Sisters in Love (Snow Sisters, Book One: Love in Bloom Series #1) (23 page)

He stepped toward her, his breath visibly
meeting the air between them. Their breath comingled into little
puffs of white that evaporated into the night. “State of Grace” by
Taylor Swift played loudly from a passing car.

That’s it.
You
are my Achilles’
heel, Blake Carter
.
Goodbye, career
. Danica stepped
toward him, snow falling across her nose. Taylor Swift faded into
the distance.
I never saw you coming. And I’ll definitely never
be the same.
Their lips met in a long, delicious kiss. Her arms
circled his neck. He put his hands on her lower back, sending a
tantalizing rush through her body. Never before this had she felt
she was in the exact right moment at the exact right time. His
tongue moved slowly inside her mouth, the sweet taste of wine
alighting her senses. She pressed her body against him, feeling his
need in his touch. His fingertips traveled up her back, beneath her
hair, to the sensuous spot behind her ear. He kissed her until her
body was filled with warmth instead of her head filled with
thoughts. His lips found her chin, then her neck.
Bliss
. The
world fell away. The street noises grew silent, save for the sound
of her own sweet breath as he drank her in. She reached down and
brought his lips back to hers, running her tongue along them,
tasting the sweet wine and the salty desire that lay beneath.

“Danica,” he whispered.

“I know,” she said between kisses. Danica’s
heart pounded against her ribs, as if it might explode. In that
split second, she made a decision that she knew there was no
turning back from. “My place.” She took his hand, and they hurried
through the falling snow like teenagers, laughing and kissing every
few steps. When they reached her condo, Danica fumbled in her purse
for the keys as Blake kissed the back of her neck. He spun her
around and kissed her, pressing his hips against hers and her back
against the door. Heat electrified her body. She pushed him away
and fumbled for her keys, unlocking the door as quickly as she
could. She yanked him inside by the collar, then shut the door,
thrusting him against it with a passionate kiss. Danica felt as
though she were falling into quicksand—and loved every blessed
second of it.

She fumbled with the buttons on his shirt,
her lips trailing down his magnificent, muscular chest. She could
barely catch her breath. She licked the soft skin just above his
belt and worked it free, unzipping his pants as a moan escaped his
lips.

He slid his hand under her chin and lifted
her face to look up at him. He shook his head. “Not like this,” he
whispered.

Danica felt as if she’d been punched in the
gut, her heart shattering into a million little pieces. She’d given
herself to him and he was pushing her away?

He took her hand in his, kissing the tips of
each of her fingers, and lifted his eyes to the stairs.

Oh, thank God.
A smile replaced her
fears. She kissed him again, then led him upstairs to her dark
bedroom. Once she let him in, there was no going back. Danica stood
by the bed, battling her conflicting emotions for only a second
before accepting that she could not turn him away. Her body begged
for him; her heart had already let him in. She would not turn him
away. He unbuttoned her shirt slowly, stopping between each button
and touching her skin lightly with his fingertips. When he reached
her navel, he lowered his lips and licked tiny circles along her
skin, sending heat between her legs. She took a step toward the
bed, and he held on tight to her hips, not letting her lower
herself down. His tongue trailed up her center to the clasp in her
bra. He used his fingers and unclasped it. Danica shivered as her
breasts broke free.

“I don’t want to rush this,” he whispered,
dropping her blouse from her shoulders.

Danica’s chest heaved up and down with each
breath. She couldn’t think past her desire to touch him, but her
hands were trapped against her sides by her blouse. She stood, half
naked, trembling beneath his touch and growing hotter by the
second.

He moved his tongue to her nipples, gently
licking around them until she thought she might scream. He took her
breast into his mouth and rolled his tongue lightly across her
nipple; then he drew away and pulled her blouse from her arms,
dropping it to the ground beside them. The shock of cold air
intensified her desire.

Habit took over, and she moved to cover her
stomach.

“Uh-uh,” he said, and kissed her sides,
sending a tickle right through her.

