Sinful

by Joan Johnston

  “I’m moving out tonight.”

  Eve hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but she didn’t want her sisters thinking she didn’t support them, even though she wasn’t sure she would have.

  Leah unfolded her arms and stood bolt upright. “What?”

  “It’s not that I wouldn’t like to help you,” she said to Taylor. “But Matt gave me a week to get my mustangs off the ranch.” She turned to Leah and said, “I don’t have time to wait for Daddy’s deal to go through, so I’ve made other plans.”

  “What plans?” Victoria asked, coming off her bar stool.

  Eve realized she should have kept her mouth shut. She should have said she’d go along and let her sisters figure out later that she wasn’t going to be there to help them in whatever perfidy they intended. Now she was left with no choice except to admit what she’d done.

  “I made a deal with Connor Flynn. I’m moving in with him to help him take care of his kids in exchange for him keeping my mustangs at his ranch.”

  Leah’s face bleached white. “You’re moving in with Angus Flynn at the Lucky 7?”

  “God, no! I’m moving to Connor’s ranch, Safe Haven. It’s an old dude ranch he’s converted into a refuge for veterans. I’ll have—”

  “Are you out of your mind?” Taylor interrupted. “What on earth were you thinking to agree to such a thing?”

  “I was thinking I need to save my mustangs,” Eve said. “And I was thinking Brooke and Sawyer Flynn need someone to reassure them that everything will be all right while Connor learns to be their father again.”

  “Do you have to live there?” Victoria asked, apparently aghast at the thought.

  “It’s an hour back and forth to town. Staying there makes the most sense.”

  “What does King think about this arrangement?” Leah asked.

  “He put me in this predicament,” Eve replied. “He has no right to say what I can or can’t do to get myself out of it.”

  “How about Angus? What does he think of this plan?” Taylor asked.

  “I have no idea, and I don’t care. Connor and I are adults. We can do as we like.”

  “Except you’re a Grayhawk, and Connor’s a Flynn,” Leah reminded her.

  “So what?”

  Taylor and Victoria both laughed, but with scorn and derision rather than amusement.

  “You really think you can just move in with Connor Flynn and none of his brothers is going to say a word about it?” Taylor asked.

  “Why not?”

  “How naïve can you be, Eve?” Leah said. “This is a terrible idea. It could end very badly.”

  “Nothing could be as bad as watching my herd of mustangs go to slaughter.” Eve met the concerned and confused gazes of her sisters. “Besides, I can’t abandon Molly’s children.”

  “Do you hear yourself?” Victoria asked. “They’re Molly’s children, Eve. Not yours. They’ll manage fine without you.”

  “Fine isn’t good enough,” Eve shot back. “I love Brooke and Sawyer. I can’t stand for them to be unhappy. Right now they need me. I’m going to be there for them, even if it means spending the next two months living under the same roof as Connor Flynn.”

  Eve didn’t wait for one of her sisters to come up with another argument against going to Safe Haven. She marched out of the kitchen with her head held high.

  She heard Taylor calling after her, “You’ll be sorry!”

  Eve’s throat felt thick and it hurt to swallow. Once she was out of sight she ran down the long hall toward the stairs, fighting tears all the way. She hadn’t realized until it wasn’t there how much she’d hoped for her sisters’ support.

  Eve heard raised voices—Pippa and her father arguing—as she approached the grand staircase and stopped abruptly in the shadows so they wouldn’t see her tears.

  “Lower your voice,” Matt hissed. “Do you want the whole house to hear?”

  Pippa’s lowered voice was still so intense that Eve had no trouble making out her next words.

  “I hate it here. I want to go home!”

  “You know why you can’t do that.”

  “It’s not as though I’ve committed some heinous crime. I’m just pregnant!”

  “With a married man’s child,” Matt snarled back.

  “I loved him,” she said in an achingly sad voice. “When I ran away with him, I didn’t know he was married. He lied to me.”

  “The gossip would never have died in that backwater town. You’d have been a pariah the rest of your life. You know I’m right. It’s why you came with me to America, even if you came kicking and screaming the whole way.”

