Carrie Alexander - The Chocolate Seduction

Sabrina would have kicked her sister under the table, but Kit’s stretched-out legs were in the way. He wore faded jeans and battered running shoes under his double-breasted chef’s coat.

“We should all make it a habit to eat a bit of chocolate every day,” Kit said. “It does a body good.”

“Exactly,” Mackenzie said. “But Sabrina only likes what’s bad for her.”

“Ha.” Sabrina licked ice cream off her spoon. “My sister’s in the candy business,” she told Kit.

“How interesting.” He focused on Mackenzie. “What do you do?”

“I worked at Regal Foods in the sweets division until recently. Now I’m opening my own penny-candy emporium in the Village. It’s to be called Sweet Something.” Mackenzie shot her sister a mischievous glance. “Sabrina will have to bring you to the grand opening.”

Kit’s gaze slid sideways; Sabrina felt it slip over her like warm honey. “I’d be delighted.”

She stabbed the phyllo. “That’s marvy. So would I.”

“Then it’s a date,” Mackenzie said.

Sabrina glared. She was going to take the scissors to her sister’s hair herself and she would be no gentler than when she’d shorn all their Barbie dolls and made Mackenzie cry.

Mackenzie went on as if Sabrina wasn’t giving her the squinty-eyed death ray. “What about you, Kit? How did you come to work at Decadence?”

He shrugged. “Curt and Dominique found me working at a resort in Tahiti. They liked my desserts and offered me a job. I’ve never lived in New York City, so I gave it a try.”

“Do you move around a lot?”

“I have.”

“So does Sabrina. You two must have a lot in common.”

Again, Sabrina felt Kit’s eyes on her, but this time they weren’t nearly as warm. “Is that so?”

“I like change.” She put down her spoon, realizing she’d polished her plate without being aware of it. The sweetness of the dessert lingered on her tongue, and she rather liked it. The rich chocolate was giving her a glow inside.

An awkward silence had fallen, so Mackenzie moved the conversation forward in her usual faciliatory way. “Where are you from, Kit?”

“A small town in Ohio. But I’ve lived all over.”

“You have the slightest accent. It doesn’t sound like Ohio to me.”

“I’m homogenized. A little Midwest twang, a little New England, a little French and Italian, all mixed up with a teaspoon of the lazy island lilt.”

Mackenzie was getting more out of him in five minutes than Sabrina had in a week. But then, very little of their time together had been spent talking. Just staring, at least for her part. “Mackenzie and I grew up in suburban New York.”

“Scarsdale.” Mackenzie nodded. “Our parents are still there.”

“What do you mean still?” Sabrina said, even though Kit was watching and listening.

“Again, then.” Mackenzie explained for Kit’s benefit. “Mom and Dad divorced when I was twelve and Sabrina was thirteen. They remarried six weeks ago.”

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “It’s a suburban American fairy tale.”

“Sounds like it to me.” Kit stood and took their plates. “I have to go back to work.”

“Too late,” Sabrina said, giving him a saucy chin tilt and a flick of her hair. “You’ve already been reported to management.”

Kit bent closer. “Then management will have to punish me.”

She was riveted by his eyes. “Fifty lashes with a limp cannoli.”

“Kinky,” he said, and walked away.

“Nice meeting you,” Mackenzie called. She waited until he’d disappeared behind the steel porthole doors. “Hot damn.”

Sabrina slumped. “You see what I’m up against?”

“And you think that man doesn’t want you?”

“He hasn’t made a single overture.”

Mackenzie stared after Kit. “He looks like the type to go in for a slow, teasing seduction,” she said softly. “You’re so lucky.”

“Lucky? Does that mean you’re letting me out of our deal?”

Mackenzie gave a start. Her thoughts seemed far away. “Oh.” She looked across the table at her sister. “Umm, no.”

“How can I possibly resist him?” Sabrina said with a soulful moan.

“I already told you. Chocolate.”

“That makes no sense. I ate an entire chocolate dessert two minutes ago and I can promise you that Kit looks just as attractive to me.”

“You need to let the chocolate chemicals accumulate in your brain and bloodstream.”

“Huh?”

“Look at it this way. How did the chocolate make you feel?” Mackenzie dabbed her lips with the napkin. “It was a fabulous dish, by the way. Kit obviously knows his stuff.”

“That’s for sure.” Sabrina sat up with her hands in her lap, thinking of how she’d inhaled the pastry even though she’d never been a chocolate fiend. “I guess I feel sort of satisfied. Warm and happy. It’s not quite an all-out sugar rush, but the chocolate gave me an emotional boost.” Or maybe that was Kit, she thought. For a man who moved with a languid deliberation, being around him certainly zapped her with energy.

“Did you know there was a survey that said fifty percent of American women prefer chocolate to sex?”

“No way!” Sabrina gawked. “They’re obviously not having the right kind of sex.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re kidding me, Mackenzie. You made that up.”

“It’s true. I had to read lots of candy research for my old job.”

Sabrina was catching Mackenzie’s drift. “You are not suggesting that I feast on chocolate in place of sex.”

“Uh-huh. Pretty much.”

“Forget it.” Sabrina waved her arms like an umpire. “I’m outta here.” But she didn’t leave.

“What’s the alternative, Sabrina? Not only will you lose the bet and the ring, but you’ll go back to falling into one brief relationship after another. It’s your pattern.” Mackenzie put on her I’m-saying-this-for-your-own-good expression. There were times it was hard to believe she was the younger sister. “You see a guy, you fall in lust, you think he’s The One and a month later you’re on the phone to me complaining that he’s around all the time and you can’t breathe. Sound familiar?”

“Yeah.” Sabrina put her elbows on the table. “So?”

“The same thing will happen with Kit if you can’t control your craving.”

“I thought you said he’d go for the slow seduction.”

“That doesn’t mean he can resist if you go nuts one night and corner him in the kitchen to act out some crazy apron-stripping fantasy. He is a man, after all. It’s up to you to say no.”

Sabrina peered between her arms, head in hands. “I was never any good at that.”

“That’s why you turn to chocolate. Remember, I’ve seen the research. The chemicals that chocolate produces in your body are similar to the pleasurable effect you get from making love. Endorphins are released. Seratonin and caffeine and phenyethylamine—something like that. They’re natural opiates.” Mackenzie smiled. “To be fair, some scientists say you’d have to eat chocolate by the pound to truly be affected, but…whatever. I’m sure it would help a little.”

Sabrina dropped her hands. She was skeptical. “So every time I get an urge to suck on Kit’s tongue I should pop a Hershey’s Kiss instead?”

“Right. What could it hurt?”

“My dental bill. And pretty soon I wouldn’t be able to fit into Dominique’s dresses.”

“Pooh. You could stand to put on a few pounds.”

Sabrina ate, but her metabolism was high and she burned the calories off, unlike Mackenzie, who was prone to curling up on the couch with a good book and a bag of butterscotch candies.

“Are you game?” Mackenzie prompted.

Sabrina shrugged. She had nothing to lose. “I suppose. But you’re going in for that haircut as soon as I can wangle another appointment with Costas.”