Chasing Temptation (18 page)

“I need a favor,” she said.

“Anything.”

The word she expected the man to say, because she rarely asked him for anything.

Sylvia brought her knees up to her chin on the rental bed and dialed the number. The walls had movie posters plastered on them.
When Harry Met Sally
.
The Philadelphia Story
.
50 First Dates
.
Roxanne
. Last but not least,
Gone With The Wind
. The last one cost her a pretty penny, but it allowed her to feel at home. The curtains were some sappy, pastel floral. Despite it all, the one bedroom rented apartment felt empty.

The person she called finally picked up. “Good morning, Ms. Sylvia.” Nate's mother answered cheerfully.

“I see you are still in love with caller I.D.”

“Best invention since fuzzy socks. You know those church ladies love to gossip. Some days I'm not in the mood. They can go on and on. Can't tell them to shut up and mind their own business. At their age, they don't have any. Plus, if I'm ornery I might miss something good.”

Sylvia smiled, and the ache in her chest dimmed, pushing back how she felt living in the rental again. A single room. A single bed. Alone. She pulled the comforter up to her chin. “As usual, I'm calling to give you my update on Nathan.”

“The boy won't tell me a thing. I appreciate it. What's his latest venture? He's quite closed mouth about it.”

Sylvia frowned. “He is? I thought he would have given you the basic details.”

“Nope. Keeping it close like a government secret.”

“He told me today it's our last job, so that may be why. Doesn't want to jinx it.”

“He's told you it's the last job?”

“Yes, and promised after this I won't have to work another day in my life. He plans to sell the stores. Really, to sell the name he's made for himself.”

Nate's mother harrumphed. “I keep telling him it's not necessary. He thinks when he's rolling in money he can finally convince me to move. My husband’s death didn't scare me out of this neighborhood. Nothing is going to convince me to move out of the home I made.”

Her heart ached. A home. “You know he's stubborn.”

“As a mule. Makes me proud he has a strong head on his shoulders.”

She managed to smile. “And frustrated because he never seems to listen.”

The other woman went silent. “You don't sound too excited for a woman who never has to work again in her life.”

Jeremy’s face, voice, hell, everything about him saturated the room. He’d only come to her rented apartment twice, but Sylvia could still see him loitering about the room. Moving things to his liking. Staring at the posters on the wall and suggesting Back to The Future. He claimed it was the best underrated romance.

“It's touch and go at the moment. The woman who owns the store isn't budging.”

Another silence. This one longer. “It's more than that. You sound unhappy. A job doesn't put that kind of tone in a woman's voice.”

Sylvia had lost her own mother years ago. That was why this duty never felt like one. “No, but I'm here to tell you about your son.”

“Nonsense. After all these years I consider you a daughter. You've taken care of my son and have been my eyes and ears when he kept me at a distance. If something is weighing on your heart, then tell me.”

The soft words, the quiet assurance, broke Sylvia. Sad really how easy it was to turn her into a blubbering mass of whine. She told the other woman everything. From the day she got here to when she broke things off with Jeremy.

“Has Nate been bullying you?”

She laughed even though tears had started to clog her nose. She could almost imagine the woman with her hands on her hips. “Not in the way you mean. He's... unbending.”

“I've been here on this Earth for a very long time. You're hurting right now, I can understand, but you need to forget about how my son is going to react. He'll come around eventually. If you're lucky, you find someone who knows the real you and loves you anyway.”

The last part made her breath catch. “Jeremy was right. I'm being a coward.”

“Well, you said it. I didn’t.”

Sylvia heard the smile in the woman's voice. She grabbed the box of tissues from the night stand and wiped her face. The box was half empty. “I hate it when he's right. He doesn't gloat like a normal person.”

“I'll do so on the next phone call. I will gladly remind you of my sage advice. Where are you guys, anyway?”

“Valley City. It's a nice, quaint town. You have to meet some of these people to believe they're real.”

The silence from Nate’s mother this time wasn't contemplative, and the older woman’s next words were strained. “Valley City.”

“What's wrong, Mrs. Craine?”

