Page 49 of Sweet Temptation

Amy smirked as she pushed off the wall. Before she left, she lifted two fingers, gesturing to her eyes, then to John, her meaning clear—she was watching him. When she’d gone, John exhaled a breath.

“She’s kind of scary.” He frowned. “I shouldn’t say that about your sister.”

“I take it as a compliment!” Amy popped back around the corner, making them both jolt. “Boo!”

“Amy!” Meg made a shooing gesture at her youngest sister, who grinned but thumped her way back to the kitchen. Meg turned her attention back to John. “What are you doing here?”

“I don’t like how we left things.” He shifted toward her, then thought twice, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Look... I just want you to understand that I have to go finish out this contract. I signed it. They’re counting on me.”

“I understand. Of course, I do.” Meg’s voice was hoarse. “It just... This whole situation sucks. It sucks.”

“I’m not saying this right.” He ran a finger over his head. “I have to finish this contract. But then...then I’m going to come back.”

“What?” She strode three steps forward before consciously deciding to. “I don’t understand.”

“I’ve been working my entire life to give myself the security I didn’t have as a kid.” He rocked back on his heels. “Today, Theo pointed out that I have that security now. I can do what I want.”

“Oh.” She was afraid to breathe, afraid that suddenly he’d take back these words that were lifting her like a magic carpet. “And...what do you want to do?”

“I’m not sure yet.” He paused thoughtfully. “I could continue at Crossing Lines probably. Go work with Lhane. Start my own charity. I don’t really know.”

Her spirits, so recently lifted, started to deflate yet again. He was only talking about his work opportunities—nothing about her. About them.

“Hey.” He closed the space between them, placing a single finger beneath her chin to lift her head. “I’m going to be gone for three months. I can’t ask you to wait for me, but I... I just wanted you to know.”

“Ask me anyway.” These emotional ups and downs were making her dizzy. “Ask me to wait.”

“Will you wait for me?” She could barely hear him, he spoke so softly. “I have no right to ask that, but I will.”

“You idiot.” She lunged at him. He laughed as she monkeyed her way up his body until her arms were around his shoulders and her legs around his waist.

“Three months is nothing. Of course I’ll wait.”

EPILOGUE

Three and a half months later

“DO I WANT to eat something that combines coffee and rutabagas?” Jo eyed the platter of appetizers that Meg shoved across the island in her rented kitchen. “You usually make soup or pasta.”

“The whole point of this dinner is for you guys to test my menu for the celebrity party,” she reminded her sister before retrieving another platter from the counter. “Now, eat this charcoal-sesame bread, plebeian.”

“I’m not eating black bread,” her sister informed her. “That’s just weird.”

“I ate black cheese last week,” Amy informed them as she strolled over to the island. “It was delicious.”

“And that’s why you’re my favorite sister.” Meg winked at Amy as Jo snorted with indignation. “But I’ll keep you, too, Jo, even if you’re a peasant.”

“Gee, thanks.” Jo eyed the jet-black bread before tentatively nibbling off a corner. “Should I attribute your generosity to the fact that John will be back soon and you’ll finally get laid?”

“Do you know what day he’s getting in yet?” Amy plucked the bun from Jo’s hand and stuffed it in her mouth, mumbling around it, “This is really good.”

“Sometime in the next two weeks.” Meg couldn’t stop the bolt of nerves that shot through her at the question. “He couldn’t pinpoint the exact date.”

Theo’s snort sounded from across the kitchen. Meg looked at Jo in time to see her shaking her head at him.

“What?” She narrowed her eyes at Theo.

“I’m gone for over three months, and not a thing has changed.” A male voice spoke behind her, a voice she’d only heard over the phone for the last few months, unless she counted hearing it in the dirty dreams from which she woke up empty and aching.

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