A Dash of Desire (Spiced Life #2) (6 page)

“Twenty-eight. Why? Do you intend to spank me?”

She sounded hopeful. There were no safe topics where Riley was concerned.

“I intend to take you to lunch.”

“Pity.”

His cheeks ached. He was having the best time. “Have you already eaten?”

She shook head, causing her curls to sway and brush the curve of her breasts. He was fascinated by the motion. “I’m starving.”

Her answer left him confused. “Then why is it a shame? Do you have plans already?”

Her lips curved. A devilish light entered her eyes. “I had my heart set on that spanking.”

Tristan’s mouth went dry, and he feared his arousal was becoming a permanent affliction. “Maybe later. If you’re good.” That cinched it. He wasn’t himself when she was around. He was better.

A low chuckle caressed his ears. “Tease. You know there’s not a chance in hell I’ll behave.”

“Thank God.” Tristan had never meant anything more in his life.

***

Two women were staring at her. Actually, everyone was looking at her, but only the two brunettes seated together at the opposite side of the bakery were unabashedly eyeing her with interest. The menu managed to hold her interest for five minutes, since she’d never been to a place where they forced their customers to eat dessert first. Even the grandest of novelties couldn’t completely block out the eyes on her. Giving in, Riley met their gazes, refusing to look away.

“Seriously. I’m not crazy. Those two women over there are staring at me.”

Tristan didn’t look. “Everyone is looking at you. You’re beautiful.”

She went from challenging the women with her eyes to focusing on the man sitting across from her. His light blue polo shirt matched his eyes, making them seem even lighter. The hunger she felt in his presence was unnatural. It was a hollow space in her gut.

“We don’t match.” She hadn’t meant to say it, but there it was. Tristan’s blank expression gave nothing away. If he thought she was insane, he hid it well.

“Is that a thing in California?”

A burble of laughter rose to her lips. “I meant us. That’s why people are staring. They’re trying to decide why you’re hanging out with the evil out-of-towner.” As if proving her point, Emma May walked in. Riley bit back a groan. Tristan hadn’t noticed her yet, but the other woman had immediately zeroed in on them. Emma glared. Riley smirked. God help her. She couldn’t resist. The two women who’d been watching her, appeared at the edge of their table, saving Riley from doing something stupid, like tossing water on Emma May to see if she’d melt.

“You’re that woman who does PR work for Kennedy James.”

Riley held her groan on the inside by force of will alone.

“The country music star, Kennedy James? That Kennedy James?” Tristan didn’t sound horrified, as he should have considering how notoriously misbehaved Kennedy was. Instead, he merely seemed intrigued.

Riley pasted on a fake smile. “Yep. That’s me.”

The taller of the two grabbed her hand. “Oh good. We need to steal you away for a minute.” She tugged. Riley shot Tristan a panicked look. He didn’t seem the least bit distressed that she was being kidnapped by two hot women. In fact, he was beaming.

“Meet Faith and Serenity Monroe. My sisters-in-law.”

Since she knew Tristan was an only child, in-laws could only mean one thing. Her gaze hit the table. Was there nowhere she could go? Riley had moved all the way across the country, and here she was…back in the same damn boat again.

“Good grief,” the shorter of the two said, snagging Riley’s other hand. “Yeah, yeah. Our sister has been dead a long time, so stop holding up the works here with your wounded puppy routine. I’m Serenity. This one is Faith,” she added, nodding toward the other woman as she pulled Riley to her feet. She was strong for as tiny as she was. “Tristan won’t have time to miss you,” Faith said in an obvious attempt at reassuring her. “Come on. I want you to meet my husband. He’s in his office.”

With her breath slowly returning after their wife bomb, Riley allowed them to drag her a few steps before shooting Tristan another pleading look. Relaxed in his seat and with one arm slung across the back of the chair beside him, Tristan didn’t seem concerned at all over her safety. On the other hand, a sexy smile lingered on his lips making her want to taste them. Sheesh! That freaking smile. He was going to be the death of her.

