Her Sister's Fiancé

Or maybe he’d just never really looked at her that closely because he’d never thought of her as anything but his fiancée’s little sister. Until she’d kissed him that day, and then he’d simply tried not to think of her at all. Guilt had left him all but blind. He wouldn’t even look at her, but now….

She looked different.

She looked…really good.

God, help him, he was headed straight for ruin again.

She was Kate only minus three years and a wealth of knowledge of how the world worked. Kate minus all the determination and drive and seriousness. Kathie was more carefree, a kinder, gentler, happier version of her sister, and he hated the whole idea of comparing the two of them. It brought to mind what a vile thing he’d done, being engaged to the one and kissing the other.

But as she stood before him that day, he couldn’t help but think she was different in ways he didn’t want to examine.

And that he was once again on the edge of sheer ruin because of the odd things he felt for her.

Kathie walked right up to him, stopping only a breath away.

Uh-oh.

Joe braced himself as best he could for what might come next.

Just how friendly were they going to pretend to be?

She put one hand against his chest, another on his shoulder, stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. While she was that close, she whispered in his ear, “You look like you’re afraid I’m going to pull out a gun and rob the place, Joe.”

Which was probably true.

He forced himself to try to relax, to let his hands rest lightly on her shoulders and smile as he brushed his lips against the side of her cheek, something he’d probably done a thousand times when he’d been engaged to her sister and never had so much as a remotely sexual thought.

Nothing but a friendly hello once again.

He could do this.

Except they were trying to look like more than friends, and she’d lingered too close, as did he, for a moment too long.

It only took a moment with her, her hand pressed against his chest, right over his heart, his face against hers, lips lingering beside the soft skin of her cheek, then his nose caught in the vicinity of her right ear, in the edges of her hair, taking in the smell of her.

He remembered this smell, so delicate, barely there. A man had to get this close to smell it.

Maybe it was the scent of her that did it, that went in through his nose and made a beeline to some part of his brain that just…couldn’t take it, had no defenses against that sweet, intoxicating smell.