Buch lesen: «The Chocolate Seduction»

Prologue

“SOME WEDDING,” Sabrina Bliss said to her sister. “I nearly lost it when the minister got to the ‘till death do us part’ part.” Mackenzie would understand what she meant.

“That’s why I pinched you!” Mackenzie tried to put on a scolding face, but warm laughter bubbled up instead. “It’s so rude to laugh in the middle of a wedding ceremony.”

Sabrina smiled, feeling oddly light and cheerful despite her doubts about the marriage. “You’ll notice I didn’t object, either.”

Mackenzie blinked. “Do you have objections?”

“Mmm…no, not really.”

“But you’re not optimistic.”

Sabrina tucked her fist beneath her chin, fingers tightening around the small velvet box in her palm. She should give it up, but…she just wasn’t sure about letting go.

“You know I don’t believe in fairy-tale endings,” she said.

Sabrina and Mackenzie had come out onto the balcony of the Fontaine Hotel to catch a quiet moment together, away from the reception. They’d found their newlywed parents, Charlie and Nicole Bliss, dancing beneath the starry sky on one of the brick paths of the hotel’s rose garden. Light and music spilled from the open French doors, dappling the scene with a particularly picturesque version of romance.

Bah, humbug, Sabrina thought, without much conviction. Her emotions were too close to the surface. Luckily she had plenty of experience in not letting them show.

Mackenzie was the opposite. And clearly a goner. She’d welled up throughout the ceremony, and now her gaze was pinned on their parents, her big dark eyes shining with hope.

A couple of months ago, Charlie and Nicole Bliss had confessed to their daughters that they’d never quite managed to fall out of love despite their divorce of long standing. They’d decided to give marriage another try. Sabrina and Mackenzie had been stunned. Aside from the occasional family Christmas dinner or birthday party, they hadn’t known that their parents were seeing each other. Naturally, Mackenzie found it all so touching and romantic. Sabrina wasn’t as ready to forget the perils of the rancorous divorce, even though it had taken place sixteen years ago, when she was thirteen. And she sure didn’t want to be around if the shrapnel started to fly again.

“Maybe it’s not a fairy-tale ending,” Mackenzie said softly. “Maybe it’s real.”

“Ha.” Sabrina raised a champagne glass to her lips. “When reality hits, I give them six months.”

Mackenzie wrapped a hand around her sister’s arm. She squeezed, making Sabrina wish she could take back her words. Mackenzie was a squeezer, a patter, a cheerer-upper. And a very good friend. They’d been apart for too long. Mackenzie was settled in New York City while Sabrina went wherever whim took her.

“You’re so cynical, Breen,” she said, reverting to the family nickname.

Did that mean they were a family again?

Sabrina shrugged. While she might have her doubts about her parents, Mackenzie was as reliable as a rock. The sisters had very different personalities, but they’d turned to each other for comfort after the divorce and had been close ever since, even when separated by thousands of miles.

“Look at the divorce statistics,” Mackenzie continued. “If half of all marriages fail, then Mom and Dad already have their divorce over and done with. This marriage is practically a sure thing.”

Sabrina scoffed. “Your numbers are skewed. I’d definitely double down on that bet.” She’d learned the lingo in Reno, where she’d once worked as a cocktail waitress after a stage magician had fired her for screaming bloody murder during a botched saw trick. “Here I thought logic was your strong suit.”

“This isn’t about logic. You’ve got to have faith.”

“Faith? How?”

Mackenzie gazed past the balcony to their parents. “Look at them. Tell me your heart doesn’t melt.”

Sabrina held the ring box in one hand and sipped champagne from the glass in the other, brooding over the sight of her parents exchanging whispers and kisses after all these years. They were a study in contrasts, much like their daughters. Charlie Bliss was tall and sandy-haired, prone to daydreaming and wild, irresponsible schemes. Nicole was as short, round and stable as Mackenzie, but not as gentle. She could be a bulldozer.

Sabrina truly wished them the best. But whatever faith she had had been left behind years ago, dug deep into the bottom of the backpack she’d lugged between their houses after the divorce.

Six months was generous, she decided. It wouldn’t be too much of a shock if they were arguing on the honeymoon cruise, when Charlie wanted to go para-sailing and Nicole chose to snorkel. Every little thing had once been a battle. The arguments were still familiar.

“Sure, they seem devoted,” Sabrina admitted. A spring breeze whipped up and stole the words “for now…” from her lips. Loose pink rose petals from the swags draped over the balcony railing scattered like confetti. Cream satin ribbons fluttered.

Below, Nicole’s delighted laughter rang out as Charlie removed the jacket of his tux and draped it over her shoulders. He used it to pull her toward his kiss.

Mackenzie sighed. “See that?”

