Sisters in Love (Snow Sisters, Book One: Love in Bloom Series #1) (24 page)

Kaylie didn’t answer.

Danica’s phone buzzed with a text. She read
the message from Blake:
Miss you. Can’t wait to kiss you
.
She turned off the phone and tucked it into her purse, her heart
thundering in anticipation.

“I don’t know. I’ve just been so emotional
lately. Hormones or some shit, I guess.”

Danica took a gulp of her iced tea. She had
to tell her. She couldn’t let the charade go on much longer.

“After the wedding, you know how Camille said
we could change into something more comfortable than those awful
bridesmaid gowns?” Kaylie pushed her hair behind her ear.

“Yeah.”

“I’m wearing that little black number I
bought the other week, the thong,” she lifted her eyebrows, “and…I
wanted to borrow those slinky, black, stiletto boots you have.”

My fuck-me heels?
She’d been wearing
them the night she ran into Blake at the bar. The night that Kaylie
and Danica had first been introduced to him. The night Kaylie had
turned to Danica and said, “Dibs.” Guilt thickened around Danica’s
chest.
No,
Danica though.
I’m not going to feel guilty
about being happy.

Kaylie grabbed Danica’s hand across the
table. “Pretty please? I’ll be really careful with them.”

Danica couldn’t deny her. Kaylie was still
her younger sister, and she knew Blake would never betray her, so
why not? Her lips lifted into a smile as she soaked in that
thought: Blake would never betray her. “Okay, but be careful. If
one little—”

Kaylie half stood and pulled Danica across
the table into a tight hug. “Oh, thank you! Thank you! I’m sure to
get noticed now! I’ll come by around six thirty.”

Shit
.

“Why don’t we tell her together?” Blake lay
on Danica’s bed, leaning against the pillow, the lower half of his
body still wrapped in her comforter.

Danica sat on the edge of the bed, pulling on
her jeans. “You can’t be here when she gets here. That would be too
awkward, and there’s no way I’d ever make a scene at the wedding.”
She slipped her T-shirt over her head and turned to face him,
desperately wanting to melt right back into his arms. “Besides,
she’s my sister. I have to tell her in the right way.”

“I’ll do it,” he said in a cocky voice. “How
hard can it be?”

“She bought a pink thong for you.” Danica
smirked.

“Really? And why do I want to turn her away
again?”

She threw a pillow at him and he caught it
midair, then sprang up and tackled her on the bed, kissing her neck
and pawing at her breasts. She playfully pounded on his back.

“You’re such an ass,” Danica kidded. In the
past, she never would have gone anywhere near a man that Kaylie had
called dibs on. Her insecurities would have run wild:
Is she
prettier than me? Would you ever leave me for her? Are you trying
to get to her through me? I’m not as fun as she is.
With Blake,
those questions came nowhere near her lips.

He laid the full weight of his chest on
Danica, looking seriously, sensuously, into her eyes. If Danica
were a hopeless romantic, she might liken the way he stared right
into her soul to love, but she knew better. Great sex and an
insatiable desire to be together for twenty-four hours did not
equate to love.
Did it?

He kissed her head and whispered, “I started
writing that list you asked me to.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. So far, what I like about myself is
you.” He kissed her cheek. “You’ll tire of this, you know,” he
said.

“Never.”

“Sneaking around. Hidden texts. That’s not
who you are, and honestly, that’s not who I am anymore, either.” He
sat up. “Just tell her.”

Danica turned away so he wouldn’t see her
blush. She’d never been the one sneaking around before, and she had
to admit that it did heighten the intrigue. The clock read 6:15.
“Shit. You gotta go.” She pushed him off of the bed and jumped to
her feet. Danica grabbed his jeans from the floor and tossed them
to him. “Here. Put these on. She’ll be here in fifteen minutes, and
you can’t be here.”

“Okay, okay. Sheesh. Use me and toss me
away.” He stuck out his lower lip in a supreme pout.

“Shut up,” she said with a grin. “Just hurry
up. The last thing we need is to have a big blowup tonight.”
Or
end up back in bed before she gets here.
“I’ll tell her when
you’re not here.”

He cocked his head and furrowed his dark
eyebrows.

“I promise, okay?”

