Winter's Heart

by Warneke, A. C.

  “Because he loved you so much?” Treacherously, her thoughts drifted to the proprietor of Harry’s. The gorgeous man would be perfect for her sister and since Dylan was definitely out of the picture…. Was it too soon to be setting her sister up with someone new? It had been months and Harry was gorgeous….

  “Because we had different goals and ambitions and because we hadn’t had sex for a long time before we broke up,” Fallon admitted softly. “And the sex we had been having was… mechanical. Neither of us felt it.”

  So, not too soon and she was in luck because Harry was working. She could see him in the kitchen looking ridiculously hot in the greasy apron. Had Fallon ever paid attention when they went out, she would have noticed the gorgeous Harry but Fallon was always running lines or thinking about a million other things. Whereas Flynn loved talking to people and Harry had been the first man she met when they moved here. Plotting, Flynn mumbled, “I see.”

  “You do not,” Fallon snorted, a smile curving her lips as she leaned back in her chair and laughed. “But I appreciate the sentiment.”

  “So you’re really over him?” Her eyes flicked to Harry as he worked diligently in the kitchen creating delicious food orgasms for the mouth.

  “Yeah.” Fallon nodded, a faraway smile on her lips. “And I wish him all the best. I just wish he had chosen someone other than Tiffany.”

  “Good to know.” Her mind worked furiously as she devised a plan to get Fallon and Harry together. Once that happened, the rest was up to them, whether they connected or not, but she had high hopes. Plus, if they did get married, Harry would be able to cook all of their meals and they’d never have to suffer another box of mac and cheese again.

  “Did you honestly think I was going to get back with Dylan?” Fallon asked, interrupting her scheming. Blinking her eyes, Flynn stared at her sister and the incredulous grin she wore. “You know what your problem is, Flynn? I mean, other than being a complete and utter spaz? You’re a hopeless romantic. I think you’re holding off for some Prince Charming to sweep you off your feet.”

  “Maybe,” she drawled out.

  “Flynn.” Fallon shook her head in mock sorrow. “Don’t you know that Prince Charming only exists in story books? You’re waiting for a fictional character. You’re waiting for something that doesn’t exist.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with waiting,” Flynn said mulishly, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms beneath her breasts defensively. “And I know that no one’s perfect but I want the one that’s perfect for me.”

  “There are billions of men out there.” Fallon swung her arms out, encompassing the entire world with a simple gesture. “Even taking into consideration age, orientation and marital status, that still leaves a lot of possibilities.”

  “Exactly.” Flynn nodded her head once with conviction but her thoughts trailed to Winter, who was awfully close to being Prince Charming, except for the whole being in a fake relationship that the entire world believed to be true. “I can take my time and find someone that gives me butterflies and makes me laugh.”

  “Oh, God,” Fallon groaned, rolling her eyes and pressing her hand against her face. “I swear you were born in the wrong century.”

  “That is quite possibly true,” Flynn easily agreed with a wide smile. “But it’s not like you’ve had a lot of partners either, Fal.”

  Fallon shrugged her slender shoulders and nodded her head in agreement, “Touché. But I wasn’t holding off for Prince Charming.”

  Glancing behind Fallon at the behemoth in the kitchen, she asked, “How do you feel about big, burly dragons?”

  “I don’t even want to know what you’re talking about.” Resting her hands on her flat stomach, Fallon grinned, “Shall we go spend some of that cash Diane gave you?”

  “Fine.” Pulling out two twenties, Flynn slid out of the booth and headed up to the register to pay as Fallon put the leftovers in some boxes. A smile split her face when she saw Harry coming out from the kitchen to ring her up, making it that much easier to set her plan in motion.

  “Flynn,” he rumbled in the deep, sexy voice that Flynn knew was going to drive Fallon mad.

  “Hey, Harry.” Leaning across the counter, she smiled at the man who owned and operated the business, the man who was perfect for her sister. “The burgers were to die for tonight. Tell me your secret?”

