Tempt Me: A First Class Romance Collection

by Hawkins, Jessica

  “I don’t even know where to start,” I admitted through a sigh. “Been keeping people at arm’s length for so long, don’t have the first clue about how to get back in the dating game.”

  But there was something about me and Rynna that felt like we’d already surpassed all of that. Our connection went deeper than testing the waters. Bigger than dating or seeing how it went.

  Something strong blazed between us. A connection that shackled us together.

  Unavoidable.

  Irresistible.

  Truth was that last night I’d felt closer to her than I’d felt to anyone in so damned long, and I wasn’t talking Frankie or my mom or the guys.

  This was about being united with someone. Bonded. Tied.

  That connection had lit into a frenzy when I’d sat in the darkness of her room and watched her sleep.

  Fuck.

  She was gorgeous.

  The kind of gorgeous that wasn’t just skin deep, even though that body made me crazy with need.

  I was talking about the goodness that poured from her.

  Sunshine and sweet.

  I’d watched her until the sun started to show, like it was drawn to her the same as I was to this girl. Finally, I’d forced myself from her bed so I could clear my head.

  Thing was, the confusion had only grown the more distance I put between us. That gravity calling me back to her while all my resolutions and dedications had warned I was making mistake after mistake.

  “You could start by doing something nice for her,” Mom said.

  “Nice?”

  She laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re so far gone you don’t know what nice is? There’s gotta be something you could do for this girl to let her know you care. That you’re interested. Doesn’t have to be extravagant. Just show her you aren’t the uptight, grumpy pants this whole town thinks you are.” A smile slipped into the words.

  My brow rose. “Grumpy pants?”

  Frankie was suddenly right at my side, dancing around, singing, “Grumpy pants, grumpy pants, my daddy is a grumpy pants,” over and over again.

  Maybe Frankie could see it better than I’d thought.

  And maybe it was fucking time I did something about it.

  25

  Rynna

  Panic had me sailing out from the back of the kitchen and rushing through the dining room of Pepper’s Pies.

  But this was a different kind of panic.

  Not the kind incited by Timothy Roth.

  This was a huge banging on the other side of the wall, the floors shaking and the fixtures trembling, so fierce I was terrified my grandmother’s restaurant was about to come crumbling down.

  Confusion jolting me back, I skidded to a stop at the end of the hall that led to the restrooms.

  My eyes narrowed as I attempted to make sense of the scene.

  “What in the world are you doing?” I finally managed. Dust billowed in the enclosed area, and three strange men were in the midst of it, tearing out the plasterboard of the wall that blocked off the restrooms.

  One stocky guy barely grunted an answer. “It’s demo day.”

  Demo day?

  “What are you talking about?” Exasperated, it tumbled out as I took a lurching step forward.

  Another guy, dressed in a paint-stained tee, jeans, and work boots, tossed the piece of plywood he’d pried free into a small pile, which was growing quickly. “Boss sent us over. Told us this needed to get done and fast.”

  “Boss?”

  “Gunner,” the other guy huffed as he ripped free a huge piece of plywood that sent another plume of white dust billowing in the air.

  Gunner.

  Gunner. Gunner. Gunner.

  The name spun through that haze before realization broke through the fog.

  Oh God, what did he do?

  I stepped back, trembling, the emotions tumbling through me too convoluted they were too much to fully understand. So, I latched on to one. That one that was frustrated and shocked, unable to process the actions of this unexpected man.

  I rushed back into the kitchen and grabbed my purse and keys before flying out the door and hitting the road, my destination clear.

  RG Construction.

  I haphazardly parked and then flew through the entrance of the building. The interior space small enough that I didn’t need to do anything but round the secretary, who jumped to his feet.

  “Excuse me, ma’am.”

  I didn’t slow, I just thrust open Rex’s office door. I barged right in, the door banging against the inner wall when I did. I was flustered and angered and awed all at the same time. “You’d better have a good explanation.”