Blake wrapped her in his arms and kissed her
hungrily. Danica’s mind headed for the clouds. She no longer felt
like Danica, Proper Therapist, but rather like a happier version of
herself. Danica, Lovesick Woman
and
Therapist. She
would
tell Kaylie. There was no way she would mess up their
relationship, or whatever it was.

When he finally released her, she was
breathless and full of desire.

“Can I come back after she leaves, or do you
have a hot date?” he asked.

A knock at the front door pulled Danica from
her musing over the possibilities of what later might hold.

“Shit. She’s early.” She frantically gathered
his shoes and socks and shoved them in his hands. “Take these. Go
out the back. Please.”

Blake sat on the bed, calm as a lily soaking
up sun, a wide grin spread across his stubble-ridden cheeks. “This
could be interesting.”

“You wish.” She grabbed his arm and yanked
him to his feet. He came up slowly to his full height, his chest a
millimeter from her face. He placed his hands on either side of her
face and kissed her again—hard. Then, he planted gentle kisses on
her cheeks, forehead, and neck. Danica closed her eyes, taking in
the scent of him and the feel of his palms on her face, and
relishing in the warmth that spread through her body.

“I’ll be back,” he whispered.

She snagged a piece of licorice from the
bedside table and gnawed on it while watching him walk out onto the
balcony. He blew her a kiss and then disappeared down the back
steps.
Living in a town house has its advantages
.

“Danica!” Kaylie pounded on the front
door.

Having a sister has its
disadvantages
.

Danica pulled the door open, and Kaylie
breezed by in a skintight, black dress that hugged her curves from
the spaghetti straps on her narrow shoulders to the lacy hem that
landed mid-thigh.

“What the hell, Dan? I was freezing out
there.” She crossed her arms, fuming at Danica. Her mask of anger
fell away and her eyes grew big.

Danica felt her chest and neck flush with
heat.

“Oh. My. God,” she said, her arms falling to
her sides. “Licorice?” She headed for the stairs.

“Wait, Kaylie!” Danica took the stairs two at
a time behind her as Kaylie sprinted toward her bedroom.

“Hello?” Kaylie called out in a singsong
voice.

Danica caught up to her at her bedroom door,
which she had thankfully closed.

Kaylie mouthed, “Who’s in there?” and pointed
to the door.

“No one.” Danica pushed the last bit of
licorice into her mouth, chewing too fast to savor the cherry
flavor.

“Uh-huh. You only eat licorice after sex.
What did you used to call it? The perfect little after-party for
your mouth?”

They both laughed. Danica hadn’t called it
that since she was in college, though she still believed it to be
true. Kaylie pushed open the door and they both stood there,
waiting for someone to appear. Kaylie stared with wonder as the
door moved in slow motion to expose an unmade bed and Danica’s bra
on the floor. Danica closed her eyes and held her breath.

Kaylie walked into the bedroom. “Well, well,
well, which of the three bears was in here?” She spun around to
face Danica with a snicker on her lips.

“No one. It’s the middle of the afternoon.”
Danica pulled at her sheets, nervously making the bed. “I just
didn’t have time to clean up before you came over.”

“You can’t fool me, sis. I see it in that
hazy look in your eyes. Shit, I can smell sex in this room. Open a
window, for God’s sake.”

Danica’s jaw dropped open.

Kaylie’s finger wagged in her face. “Aha! Got
ya!” Kaylie roared with laughter. “Who was it? Jonathan? Or, that
really hot bartender? Or…”

Danica bit her lower lip and counted to
three, mustering the courage to face her sister—and her confession.
She gently touched Kaylie’s forearm. “Kaylie,” she said.

Kaylie silenced and stared at her
expectantly.

Silent seconds stretched between them. Danica
was about to break her sister’s heart and maybe her trust. Damn,
was she? What right did Kaylie have to place dibs on a man, anyway?
She could have any guy she wanted. She’d be over Blake in a
heartbeat.

“What?” Kaylie looked at the clock and headed
for Danica’s closet. “Oh shit, forget it. I gotta get ready for my
gig tonight. Where are those boots?” She crossed the bedroom,
passing the armchair with the olive-green throw tossed over the
back, passing the stack of books on the floor, and their
grandmother’s wooden wall mirror.

Danica gathered courage with every step her
sister took. She watched Kaylie bend down to pick up the boots from
the closet floor, her thong outlined by the slinky dress. She had
to tell her. She couldn’t take another minute of knowing her sister
wanted her man, and more importantly, she couldn’t watch Kaylie
throw away someone who loved her for someone she’d never have.

