Temptation Ridge

“Vanni, I barely know Luke Riordan, but it’s real clear he’s not my knight in shining armor. He’s done everything he can think of to discourage me, but let’s be honest—this was no frontal attack from him. He admitted he’s avoided me because of my age. The coward.”

Vanni laughed at her.

“When you get down to it, my first choice was a completely different kind of man. Closer to my age, less seasoned, someone who doesn’t come right out and promise to ravage you—”

Vanni sat up straight, eyes very large. “He said that?”

“Not in so many words, but I got the message.” A wonderful shiver passed through her. “Besides, even if I found myself attracted to a younger man, he’d still be more experienced than me, he might even be divorced with kids. There are a couple of things I know about Luke, though. He might be a little on the rugged side, but he’s actually very tender. Gentle. Patient.” Her eyes glistened when she looked at her cousin. “He kissed me,” she whispered secretively. “I’ve never been kissed like that. It was unbelievable.”

“Whew. Really?”

Shelby nodded. “You just can’t imagine how good he is at it. Shew. But don’t worry—I told him I wasn’t taking my clothes off. I wanted to, though. Boy, did I.”

“Shelby!” Vanni said, stunned.

“Well, I did, but the porch at Jack’s bar didn’t seem the place. Plus, it’s pretty cold. I mean, I wasn’t cold—Luke was wrapped around me like a straitjacket.”

Vanni giggled in spite of herself.

“And he likes me. He hates that he likes me—Uncle Walt has him scared to death. And you know what? I love that in spite of that he can’t resist. Do you have any idea what that means to someone like me?”

Vanni was quiet for a long moment. Finally, she said, “What can I do?”

“Let’s have that talk. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about this. About where it’s going, which I think I’m pretty clear about. Can you do that without telling Paul all my personal business?”

“Sure,” Vanni said with a smile. “Men don’t care about these things anyway. Where should we start?”