The Date

Caelan James should've known better than to let a dating app set him up on a blind date. Nothing in life was guaranteed-perfect, especially not guys, and most definitely not guys in the immediate vicinity of tiny O'Leary, New York. But then, sexy Navy SEAL Ash Martin walked into Cal's bakery, and made him wonder if fate might have cooked up something sweet for him after all.

Their connection was immediate, all-consuming, and definitely not vanilla...but could their perfect date last for more than just a night, or even a season?

Note: This is a 23,000-word short story that first appeared in the Heart2Heart anthology as “The Baker and the SEAL". It's been slightly expanded from its original version.