“I’m sleeping with Blake.” The words spilled
from Danica’s mouth.

Kaylie remained in that bent-over position as
if she hadn’t heard her. Her fingers hovered over the heels she’d
been searching for.

“Kay?” Danica waited for her to throw herself
at her, yell at her about how she had
dibs
or some other
utterly ridiculous claim she assumed was viable. Kaylie didn’t
move. “Kaylie, I’m sorry. I didn’t plan it. In fact, I tried not to
let it happen.”
Okay, maybe that wasn’t exactly true, but I
thought about not letting it happen
.

She watched Kaylie’s shoulders sag. Danica
imagined her closing her eyes, willing away the tears, and it broke
her heart. Why did her happiness have to be with someone Kaylie had
set her sights on?

Kaylie turned around slowly, leaving the
heels on the closet floor. “You slept with Blake?” There was no
hurt in her eyes, no cold, hard stare, only the question that came
softly from her lips.

“Mm-hmm.”
Shit
.

“You and Blake?” She walked toward Danica.
“Sexy, dark-haired, muscular, turned-me-down Blake?” She raised her
eyebrows, planting herself inches from Danica.

Danica took a step backward. Kaylie was
typically upbeat or angry—but never dead calm. Dead calm rattled
Danica’s nerves. She grasped at finding the right words. “He…we…it
just happ—”

“Just happened. I get it.” Kaylie walked
around Danica and sat on the edge of the bed. “Well, things
happen.”

Who are you?
“Kaylie? Aren’t you mad
at me?”

Kaylie shook her head.

“Thank God.” She sat next to her sister.
“Because I think I’m really falling for him.”

Kaylie turned a thin smile toward her sister.
“I’m happy for you.”

“Then why are you acting like you're
catatonic?”

Tears slipped down Kaylie’s cheeks. “Because
I’m pregnant.”

Danica’s jaw dropped. “Pregnant?”

Kaylie nodded.

“But how? Who? Yesterday you were saying that
you wanted to hook up with Blake.”
What the hell?

“It’s Chaz’s.” Kaylie stood and paced. “I’m
scared, Danica. I don’t know what to do. I have been trying to
ignore it—hoping it would go away.”

“Oh, Kay.” Danica went to her and hugged her
close. Feeling her sister’s sobs against her shoulder brought tears
to her eyes. “What are you gonna do?”

Kaylie pushed away and shook her head. “I
keep telling myself I need to abort the baby. I can’t be a mom. I
can’t
be
Mom.”

Danica’s therapist senses went into
overdrive. As she felt that familiar rush of adrenaline, she
realized that very soon she’d no longer be playing the role of
therapist, and that thought comforted her. “Can’t be a mother, or
can’t be
our
mother?”

Kaylie sat back down on the bed, covering her
face with her hands. “I don’t know. I’m scared to death. What if
Chaz leaves me like Dad left Mom?”

Damn it, Dad!
“Okay, let’s take this
apart and figure it out. Do you love him?”

“I do. I really do. I’m just scared to
death.”

“Okay, that’s good.” She patted Kaylie’s leg.
“Wait. Does he know?”

Kaylie nodded. “He asked me to marry
him.”

“Kaylie, I want you to really think about
this, because this is not some game. This is not a decision to take
lightly. Whatever you do will impact far too many people to make
the wrong choice.” Danica breathed in deeply and let it out fast.
“Do you love him enough to be with only him…forever?”

“I didn’t think I could. That’s why I was
thinking about seducing Blake. If I’m gonna blow it, might as well
blow it with the hottest guy around.”

Danica cringed.

“But I realized, as I was getting dressed
today and thinking about singing tonight, that—oh yeah, did I tell
you Chaz and I are fighting? He won’t be at my gig tonight. He
wants to get married, but I told him I had to think about it.
Anyway, I realized that I don’t want to do the gig if he’s not
there. I don’t want to go to bars and pick up guys, but I’m not
sure I can be loyal. What if I’m like Dad? What if that’s why I’ve
been…like I’ve been for so long?”

Danica had to be careful. She knew Kaylie was
vulnerable enough to follow any direction that Danica pointed her
in. Instead, she’d give her the facts and let her sister make the
most important, and probably the most painful, decision of her
life.