  Surprised, his attention jerked up from the papers he was pouring over. “Rynna.”

  God. He knocked the breath right out of me. I stood in the doorway, trying to brace myself, to remember why I was upset in the first place. Oh, yeah. “Why are there three men at my restaurant tearing it apart?”

  Slowly, he stood, stealing a little more of the air. The man so powerful . . . so beautiful that I couldn’t think.

  “You needed a job done, and I had the resources to do it,” he said.

  Shaking myself out of the stupor, my eyes narrowed. “So, you just . . . sent them over? Without consulting with me? I . . . I . . . I . . .”

  I had absolutely no idea what to say to him. When I finally figured it out, it came rushing on a screech of frustration. “I don’t have any money to pay you.”

  “You don’t need to pay me.”

  “What?” Another screech. This time with a foot stomp. He was insane. We’d spent one night together. Okay. The most extraordinary kind of night. One that had altered my world. That and about two magical hours making out on his porch like teenagers in the middle of the night last night—but that was totally beside the point.

  “I care about this community, Rynna.” There was almost a smirk hiding behind the staunch somberness of his expression and ridiculousness of his words.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “Gingham Lakes is flourishing, and re-opening Pepper’s Pies is only going to be an asset to it.” I saw him rubbing his thumb and forefinger together. As if he’d been practicing the speech and he was making sure he was keeping time.

  “You can’t just—” I threw my hands in the air. “You can’t just go into my restaurant and have your way with it. I have plans. I want . . . I need to do this. To figure it out myself. Not have some guy come in and do the job for me because I’m not capable.”

  Pricks of tears burned at my eyes. Maybe I was revealing too much. Getting to the heart of the matter that came flooding out without my permission. The fear I didn’t have what it took to make it. That I was going to fail before I even had the chance to get started.

  But shock dammed them when Rex flew around his desk and backed me against the wall. “Some guy?” he demanded.

  All the aloofness he’d attempted to wear was gone. In its place was the same compelling, confusing man who’d pushed and pulled and taunted me since the day I’d met him. “That’s all I am to you? Some guy?”

  I stared up at him, trying to decipher what was in his eyes.

  Hurt.

  It was hurt and fear and there was so much of it that it made my heart wobble. Thrown off. The man always managed to catch me off guard. “You know what I meant,” I said softly.

  He blinked at me, his words nothing but honest. “No, I don’t.”

  I reached up and touched the thunder at his chest. With trembling fingers, I let them tap across the vibrating strength. “What I meant is it’s not fair for you to come in and take over for me. Not when you didn’t even ask me. That’s my grandmother’s restaurant. She gave it to me. Trusted me with it. And for you to go in and take over without consulting me? It makes me feel as if you think I can’t do this. As if you think you need to rescue me. You’re not just some guy, Rex. You mean so much to me. More than you know.”

  My voice dipped at the confession, and
he sighed this strained sound, both hands planting above my head. He inched closer, pinning me to the wall. It spun my mind, the heat of him trembling all the way to my soul. God. He was too much. Devastating and overwhelming and irresistible.

  When he spoke, his voice was raw. “And what if you’re doing a little of that rescuing yourself? You think I don’t believe in you? Fuck, Rynna . . . I’m doing it because I believe in you so much, I want to be a part of making it happen. I just . . . wanted to surprise you.”

  Shivers tumbled down my spine, landing in a pool of emotion that just kept getting deeper and deeper. Pretty soon, this man was going to drown me. Take me all the way under.

  Emotion clotted my throat, and I forced the shaky words out around it, fiddling with his shirt and barely peeking up at him when I spoke. “Rex, I am so grateful. So grateful. But this is one of those things you should have asked me about. It’s a big deal, and it’s a lot of money, and if you do believe in me? Then you need to respect me enough to talk to me about something that is going to affect my life this much. I can’t take that kind of money from you. I can’t because it’s not right. I want to work for this. Earn it. Breathe life back into Pepper’s Pies because I can.”