“Adam owns the place,” he offered, leaving her to assume Adam was the husband she was headed to meet.

He was damn lucky he was hot. If Tristan turned out to be some sort of freaky sadist who collected toes, she was going to end up hobbling. It was scary how willing she was to do anything to make him happy.

“All right. Looks like I’m going to meet Adam. For some damn reason,” she grumbled, as the women led her away.

There might’ve been a bit of grumbling as Riley had been pulled to her feet. Not to mention, the irritated look she shot him as Faith and Serenity led her away said he’d pay later, but Tristan was thrilled to see Riley humoring the pair. Faith and Serenity were important to him. He didn’t doubt for a second they’d love Riley.

The sight of Riley’s gorgeous body moving across the room kept Tristan enthralled. Pride ran through him. She was there with him. Emma May slid into Riley’s seat, taking him by surprise and ruining the moment.

“I don’t know why you’re spending time with Riley. She’s a lost cause. There’re other folks who’d kill for your…attention.”

The sexual innuendo wasn’t lost on Tristan. As usual, he pretended not to notice. “Some might say she needs me more. Everyone deserves a second chance.” When Emma May flinched, Tristan knew his jibe hit home. The moment of satisfaction was nothing compared to immediate guilt that followed. She’d been nothing but nice to him…until Riley had shown up, that is. Still, that was no excuse for his subtle reminder of how she’d been working at a strip club when he’d gone against the congregation’s wishes and hired her as church secretary. She’d turned her life around. Riley could too. The more he thought about it, the more his guilt melted away and his anger grew. How was Riley worse than that? As far as he could tell, there wasn’t a single thing wrong with her. There was no denying she had a bad temper and even worse language, but at least she was honest and didn’t hide those things.

Emma May cleared her throat, reminding him of her presence. When he glanced up in surprise, he saw the change come over her. He recognized the exact moment she realized he’d completely forgotten she was there. Her eyebrows rose, as if she expected him to apologize. It wasn’t going to happen. As the silence dragged on, a calculating light entered her eyes.

“I wonder…” Warning bells sounded inside his head at her tone. “She does remind me of another wild girl who once lived round these parts.”

His temper snapped. “Don’t.” Even Tristan was shocked by the sharp edge to his voice. Rage seethed under his skin. Curling his fingers into a tight fist, Tristan tried to hide the way his hands shook from the power of it. Emma May’s eyes widened in mock innocence.

“I’m simply pointing out what everyone’s already saying.”

“I said, don’t. You’re walking a thin line here.” A hint of satisfaction showed in Emma’s smile as she pretended to straighten the napkins on the table.

“Well. Time will tell, I suppose,” she said, obviously unaffected by his warning.

Tristan pushed to his feet, incapable of listening to another spiteful word. “I’ll see you later, Emma. I just remembered I need to talk to Adam about something important.”

Without a backward glance, Tristan headed for the offices in the back of the bakery. Faith and Riley stood side by side at the edge of Adam’s desk while Serenity sat in the corner. Even with their backs turned, Tristan could hear their laughter. Some of the tension seeped from his shoulders. His family’s opinion was the important one. There were few people who he bothered being concerned over what they thought. Faith and Serenity were at the top of the list. Judging by the way Adam leaned back in his chair with his fingers linked behind his head, and openly laughing, Tristan assumed he also wasn’t immune to Riley.

With Emma’s taunt still ringing in his ears, Tristan snagged Riley’s waist, hauling her back into his embrace without a single thought. Even the shocked expression on Adam’s face, and Faith pushing the office door closed, didn’t deter him, especially once Riley sank into his chest. Keeping his arms wrapped around Riley, Tristan set his chin on her shoulder and met Adam’s gaze.

“Sorry for the interruption.”

“Don’t worry over it. I saw you were trapped in hell out there,” Adam said, nodding toward a security monitor.

“Adam wants to hire me to make Desserts First go viral in hopes of branching out,” Riley said, stopping Tristan from responding to Adam’s remark.

“Did you accept?” Tristan tried to keep the hope from sounding in his voice. A local client meant one more thing tying Riley to his side. He wanted to keep her. He wanted her to stay.