He came to his full height and slipped out of
his shirt. She touched his chest, running her fingers along the
ridges of his pectoral muscles, shivering inside at the sensuality
of him. Blake ran his hands under her thick hair and palmed her
skull, tilting her head back. He kissed her neck until her legs
felt like rubber and her thoughts ran together. Then he lifted her
within his arms and laid her gently on the bed, where he kissed his
way down her neck, to her breasts, her sternum, and her belly
button, where his tongue lingered. She slithered out of her skirt,
and he from his slacks. She lay beneath him, wanting him inside
her, wanting to feel his bare chest against hers, her heart beating
in time to his.

He lowered his lips to hers. “Danica,” he
whispered. “You are so beautiful.” He repositioned himself so he
was lying next to her, his arm over her chest, his erection against
her thigh. He breathed hard and fast, leaning on one arm, looking
down at her. “I just don’t want this to be something it’s not.”

Her heart shattered again. She sucked in a
gasp of air.

“You’re not a one-night stand. This is real.
Do you feel that way, too? Before we go any further, I have to
know.”

She pulled him on top of her and guided him
between her legs. “You are anything but a one-night stand.”

He rested his forehead on hers.

“I don’t even know how to have a one-night
stand,” she admitted.

“And I never will again.” He kissed her hard
as he slid inside of her.

Waiting for Kaylie was like waiting for it to
snow in Florida, and Danica had been waiting for her for
twenty-seven years. She checked her watch again. Kaylie was fifteen
minutes late. What else was new? She flagged down the waitress and
ordered iced teas for them both—and not the benign kind. Today she
needed alcohol. It wasn’t every day she confessed her deepest sins
to her little sister.

The middle-aged couple at the next booth held
hands across the table. Danica noticed their wedding bands and
wanted that safety, that comfort. Finally, after years of being the
proper one and not letting herself do anything that might not be
seen as becoming of a therapist, she’d let herself relax into the
most sinfully delicious night of passionate sex she’d ever
experienced. Beneath Blake’s touch, she became a different person.
She allowed herself to try things she’d heard Belinda and Kaylie
talk about, using her body in ways that she’d imagined only sleazy
people might. But there was nothing sleazy about what she and Blake
had—she knew that with every fiber of her being. She couldn’t
understand the hows and whys of them ending up together, or the
night they had shared, but as she thought about his touch, the feel
of his tongue lingering on her skin, the taste of him in her mouth,
her legs tingled and her body shuddered with aftershocks that were
almost as thrilling as the original orgasms.

Kaylie flounced through the door in her
crushed-cotton skirt and T-shirt, carrying an armful of colorful
shopping bags. Every eye in the café was drawn to her, like metal
to magnet, male and female alike. She dropped the shopping bags
next to the booth and sat down, oblivious to the attention.

For once, Danica didn’t pull her sweater
around her middle, feeling second fiddle. She didn’t try to fix her
hair or cast her eyes down to the table.
One night really can
change everything.

“Hey, sis.” Kaylie wiggled into the seat
across from her, shaking her perfect, little C cups and surveying
the people in the next booth. She smiled when the man looked over.
Danica wondered if Kaylie noticed—or cared about—his wife’s sneer.
“Sorry I’m late.”

Right
. Danica wanted to be mad at her
for being late, but ever since her evening with Blake, and the good
morning kiss he’d planted on her lips, she’d been unable to harbor
anything but joy. “No worries. I knew you might be, so I ordered us
drinks. Iced teas.”

Kaylie’s eyes lit up; then she peeked into
the bright pink Victoria’s Secret bag. “So, what’s the dealio?”

Danica’s usual annoyance at how cute Kaylie
sounded when she used slang was gone. Her entire outlook had
changed overnight. She was happy for Kaylie’s silly, little
mannerisms. Maybe she’d been too judgmental of her sister all
along. Maybe her criticisms were there because she, herself, wasn’t
happy. Danica mulled over the truth of her thoughts. She had to
tell Kaylie about Blake. No, she wanted to tell her. She deserved
to know.
Ease into it
. Danica wasn’t sure if Kaylie would
hate her or cheer her on.

“I just thought we could catch up. I guess I
just miss seeing you.”
Are those bags under her eyes?
Kaylie
was acting like her peppy self, but her eyes were anything but
peppy. Danica wondered what was up.

