Sinful Desire

Shannon clasped her hand over her mouth, and a huge sob fell from her throat. She threw her arms around Ryan, and then grabbed her other brothers and pulled them into another group hug. “I remember love,” she whispered in a broken voice. “Most of all, I remember love.”

“Me, too,” Ryan said, and they all chimed in and echoed with another, “Me, too.”

*

Later, after they cleaned up and headed inside, Ryan nudged Colin with his elbow. “Hey, what was the deal with that woman at the benefit last night? Is there something going on with you two?”

Colin shrugged as they gathered bottles into a paper shopping bag for recycling. “She’s hot and she’s cold. Who knows with women?”

Hot and cold. Some women were like that. But some weren’t. Some were always hot. And he didn’t just mean physically. Some were always clear, always present, always giving. Some put their heart on the line every day, every night. Every second.

Sophie.

His Sophie.

His loving, giving, supportive, beautiful, amazing Sophie.

Who was leaving the country for more than a week come morning.

He’d told her twenty-four hours ago that he had to see her that night no matter what. That he couldn’t stay away from her. And instead, he’d done the opposite. He’d stayed away from her. He’d told her he was fucked up again, and hell, he felt that way.

But that wasn’t fair to her.

Especially when she was always fair. Always open. Always honest.

But him?

He was the hot and cold one. He was scalding and freezing. As he carried the bag of bottles to his recycling bin in the garage, he muttered a string of curse words. He’d been sending her mixed messages. Telling her he had to see her, then telling her he couldn’t handle seeing her. Saying he desperately needed her, then not taking the time to properly say goodbye before she left the country for a trip.

Fine, there was no rule that said they had to see each other every day.

But this wasn’t about managing a lover’s travel schedule. This was about how he talked to her, how he cared for her, how he tended to her needs. She was so even keeled, so reliable, so fucking wonderful, and he’d taken advantage of that. He hadn’t been attentive to the woman he loved. Understandable, some might say, given the way his day had gone.

But it wasn’t acceptable to him.

Sophie had given him something he thought he’d never have. He had never trusted in love. He’d always believed love could be gunned down. Then she came into his life, and turned everything he believed about himself upside down.

That was the real change in him.

Not his mother’s confession, but Sophie’s love.

Falling in love with Sophie Winston was the most magical, wonderful, intense experience of his life. When everything around him wobbled, Sophie was the constant.

He shut the top of the recycling bin and glanced at his truck. His buzz had worn off. He needed to see her. To tell her she rocked his world, then tell her again and again and again. The only problem was, it was four-thirty in the morning, and he was pretty damn sure her flight left in a few hours.

But so be it.

He’d simply have to drive over there now, and see her before she got on that plane. Kiss her hard before she left. As he walked back into his house, his mind latched onto something she’d told him by his pool the other weekend.

“The things I want from you don’t cost money.”

He turned to Colin, dropped a hand on his shoulder, and said, “Little brother, I need a big favor.”

He explained to Colin and his brother said yes. Then added, “Hell yes.”

Because that was what family did for each other.

He slid open his phone screen and dialed Sophie’s number. It went straight to voicemail. She might even be going through security right now. So he sent her a text.

Then he saw she’d already sent him one.





Chapter Thirty-Nine


Shit. Shit. Shit.

Sophie was late.

Sophie was always late.

Sophie was pissed at herself, too, for being so damn late.

Rolling her suitcase behind her like it was a new Olympic event, she ran out of her building at four-thirty in the morning, her sandals flapping against the marble tiled lobby. The car had been waiting for her in the building driveway for fifteen minutes.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she told the driver as she slid into the backseat, the night still cloaking the sky.

“Nothing to apologize for, ma’am. I will get you to the airport on time,” he said, shutting the door.

She turned on her phone, tapping her foot as she waited for it to boot up. She needed to send Ryan a note.

Because she’d made a decision.