Page 55 of Enticing Her Love

Sutton: Yes!

Leni: Perfect. Enjoy your coffee and pampering.

Of course Leni had sent it.

Sutton: I am. Thank you!

She headed into town for her appointment, and a little while later her phone chimed when she was at a stoplight. Hope crept in again, despite her determination to slay that troublemaking emotion. She managed to will it away before grabbing her phone.

Jules: Hi! Do you have plans for lunch?

Jules made a habit of stopping by to see Sutton whenever she was in the area to meet with a distributor for her gift shop, but she didn’t usually give her notice.

Sutton: Just a date with my washing machine. Why? Are you going to be close by?

The light changed, and she went on her way.

THE COFFEE CARRIED Sutton through her nail appointment and her errands, but nothing distracted her from thinking about Flynn. After she finished putting away her groceries, she headed into the laundry room, where she’d dumped her filthy backpack last night. She checked her phone for the umpteenth time, telling herself she was looking for Jules’s reply, not checking to see if she’d missed a text from Flynn. It was true. Jules had never texted back. But that was typical for her youngest sister, always flitting from one thing to the next. Sutton envied Jules’s spontaneity, even if she sometimes left her hanging, because more often than not, Jules made everyone smile.

Unlike Flynn, who also hadn’t texted and was unknowingly frustrating her.

She turned on the washer and withdrew a handful of clothes from her backpack. As she tossed each one into the washer, she stopped cold at the sight of Flynn’s royal-blue shirt, remembering how he’d looked in it the morning after they’d first fooled around. The image of him crouched by the log where they’d purified water, looking ruggedly delicious with his hair hanging over his forehead, came rushing back to her. She closed her eyes, bringing the shirt to her nose, and inhaled his earthy scent. A pang of longing moved through her.

Her phone chimed, startling her from her reverie, and her hopeful heart weaved that chime and the shirt into a sign—only to deflate at the sight of Andi’s name on the screen. She definitely needed a distraction from thoughts of Flynn.

Or rather, to squash those thoughts altogether.

Andi: Can I stop by to drop something off? I only have a minute. I’m on my way to the eye doctor.

Sutton: Sure.

Andi and Dawn shared a townhouse in the same complex as Sutton. She tossed Flynn’s shirt into the washer with her other clothes and was emptying the rest of her things from her backpack when the doorbell chimed. She gathered her journal and toiletries, including the unopened butt wipes she’d decided not to use so as not to trick the viewers, dumped them into the laundry basket, and carried the basket with her to answer the door.

“Hi,” Andi said, looking cute in pale green skinny jeans, a white button-down, and a taupe cardigan. “I needed to see that you were alive and well with my own eyes.”

“It’s good to see you. Come in.” She set down the basket and hugged her.

“I can’t. I have to get to my eye appointment.” She held up a gift bag. “Dawn and I made you cookie-dough-stuffed brownies last night. We figured you might be having withdrawals.”

“You are the best! Thank you!” Sutton took the gift bag and hugged her. “You have no idea how much I fantasized about these while I was away.”

“You deserve them after surviving the rainforest and all that time with Flynn, which I want to hear all about, but I have to run or I’ll be late. See you tomorrow at the office?”

“For sure.” Sutton was nervous about seeing Flynn again, but she wasn’t about to share that with Andi. “Thanks again for the brownies. I’ll text Dawn to thank her.”

“Great. You should eat them all. You look like you lost weight.”

“Yes, Mom. See you tomorrow.” She waved, and as Andi headed back to her car, she closed the door. She carried the laundry basket into the kitchen and set it down beside the table so she could open the brownies. When she lifted the lid, the scent of freshly baked brownies had her practically salivating. She chose the biggest one and took a bite, closing her eyes to savor the taste as it melted in her mouth. She ate half of it before texting Dawn.

Sutton: Girl, you’ve outdone yourself. I was having withdrawals, and these brownies are to die for. Thank you for thinking of me.

She finished the brownie and was eating a second one when Dawn’s response rolled in.

Dawn: I’m glad you’re enjoying them. Andi told me about the last-minute change to the trip. She was worried sick about Flynn being a jerk to you. But you know how I feel. Jerk or not, sign me up for a rainforest getaway with that man, and I’m so there. She added three flame emojis.

Dawn had never made any bones about having the hots for Flynn. Jealousy gnawed at Sutton, but she couldn’t let on about it, even to her friend. It was too risky since Andi worked with them.

Sutton: Maybe you should bake him chontacuro-worm brownies.