Welcome to Temptation Read online

  “We should go upstairs,” she said breathlessly, as he buried his face in her neck, making the nerve there go wild.

  “Here,” he said, and she felt his hand slide down her stomach to her zipper. “Right here, against the table, I’m going to fuck your brains out.”

  She shivered and said, “Don’t talk dirty,” and he laughed low and said, “I could feel you get hotter when I said it. You are so bent, Sophie.”

  He slid down her zipper and she said, “No, I am not,” and tilted her hips into his hand, and then as his fingers went into her shorts and between her thighs, she put her hands on the table and pushed back against him, taking the sharp intake of his breath for the tribute that it was.

  Then she lifted her head to tell him how good he felt and looked through the screen door into Stephen Garvey’s eyes.

  “No!” she said, and tried to get away from Phin, but he said, “Yes,” into her neck and pushed back, sliding his fingers lower, and when she twisted to get away, he held her tighter which would have been erotic as hell if Stephen hadn’t just put ice water in her veins. “Stephen!” she said, and Phin said, “What?” and stopped long enough for Sophie to gasp, “Back door,” as she tried to turn away and pull her blouse back together.

  Through it all, Stephen stood there with his mouth open.

  Phin didn’t let go, although he did take his hand out of her shorts and swing them both around so she was shielded behind him. “Stephen, we’re busy here,” he said over his shoulder. “What the hell do you want?”

  Stephen straightened, still looking confused. “I came to see Rachel, and I certainly didn’t expect—”

  “Well, we didn’t expect you, either,” Phin said. Sophie tried to move away again, and he tightened his grip on her. “Rachel’s not here. Go away.”

  “I was wrong. This is exactly what I would have expected from you,” Stephen said, and left.

  “I think that was an insult.” Phin slid his hand into her shorts again. “Although this is what I would have expected from me, too.”

  “Oh, no,” Sophie said, and twisted away, and Phin said, “Oh, yes,” and caught her again.

  “Trust me, Stephen just killed any interest I have in discovery fantasies,” Sophie said. “There’s a shower upstairs. With a showerhead that Amy says is illegal in most Southern states.” Phin stopped fighting her and she pulled him toward the stairs. “Imagine the possibilities.”

  “I want you to know,” he said as he followed her, “that once I get laid, I’ll be back in control here.”

  “Think so?” Sophie turned and kissed him, licking into his mouth and making him shudder under her hands.

  “For at least fifteen minutes,” he said against her mouth. “Then I’ll need to fuck you again.”

  She shivered, and he laughed and said, “You are so easy.”

  “So are you,” she said, and he said, “And there’s our problem right there. We’re both crazed until this wears off.”

  Sophie straightened. “ ‘Wears off’?”

  “This stuff never lasts.” Phin pushed her toward the stairs. “We’ll be sane again someday, so let’s enjoy it while we’ve got it.”

  “Been here before, have you?” Sophie said, feeling cranky because she hadn’t.

  “Actually, no,” Phin said. “Not like this. Get a move on, will you?”

  “You have to say that,” Sophie said, starting up the stairs. “ ‘No, Sophie, nobody else has ever been like you.’ ” She picked up speed because she was mad and because she still wanted him, and he hooked his fingers in the back of her shorts and pulled her down a step against him.

  “Not like you,” he said in her ear. “Which is why you scare me. But I keep coming after you anyway.”

  She leaned back against him and said, “I would like to be memorable, if that’s possible.”

  “Try ‘unforgettable,’ ” Phin said. “And no, I did not have to say that. Now, can I please have you?”

  “Yes,” Sophie said. “You can have anything you want.”

  Two hours later, Phin kissed Sophie good-bye in front of Amy, who was frowning at the kitchen wall, newly papered in apples.

  “I’ve got to go,” he told Sophie. “I’m late to meet another woman.”

  “That’s a joke, right?” she said, and he said, “Nope.”

  “ ‘You men are all alike,’ ” she told him, deciding to believe it was a joke. “ ‘Seven or eight quick ones and you’re off with the boys.’ ”

  “What are you talking about?” he said, and Amy said, “Movie quote. You must know that one.”

  “I don’t watch movies,” Phin said. “I’m an intellectual.” He kissed Sophie again and said, “Calm down. Stop quoting.” Then he left before she could think of something cutting to say, like, You remind me of your mother.

  “So exactly what were you doing in the bathroom?” Amy said.

  “Exactly what you thought we were doing,” Sophie said, still trying to assure herself the other woman was a joke. “Remind me to thank Wes for that showerhead. Oh, and Phin swears the mildew on the shower curtain was watching us and we should get a new one.”

  “Did you mention his mother had tried to run you out of town?”

  “No.” Sophie sat down at the table and opened her PowerBook again. “Although she’ll no doubt be buying a bigger rail to do it on tomorrow. Stephen Garvey caught us in the kitchen.”

  “How bad?” Amy said.

  “Oh, bad,” Sophie said, and then smiled in spite of herself. “And really, really good.”

  “Sophie, you’re not getting serious about the mayor, are you?” Amy said. “Because that would be bad. He’s not going to love you the way you deserve—”

  “Nope,” Sophie said, but she felt a chill even as she said it. “Not serious at all. I have it on good authority that this will wear off.”

  “Okay,” Amy said. “Uh, well, then. In other news ...”

  Sophie tensed. “What?”

  “We’re getting some company tomorrow,” Amy said. “Zane appears to have lit a fire under Clea and she called L.A. and that Leo guy is coming out here to see what we’re doing.”

  “Leo Kingsley,” Sophie said, her instincts breaking through her satisfaction. That was the problem with great sex. It dulled your survival tools. “Davy’s old boss, the producer.”

  “Right.”

  Sophie considered it. “I don’t see how this could be trouble.” But it will be.

  “I don’t, either,” Amy said and they looked at each other doubtfully.

  “Let’s assume it’s not until something goes wrong,” Sophie said.

  “Good.” Amy turned back to the wall, not looking cheered at all. “Now, explain why ugly apples are better than ugly cherries, and all my questions will be answered.”

  Chapter Eight

  “This is excellent,” Dillie said that night at the bookstore as she and Phin stretched the new mattress pad across the bed. “Except that you were an hour late getting me, so I should stay up an extra hour even though it is a school night.”

  “Works for me,” Phin said, knowing she’d be out like a light five minutes after her bedtime anyway. “We’ll read in bed that extra hour.” He snapped the bottom sheet across the bed and Dillie caught her end of it. “So what’s new with you?”

  “Jamie Barclay is in my room at school.” Dillie tucked the elastic corner under the mattress like a pro. “Grandma fixed it for me.”

  “Grandma’s not supposed to do that,” Phin said. “No special favors for Tuckers.”

  “Dad,” Dillie said. “This is my life.”

  “Right.” He flipped the top sheet across and she caught that, too.

  “And besides, Jamie Barclay is new and needs a friend so it’s really for her.” Dillie smoothed her side of the sheet down. “Do you have new friends?” She said it with such elaborate disinterest that Phin stopped.

  “There are some people visiting in town,” he said cautiously.

  “The movie