Sweet as Sin (3 page)

“Nope. Andy said you were on a pre-wedding diet.” She dumped a container of blueberries into the bowl. “I’m making fruit salad instead.”

“Your sister is punishing me because she

gained two pounds. She’s the one on a wedding diet. Makes no sense to me. I like her ass as it is.”

Livvy gripped the paring knife and starting coring strawberries. “White is not a forgiving color. She just wants to be beautiful for you.”

“Too late,” Tow breathed as Andrea walked into the yard. His face lit up. Livvy almost sighed until she realized he was ogling the tray Andrea carried. Two dozen huge strawberries dipped in 24

Sweet as Sin

dark chocolate captured his attention. “Oh God, those look good.”

Andrea tore her eyes from the dessert and glared at him. “No way. If I can’t have any, neither can you.”

“Andy, I love you but you are not keeping me from chocolate.” Tow snagged the largest berry and shoved it in his mouth. “Go eat a sugar-free Popsicle.”

“You are so not sleeping over tonight.” Andrea smacked the tray on the table and turned with a huff.

Tow grinned, lowering to the seat across from Livvy. “So I hear your new neighbor’s joining us tonight.”

Livvy stayed silent and concentrated on ripping the tiny green heads off berries.

The smile vanished. “I take it that’s a sore subject. Don’t you like him?”

“She likes him too much.” Andrea giggled, coming back out of the house with a red Popsicle.

“He makes her engine purr.”

The knife hit the table with a sharp crack.

“Stop that!” She winced at her juvenile protests.

Andrea ticked off items on her fingers. “He had your bra in his pants, jumped you this morning and bought you a battery. You at least owe him a blow job.”

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“Andy.” The word ground from Livvy’s throat like cut glass. Tow swallowed his snicker.

“Livvy, I’m not blind, you know.” Andrea

smiled like a fish-fed cat. “The air sizzles between you two. You just better keep hold of that knife so you can cut through the sexual tension when John gets here.”

“Maybe I should just wait until you go to sleep and cut that ponytail of yours off.”

Andrea grabbed the long strands protectively.

“You leave my hair alone. You even said he was sweet this morning. Admit it, Liv, you like him.”

“I don’t know him enough to like him,” Livvy spat. “A person can be sexy as hell and still be a complete ass. Maybe he won’t even show up tonight.”

“He will,” came a deep baritone from behind her.

Livvy bit her tongue and her eyes closed in mortification. “Murphy, how long have you been standing behind me?”

“Long enough to know you think I’m sexy as hell.”

She stood on unsteady legs to grab the bags of Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples. “You must have missed the complete ass part.”

A lust-drunk gaze slid down her body and

came to rest on her hips. “Trust me, I noticed the ass.”

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Sweet as Sin

Livvy ignored him and sat, blowing away a slow breath. Tow went to flip the burgers and Andrea supervised, mainly protecting his butt with her hands in case some stray spark defied physics. John folded into the seat across from Livvy.

He cocked his head, never dropping his gaze from her face. “Looks good enough to eat.”

She arched her brow. “Okay, where’s the nice guy from this morning? This creepy flirting thing you have going again? Not working. Give it a rest.”

John leaned his arms on the table. “Say yes first.”

“Yes to what?”

“Going out with me.”

“That would be a ‘hell no’ not a yes.” Livvy snorted and cut into a bright green apple.

“Why not? You don’t have a boyfriend or he’d have been the one you called to jump you.”

“I didn’t call
you
, either.” Livvy dropped the last green-skinned apple chunks in the bowl and discarded the core before picking up a red one. A sharp crack sounded when her blade sank into the crisp fruit. “And I’ll pay you back whatever you spent on the battery but I am not dating you.”

“What are you afraid of, Livvy?”

The knife stilled deep in the apple-meat. “Not you, if that’s what you’re implying.”

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“Of course not.” John smirked. “I’m harmless.”

“I’m not.” The apple split cleanly down the center.

A simmer ignited in his eyes, a blue-hot flame that shouldn’t have warmed her but did. His low whisper turned the heat up. “I believe you. Makes the temptation even greater.”

She handed him an apple. “Satisfy that

temptation elsewhere.”

