For the Love of Sin

She gave him a wry smile. “Last one.”

Troy nodded. “You want me to light the candle for you?”

She sighed. “No.”

Her eyelids fluttered downward, and an insane idea struck him. He went with it even though he questioned the wisdom of it. “Well, you should do something special since it’s your last one for a week.”

She glanced up. “Think so?”

“Yeah.” He picked up the last chocolate. “You should let me feed it to you.”

Senada shook her head and shot him a skeptical glance. “Oh no.”

“Yeah, you should. It’ll be memorable.”

“No.” She reached for the chocolate, but he moved his hand.

“Yeah.”

“No,” she said more forcefully, reaching again.

Troy zigged. She zagged. And the truffle was smushed.

She looked at him in disgust. “You smashed my truffle.”

“Sorry about that.”

“You ate my cupcake.”

He nodded. “You want another one?”

“No, I want that one. That truffle.”

He lifted his fingers to her mouth. “Then take it.”

“I should get a knife,” she said, frowning at him.

“I don’t think I trust you with a knife,” he said, wary of the gleam in her gaze.

Senada rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’m not wasting that truffle.” She pulled his hand closer and looked at him again. “I hope you’re enjoying this.” Then she took her first lick.

Troy felt the sensation of her kitten-soft tongue in every erogenous zone of his body. It was a bizarre form of torture, watching Senada Calhoun lick chocolate from his fingers.

He never would have suspected his fingers were sensitive. He never would have suspected he could become completely and totally aroused by such a simple action of a woman’s mouth on his finger. Especially when that woman didn’t even like him. But her spicy scent combined with the bittersweet smell of chocolate and liquor made him take short, shallow breaths because he feared intoxication.

Her single-minded attention and overtly expressed pleasure made him sweat. Her exotic eyes were hooded as if she were overcome with desire. Her full lips pouted as if she’d been kissed and wanted more. When her tongue skimmed the inside of his middle finger, it was all he could do not to groan.

Still holding his hand, she gave him a considering glance. “You know, if I bit, it would really hurt.”

He met her gaze and tried to hide his arousal. “Maybe,” he conceded, not bothering to keep the dare from his voice.

She gave a double take and looked at him again. This time, Troy knew she was considering him sexually. Her dark eyelashes swept down, shielding her eyes the same way a filmy nightgown shielded a woman’s body. A gentle tease. He wondered if she knew how that affected a man. How it affected him.

She gently put his hand away from her. “That was a delicious truffle, even though you smashed it. Maybe even better than the cupcake,” she said with a slight, smoky smile. “And it was certainly memorable. Thank you for the chocolates.”

Standing, she gave a little shrug. “Guess you’d better head back to your hotel. You’ll want an early check-out so you can get back to Tennessee.”

Troy shook his head. He was going to kill his brothers for this detail. K-i-l-l them. He willed his body to forget what it was hoping for, then he stood. “As a matter of fact, I’ve already checked out of the hotel.”

Senada’s face lit up with delight. “Well, be sure to tell Lisa I said hello. I’ll give her a call sometime. I promise. I just have to settle some things here first and—”

“What kind of things?” he interjected, allowing her to lead him to the door.

She gave a vague gesture with her hand. “Oh, things.” She opened the door.

Troy slipped his arm around her waist and pointed to his new domicile. “You see that house down there.”

She glanced at him with furrowed eyebrows. “Yes.”

“You see the garage apartment?”

Her eyes glinted with suspicion. “Yes.”

“If you need anything, day or night,” he told her, “I’ll be there.” He thought about kissing her, but based on her hostile expression, he thought she really might bite him this time. “Anytime, Sin. Night or day.”

Chapter Three

Senada’s dietician got a kick out of the chocolate cupcake story. In retrospect, Senada even found it amusing.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you laugh since you’ve been here,” Helen Waverly said.

“Maybe Troy Pendleton isn’t all bad.”

“Maybe not,” she murmured. “But he’s bad enough.” Her feelings about Troy were constantly changing. When he informed her that he lived two doors down from her, she could have cheerfully dumped another pitcher of beer on him. When he helped her with her neighbor, she’d almost liked him. And when he fed her the chocolate truffle, she’d felt a surprising shot of sexual attraction. Very surprising. Since her diagnosis she’d felt frozen, at least as far as her femininity was concerned.

Now she didn’t. Senada wasn’t sure she liked the source of the change.

“Have you called your father yet?” Helen asked.

“Not yet. I’m still trying to decide how to do it.”

Helen arched her eyebrow at the excuse but let it pass. “And have you thought about attending a meeting of the local support group?”

Senada shifted. “I’m thinking about that too.”

“You can’t stay in a holding pattern forever,” she said gently.

Senada nodded. “I know.” She deliberately changed the subject. “But about those chocolates?”