Sinful Desire

“Of course you do. So go. Leave a pineapple at the kissing tree. As an offering.”

“Okay,” Sophie said conspiratorially, then walked behind the stand and placed the spiky fruit on the ground by the tree where her parents had their first kiss. It was so silly. But her parents had everything, and their everything was all Sophie ever knew and all she wanted.

She thought she’d had that with Holden. But the big difference was that her parents had both love and passion. They held hands, they sneaked kisses, and they took care of her and John together.

A lump rose in her throat, burning her with the sting of memories.

But at least the memories were beautiful ones. Hopeful ones. She was lucky like that. She wondered briefly about Ryan’s parents. He’d never said much about them, other than that his father had died when he was fourteen.

That must have been so hard on his mother.

“To love and pineapples,” Sophie whispered as a lone tear streaked down her cheek.

She returned to the front of the stand, and Marietta handed her a sturdy brown paper bag. “Go make a peach pie. It’s always the way to a man’s heart.”

Sophie wasn’t entirely convinced pie was the way to Ryan’s heart, or that she’d ever be able to travel that path in him. But it certainly couldn’t hurt to feed him.

from: [email protected]

to: [email protected]

date: July 17, 10:43 AM

subject: Know what’s really exquisite?

My peach pie.

So exquisite you should come over for dinner and dessert, and peaches and me. Friday night?

from: [email protected]

to: [email protected]

date: July 17, 10:48 AM

subject: You. Still you.

Yes, and yes, and yes, and yes.

Her phone rang as she turned on the engine in her car.

“Tell me more about these peaches,” he said, and his strong, sexy voice made her belly flip.

“They’re ripe, and juicy, and they taste like sin,” she said, taking her time with each word, letting them fall from her lips like sugar.

“Mmmm,” he said, in a sexy growl. “So just like you, basically?”

“I’ll have to take your word on that.”

“Oh, you can definitely take my word on that.”

“By the way, I fixed my dress, and I cleaned it myself.”

“Aren’t you little Miss Independent? Not even letting me help,” he said, and she could practically see his playful pout.

“Maybe I just wanted to assert myself in that way.”

“Maybe I’ll assert myself by getting you another dress. That one you said you wanted.”

She laughed as she pulled out of the lot. “I highly doubt you would even know where to get one. They are kind of specialty boutique dresses.”

“Oh, you challenge me, woman?” he asked, sounding all over-the-top tough.

She laughed, and gave it right back to him. “Oh, yes I do, man.”

“I am up to the challenge,” he answered, and a robotic female voice sounded from his phone. “You are two hundred miles from your destination in Hawthorne.”

She furrowed her brow. There wasn’t much in Hawthorne. That was a small town with a big prison. “What are you doing in Hawthorne?” she asked curiously, as she pulled onto the road. “Do you do security for the prison?”

He didn’t answer at first. “Yeah. Shit, Sophie, I need to pay attention to the road, but I can’t wait to see you Friday. I’ll be there. It’s the only thing making this drive better.”

He hung up.





Chapter Nineteen


Halfway there.

The sun glared at him as he played The National on repeat. His favorite band. Dark and moody. It suited him after seeing Luke then lying to Sophie.

He gripped the wheel tighter. What choice did he have? Was he supposed to tell her about his mom on the goddamn phone? He was flying blind when it came to sharing this emotional stuff, this family history. He’d had no training in how to open your heart, or your life, or your past. He wasn’t a practitioner of closeness or commitment.

But he couldn’t seem to stay away from Sophie.

So he’d need to do it right. Tell her when they were sitting down, face to face, not over the phone.

As the road echoed its sameness for miles, he dialed his sister’s number. After a quick hello, he put her on speakerphone and jumped right into the matter at hand.

“Where do I find a dress? You know the kind the women from the fifties wore?”

Shannon cracked up, so damn loud that he thought his eardrum was going to split in half. “Something you want to tell me, Ryan? You’re taking up cross-dressing?”

“My, my. Aren’t you a funny lady? Anyway, you know the kind the movie stars wear? Like a pinup dress, I think it’s called?”

She stopped laughing and turned her voice serious. “Sure. I’ve got a super hot one that might fit you. I’ll drop it off at your house later tonight.”

He rolled his eyes. “Make sure it has a petticoat and all.”

“Consider it done.”

“Anyway, where do I get one as a gift? For a woman.”

Shannon whistled. “Is Mr. Always Single dating someone? Or is this like a gift for your assistant?”

“It’s for a woman I’m seeing.”