Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
The last step at the top of the wooden stairs squeaked loudly, and Lily winced. So much for slipping into Evie’s apartment unnoticed. She touched her lips, knowing she also looked like a woman who’d just had a screaming orgasm ripped from her. There was no hiding that either.
Rush’s hand was steady at her back as he guided her down the hallway, the warmth of his touch burning through her coat, or maybe that was just leftover heat.
And now here they were. The respectable sheriff of Northfield had insisted on escorting her to her door as if they hadn’t just ravaged each other in his kitchen.
Hard launch, apparently.
At Evie’s apartment door, Rush’s hand dropped, and they both stared at the big red velvet bow taped there.
“You okay?” Rush asked, eyeing her when she hesitated.
“Yep,” Lily said, staring at the door. “Just realizing you’ll probably have to meet my family at some point.” She made a face. “They can be… a lot. Sweet, but a lot.”
Rush grinned. “I’ve met them, remember?”
“Oh, I bet,” Lily muttered, just imagining the inappropriate things the aunts had probably said to Rush.
“Evie knows… by the way. About the cabin.” She shot him a glance.
“We don’t keep secrets from each other. It’s a twin thing, but everyone else thinks you dropped me off at a motel for the weekend. ”
He raised an eyebrow. “She knows how we spent the weekend?”
“She knows I wasn’t up there crocheting an afghan, if that’s what you’re asking,” Lily said dryly, while Rush let out a laugh.
“But no, not everything.” Evie’s teasing imitation of Rush’s ride my face, sweetheart echoed in her ears, and she felt a guilty flush staining her cheeks.
“Some things are better left private,” she said primly.
Rush laughed knowingly, but she took a deep breath, gathering herself to open the door just as another door across the hall opened. Evie’s new neighbor stepped out with a tall, leggy blonde in a tiny red dress and heels behind him.
The woman melted bonelessly against the man’s tall frame with a satisfied little hum. “You know where to find me, Lukey,” she purred, her finger trailing down his chest to the dark ink peeking just above the waistband of his low-slung jeans.
Her blond hair was tousled, and the strap of her dress slipped down over her shoulder, revealing a lacy black bra and a deep swell of cleavage.
Lily tried to keep her eyes down politely, but it didn’t matter. She had eyes only for one person, and it wasn’t her.
Luke Holloway’s jeans rode low enough to flash the cut lines of his pelvis.
His arms bracketed the woman easily, all the muscles flexing as the woman draped herself over him.
From what she’d picked up in the month since he’d moved into Evie’s building, Luke was all rough edges and undeniable charm, if the ladies coming out of his apartment over the last few weeks were anything to go by.
He dipped his head and nuzzled the woman’s neck, pulling a breathless giggle from the blonde that echoed down the hall before he let her go.
“I sure do. Night, Darcy,” Luke said, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, barefoot despite the chilly hallway, with a smear of red lipstick on the corner of his mouth. Utterly shameless.
The blonde giggled and swayed off toward the stairs. Lily straightened up and gave her a smile, but the woman seemed to be in some sort of sex haze and didn’t spare her a glance. Luke didn’t watch her go.
Instead, he aimed those charming blues straight at Lily.
“Evening, Miss Hart,” he drawled shamelessly, like he hadn’t just sent home a satisfied, glowing woman. He tipped his head at Rush. “Sheriff Callahan.”
Evie’s door swung open, and her sister appeared, her eyes immediately narrowing on Luke’s bare chest.
“Do you ever close that revolving door?” she snapped.
Lily glanced at her sister, a tad taken aback at the venom in her voice. Evie’s nose crinkled, and her lips pressed together into a thin white line. Lily did a double take, looking between the two of them. It wasn’t like her sister to be such a prude.
Luke’s grin only widened. “Hello, Lady Librarian. Didn’t know you kept such close tabs on my comings and goings.” He scratched his unfair abs lazily.
Color rose in Evie’s cheeks, though her glare stayed firmly in place. “The entire building can hear your comings and goings,” Evie snapped back. She spotted Rush, and her eyes widened. “Oh. Hello, Sheriff,” she greeted in a much different voice. “Lily.” There was a world of meaning in that Lily.