  He smiled at her, his dark eyes twinkling almost as much as the jewelry in his ears and eyebrows, nose and mouth. She wasn’t sure what color his hair was naturally, but currently, he sported a deep purple two-inch Mohawk. Tattoos covered nearly all of the skin she could see, and probably most of the skin she couldn’t see, and his tattooed skin covered massive amounts of muscles. Harry was a beast of a man, at least in appearance. In reality, he was a freaking genius in the kitchen. His low, gravelly voice crooned, “Love, sugar, my secret ingredient is love.”

  “Fine, if you’re going to be that way,” she feigned a pout before her lips curved into a brilliant smile as she figured out a way to take care of two problems at once. “How do you feel about catering a party?”

  He looked at her, arching the eyebrow with the two rings in it and looking intimidating as hell. “I don’t do parties.”

  “Not even if I could make it worth your while?”

  He leaned against the counter, mirroring her position, and smiled at her, “What do you have in mind?”

  Licking her lower lip, she glanced at her sister and leaned closer as she lowered her voice, “A date with Fallon?”

  He looked past her to where her sister was finishing packing up the unfinished food. Letting out a hum of approval, Harry turned back to Flynn with a lazy grin, “It’d be like going out with you and I already told you that you’re too sweet for my taste.”

  “I was teasing when I asked you to marry me,” she grinned, enjoying the playful, completely platonic banter with the tattooed man. From the first day they met, when she had taken a bite of the heavenly food and told him she’d marry him on the spot, they had been friends. He regarded her as an annoying, pesky younger sister and she liked annoying him. At least, she hoped he thought of her as a sister, which meant he’d have to like her, at least a little bit. “Besides, Fallon may be sweet but it’s mixed with a whole lot of spice and I think the two of you would get along magnificently.”

  “She’s never expressed an interest in me before.” Looking up, he met and held her gaze with a steady one of his own. “And the two of you have been coming in at least once a week for nearly three months….”

  “So you’ve been paying attention.”

  “It’s kind of hard not to when the two of you step through the door,” he grumbled, his eyes going back to Fallon and giving her another appraising look. “Only she never notices me and you’ve never mentioned anything before.”

  “I thought she was still getting over her ex,” she admitted sheepishly. “But she’s not and you’re sexy as sin and I want to see the two of you together.”

  Eying her with amused shrewdness, he said, “You’re only doing this for my food, aren’t you?”

  “Maybe.” Matching his expression, she continued to negotiate, “But you have to admit you’re intrigued.”

  “Maybe. Does she have a tattoo?” he asked with a slight grin on his face, ringing up the bill on his old fashioned till.

  “No but she isn’t opposed to the idea,” Flynn murmured artfully, since she had never discussed the possibility of getting a tattoo with Fallon. “And if she had someone who could recommend a really good tattoo artist, she might be even less opposed.”

  A low rumble of a chuckle came from his belly as he handed her back her change. “When is this big shindig?”

  “In about six months,” she said vaguely.

  “So when would I get to go out with your sister?”

  “In about six months,” she teased. At his narrowed-eyed expression, she laughed, “This weekend?”

  “You drive a hard bargain, Miss Rogers,” he gri
nned, looking awfully damned hot. “But I think you’ve got a deal.”

  “And I’m sure she won’t regret the date even if my clients decide not to use your delicious services,” she beamed, loving the way his mouth opened in surprise. “Friday work for you?”

  “Sure,” he said with a smile as he shook his head. “I’ll pick her up on my Harley.”

  “My sister is going to fall madly in love with you,” Flynn teased, even though Harry was beyond anything Fallon had ever known, which Flynn liked to think that was a good thing because nobody could cook food like Harry.

  “I don’t do love,” he growled.

  “You also don’t cater parties,” she grinned, arching an eyebrow but failing to look even half as intimidating as Harry. “But you’ve been lured to the dark side on that one, too.”

  “I didn’t agree to do it.”

  “You will,” she smiled, waving goodbye as he reluctantly smiled at her. Walking back to the table and looping her arm through Fallon’s as they headed out, she couldn’t help but smile.

  “What was that all about?” Fallon asked as they slid into the car. “The guy was seriously hot.”

  “That’s Harry and you’re going to go out with him on Friday,” Flynn explained, starting the car and slowly pulling out of the small parking lot. “Isn’t that fantastic?”

