossy dark hair. We’ve only had a handful of conversations, and yet she’s been in Honey Hollow longer than I’ve been alive, but since she’s been putting up with my biological mother this past month, I feel like I need to take her a big box of cookies as a thank you, or in the least buy her a cup of coffee.

  “Hey, Willow. Here comes the best babysitter in town.” I shake my head wistfully at our inside joke.

  Willow belts out a hearty laugh. “I know all about mothers and, believe me, compared to mine, Carlotta is a treat.”

  Felicity bounces over with a wave. She’s about twenty-seven like me, petite and cute in every classic way, button nose, bright eyes, freckles, and a head full of auburn curls like her mother. “Our moms are outside in the van. We’re on our way to the library, and she said you might need help with the transport of all those cheesecakes you made.”

  The dark-haired girl next to her looks about our age as well. Tall, model good looks, strong cheekbones as if the sculptor were trying too hard, and narrow squinted eyes that look black as night.

  Before I can answer, the girl holds a hand out. “I’m Jana March. Felicity and I were college roommates. I’m house-hunting here in Honey Hollow, and Felicity was nice enough to let me stay with her.”

  “Nice to meet you.” I’m quick to shake her hand. “You can certainly help with the cheesecake. How about you each take a box? My sister, Lainey, is the head librarian, and she’ll direct you where to put them. In fact, I’ll be right behind you.” I load the three of them up, and no sooner do they step out the door than Carlotta steps in, but before I have a chance to greet or scowl at her properly—we don’t have the best relationship just yet—a horrifically large bird, the size of a toddler, a brilliant shade of blue with a red underbelly and a yellow plume on top of its head, starts flying over the kitchen, and I scream bloody murder.

  “Get it out!” The words rip violently from my lungs as I dart for the broom and start batting at it as best I can.

  “Lottie!” Noah shouts. Only he’s not going for the bird. He’s hopping around with a confused look on his face, and
his wild eyes are plastered over me as I try my best to shoo that flying menace—gorgeous as it might be, right back out the door.

  “Out!” I scream as I trap it near the pantry. “No birds allowed in my bakery!”

  Carlotta laughs up a storm—but does she offer to help? Nope. That about sums up my bio mom in a sloth-shaped nutshell.

  “Lemon!” Everett barks as he pins me carefully against the wall, his chest panting wild the way it does sometimes after we kiss, and he shakes his head at me just enough. “It’s not there,” he whispers, and I panic.

  “Oh God!” I drop the broom as if it were a snake and choose to momentarily ignore the squawking terror hovering above me as I glance to Noah. “I guess I—” I look to Carlotta for help. She’s pretty much my lookalike, or I guess the vice versa would be more accurate, same honey blonde waves, same hazel green eyes, but she’s got about sixteen years on me.

  “Oh, come on, Lottie.” She nods her head toward Noah. “Tell him about our game.”

  “Our game?” I breathe a sigh of relief, and for once I’m thankful she’s coming to the rescue. “That’s right.” I look from Noah to Everett and nod. “It’s a game we play. I pretend to shoo Carlotta out and she—doesn’t leave.” That went well. I can feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment, and I’m slow to look at Noah. Everett knows that I can see the dead, whether it be an animal or a deceased human, but Noah—well, last month he thought I might be a witch—which is the furthest from the truth. I’ve had this peculiar quirk all my life, but I just found out in December that I’m something classified as transmundane, and my specific gift is referred to as supersensual. But right now, I can’t help but feel super stupid.