The Perfect Hope Part 21

"Well," she began, "have a-"

She didn't manage more as he yanked her against him, lifted her up to her toes, and swooped in for a kiss that shot the rest of the words out of the top of her head. She managed to grab his waist for balance though she couldn't have fallen if the earth had quaked, not with his hands fisted-one in her hair, one on the back of her shirt.

Heat rocketed down her arms, up her legs, into her center, sharp as lightning bolts. Then her hands slid up his back, gripped his shirt in turn as she rode that lightning.

She didn't pull back, didn't gasp in shock or protest. He'd have released her if she had. But he was tired of looking the other way, or trying to. Ignoring her-or trying to. She'd stirred it up. He could give himself that excuse. In The Penthouse, then again here in the d.a.m.n parking lot.

He'd had samples. Now he wanted a good, healthy bite.

She smelled of summer. Warm breezes, sun-drenched flowers with exotic names. She tasted like the pie, the perfect meeting of tart and sweet. And she met the demands of the kiss without hesitation. Need for need.

When he let her go she rocked a little. Those sultry eyes of hers were heavy and aware. She rubbed her lips together lightly, as if to hold the flavor-and stirred him again.

"What was that for?" she asked him.

"I just wanted it to be my idea this time." He c.o.c.ked his head. "You want a pie now?"

He surprised a laugh out of her. "That's all right. I made two. One question. Do you consider yourself my boss?"

"h.e.l.l no." He looked not only stunned but irritated. "My mother's your boss. I don't have time to boss you. I've got enough to do."

"All right."

"Listen, if you think that was anything like that a.s.shole you were tangled with-"

"Not in the least." She saw irritation edge up toward fury, laid a calming hand on his arm. "Not in the least. It's just a detail I wanted to confirm, for both of us. Then we're clear on that detail in case either of us get any more ideas. Enjoy your pie," she told him, and walked back to the inn.

"She's going to take some more figuring out," he muttered, then turned to the dog. "Take a nap. I'll be back."

He left his truck where it was and walked over to meet his brothers.

HOPE SET UP wine and cheese, herbed crackers, and some summer berries-along with a pitcher of fresh lemonade for the expectant mother. She was fussing with little details when she heard Clare come in. "In here!" she called out.

She poured lemonade in a tall gla.s.s over ice, offered it when Clare came in. "Welcome to Inn BoonsBoro and our first official Girls' Night."

"It got me through the day. Are you all right?"

"Oh, I am, but have much to tell. Where's Avery?"

"She's finishing up something at Vesta. Hope, you should've called the minute Jonathan stepped his stupid Gucci loafers in this place."

"Actually, they were Ferragamos. And it caught me off guard, I admit, but I was handling it."

"Avery told me he actually suggested you move back to Georgetown and start up with him again." Clare, her hair spread around her shoulders like sunlight, dropped down on the couch, snarled. "I never liked him, then I hated him. But now? I want to hurt him. I want to beat him unconscious with a shovel, then tattoo I'm a cheating d.i.c.khead on his a.s.s."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Have a snack."

"All I do is snack." Clare heaved a sigh. "I eat all day long. I can't seem to stop."

"You're eating for three."

"At this rate I'm going to weigh three hundred pounds. I don't care. Sit down, and you eat something, too, so I don't feel like a big pregnant pig."

"I can't sit yet." Not when she was still carrying the s.e.xual buzz from that kiss. But she spread some cheese on a cracker, poured herself a gla.s.s of wine.

And hearing Avery, poured a second.

"G.o.d! It's always something." Avery grabbed the wine, slugged some down. "Okay, let's get this ball-roasting started. Oooh, raspberries." She popped two, plopped beside Clare on the b.u.t.ter yellow leather sofa, pulled the clip from her hair, shook it out. "Tell us all."

Hope did just that, starting with Jonathan's appearance at the door.

"He's wrong, and he's stupid," Clare interrupted. "Saying you can't be happy here. You are happy here."

"I am, but you know what? Having him say that made me understand just how happy. I'm exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to do. And bonus. I have both of you."

"Smarmy sleaze," Avery muttered. "He's a smeaze."

"He's a smeaze," Hope agreed, then continued. When she got to Jonathan's "offer," Avery sprang up, shook her fists. "He thinks he can call you a wh.o.r.e-because that's just what he did. He needs to be punished. He needs to pay."

"He needs to be ignored," Hope corrected. "He'll suffer more. But I gave him what Ryder called a kick in the b.a.l.l.s."

"I wish you meant literally," Clare murmured.

"Pregnancy makes her violent," Hope told Avery. "I was telling him what I thought of his offer-as in 'stuff it'-when I saw Ryder coming across the lot. I just went with impulse. I called him and went over and laid a hot one on him."

"On Ryder?" Clare qualified. "You kissed Ryder?"

"In front of Jonathan-I get it." Folding her arms, Avery nodded in approval. "It's 'up yours, a.s.shole. Look at this s.e.xy bite of man candy I've got now.'"

"Exactly. I asked Ryder to go along, and he got it, and he did. Jonathan looked like he'd swallowed a whole lemon-a whole rotten lemon. It was very satisfying. Then." She flicked her fingers. "He left. Done."

"Are you sure?" Clare gripped her hands in her lap. "He could come back. He could try something. I thought Sam was just a nuisance, but-"

"Honey. Honey," Hope repeated and moved to the couch to flank Clare, take her hand. "It's not like that. Sam's a sick, obsessed man. He stalked you, and you were never involved with him. You never gave him reason. I was involved with Jonathan. He's arrogant, his morals are skewed, and he's a major a.s.shole, but it's not like that at all. He's too full of pride and vanity to come back. He'll a.s.sume I'll change my mind, and when I don't, he'll move on to someone else."

"You need to be careful. You have to promise me."

"I will, I do. I know him. He thought I'd jump at the offer to come back to work, come back to him. He'd see it as legitimate, no problem. I made my opinion clear. I don't mean enough to him for him to try anything. I know now I never really did."

"I'm sorry. I'm glad, but I'm sorry."