Leanne Banks - For the Love of Sin

“Okay,” the boy said in a surprised voice. “Thanks.”

Senada looked at Troy curiously. “This sounds like your apartment. You’re ready to go back to Tennessee?”

Troy wasn’t certain he heard hope or disappointment in her voice. “No chance, Sin. I’m headed back to that crappy hotel.” No AC. No fan. Stifling a groan, he paused. “Unless you’d like to show a little compassion and hospitality and let me stay with—”

“Sorry, no,” she managed quicker than lightning, but Troy would have sworn she found it tough to refuse him.

He chuckled. The woman was begging him to leave at every turn. Her eyes, however, seemed to be begging for something else. He was obviously suffering from delusions. “Had to try. I’ll see ya later, Sin. Lisa sent some baby pictures and told me to show them to you.”

All wide eyes and tousled hair, she clasped her hands tightly together. “Okay.”

Troy narrowed his eyes. She’d looked upset earlier, and she didn’t look any happier now.

Knowing she couldn’t care less about his sleeping arrangements, he deliberately misunderstood her concern. “Hey,” he said, chucking her gently under the chin, “don’t worry about me. It’s a terrible motel and there’s no air conditioner and I’m lonely, but I’ll be okay.”

She rolled her eyes and swatted at his hand. “You know, it’s almost what you deserve. Are you sure you don’t have a split personality? It amazes me how a complete jerk could do something so, so—” she glanced at Rocky, then back at Troy “—nice.”

Troy grinned. “Just a backwater country boy keeping you on your toes.”

After Troy got the Horge family settled in to his apartment and tossed most of his belongings in the backseat of his car, he noticed Senada’s light was still on. Reluctant to face the hot little motel room that was waiting for him, he rang her doorbell.

He heard footsteps, followed by a long pause. She was probably trying to decide whether to open the door or not. He mugged for the peephole.

The door whisked open, and Senada stood there in a long silky-looking white robe holding a bowl of cereal. At that moment, he coveted both the body beneath the robe…and the cereal. His stomach growled.

“Hello to you too,” she said.

“Noticed your light was still on,” he said, edging forward.

She looked at him and sighed. “Rocky’s family all moved in to your apartment?”

“Yeah, and I didn’t ever get those burgers you promised. It’s hell being a hero.”

Senada sighed again and held the door open with her shoulder. “Okay, come on in. Rice cereal or frosted corn flakes?”

“Both,” he said, walking through the doorway toward the dining room. “Just give me the box. I’ll eat the cardboard.”

She chuckled and poured a big bowl combining both cereals, then added milk. “Here. What’s Rocky’s mother’s name? I thought I’d take a bag of groceries over tomorrow.”

“Maria, and she’d really appreciate it. They’ve got a few things to tide them over. Stuff I bought a few days ago.” Glancing at Senada, he recalled his conversation earlier that day with Lisa and fished the photos out of his shirt pocket. “Take a look at the triplets. I swear, those babies change every day.”

Senada reached for the pictures and smiled. “They’re adorable. Oh, and Lisa cut her hair.” She squinted her eyes. “Is Brick losing his?”

Troy laughed. “No, that’s just a shadow, but I’ll pass on your observation to him. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”

She met his gaze and arched her eyebrow. “He never liked me.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

She shot him a look of disbelief.

“More terror that you were going to find someone for Lisa before he could get his stuff together.”

“He almost lost her.”

“Yeah, but look at ’em now.”

Senada sat in the chair next to him and shook her head. “It’s hard for me to imagine having a family like yours. I don’t think I could handle it. Do you ever feel stifled?”

Troy thought about that as he crunched his cereal. “Every once in a while, but we’ve had to hang together during some tough times.” He glanced at her and wondered about the pensive expression on her face. “What about your family?”

“We’re a lot more independent. My mother died when I was pretty young, and my father and I aren’t close.”

“So what do you do at Christmas?”

She tossed him a chiding look. “I’m not alone unless I want to be.”

He’d bet she wasn’t. Troy allowed his gaze to fall over her again. Her breasts made his hands itch to touch them, her waist was small, her hips slim but well curved. And her legs, well, he thought, looking at the bare tanned limbs, her legs were designed to shred a man’s restraint. But it wasn’t so much the physical package that set Sin apart from other women. It was her attitude. She was the most natural, unselfconsciously sexy woman he’d ever met.

Taking another bite, he shook off his useless thoughts. “I can’t even begin to comprehend a holiday without too much food, too many kids and an argument over who gets the last piece of pie.”

She grinned at him. “And since you were the youngest brother, I bet you didn’t get that last piece of pie very often.”

“Until lately,” he conceded, then switched the subject back to a troubling thought. “I know you’re as independent as they come, but don’t you ever wish you had someone to unload on?”

A lost expression flickered across her face, quickly replaced by a trace of irritation. She stood and took both their bowls to the sink. “It’s all about what you learn. You learned to depend. I learned not to.”

He followed her to the kitchen. “Sounds like a complete lack of supervision. I can just imagine what kind of trouble you got into when you were a teenager. Now, if you’d been a Pendleton, we would have locked you in your—”

She turned around and tilted her head, her brown eyes meeting his. “But I’m not a Pendleton. What are you after, Troy?”

“Answers.” Damp from her shower, her hair left a dark spot on the shoulder of her robe. He’d waited just about as long as he’d wanted to to touch her, so he lifted a strand of her hair. Slippery as satin, like her robe.

Her gaze assessed him. “And that’s all, right?”

He didn’t let go of her hair, and he didn’t back off from her gaze. “I’ve been told I have the sensitivity of a block of wood.”

Senada bit her lip to stifle a chuckle. “I can see that.”

“I’ve been told that I don’t know when to stop.” He slipped his broad fingers through her hair to the back of her head.

Senada let him. Later, she would have to figure out why. “I can agree with that,” she murmured. She still thought he was going overboard, but he really had the most incredible violet eyes.

“And I’ve been told I’m brutally honest.” He deliberately looked at her mouth, then back at her eyes. “It wasn’t meant as a compliment.”

She resisted the urge to lick her lips but couldn’t produce a quick retort.

“I’m gonna be brutally honest right now. You make me curious, Senada. Sometimes I wonder if you’re a witch. Sometimes I’m sure you’re just a scared little girl in a woman’s body.”

Senada flinched. That last observation was too close for comfort. “I’m not—”

He lowered his head, blocking out the light and cutting off her protest. “Seems like the more I learn about you…” He skimmed his mouth against her lips in a taunting movement, and she felt his thighs brush against hers as he stepped closer. “The more I want to know.”

His hand cupped the small of her back. He drew her body flush against his and took her mouth.