“Nothing. If he hasn't told you, I can't, but you need to be there for him, for me.”

Sylvia couldn't bring herself to say she would. She planned to get Jeremy, and if Nate wanted her to choose, she knew her boss and her friend would lose.

Nate waved to Brenda, who was watering her grass behind the picket fence. He started to whistle the theme to Andy Griffin. It didn't fit Valley City, but it fit the mood the town put him in. He nodded his head at Dani, who walked her dog every day at the same time. He could set his watch to the activity town.

He turned down Main Street, and the whistle got caught in his throat. Nate forced his feet to keep moving. Finally he slowed when he got to the front door and crouched down.

“Suzie,” the words forced their way through a tight throat. “What are you doing here?”

The dog roused awake at his voice. He put out his hand. Suzie sniffed first and then started licking his fingers. He used his free hand to untie the leash. The dog didn't try to break away, but Nate would have sworn he heard Suzie sigh deeply.

He glanced at the store next to his. Lynne's store doors were already open although it was only eight in the morning. All he had to do was walk through them. A simple action, but his legs weren't steady when he straightened then did just that.

Lynne stood at the far table, rearranging yellow roses. Each display had a different type of rose. He plucked a pink one out of its vase and walked toward her. An emotion he couldn't pinpoint passed behind her gaze. He swallowed and offered her the rose.

“Why?” The gruffness in his voice had been softened by emotion.

Her eyes glittered and he could only call it sadness. “Because I'm not made for this business thing. I can't separate our situation like you can. I'm not made that way. I plan to rip your heart out and hand it back to you. It makes me feel guilty as hell. I have a mountain of regrets, but I can't back down.”

She laughed without mirth and plucked the single-stem rose from his hand. “You thief.”

Lynne still buried her nose in the petals, taking a deep breath.

Nate couldn't seem to catch his own. She'd forgone hair gel again, and he hated that he missed her almost rebellious hair. Hated how her words seemed to dig themselves into him. The decision he had to make seemed so clear, but that choice was insane.

He breathed, “So getting me the dog was supposed to soften the blow of your next plan of attack?” Suzie buried her face in the crook of his arm and that softened him more.

“You guys need each other.” She patted Suzie’s head. “You won't ever say it. God forbid you show real emotion that isn't calculated.” Lynne stopped and sighed. “I don't want to fight today. How about dinner tonight?”

“Lunch,” he countered. “Since we both plan to rip the other person's heart out soon. Might as well go out to eat while we still like each other.”

A smile played at her lips. “I do sound maudlin, don't I?”

“Your dramatic flair is what has made this takeover interesting.”

“Just my dramatic flair?”

He stole a glance at her feet. Black. “And other things.”

She motioned for him to move closer. “Give me a kiss before everything changes.”

“Who is to say we have to change anything?” Nate questioned before he could actually think of what the words meant.

The words settled on him and then unsettled the shit out him because...Goddammit. They meant she did mean something and that meant he had gone over to the light side and lost his head and his heart. Nate knew what he had to do.

Shit.
Lynne would be so pissed when she found out.

Before he could do damage control, he dove headlong into the moment, leaning forward until their lips met. Hers were soft, and parted on a sigh. He took advantage of the vulnerable moment and let his tongue slide inside the warmth he'd gotten addicted to.

She pulled back. “You keep this up and there won't be any dessert after lunch.”

“I should get a dog bowl,” he said.

“Dog pillow, too.”

“I need a lot of stuff. Do you think the owner of the house will mind?”

“He's gouging the rich guy for rent every month. He brags about it every Friday at the local bar. He won't care if you have a throw-down party that destroys the interior of the house.”

He stole another kiss that left her smiling dreamily on the stool beside the cash register before he stalked out of Hart and Style. Suzie snuggled in deeper in his embrace. The subtle weight in his arm felt good. He headed down Main Street. The General Store had to have the basic essentials to get through the day. A couple stood farther down on the corner, locked in a kiss. A smile formed at the display, but it froze on his face when he saw the man and woman.