  “I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

  I laughed softly, letting my touch glide up against the hot flesh of his neck. “Nice? Your idea of nice is a little extravagant, don’t you think?”

  A light chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Maybe. I warned you I’m not so good at this.”

  He edged back and set a hand on my cheek, stark sincerity climbing into his expression, that sincerity a revelation of his fear. “I told you I didn’t have anything left to give you. And now, I want to give you everything.”

  Every part of me softened. “Rex . . .”

  And, God, I wanted it, everything he was willing to give.

  “Too much, too fast?” he asked, a self-deprecating grin rimming his mouth, so sexy and sweet.

  “I’m not sure there’s ever going to be too much when it comes to you. I’m just asking you to talk to me.”

  His thumb brushed the angle of my cheekbone, and my mouth dropped open a fraction, relishing in the feel of his simple touch. “Warned you I have no goddamned clue what I’m doing. That I always manage to fuck up.”

  “You’re not fucking up. We’re just . . . learning each other.”

  He pressed against me, his voice growing rough. “Like all the ways I’m learning you.”

  I clung to his shirt, flooded by warmth.

  He edged back. “How about I make you a deal?”

  “What kind of deal?” Cautious. Careful.

  “You need a loan.”

  “Rex,” I warned, already knowing what he was getting ready to say.

  “Just hear me out.” He paused, waiting for me to give him a tiny nod before he continued. “You figure out how to get all the equipment for the restaurant, but we do all the installation and renovation.”

  “Rex—”

  He pushed a finger against my lips. “And you pay me back. Consider it a loan for something I believe in.”

  My heart thundered, and my breaths became shallow. He pressed the gentlest kiss to my forehead, the word a vibration against my skin. “Please.”

  Setting my hands on his waist, I chewed at my bottom lip as I shifted to look up at him. “What does this mean?”

  What do we mean?

  I wanted to ask him, but the tensing of his body cut me off. As if he didn’t want me to say it. To bring it out into the open. The fact that neither of us seemed to truly know where we stood. If we were coming or if we were going.

  He pulled me against him. “I need to figure out some shit in my life, Rynna. I warned you, it’s a mess. But I’m going to fucking try. There’s a lot I can’t make sense of, but it’s time I do. Figure out who I am and who I’m supposed to be. Take care of some shit I should have a long time ago. But the one thing I do know? The one thing I know is I want you in my life. And if I can at least give you this? Then please . . . let me. Let me take this chance.”

  26

  Rex

  Rain battered the roof and lightning lit up against the darkened windows. Thunder a constant rumble in the toiling sky.

  I was already rushing for the door after I’d heard the bell ring.

  My jaw dropped a bit when I flung it open and found her standing there. Drenched. Chestnut darkened to mahogany.

  Standing there in the rain looking like a second chance. A better day.

  Four soaked paper bags were wrapped in her arms, precariously clutched to her chest like she could keep them from ripping apart and sending all the items contained inside from toppling to the ground.

  “Rynna,” I finally managed when I processed she was really there, standing on my stoop. I widened the door. “Come inside before you get struck by lightning.”

  She ducked past me, filling my senses with all that sweet, intensified with the soak of the rain.

  Fuck. She was undoing me. Minute by minute. I let the door fall shut behind her. “Here, let me help you with that.” I took two bags from her.

  “Thank you.”

  “What are you doing here?” I finally asked, feeling the satisfied grin slide to my face, because I sure as shit wasn’t gonna complain.

  She cast me a cautious smile. One that slammed me right in the center of the chest. Kind of the way Frankie annihilated me every time she looked at me a certain way. Though, this was different. Obviously. This was lust and want and confusion and every-fucking-thing I wanted more and more.

  She hefted a shoulder. “I just thought I would do something nice for you.”

  Nice.

  My chuckle rumbled like a partner to the sky. “Nice, huh?”