  Pippa’s silence confirmed the truth of Matt’s words.

  “You can start over here,” Matt continued.

  “And do what?”

  “Whatever you want. You can give up the baby for adoption and—”

  “Stop right there. Is that what you thought? That I’d give up the baby so no one would ever know what a sinner I am? Think again! I’m having this baby. And I’m keeping it!”

  “Pippa, you don’t know what you’re—”

  Eve heard pounding footsteps and realized Matt’s daughter hadn’t stayed to argue. She’d run from the Great Room toward the north wing of the house. Eve remained in the shadows, hoping that Matt would follow his daughter rather than head down the hall toward the kitchen. Otherwise, she was liable to get caught. When he headed the opposite direction, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  Eve’s tears had dried. Now she knew why a twenty-year-old woman had followed her father halfway across the world. Pippa had problems as great as—or maybe greater than—her own. She felt an unwilling spurt of sympathy for the girl.

  Eve glanced toward the kitchen, where her sisters were busy plotting against Matt, wondering if she should reveal at least one of his reasons for coming to Wyoming, and realized she couldn’t do that to Pippa. The girl was entitled to keep her secret, at least until it became impossible to hide.

  When Eve was sure Matt was gone, she ran up the stairs to her bedroom and threw herself onto her bed, hugging her pillow to her chest. Pippa’s problem had put her own situation in perspective. No life was perfect. There were always bumps in the road. The challenge was whether—and how—you decided to get past them.

  She wasn’t doing this for Connor. She was doing it for Molly’s kids. And no one and nothing was going to stop her. Eve swiped at her teary eyes, got out of bed, and began packing. She was halfway done when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

  “Who is it?”

  “It’s me.”

  “Go away, Leah.”

  “We need to talk.”

  Eve surveyed the open suitcase on her bed and the clothes strewn around the room, which testified to her intention to leave, then called back, “You’re not going to change my mind.”

  “May I come in?”

  Leah had always been there when Eve was in trouble. Not that she was in trouble, exactly. But she was about to embark on what could only be considered a fool’s errand. Nothing Leah said was going to change her mind so she might as well let her sister dispense her sage advice. She picked up a pair of jeans she intended to pack and said, “Come in.”

  Leah glanced at Eve as she took a few steps toward Eve’s cluttered bed. “You seem to be packing quite a bit of stuff.”

  “I want to make sure I have everything I need.”

  “Give me a day to talk to Matt,” Leah began. “Maybe I can get him to change his mind about keeping your mustangs here at Kingdom Come.”

  “Don’t waste your breath asking for favors. Matt’s every bit as ruthless as Daddy.”

  Leah threaded her fingers together, something Eve knew she did to keep from fidgeting when she was anxious. She met Eve’s gaze with troubled eyes and said, “You can’t move in with Connor Flynn.”

  “Who’s going to stop me?” Eve waited for the scalding diatribe she knew was coming. If King was rabid on the subject of Flynns, Leah was worse. Eve wasn
’t sure what the Flynns had done to Leah, personally, to make her hate them. But someone had done something sometime, because Leah was militant about keeping her sisters away from them.

  But Leah didn’t go after the Flynns. She took a completely different tack. She set her balled hands on her hips and said, “King is going to have ten fits when he finds out about this.”

  “Daddy’s made it clear he can’t help me. Connor Flynn can.”

  “You know King would if he could.”

  “I know no such thing,” Eve retorted. “Now, if Matt were the one in trouble, I have no doubt Daddy would figure out a way to loan him whatever he needed.”

  “King doesn’t have the money!” As soon as the words were out of Leah’s mouth, she clapped her hands over it.

  Eve sank onto the bed. “You just got through telling Taylor and Vick that Daddy’s got something financial in the works. Are you saying now that he doesn’t?”

  “What King told me wasn’t meant to be shared. Just know, a great deal is at risk. For all of us. And for heaven’s sake, don’t say anything about this to King.”