John took the apple and chuckled. “‘And so Eve gave to Adam and he did eat, and their eyes were opened and they saw that they were naked.’

An apple started it all, you know—man’s

downslide into the tempting sins of the flesh.” He kept his eyes locked with hers and bit down. The crunch vibrated through Livvy with an electric current. It sizzled as his tongue slicked out to catch a stray drop of juice. “Sweet…as sin.”

“About done with the salad?” Andrea jerked Livvy from the sensual haze by plopping a casserole dish onto the table. Behind her, the first of the neighbors trickled into the yard.

Livvy hopped off the bench and thrust the paring knife at her sister, refusing to look at John.

“You finish the apples. I want to talk to Helen.”

She rushed toward the Sorensons, taking time to play ultra-Martha-Stewart-hostess. She directed potato salad and side dishes to the table and beer and sodas toward the coolers. Everyone

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Sweet as Sin

commented on the Cosgroves’ house finally getting bought and wondered about their new neighbor.

The smile on Livvy’s lips quivered. She dared look back at the table. John laughed and talked with neighbors as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Then he raised his chin and caught her stare. Desire hissed. It coiled through her like a snake up a tree, mesmerizing and tempting. No serpent had ever been as alluring.

She jerked away and greeted more people. She focused on everyone’s comfort, making sure there were plenty of cold drinks and enough plastic forks. She refused to look in John’s direction.

Refused to look at the firm, calloused hands that could tantalize her skin. Refused to look at the strength that rippled the muscles in his arms when the men moved the heavy table farther under the shade tree. Refused to look at the odd silver strand tucked in his ebony hair that begged to be fingered. Nope, she refused to look.

But she saw. It made her damp and soft and hot in all the wrong places.

All evening she’d been trying to ignore him but she failed in spectacular fashion. She wouldn’t meet his eyes, but watched every move he made.

She didn’t speak directly to him but licked her lips as he turned away. Every time he looked at her, Inez Kelley

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her face snapped away and a slight blush pinkened her cheeks. If she ignored him any more, they’d be lovers by daybreak.

John sucked in a deep lungful of relaxation.

Evening started to fall. The first stars peeked through the deepening blue sky and the wind carried the hushed sound of leisure. Only a few remained in the backyard, couples mostly, who hadn’t hurried off with young children to the downtown carnival. They sat on blankets or in lawn chairs, waiting for the promised fireworks display. He listened with half an ear as Bill Truman bragged about his hybrid roses and Ethel Lowenstein complained about the Sorensons’

poodle. Both elderly, they welcomed him with old-fashioned grace but sniped at each other like rivals.

So far, everyone seemed open and friendly.

The day’s humidity bled away and left a

pleasantly cool evening. Time slowed to a peaceful crawl and, for once, the peace didn’t smother him. John’s chest warmed. Did

contentment smell like burgers and breezes? He’d never known it so he wasn’t sure.

Through the kitchen window, a blur of auburn hair captured his gaze. She’d barely sat all evening, working nonstop to make sure everyone had a nice outing. Her friends lounged in well-fed comfort and she was inside, still working. He 30

Sweet as Sin

sipped his beer and eyed the last remaining dessert before pushing away from the table. The time for playful ignoring was over.

The sliding door whispered in its track and he stepped into the darkened room. Livvy stood at the sink running water over the utensils. She hadn’t turned on the lights and the rapidly fading sun left the room in shadows. Her spine stiffened when he stepped close, his chest barely touching her back.

“Need any help?”

“No, thanks, I’m almost done.”

He set the tray aside and leaned his hands on either side of her body, bringing his mouth to her ear. She froze with her wrists buried in the water.

Ginger curls brushed his lips. “Did you even slow down long enough to eat tonight?”

“I ate some, here and there.”

“Hmm.” His low hum sped her breathing. He plucked the last strawberry from the tray. “You fed everyone else, now let me feed you.”

He gripped the green leaves and held it inches from her mouth. “Last one, all for you.”

“Murphy, I don—”

“It’s a strawberry, Livvy, that’s all.”