Sabrina nodded, watching. Even her heart had melted…a little. Then the wind came again and she shivered in her whisper-of-silk slip dress. Ever practical and prepared, Mackenzie hooked an arm around Sabrina’s shoulders, sharing her pink cashmere wrap and her body warmth. Mackenzie was a home-and-hearth kind of girl. Sabrina was long and lean, built for running.

She was good at that. But then why was she still clutching the ring box so tightly?

Mackenzie stirred. “Doesn’t it make you think, Breen?”

“Think what?”

“Mom and Dad aren’t afraid to go for it. We shouldn’t be, either.”

Sabrina drew away. “What are you talking about? Love? Marriage? Me? Not on your life!”

Making a tutting noise, Mackenzie pulled off the wrap and arranged it around her sister. Her long hair covered her own shoulders like a cape. It was beautiful—waist-length, thick and wavy, the color of dark chocolate. She’d been wearing it in the same plain style since she was ten. “No, Sabrina. I mean change. Transformation, renewal, starting over—whatever you want to call it. Change would do us both good.”

Sabrina made a face. “It’s my policy to avoid anything that will do me good. And I like my life the way it is.”

Mackenzie’s brows went up. “Do you really?”

“Yes, really.”

“I remember a certain 3:00 a.m. phone call—”

“You swore you wouldn’t use that against me. It was no more than a bad breakup rant. I’d already done the sympathy margarita thing with my girlfriends. I was in the middle of the tearing-up-photos-and-freaking-long-distance stage.”

“Now, Sabrina, you were with the last guy for almost an entire winter. It was more than just another failed relationship. You’re used to those. If you weren’t hurt, you wouldn’t have packed up and flown to Mexico the very next day.”

“I’m used to doing that, too,” Sabrina pointed out.

Mackenzie got a stubborn look on her face. “Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean you like it. I distinctly remember that before the breakup you were wondering if it wasn’t time to settle down and start a real career.”

Sabrina hesitated. Mackenzie was right. Lately she’d been nagged by the feeling that she’d been a gypsy for long enough—continually moving from city to city, job to job, one boyfriend to the next. All that had gotten her was a lot of experience, an address book full of crossed-out names and a Mr. Wrong in nearly every state.

She was ready for a change—a smart one, this time.

“What about you?” she challenged Mackenzie. “I know you’re the good sister and all, but there’s room for improvement in your life, too. How long have you been in a holding pattern with Mr. Dull? And hasn’t your boss at Regal Foods been promising you a promotion to executive in charge of jawbreakers and Gummi Bears for, I don’t know, forever and a day?”

Mackenzie’s mouth pursed. “You haven’t been keeping up. I was promoted nearly a month ago, when you were jet-skiing in Mazatlan.”

“Uh, wow. That’s fabulous. Congrats, and all that.” Sabrina wondered how her sister stood it, being so steady and reliable all the time. She really ought to offer the family’s heirloom ring to Mackenzie, except that…

“And how is Mr. Dull?” Sabrina asked.

“His name is Jason Dole. He’s—”

“A deep snooze. A dead bore.”

“You’re wrong. He might not be up to your Danger Boy standards, but he’s a good guy.”

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “There’s that word again. Good. The kiss of death.”

“Not for me. We’re alike. We get along.”

“You wouldn’t be talking change if all you wanted was to ‘get along.”’ Ever since the divorce had turned their world upside down, Mackenzie had been resistant to change. She’d lived in the same apartment since college, worked at the same candy company as she slowly worked her way toward a position as the top Tootsie Roll. She had to be as tired of routine as Sabrina was of airports and train stations.

“Look,” she said, nudging Mackenzie toward the railing again. Charlie and Nicole had continued to kiss. Aside from the slight ew factor—this was their middle-aged parents, after all—the couple’s affection was enviable. “Tell me you have that much passion with Jason and I’ll gladly dance at your wedding.” And even surrender the ring.

“I can’t.” The admission came too fast. Mackenzie wasn’t nearly as resistant as Sabrina had expected.

“Well, then, there you go.” Sabrina cocked her head. Charlie and Nicole were still kissing. She leaned over the railing and yelled, “Hey! You kids down there. Getta room, why don’tcha?”

Her parents broke apart, looking around in surprise. When they spotted their daughters up on the balcony, they laughed and waved, calling hellos.

Sabrina lifted her glass to them, then drained the remaining champagne in one swallow. “Mackenzie—I’ve got it. You and I need to switch lives.”

“Oh, no. I’m not cut out for changing boyfriends with the seasons. And I can’t roller-skate.” Sabrina’s latest temporary job was as a roller-skating waitress in a fifties-theme drive-in restaurant in St. Louis, a city she’d chosen by poking her finger at a map in a travel agency’s window.

“But we do need to make changes,” Mackenzie went on. She took a breath. Stuck out her chin. “I will if you will.”