Nate's feet kept taking him closer to the couple until he was sure what his eyes were telling him.

“Sylvia?”

His right-hand woman sprang from Jeremy's arms, but then she moved back into his embrace.

She lifted her chin in the air. “Yes, Mr. Craine. Is there something you need?”

“Mr. Craine?” The formality stung more than the fact she hadn't told him the truth.

She'd hidden it from him. Friends, confidants, didn't keep things from each other. People who were close didn’t hide from or lie to each other. And weren’t they close? Despite his objections, didn't Sylvia know or at least suspect he had a relationship with Lynne?

Jeremy put out his hand for him to shake. Nate stared at the appendage for a moment and shook his head. He couldn't process the truth that the one woman he trusted for years didn't even consider him a friend.

“I'm going to be late opening,” he said. “You need to be at Craine’s Fashions on time. Do you think you can do that?”

Sylvia flinched. He couldn't soften his tone if he wanted to. His brain was still having trouble going through the influx of information. His right-hand woman was kissing a man who worked for Lynne at Hart and Style.

And Lynne hadn't told him either. He assumed their feelings were mutual, but she too had hid this from him. This was her small town and she knew everything that went on. She hadn't told him.

And still Nate ached for her. He made a sound of disgust, because he'd still do what he planned to do for her. And she didn’t trust him.

“That's all?” Sylvia said.

“For now,” his voice was cold enough to make an Alaskan shiver.

He glanced at Lynne's employee but couldn't bring himself to speak to the man yet. Turning with military precision, he walked across the street, not daring to look back, trying to staunch the irrational anger brewing just below his ribcage.

Here he was
cherishing
the dog Lynne had given him, and feeling for her what she didn't feel for him. He sighed, already prioritizing tasks and attempting—though failing—to not get mad at Lynne. It wasn't her fault how he felt. He'd deal with that later. First, he had to get his dog some essentials. Then he would deal with Sylvia. Not a moment before that.

And Lynne, well, he wouldn't deal with her until he could think rationally. She’d known and hadn't told him. She still saw him as some cold businessman. And that darkened the anger, gave it shape and roots.

No, he wouldn't see her today. No good would come if he saw her now.

*****

Lynne bit her lip to keep her mouth from dropping open when Jeremy held the door open for Sylvia. She perched herself on the stool behind the cash register. This story she had to hear.

Jeremy spoke first. “I need you to have sex with Nate so he won't fire my girlfriend.”

His girlfriend elbowed him. “That is not what we decided to say. I know he's attracted to her and all, but it doesn't mean it's vice versa.”

“I'm going to take this moment to be extremely flattered,” Jeremy said. “You're so in love with me you can't see anything else around you.”

“I'm so bad for your ego.”

“Probably, but I'm good for yours. Anyway, Lynne likes to take one for the team.”

She was amused until he said that. Her voice went sharp. “Do not call what Nate and I do as taking one for the team.”

Jeremy pseudo-winced and glanced at Sylvia. “I forgot. She's in love with him too.”

“You're what?” Sylvia directed the question at Lynne.

“I am not, and if I were, you don't have to look so scandalized.” Lynne put up her hands. “Um, I'm going to take a wild guess here that you want to tell Nate about you being a couple.”

They both looked away from her and then at each other, but Sylvia was the one to speak. “He caught us down the street. He had a dog.” Sylvia frowned. “Is that—”

Jeremy nodded. “Lynne caught Suzie and gave the dog to him.”

“And she's saying she's not in love?” Sylvia snorted. “That's head over heels—”

“My heart flutters every time I see you...” Jeremy said.

“Up to my neck in love,” Sylvia finished for Jeremy.

When they turned to Lynne again they both had a look of pity in their gazes.

She caught movement in the corner of her eye and sighed. “Gird your loins.”

Nate stalked into her store. “I thought I asked you to get Craine’s Fashions ready, Ms. Martin.”

It was a hot spring morning, but the man seemed to have brought in a cold breeze.
Hell burns cold.
Sylvia had the good sense to leave.

“I'll check the stock,” Jeremy said right after his girlfriend’s departure.