Slowly, she rose up on her toes. Her rounded ass skimmed his groin. He deliberately held the dessert a fraction too high for comfort, forcing her to tilt her head back to take a bite. The long line of Inez Kelley

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her neck shone like cream. The soft tug of her teeth on the fruit and the slight smack of her lips on the chocolate tightened his stomach. The oversized berry was too much for one bite and the light pink nestled in the dark coating thrust his thoughts to other paler, softer flesh he had yet to discover but desperately wanted to taste.

“Mmm.”

Her purring pleasure stroked a growing need inside him. “Can I have a bite?”

“Oh…yes.” Her quavering voice was low,

expectant.

“You take another first.” This time, he brought the berry to her mouth, brushing his thumb along her lip as it closed around the chocolate. “Again.”

“But there won’t be any le—”

“Again, Livvy.”

She nibbled the last of the dessert from his fingers. John tossed the leafed cap to the counter and cupped her throat, feeling her swallow, feeling the silky brush of her hair against his cheek. He let his hand trail down her neck. With one slow finger, he touched the strap of her tank and slid it down her shoulder. A thin black strap of a bra followed. The memory of the see-through number he’d seen hanging on the line rushed desire through him.

He bent and held his lips just above the curve of her neck. “This is what I want to taste.”

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She swallowed hard but didn’t move. His lips barely landed on her skin. She still smelled of frosting, and his tongue flicked out to taste her.

Sugar. Sugar and salt.

Fast and loud, her breath echoed in the room.

She tilted her head a fraction, and it was enough encouragement for him. He smiled against her neck. The fight was over. He’d won and his reward would be sugar-sweet. A sense of victory swelled through him.

John bit her. Her sharp gasp pierced his gut and hardened his cock. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he cupped her throat and sucked before nipping her again. Livvy’s body curved into his, hips thrusting back into his growing erection. She fit perfectly against him and a primordial satisfaction claimed him. She would be a

fantastically responsive lover. His tongue traced the bite mark before traveling up her jaw.

Triumph sang in his gut as her eyes closed in surrender.

A submissive whimper passed her lips. She turned, twined her arms around his neck and kissed him. Her mouth was warm and pliant under his. He delved deeper than he intended, pulling her closer, starving for more.
God, she’s sweet…

She tasted like forbidden things. Things he yearned for and rarely received. Like chocolate birthday cake and strawberry ice cream. He Inez Kelley

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preferred spicy to syrupy delights. But she was that, too. Red Hots, the candies that burned your mouth but tasted so good you couldn’t stop eating them. Livvy was red hot.

John took her mouth until they were both

breathless. He grew dizzy on a sugar high. He slipped a hand under her shirt hem. Heated skin met his palm.
Hot, sweet sugar. Red Hots.
She arched her back, planting her breasts firmly into his chest. Her painful tug on his hair jacked his hunger higher.

Light flooded the room, shining harshly into his closed eyes, and he forced his mouth from hers.

Livvy buried her face in his shoulder.

Andrea grimaced and embarrassment colored her cheeks. The light snapped off. “Sorry. Just wanted to pee before the fireworks start. Don’t let me interrupt.”

She darted through the kitchen and Livvy

pulled her hands from his neck. The spell had been broken. John tightened his hold but she pushed lightly at his chest.

“Stop. This is a mistake.” The raw desire in her voice belied her words and he feathered her brow with soft kisses. Rather than step away, she leaned closer to his mouth. “Murphy, stop. We can’t do this. We’re neighbors, this isn’t smart.”

“Geography shouldn’t stop this, Livvy. It feels too good.” He let his mouth play down her cheek.

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On his biceps, her hands tightened. She raised her head. Those vivid eyes captured his, and his throat clenched.

“And what happens if it falls apart? Then we have to see each other every day. It’s too risky, Murphy.”

He moved away. Just one step but enough to make his skin yearn for the touch of her body. He couldn’t force his arms totally away from her sides. He burned for her, but she had a right to know this wasn’t going to be some grand love affair. She had to know it. There could be no other way.

“Liv, I’m not looking for forever. I’m not interested in long term or marriage or anything like that. Just you and me, spending time together, having fun, and maybe getting naked. No

promises and no heartaches. We could be good together. And when it’s done, it’s done, no harm no foul.”