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. “What did you have in mind?” It wasn’t like her sister to be reckless, so she was forced to be cautious in response. One way or another, they always balanced each other out.

“For your part, you’ll settle down in one city. Sign a real lease, not a month-by-month.”

That wasn’t so bad. “You have to break up with Mr. Dull.”

Mackenzie nodded. “I can do that. If you get a job—a job you like enough to stick with for at least a year.”

“An entire year…” Sabrina gulped, then leveled a finger at Mackenzie’s round face. “Fine, but you have to quit the candy company.”

“Quit Regal Foods? Why? I told you how I just got that big promotion.”

“You’ve always talked about running your own fancy candy store. I know you’ve been saving for it. Why not crack open your nest egg? There’s no better time to go for it.”

Mackenzie had paled, but she nodded. Reluctantly. “I’ll take the plunge if you promise to give up men,” she said, probably because she’d calculated that it was a safe offer which would never be accepted.

Celibacy? Sabrina thought. That was absurd! Impossible! But she retaliated without voicing her doubts. “Only if you cut your hair.”

“How short?”

“How long?” Sabrina said at the same time.

“Until you truly fall in love,” Mackenzie answered.

Sabrina’s fingers clenched on the ring box. “Then you go above the ears.”

The sisters stopped, momentarily dumbstruck by their careening conversation.

“My hair?” Mackenzie whispered, lifting a hand to stroke the dark length of it.

“No men?” Sabrina said, her voice faint and very far away. She couldn’t possibly. She loved men. She was addicted to testosterone.

Mackenzie’s eyes sharpened. “One year to change our lives. I say we shake on it!” And bam, she stuck out her hand without taking the usual week to think over the decision.

Sabrina wavered. “I…”

“Chicken?”

“Of course not. But what are the stakes?”

“The journey is its own reward.”

“Phooey. How about this?” Sabrina flung back the cashmere wrap and held out her hand, palm up.

Mackenzie froze, staring at the worn blue velvet box which was familiar to both of them. Finally she reached out to flip up the lid and reveal the diamond ring that Nicole Bliss had removed from her finger the day of her divorce and stuck way in the back of her jewel box, saying she never wanted to see it again. Now and then, when their mother wasn’t home, the sisters had sneaked in to take the ring out and try it on. Sabrina had wanted to believe that her attachment to the ring was the usual girlish attraction to shiny jewelry, but now that it was hers, she knew it meant more than that. Romance, love, marriage—which she wasn’t supposed to believe in.

“Grandmother’s diamond solitaire?” Mackenzie said, awed.

“Mom gave it to me before the ceremony.” Charlie had presented Nicole with a new ring to symbolize their fresh start, so she’d passed the heirloom on to her oldest daughter.

“But I’m not sure I want it,” Sabrina added hurriedly. “You’ll be getting married before me. I mean, I have no intention of ever getting—”

“No, no, you’re the oldest.” Mackenzie gazed longingly at the ring. “You should have it.”

“Ugh, I knew you’d be noble. That’s why I want to put it up as the prize in our bet. The one of us who most successfully changes her life in the next year gets to keep the ring. We’ll make the decision on our parent’s first anniversary—if they last that long.”

Mackenzie laughed in disbelief. “That’s so—so—”

“Sacrilegious? It’s only a ring.” Sabrina slapped the velvet box into Mackenzie’s palm, then impulsively tossed the champagne flute over the railing. “I’m not giving you time to change your mind. We have a deal!” They shook hands, clasping them around the treasured ring box. The sound of glass shattering on the patio below seemed appropriate. They were breaking out, starting off new. Just like—

Well, maybe not just like their parents, Sabrina thought when she glanced over the balcony. Charlie was laughing and Nicole was pulling out of his embrace, trying to get away so she could stalk over to the balcony and scold Sabrina for being so careless.

Typical.

But even as Sabrina watched, Charlie managed to grab hold of his wife’s hand. He kissed Nicole on the cheek, placating her with a few murmured words, then raised a fist, shaking it playfully at his daughters. “Which one broke the glass?” he called. “A shard might have flown up and nicked my beautiful bride’s face.”

Sabrina and Mackenzie looked at each other and grinned. “Sorry,” they sang in unison, standing shoulder to shoulder.

There was no good reason for it, especially with grown-up responsibility and a crazy celibacy promise looming in her future, but Sabrina’s spirits soared when she looked into her parents’ upturned faces. Charlie was balding and Nicole had lost the battle of the bulge. They had wrinkles and graying hair and fallen arches. There had been sieges when they’d threatened that widowhood was an even better solution than divorce, yet here they were, holding on to each other, trying again, their timeworn faces glowing with love. What courage they had.

Maybe, Sabrina thought, recognizing that the tiny part of herself that still believed in love wasn’t buried as deep as she’d thought. Maybe this time….