Reckless. Tori Carrington

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СКАЧАТЬ set up to look like a comfortable living room-library combination in a large, century-old house. Although the fireplace was empty of logs, the explosion of flowering plants in the hearth still made it the center of attention, and the overstuffed sofas and chairs invited road-weary shoppers to sit down for a moment and crack open one of the books in carefully arranged stacks on the nearby coffee and end tables.

      The utter quiet brought Heidi a brief sense of relief, a feeling of control that she liked. There were no customers to wait on, no bosses to answer to. Her time was her own.

      And she really should be getting home to catch up on her course work.

      She checked to make sure the back door was locked, then headed toward the front, clutching her purse to her side. She turned the key to let herself out, and nearly fell backward when someone appeared on the other side of the glass.

      It would have been bad enough had it been a stranger. What made it worse was that it was Kyle.

      HE’D FRIGHTENED her.

      Kyle held open the door, prepared to steady Heidi. He’d been hoping to catch her as she was leaving the store, but he hadn’t planned to scare her.

      “I’m sorry. I startled you.”

      “No, no. That’s okay,” she said quickly, her color high, her breathing uneven. She easily stepped out of touching range.

      Damn, but she looked good. Her hair was a dark cloud around her pretty face, her eyes but shadows in the dim light. It had only been a few hours since he’d last seen her, and she’d looked good then. But that had been in the plain light of day. Now that it was night…

      “What are you doing here, Kyle?”

      Now that was a question.

      “When you told me you’d consider my request, we didn’t name a time when you’d give me your answer.” Kyle’s gaze dropped to the pulse at the base of her slender throat. “Since Jesse’s birthday’s in less than two weeks…I figured that if you don’t want to help, I need to know now.”

      Her frown made her prettier, if that were possible. She looked around the parking lot, where few cars remained. He hadn’t parked there.

      He didn’t think it was a good idea for them to be seen spending time together without a valid reason.

      “I’m around back,” he said.

      She looked at him.

      “So have you thought about it?”

      “Yes.” She dropped her gaze.

      “And?”

      “And I’m not sure if it’s such a good idea.”

      “The party?”

      “Our working together to arrange it.”

      Kyle raised his brows.

      Okay, he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t picked up on the spark of attraction that had ignited between them, turning what had been his one-sided lusting into a reciprocal need.

      Probably it wasn’t a good idea to encourage that, considering she was his best friend’s girl. But he’d been mentally planning Jesse’s twenty-fifth birthday party for months now. And he was determined to make it a reality.

      “We’re adults, aren’t we?” he asked.

      “What?”

      “We’re both capable of putting aside personal differences so that we can work together.”

      She gestured with her hand. “Sure.”

      She didn’t look too sure.

      Causing Kyle to look more closely at her.

      Footsteps sounded on the sidewalk and then the jingling of keys. “Good night, Heidi,” a middle-aged man from the next-door business called as he locked up.

      “Yes…good night, Mr. Bannon. See you tomorrow morning.”

      Bannon glanced at Kyle and nodded once.

      He returned the gesture. Even though he’d been in Fantasy for a relatively short time, he still hadn’t gotten used to how small a town it was. Everybody seemed to know everybody else’s business.

      “Um, I think we should go inside,” Heidi whispered, although there was no longer anyone around to hear her.

      Kyle didn’t argue as she opened the door and ducked inside. He followed, waiting for her to lock the doors before leading the way through the bookstore, then the music center until finally they were in the café where she worked.

      She stopped in the middle of the room, the display case backlighting her sexy form. She appeared about ready to jump out of her skin as she took in the large window overlooking the walk and the parking lot beyond.

      “The kitchen.” She gestured over her shoulder. “I think it’s better if we go in there.”

      Moments later, Kyle stood across a large, stainless steel island from Heidi, wondering why she was acting as if he posed some sort of threat to her. He didn’t look threatening, did he? He slid his hands in his pockets and grimaced. “This is where you work then? In the kitchen?”

      Stupid question. He knew she was a certified chef. That she had a busy catering business and that as soon as she obtained her MBA she planned to apply for a loan to expand the company to include employees and her own store front.

      “Yes,” she said simply.

      The place was quieter than he’d expected. Not that he’d thought about it much, but it struck him as odd that beyond the hum of the refrigerator, there was no other sound.

      “So…” they said at the same time.

      A smile.

      Kyle chuckled.

      “This is awkward, isn’t it?” Heidi crossed her arms under her breasts, drawing his attention to the soft mounds under her clingy black T-shirt. Was it him, or had she just shivered?

      She followed his gaze and immediately uncrossed her arms.

      “I guess we should start with the basics,” she said. She felt around her hips as if looking for something. “I’m not wearing my apron.” It was hanging near the door and she went over and took out a hand-sized spiral notepad from the pocket. She opened it, put it down on the counter and clicked her pen.

      Kyle realized she’d spoken but he hadn’t heard what she’d said. “Pardon me?”

      “What have you done so far?” she repeated. “Have you decided on a venue? Your house? Or maybe his parents’ place?”

      “I was hoping you could help me with that.”

      She wrote something down. “Guests? Who do you want to invite?”

      An hour СКАЧАТЬ