Page 13 of The Trouble with Sexy (Rock Canyon, Idaho 0.50)

Gemma smiled at Ryan and said, “What Gracie’s trying to say is she’s a little boy crazy. She tends to break nice guys’ hearts to the point that all women become the evil enemy.”

Gracie glared at her. “Hey, I just haven’t found the one yet, okay? And it’s not like I sleep with all of them.”

Ryan grinned at Gemma and asked, “Have you ever seen Oklahoma?”

Gemma grinned back at Ryan, her eyes twinkling. “Yeah I’ve seen it.”

“What are you two babbling about?” Gracie glared between them, and both women burst out laughing.

Ryan tried to stop laughing and said, “You just remind me of Ado Annie.”

Gemma waited for Gracie to scowl or get angry, but was startled instead when Gracie started singing, “‘I only did the kind of things I orta, sorta . . .’”

Startled patrons and employees turned to stare at them, and the three of them burst into fresh peals of laughter.

RYAN LOCKED UP the studio and looked at the surrounding shops, scrunching her nose at the red hearts and cupids that decorated the store windows. She really didn’t think Valentine’s Day was a big deal. She’d never had a boyfriend on the actual day, unless you counted Troy Grover when she was in fifth grade and he gave her a Power Ranger’s Valentine. Most of the time it was everything that happened before Valentine’s Day that made her despise the overwhelming pressure the world of marketing drummed into her brain through every avenue of communication and visual stimulation. Watching all of the happy couples making gooey eyes at each other and the men rushing around to buy cards and bouquets last minute just added to the problem, and made her shake her head in disgust.

She reached her car and started to open the door. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she jumped a foot in the air and turned to find Gregg smiling apologetically. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

She shook her head. “It’s okay, I just didn’t hear you.”

“Well I just wanted to catch you and see if maybe you’d like to have dinner tonight?”

Her face broke into a relieved smile. “I was afraid you were mad at me.”

He shook his head. “No, I understand why you didn’t want to leave with me last night. I meant to call you earlier but got caught up with Sally Barrett wanting me to drive around with her and take pictures of some of her property listings. I’m okay with taking things slow.” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “So what do you think?”

“I’d love to go to dinner with you.”

His face split into a gorgeous smile and he smoothed his thumb across her cheek. “I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty?”

Her heart hammered at his touch. “Sure. That works.”

His hand dropped slowly and his eyes held the same heat they had the night before.

“All right, I’ll see you then.”

Ryan watched him walk toward the Tahoe and couldn’t stop the tingles radiating across her cheek from where his thumb had been.

GREGG KNOCKED ON her door at 7:27, a dozen red roses that Nancy at Hall’s Market had wrapped up for him in his hand. He was dressed in a blue-collared shirt, khakis, and brown dress shoes. His jacket was brown corduroy with a thick, warm lining and he’d already messed up his hair by running his fingers through it nervously.

Ryan opened the door and Gregg sucked in his breath. The light from the living room illuminated her from behind, making her mane of red hair darker and her smile brighter. She wore a soft-looking cream sweater that fell off one shoulder, revealing rich pale skin down to the soft rise of one breast. A wide black belt was attached to her sweater, accenting the indent of her waist and the flare of her hips. Her legs were encased in tight boot-cut jeans, and short black boots gave her an extra two inches in height.

“Hey Gregg.” Her voice was soft, and he felt a stirring below the belt when her little pink tongue reached out to smooth over her lip nervously. “Are those for me?”

Gregg tried to yank his eyes away from her exposed flesh and cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

He held them out to her and she took them with a smile. “Do you want to come in while I find a vase for these?”

“Sure.” Gregg stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind him, his eyes on the sway of her hips as he followed her into the kitchen. There was something different about the way she was moving. She seemed taller, and her shoulders weren’t rounded forward. Usually she walked with her eyes downcast and moved in a quick, no nonsense fashion. Tonight she glided across the floor to the kitchen like it was made of ice.

When she bent down to pull a vase from the bottom cupboard, he gripped the counter behind him to keep from gripping her butt. The way the sweet round flesh bobbed up and down as she searched made his mouth go dry.

“Here we go.” She stood up with a tall glass vase in her hands and went about cutting the stems and filling it with water. “So where are we going tonight?”

He cleared his throat again. “I was thinking Carolina’s, if you’re in the mood for Mexican.”

She shrugged, bringing all that creamy flesh higher. “Sure, that’s fine with me.” She finished arranging the flowers and with another wide smile said, “Just let me get my jacket.” She picked up the black trench coat and turned. “You ready?”

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