  Eve’s mouth twisted wryly. “I won’t be around to say anything to him. I’m moving in with Connor Flynn tonight.”

  “Does it have to be tonight?”

  “The light of day isn’t going to change my mind.” Eve rose and began packing again.

  “Is there something romantic going on between you two?” Leah asked, a furrow of worry between her brows.

  “What in the world gave you that idea?” Eve snapped.

  “I have eyes, don’t I? I watched you yearn for somebody else’s husband all the years Connor and Molly were married.”

  Well. That was plain speaking. Eve flushed. “There’s no great romance in the offing. Whatever I feel—or felt—doesn’t matter. Connor doesn’t think of me like that.” To her great regret. “I’m staying there strictly to help him with his kids.”

  “Where will you sleep?”

  “He’s got an extra bedroom in the house.”

  “Watch yourself, Eve. You can’t trust a Flynn. Give him a chance and Connor will steal your heart, then lie to you and let you down.”

  “Connor wouldn’t do that.”

  “He was raised a Flynn. They’re rotten, root to branch.”

  “Just for the record, I think you’re wrong. At least about Connor. I’ve known him a long time, and he’s not like that.”

  “They’re all like that,” Leah said flatly.

  “Which one of them hurt you?”

  Leah’s face blanched.

  “Aiden? Brian? Devon?” Eve watched for some reaction, but she didn’t get it. Leah’s features remained as frozen as chiseled stone. “Surely not Connor,” she said, horrified.

  “No, not Connor. Just believe me when I say that the Flynn brothers are trouble. Keep your distance. Protect your heart. Don’t give one a chance to disappoint you, and you won’t end up disappointed.”

  Eve stared at her eldest sister. She’d had no idea Leah had been hurt so badly by one of Angus Flynn’s sons. Leah had always seemed so strong and indomitable. When had she given one of them her heart? And why had he broken it? Eve wanted to offer comfort, but Leah had erected an emotional barricade around herself that she’d never known how to breach. She settled for saying, “I’m sorry you got hurt, Leah.”

  Leah stiffened.

  Eve wasn’t sure whether her older sister appreciated the sympathy or was appalled at having revealed so much of her very private life. Eve closed her suitcase and zipped it up, then set the roller bag on the floor. “I’m out of here. I don’t envy you having to deal with Matt every day. Where do you think you’ll go when you have to leave?”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  That statement, made with such certainty, flummoxed Eve. “How are you going to manage that?”

  A look Eve had seen many times appeared on her sister’s face. “I don’t know yet. But this is my home. By hook or by crook, I’m staying right here.”

  Eve grinned. “I do believe Matt Grayhawk has met his match.”

  Leah shuddered. “Heaven forbid.”

  Eve laughed. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant—”

  “I know what you meant.”

  When Leah opened her arms, Eve stepped close enough to receive the hug that had meant love and comfort and safety all her life.

  Leah was always there. Always reliable. Always available. It was good to know there would always be one person who would stand by her through thick and thin.

  “I’ll miss you,” Leah said as she let Eve go. “Call if you need anything. I’ll be right here.” Her chin lifted as she added, “I’m not going anywhere.”

  A bubble of laughter escaped Eve at the image of Leah digging in her claws like a cat caught in the curtains and refusing to leave. “I shouldn’t laugh. It isn’t funny. But it is. I guess Daddy didn’t figure on you when he gave Matt the ranch.”

  “Be careful,” Leah whispered as Eve headed out the door, trailing her suitcase behind her.

  “You, too,” Eve shot back over her shoulder.

  Chapter 7

  EVE AWOKE WITH a start when she turned over and encountered a warm body in bed with her. She’d been dreaming of Connor kissing and caressing her and half expected to find him there. She sat up, her eyes full of sleep, her hair a mass of rats’ nests, and smiled ruefully as she surveyed the two small forms on either side of her. Not Connor, but Connor’s children. Sometime during the night Brooke and Sawyer had found their way into her bedroom at Safe Haven and into her bed.