“Rush, this is my sister Evelyn, or Evie for short,” Lily said. “Evie, you know Sheriff Callahan. Rush,” she added shyly. Another world of meaning in that word that Evie no doubt picked up on. Rush.
An image of the back of Rush’s dark hair bent between her spread thighs made her fan herself weakly.
Evie’s eyebrows skyrocketed. “Of course. Would you like to come in?” she asked politely enough, although Lily knew her sister’s thoughts almost as well as her own.
Promise I’ll explain it all later.
“Thank you, but I’d better get home.” He bent down and pressed a hard kiss to her lips. “Make sure you lock up.” His gaze lingered on Lily for a beat before he nodded at Luke, who was watching them all with lazy amusement. “Night.”
“Night, Sheriff, Lily. Evelyn,” Luke added mockingly.
Evie grabbed Lily’s wrist and pulled her inside to the sound of very masculine laughter in the hallway.
“Comings,” Lily said, half in awe, as she leaned against the door and eyed her sister’s pink cheeks. “That was a good one.”
“I hate him,” Evie said flatly, taking Lily’s coat and hanging it on the peg by the door with more force than necessary. “That man is a human peacock. All swagger and no substance. The kind who thinks smirking and abs are a personality.”
Lily tilted her head, studying her sister. “Funny. For someone you find so disgusting, you sure seemed… invested.”
Evie froze for half a second before shooting her a deadly glare. “Don’t even go there. Luke Holloway is irresponsible, reckless…” she sputtered, and Lily’s suspicions grew even more. “He’s absolutely the worst man.”
Lily watched her sister with open fascination. “Right, which explains why your face turned the color of the bow on your front door the second he saw you.”
Evie spun on her heel and stalked toward the kitchen.
Lily trailed after, braced for a lecture, and stopped short.
Flour dusted every counter, cookie cutters littered the table, and a bowl of red and green sprinkles had tipped onto its side, scattering across the floor like confetti.
Trays of crooked stars and lopsided trees cooled by the oven while Bing Crosby crooned “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.
” The air smelled like butter and sugar—pure holiday comfort—but Evie’s scowl was anything but merry.
“Stress-baking?” Lily asked carefully.
Evie muttered something about peacocks and yanked open the oven to slide in another tray. A wave of vanilla sweetness rolled out with the heat. “Yes. Sugar cookies. Rolling the dough is therapeutic.”
Lily plucked a still-warm star from the cooling rack and bit into it. “Mmm. Delicious.”
“Some people do yoga,” Evie said, shooting Lily a look, “and some of us bake.” She reached for a bowl of rainbow sprinkles and shook them over a tray of frosted snowmen a little too aggressively.
“Same thing,” Lily teased, licking the sugar off her thumb. “Inner peace, but yours is tastier.”
She eyed the dining table, noticing the unlit candles on the table and the pair of untouched wineglasses. Oof. Maybe that explained why her sister was breathing fire.
“How was your dinner with Dr. Pierce?” she asked, tugging her sleeves up and grabbing an apron from the peg on the wall to slip over her head. She washed her hands and turned around, ready for some therapy of her own.
Evie handed her the rolling pin. “Canceled.”
“Canceled?” Lily echoed, raising her brows. She spread more flour on the counter and plopped the dough onto it to roll. “On a Friday night?”
Evie picked up a heap of buttercream frosting on a knife, muttering, “Emergency board meeting that Dr. Pierce forgot to add to his calendar.”
“And you didn’t go with him?”
“He said he’d present my notes,” Evie said, frosting the snowmen.
“Oh, Evie,” Lily said, all teasing aside. “Why do you let him do that? You spent hours on those renovation notes, and now he gets to stand there and take credit… again.”
“It’s fine.” Evie sighed, moving on to sprinkling the bells with red-colored sugar. “He’s the library director. I work for him. That’s how it goes. I’m just… disappointed, that’s all.”
Again, Lily added silently, biting back the words she’d said a dozen times. Dr. Adrian Pierce—rumpled hair, smug bow tie, and all—knew exactly how to charm a room. He made any woman feel brilliant while pocketing the credit for her ideas. And Evie was the brilliant one. He kept using that.
He’s using you, Evie. You know he is.
“At least this means I get to eat with you instead.” Evie set the cookie down and leveled Lily with a look.