“I’m still considering it, but I wanted to hear your thoughts. Do you think I should accept?” Riley held her breath. Taking on Adam meant possibly staying on a permanent basis. Her life was sort of up in the air. When she’d first set her sights on Tennessee, she hadn’t known if she’d stay. Then she’d met Tristan and something happened. He was an ache blooming in the center of her chest. She didn’t deserve him. He most certainly wouldn’t want anything to do with her once he knew her better, but there was this hope growing inside her. When he touched her, as he was doing now, she forgot for a minute what it was like to be her. His lips touched her shoulder. The heat of his breath seeped through her shirt, warming her skin. He still hadn’t answered her question, and everyone was staring at them both the way most people did the clock at 11:59 on New Year’s Eve.

Her nerves snapped. “For fuck’s sake, Tristan. Are you praying over it?” Faith snorted. Adam and Serenity exchanged knowing glances. Riley released a loud sigh when Tristan still didn’t respond. She pinched his arm. “Thoughts please?”

A low laugh caressed her skin, hardening her nipples and making her thankful she’d worn a thick bra. Tristan was hard on girl’s system. “I’m torn,” he finally said, saving her from abusing him further. “Part of me wants to beg you to accept so there’s a better chance you’ll stay.”

“Awwww,” Faith and Serenity said simultaneously, but Tristan wasn’t finished.

“Another part of me wants you to make the decision on your own, so I’ll know you’re here because you want to be.”

Adam sat forward and shuffled some papers around on his desk. “So it’s settled then. I’ll look for your contract soon, and we can get started.”

“Yay,” Serenity cheered. “Girl’s night out to celebrate.”

A wry smile pulled at Adam’s lips. “Funny how that worked out. I give the woman a job, and the girls are the ones who get to celebrate.”

“Hush.” Even as Serenity fussed, her smile took the bite out of the word. Riley was doing her best not to fling excuses. It wasn’t personal. She simply didn’t want a girl’s night out with strangers.

“It’s Riley’s birthday,” Tristan added, throwing her under the bus.

Serenity clapped. “See. We have to go. It was meant to be.”

Any attempt on Riley’s part to reason out Serenity’s logic made Riley’s brain hurt. In the end, she gave in gracefully, accepting her fate. After all, she mused, there was a first time for everything. Twenty-eight wasn’t too late to do at least one thing gracefully.

***

At a nightclub two towns over and by eleven p.m., Riley was seriously reconsidering her position. The guy’s bikini-clad ass gyrating in her face didn’t help matters. Faith and Serenity thought it was hilarious. In truth, the guy was really hot. Riley had enjoyed watching him perform, giving lap dances to other women. She also had to admit, she did want to touch his abs, because who didn’t want to touch some sexy abs. The guy also had a great smile. None of those things mattered the moment he’d pushed her knees apart and buried his face in her crotch without her permission. After the third time of nudging his head away, the guy had finally taken the hint. The problem was he’d chosen to put his ass on her instead.

Faith came to the rescue, shoving a twenty down the front of his G-string and waving him away.

He didn’t make it far before Serenity snagged him, getting a lap dance. She laughed uproariously. The sound soothed Riley. They were having fun, nothing more. With his tip in hand, the dude disappeared.

“Relax. These guys are just trying to pay the bills. Sheesh. You’re going to make the perfect minister’s wife.”

“Wow. I just felt the breeze coming from Hell freezing over. No one has ever, ever used the term minister’s wife while referring to me. Not ever. And you did it with a straight face and everything.”

“I didn’t want to like you.” That shut Riley up. Her teeth snapped together. “I see too much of myself in you,” Faith added.

“Huh. Well. I suppose if roles were reversed, I’d hate you. After all, I’m easily the worst person I know.”

Faith and Serenity exchanges glances. “Not anymore,” they said simultaneously. “The bitterness runs deep this side of the table,” Faith explained. “Our sister was…” she paused, as if searching for the right word.

“A handful,” Serenity supplied.