  Eve slowly pulled her knees up, looped her arms around them, then settled her chin on her knees to watch the two sleeping children with wonder. Brooke was lying on her back, her hair a spray of chestnut on the pillow, her arms splayed above her on either side of her head. Sawyer was tucked into a ball on his stomach, his arms curled under him. She’d always loved Molly and Connor’s children, always been fascinated by their enthusiasm for life, always been amazed by their curiosity, and always been humbled by their willingness to love without limits. Surely it wouldn’t take long for Connor to win their trust again. Which meant she wouldn’t be here long enough to lose the battle with her good sense, which warned her to keep her distance from the children’s father.

  Eve’s gaze was focused on Brooke and Sawyer, so she wasn’t sure how she knew she was no longer alone. When she looked up she found Connor standing in the open doorway. His gaze wasn’t directed toward his children. It was aimed at her.

  “Good morning,” he said in a husky voice.

  He was bare-chested, exposing every ridge in a six-pack belly and the powerful curve of his impressive biceps. She saw several long, ridged scars running through the dark hair on his chest, which she presumed were injuries from the same improvised explosive device that had caused the wound on his forehead. The first two buttons of his jeans were undone so they hung low, exposing his hipbones and a line of down that began at his navel and disappeared into the worn denim. Her gaze traveled all the way down his long legs to his bare feet and then back up again.

  She had to clear her throat to reply, “Good morning.”

  Eve hugged her knees tighter to her chest, aware that the white T-shirt she’d worn to bed was thin enough to see through and that all she had on beneath it was a pair of pink bikini underwear.

  “I was worried when I didn’t find the kids in Brooke’s bed,” he said quietly. “I thought you might be able to help me find them.”

  Eve felt her heart jump when Connor’s eyes remained locked on hers. She realized now that being in Connor’s home was fraught with a great many unexpected pitfalls, like being caught half dressed in bed by a half-dressed man you secretly loved. She felt her nipples peak as her body responded to the avid look in Connor’s eyes. She tore her gaze away and concentrated it on the children. They were the reason she was here. The only reason she was here.

  “They look like sleeping angels,” she said.

  Brooke
suddenly opened her eyes and spotted her father. At first she didn’t move. Then she subtly but surely inched herself closer to Eve, wrapping one of her tiny hands around Eve’s ankle.

  “Good morning, sweet pea,” Connor said to his daughter, his voice gruff with emotion.

  Eve watched him stuff his hands in the back pockets of his Levi’s and figured he’d done it to keep himself from reaching for his daughter. Unfortunately for Eve, the move also outlined the hardened shaft behind his zipper. Eve was amazed at how little it had taken for him to become aroused. On the other hand, it hadn’t taken more than a look from him for the same thing to happen to her. Except she loved him. He only liked her. His reaction was merely a physiological male response to a half-naked female. It could have been any female. It just happened to be her.

  She heard Leah’s admonition in her head. Be careful.

  What if the children hadn’t been here? Would he have acted on his attraction? Would she have acted on hers?

  Connor had already admitted he wasn’t heart-whole, that he was still mourning Molly. Was she willing to accept the little bit of himself that he had to offer?

  Yes. I want him. I love him.

  She had the awful feeling that a single look would have been all he needed to have her flat on her back the instant they were alone. Pride kept her from giving Connor any encouragement.

  As Brooke sat up, Eve brushed the little girl’s bangs away from her face and said, “I was surprised to find you here this morning.”

  “Me and Sawyer woke up and wanted to go home. We were looking for a phone to call Nana and Bampa when we found you.”

  Eve saw Connor wince at his daughter’s explanation.

  “I’m glad you found me,” Eve said.

  “Are you gonna stay with us forever?” Brooke asked.

  Eve glanced at Connor. “I’m here for as long as you need me.” And not one second longer.

  Sawyer rolled over onto his back, his feet flopping. He scrubbed at his eyes, then sat up and asked his father, “Can I have pancakes for breakfast?”

  The matter-of-fact statement made it clear Sawyer’s hunger came a long way ahead of anything else. Eve and Connor smiled at each other before he answered, “Sure.”