“Speaking of dates, explain how you’re suddenly kissing Sheriff Sexy good night.
I’ve had no fewer than ten texts swearing you two were cozied up at the pub and then were seen leaving together.
” She eyed Lily’s lips and hair. “Explain.”
“It’s a long story,” Lily mumbled. She looked through the old metal cutters until she found the gingerbread man and started rolling and cutting each cookie from the dough.
Evie adjusted her glasses on her nose and arched her brow, the same one she arched when people were talking too loudly at her library. It had a similar effect on Lily. “My night is wide open,” she said dryly.
“It’s complicated. This recipe is amazing.” Lily bit into one of the thickly frosted snowmen and let it keep her mouth too busy to explain. She wasn’t exactly hungry after Rush’s omelet earlier, but chewing was easier than admitting to her twin that she was in an arrangement with the sheriff.
“Mmm.” She reached for another cookie, a green-frosted wreath this time, but Evie’s hand landed on hers.
“I had to hear this from someone else?”
The hurt in her voice made Lily wince. They didn’t keep secrets. Not the big ones.
“We’re not exactly dating,” Lily said carefully. “He’s moving to Boston at the beginning of February, so this is more of a…” She paused, aware of how ridiculous it sounded. “… a temporary arrangement.”
Evie’s eyes widened. “A temporary arrangement?” Her voice dropped to a scandalized whisper, even though it was just the two of them. “So… friends with benefits?” She gave Lily a knowing once-over. “That explains the sex hair and the swollen lips. He must be a god in bed,” she added half enviously.
Lily groaned, touching her tender mouth. Already, she wanted more of those kisses. “Not quite,” she muttered. Yes, exactly. “We’re just having fun with each other… temporarily. No strings attached.”
“Uh-huh.” Evie nodded, as solemn as a judge. She got up to remove the trays and put in two more. “Because that always works so well.” She turned with the kettle in her hand. “Hot chocolate?”
“Definitely.” Lily sighed, glad that Evie’s back was turned.
She had her fair share of concerns, but she was all in now, no matter the outcome.
After a month of thinking about the man, she knew there was something between them that deserved to be explored.
“This wasn’t planned. Tucker showed up at the pub with Madison, my date imploded over a cheese plate”—she waved off Evie’s choked laughter—“and Rush just stepped in. Next thing I know, Tucker thinks we’re together. ”
“How does this help you?” Evie asked mildly, pouring the hot water into two mugs. “You’ve always said you wanted a house and a family, the whole package. Marriage, kids, house with the front porch. You’re not exactly built for temporary.”
“It helps me stop being everyone’s pity project,” Lily said firmly. “No more awful blind dates, no more grandmas whispering about ‘poor Lily.’ Just me taking control for once with a clear end date.”
She set aside the rolling pin. “I want firsts, Evie. I’ve spent more than half my life muting my feelings and settling even when I knew it wasn’t what I wanted.” She shuddered. “I don’t want polite anymore. I want real, even if it scares me.”
Evie leaned against the counter, studying her. “Just be careful, okay, Lil? Rush seems like a good man, but good men can break hearts without meaning to.”
Lily forced a smile, even though the warning made her stomach twist. “We’re just having fun. I’ll be fine.”
Evie pushed her glasses up with one delicate finger, giving her a look that saw right through her big words. Twins. Couldn’t have any secrets. “Good luck explaining your temporary boyfriend at Sunday dinner. Mom already texted me—Rush is on the guest list.”
“I know.” Lily rubbed her forehead. “She texted me too. I’m not sure if family introductions are on the agenda for a ‘temporary arrangement.’” Not that she had the faintest idea what was on their agenda.
Sex, probably. Lots of hot, dirty sex with the Sheriff Sexy.
Her heart thudded wildly in her chest even thinking about that.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Evie said, rubbing her hands together. “One of us needs an exciting love life.”
“It will be fun.” Lily grinned reluctantly. “No more Bradleys or Coopers, and most of all…” Her smile turned wicked. “I can’t wait to see Tucker’s face when he realizes we weren’t pretending.”
Evie tilted her head. “Weren’t you?”
Lily swallowed, her grin faltering for half a beat. “Oh yeah. We were. Totally pretending.”