Kaylie whipped a pink thong from her bag.
“Look what I got. Isn’t it cute?” She held it up between her index
fingers and thumb, her pinky stuck up like Vanna White presenting a
prize.

Kaylie pushed her hair behind her ear. A
wayward curl sprang free. Although Kaylie was acting like her
effervescent self, Danica saw fatigue in the lines around her
eyes.

“Are you all right, Kay? What’s been going on
the last few days? You look tired.”

“I’ve been tired.” She shrugged.

Not a surprise with your sex life
. The
waitress brought their drinks, and Danica tried to figure out how
she would tell Kaylie that she’d slept with Blake. Kaylie had
called dibs on him, but that thought had been nowhere near her mind
last night. She checked the time again. She had two hours before
meeting Blake, and she promised herself she’d tell Kaylie. Danica
had no desire to sneak around or pretend she wasn’t with him at the
wedding, but she didn’t relish telling Kaylie that she’d ignored
her dibs for the first time in her life.

“Kay, who are you chasing now? What happened
to that other guy?”
God, what is his name?
“Chaz?” It seems
like yesterday when they’d been behind the closed door of their
childhood bedroom, lying on the floor, head-to-head, Kaylie talking
about which base she let her latest boyfriend get to and Danica
trying to convince her that she shouldn’t be letting boys touch
her. My, how the tables had turned. Danica was the one ready to
kiss and tell.

“Chaz?” Kaylie swatted the air and feigned a
laugh. She looked away and swallowed hard.

Shit. Something’s off
.

“He was fun, but…” Kaylie took a big gulp of
her drink; then her eyes grew wide. “Oh! Iced tea! I thought you
meant the nonalcoholic iced tea.” She pushed it away.

“Not drinking?”

Kaylie shrugged. “Tired. Chaz wanted to get
serious, and, well—” She shrugged, scrunching her face in that
adorable way she had that made guys swoon and girls cringe.

“What’s wrong with that? Don’t you want a
steady boyfriend instead of running around all the time?”

“Yes. No. I’m not sure,” she said. Kaylie
pulled her foot up and put it underneath her other leg, laying her
hand across her stomach.

“I don’t get it. I mean, Chaz is drop-dead
gorgeous and he treats you well. Isn’t that what you said?” Kaylie
went through men like puppies went through shoes—fast and
furious—then tossed them away, damaged and heartbroken.

She twisted a curl around her finger. “Maybe
I want someone else.” She wrinkled her nose. “Blake, maybe.” When
she said it, it came out like a dream, silky and untouchable. “I
think he’s different. I think there’s more to him than just the
hunky man I want to pounce on.”

Danica’s stomach lurched.
Down girl. Put
your claws away
. “Wha—what makes you think that?”

“Well, for one thing, he didn’t go home with
me that night.”

Thank God for little favors
.

“Hard to get. I like that,” she said.

“What about asking if you could take a date
to the wedding? What was that all about?”
Careful. Don’t hurt
her
. “Kaylie, why do you always sabotage the good relationships
in your life?”

“Don’t get all therapisty with me, Danica.”
The spark in Kaylie’s eyes faded. “I was gonna take Chaz, but I
don’t know. I think I need some space. I’m not the commitment
type.”

“Only because you decided that you aren’t.
You’re beautiful, smart, and lovable. Why Blake? He’s not your
type.”
Anymore
.

“Maybe not, but at least I won’t end up like
Mom.”

“Kaylie, stop it. You aren’t Mom. Chaz isn’t
Dad.”
Blake is mine!
“Talk to me, Kaylie. What’s really
going on?”

With that, tears sprang from Kaylie’s eyes.
“Can we talk about something else, please?” Kaylie called over the
waitress and asked for ice water. She wiped the tears from her eyes
and changed the subject. “The wedding is tomorrow. You’re
ready?”

“Of course I’m ready. Aren’t you?”
What
the hell is going on?
Kaylie had been ready weeks ago.

Kaylie fiddled with her napkin. “My dress is
being let out. I have no idea why, but it’s a little tight.” She
looked at Danica with a feigned smile across her lips and her hand
across her stomach. “Gotta watch that or no one will want me.”

“You’re more than your looks, Kaylie. You
have a line of suitors that would wrap around this building twice.
What on earth is really going on with you?”