  She bit her bottom lip with a nod. “Yeah. It seems my neighbor is a little on the thoughtful side. I figured I’d return the favor. How does dinner sound? Of course, I might owe you dinner for the rest of my life.”

  I dipped my head her direction, whispered at her ear, “Why’s that sound like the best damned payback I’ve ever been offered?”

  She giggled and headed for my kitchen. “I see how it is. You want me when I’m baking for you.”

  A growl slipped free, my eyes honing in on the slow sway of her delicious ass as I followed her. Voice lowered to keep my next words from little ears. “Oh, believe me, baby, I want you all the time. But you don’t actually think I’m going to refuse you cooking for me, do you? Especially considering I was just about to take out a frozen pizza to toss into the oven.”

  Setting the bags on the counter, she looked back at me with a feigned gasp. “Blasphemy.”

  I set the bags I was carrying beside them. “A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.”

  Her expression went tender, and she reached up, cupping my cheek in one of those soft, soft hands. “And you should know I would consider it an honor that I get to help with that now.”

  She peeked in the direction of the hall where we could hear Frankie playing, talking and squealing, living in her own blissful little world. “Is this okay? That I’m here? I don’t want to confuse her or rush you. I just . . . I wanted to spend the evening with you. With her,” she added quickly, like it might scare me away.

  And fuck. Yeah. It scared me, just not the way she was probably thinking. I wanted it, I was just too scared to hope for it. But it didn’t matter, that anticipation was right there, strumming an escalating beat inside of me.

  Savage and fierce. As fierce as the storm that rattled the windowpanes and drummed on the roof.

  I threaded my fingers through hers, brought her knuckles to my lips. “What do you say we take it slow in front of her? Get her used to the two of us. She’s gonna have questions, and when she does, we answer them.”

  She worried her lip, peeking up at me. “And what’s the right answer, Rex?”

  Releasing her hand, I let my fingers glide into those silky locks of damp hair. That was all the contact I needed for my
chest to tighten, for the things held within to go haywire. A disorder that was shifting into something new. I pulled her closer and set a kiss to her forehead, murmured against it, “We tell her we care about each other. Simple as that.”

  Did she know that’s how I was feeling? Did she know every time I looked at her, another piece crumbled out from under me, my footing no longer my own?

  I leaned down, my mouth barely brushing the edge of hers. “I want you here.” I inched even closer, the heat of her body lighting me up. “Really fucking want you here. In the end, I think that’s all that matters.”

  I moved to grip her by the waist, and her breath caught as my fingers cinched around her, everything growing thick when I let my nose trace up the column of her neck.

  That overpowering scent was back. Radiating from her skin. Sweet, sweet bliss. Cherry pie.

  I groaned, and she exhaled, then we both froze when we heard the pound of little feet thunder down the hall.

  I stepped back, putting space between us, and a rush of redness bloomed on Rynna’s neck.

  Like she’d been caught.

  It was so fucking cute.

  Frankie skidded to a stop at the end of the hall when she saw Rynna in the kitchen. “Rynna! What’s you doin’ here?”

  My daughter kicked right back into action, flying across the floor, jumping around in front of Rynna to grab her attention.

  As if she didn’t already have it. Because Rynna smiled when she saw my kid. Smiled like it meant something.

  A bolt of old fear struck somewhere deep in my chest. A warning that I’d crossed a line when I’d let Rynna into our lives. That I’d been begging for trouble. Taunting me with a reminder of that penalty I’d forever serve. Punishment for what I’d done. Did I think I was exempt?

  Rynna knelt in front of my daughter, her expression soft, almost as soft as the way she brushed her fingers through Frankie’s wild mane of hair.

  “I thought maybe you could help me make dinner. What do you think about that?”

  Frankie’s eyes went wide with excitement. “Really? I gets to make dinner? Oh yes! Are we gonna make a Pepper Pie?” She threaded those tiny fists together, pressing her hands up under her chin in a plea. “Oh, please, let’s make a Pepper Pie!”