Sinful Desire

“I hope it’s not over,” she admitted.

“So on a scale of one to ten, how much do you like him?” he asked as she tried on a peep-toe silver stiletto with a strap over the heel.

“One hundred,” she said, peering at the red-soled shoe in the mirror of the boutique. “But I don’t know where we stand.”

He met her reflection in the glass. “Those look amazing. And honestly, it sounds more like you’re in a holding pattern.”

“I detest holding patterns. I hate uncertainty. Not to mention, the whole thing just makes me feel stupid.”

“So tell him as much. Tell him what you need. That he needs to be open with you,” he said, as she slipped off the shoes and gestured to the counter so she could pay for them.

“And I feel stupid, too, because Clyde is breathing down my neck. It’s like everyone is using me. I’m sorry if that sounds dramatic, but Clyde clearly has his sights set on me because he thinks I’ll never try to touch his money. And then I have to wonder if Ryan had his own agenda.”

“Did it seem like that?”

As the saleswoman rang her up, Sophie let the reel of her time with Ryan play before her eyes. Date by date. Night by night. Email by email. Moment after moment of intoxicating, inescapable pleasure. Ryan had always seemed focused on her. Only her. Her pleasure, never anything else.

She floated back to the diner and his heady words.

If you were mine, I’d never let you want for anything. I’d take care of you, and all your needs. All the time. Anytime. Whatever you needed, I’d give you.

A current of longing swirled inside her. Of missing. Of wanting.

“No,” she admitted, taking the bag from the employee. “I was his only agenda.”

“Then,” he said, as he patted her shoulder, “it seems you might want to let him know you’re falling for him. Especially since I think he’s here right now.”

“What?”

He gestured to the entryway of the Louboutin store. “I’m assuming the insanely handsome man in the University of Michigan T-shirt, holding a shopping bag and looking just like the guy in the photo you just showed me, is here to see you?”





Chapter Twenty-Five


“Hi.”

“Hi.”

She was too stunned to say much more, but the softness in his voice, and the vulnerable look in his beautiful, dark blue eyes, settled her nerves.

Ryan turned to Holden standing next to her. “You must be Holden. I’ve heard a lot about you. Pleasure to meet you,” he said, extending a hand. “I’m Ryan.”

Holden took it. “Likewise. Nice to meet you, too.”

“Sophie tells me you’re a talented piano player, and that I’ll get to hear you next week at the benefit,” he continued, and Sophie’s jaw nearly crashed to the floor. She’d never expected possessive, jealous, dominant Ryan to talk so easily to her ex. Sexuality aside, most men wouldn’t do so well talking to a prior lover, let alone a woman’s former husband.

“Thank you. I hope you enjoy the Beethoven.”

“I have no doubt I will. That is,” he said, returning his focus to her, “if Sophie will still have me.”

Holden smiled broadly and dropped a quick kiss on her cheek. “I believe that’s my cue to go,” he said, then exited the store, threading through the Saturday afternoon shoppers at the Grand Canal Shops.

She was left in the middle of the Louboutin store with the man she’d kicked out of her house last night. “How did you find me here?”

“Don’t forget, I was Army Intelligence,” he said with a grin.

“And they taught you how to locate women who are shopping?”

He shook his head. “No. But you told me you were going to be here today, and since you’re a classy woman, I picked the classiest shoe store as your possible location. That is, after I tried a few other shops.” She loved that she was the object of his treasure hunt. “So,” he began, rocking lightly back and forth on his feet. “I’m not terribly good at this whole talk-about-feelings-and-stuff thing, as you’ve probably gathered by now. So I’m just going to be blunt and lay it out.”

He took a beat, drawing a breath. Her heart raced as she waited for his next words. “I want to try with you. And I want to take you to the benefit, and introduce you to my brothers and sister, and I’m pretty sure Johnny Cash is eager to meet you.”