Page 59 of Enticing Her Love

“We’ll never know about that,” her father said. “But there’s one thing I know for sure. It took that long for our sweet Daphne and our little love Hadley to find Jock, and those beautiful girls fueled his heart in a way nothing ever had, and in the end that is what led him here.”

“For what it’s worth,” Daphne said softly, “I wish I had all the years with Jock that Hadley and I missed out on.”

“Me, too, babe,” Jock said.

“Jock and Daphne are righter than rain in a drought,” their grandmother said. “So you can rest assured that in this complicated, wonderful life we’re given, whatever is supposed to happen will happen, and it will happen when it’s supposed to, no matter how hard you fight against it.”

And just like that, Sutton’s thoughts returned to Flynn.

Chapter Seventeen

BY MIDMORNING TUESDAY, Flynn had worked his way through most of the emails and phone messages that had come in while he was out of the office, he’d met with the post-production/editorial team, who caught him up to speed on previously filmed episodes that were in various stages of production for upcoming shows and had handled about fifty other things. Including answering dozens of questions about his trip from just about everyone he saw. He didn’t mind sharing his experiences, but he couldn’t think about the trip without mentally veering into dangerous territory. The beautiful subject of which was standing at the break room counter with her back to him, wearing a sheer white blouse, a figure-hugging tan skirt, and high heels that made her legs look impossibly long.

He wasn’t surprised to see Sutton pouring hazelnut creamer into her coffee, but after how many times they’d ravaged every inch of each other, he’d thought the bone-deep ache for her would have dissipated by now.

Man, was he wrong.

She took a sip, assumably unaware of his presence, and tipped her face up, making a humming-moaning sound. He had the urge to slide his arms around her waist and whisper dirty promises until she was wet and needy, and then fulfill every single one of them.

Grinding his back teeth against those troublesome thoughts, he walked into the room. She was standing in front of the cabinet where they kept their mugs and glasses. When he stepped behind her, their body heat instantly filled the gap between them. His chest brushed her shoulder as he reached over her to grab a glass. “Thinking about me again, Steele?”

She turned, that familiar thrum of heat now a raging inferno. Pink cheeks be damned, a challenge gleamed in her gorgeous eyes. “Dream on, Braden.”

Back on the same page. Fucking perfect.

Had she always clutched her coffee mug so tightly between both hands, or was she struggling against their new normal, too? He tried not to overthink that, and noticed her white-tipped fingernails were freshly polished. He wondered what color she’d chosen for her toenails, and immediately gave himself hell for thinking about it. “I see Glamour Girl is back. You sure cleaned up nicely.”

“Thanks. It felt amazing to be pampered. Not that our Ecuadorian spa didn’t have its own benefits.” Their gazes locked, and there was no escaping the flash of lust in her eyes.

Those moments are etched in my mind, too. “They’re once-in-a-lifetime memories. I’m glad we have them.”

She lifted her chin in the way she did when she was steeling herself against something. After how close they’d gotten, he hated being on the other side of it again, but he knew they were doing the right thing.

“Me too.” She glanced at the doorway. “Have you seen Karen?”

“Not yet. Have you?”

She shook her head. “Andi said she had meetings out of the office this morning.” Her expression turned serious, and she lowered her voice. “I’ve been thinking. We probably shouldn’t tell her there was only one tent. It’ll just raise questions.”

“I hadn’t planned on mentioning it.”

“Good.” She exhaled with relief.

He didn’t like her feeling uneasy about what they’d done. He wanted to tell her as much, but if he broached that subject, he’d have a hard time keeping the rest of his feelings to himself. Instead, he tried to bridge the gap with a safer subject. “I’m about to start reviewing the footage. Do you want to join me and check it out?”

“Really? I never get to see the raw footage of our shows.”

“We don’t usually have to film without a crew, either. Special circumstances call for special exceptions.”

“Then, yes, definitely. I’m anxious to see it.”

As they headed down the hall, he fought the urge to put his hand on her back and say all the things he felt. In his office, he moved a second chair in front of his computer and started the video, revisiting the airstrip for takeoff. To his surprise, as they watched, the tension fell away, and soon they were joking about the never-ending rain and their glamorous hotel suite.

As the plane descended on-screen, Sutton said, “When I saw the tiny clearing where he was going to land, I was sure we were goners.”

“Really? You hid it so well.”

She bumped him with her shoulder. “Thank you for helping me through that.”