  “Flynn,” Fallon practically growled. “I can get my own dates.”

  “I’m sure you can,” Flynn easily agreed. “But have you seen Harry?”

  “Yeah, so he’s gorgeous in a tattooed, muscled, bad ass kind of way,” Fallon reluctantly agreed. “Why aren’t you dating him?”

  “I’m too sweet,” she scowled at the road in front of her, even though she was not attracted to Harry in that way. “But he tolerates it because I’m not intimidated by his tattoos.”

  “Jeeze, Flynn, do you have to make friends with everyone and their cousin?” Fallon asked in exasperation, though she asked with a smile on her lips. “I swear, as soon as you start talking to a guy you become his kid sister. It’s no wonder you don’t have any dates. All of the men you meet want to wrap you up and take care of you and you can’t get busy if you’re swaddled in baby blankets. At this rate, you’re never going to have sex.”

  “And I’m strangely okay with that.” At least she had been until she met Winter Mitchell, the one man she shouldn’t be thinking about having sex with because it would be too complicated. And the only man she wanted to have sex with. “Besides, you know that the first time I finally do it, the condom’s going to break and I’m going to end up with AIDS, or something.”

  “You’re neurotic,” Fallon told her for the millionth time. “You know that, right?”

  At Flynn’s smile, Fallon chuckled, “I think you enjoy being certifiable because it lets you get away with anything.”

  “It does not,” Flynn protested feebly because she knew what her sister said was true. It was unfortunate she wasn’t more daring because she probably could get out of whatever trouble she found herself in. At least the first few times.

  “God knows mom refused to let me come out here until you agreed to come along. It’s like you’re kryptonite to mom’s worrying. You just nullify it and she is more than happy to let you fly off with me.”

  “Yeah,” Flynn agreed with a not-so-innocent smile.

  Fallon shook her head, chuckling softly. Leaning back in the seat and putting her feet up on the dashboard, she laughed, “When you fall, it is going to be spectacular, Flynn. Just spectacular.”

  Flynn’s stomach tightened with excitement, which was completely out of place and the absolute wrong reaction to be having at such a proclamation. She wasn’t looking forward to falling spectacularly, she wasn’t. “You’re a cruel sister.”

  Fallon chuckled again. “I know.”

  “Oh!’ Flynn cried out suddenly, remembering her earlier conversation with Winter. “If I win a bet with Winter, you’ll get a small part in his next movie.”

  Fallon sat up abruptly and looked at her sister, unconcerned that they were in a car. “What’s the bet?”

  “A motorcycle ride,” Flynn ground out, the thought of getting on a motorcycle making her stomach turn itself inside out. “If I love it, I owe him something yet to be determined but if I hate it he gives you a part. Cool, huh?”

  “Okay, if you’re going to fall spectacularly, please, please, please don’t do it with Winter Mitchell,” Fallon groaned, covering her eyes with her hand as she sank back against the car seat and ignored the possibility of being in one of Winter’s films.

  “Why would you even think that was possible?”

  “Because you haven’t changed your status back to single,” Fallon said simply.

  “When has there been time?” Flynn forced a light laugh since there had been time but she hadn’t wanted to change it because it made her laugh. And, if she were brutally honest, a small part of her liked the idea of being Winter Mitchell’s alter ego’s pretend girlfriend. It was a sickness. “If you want, you can dig out my tablet and do it now.”

  Eying her sister warily, Fallon grabbed the tablet and Flynn had to clutch the steering wheel tighter to keep from stealing the tablet away from her sister. Curving her lips into a tight smile, she continued, “Just swipe your finger across the screen.”

  “That’s not much protection,” Fallon grimaced, following Flynn’s instructions.

  “It’s in case I ever need to access it in a hurry,” Flynn explained, her heart pounding furiously in her chest as Fallon logged onto her account and went to settings, clicking ‘single’ and it was done.

  “It’s too bad Winter is engaged,” Fallon said casually, too casually, as she watched Flynn with too much curiosity. “I bet he would be the perfect man to teach you a thing or two.”

  Swallowing the air that was going to hit her full stomach like a ton of bricks, Flynn cleared her throat, “As you said, he’s engaged and I don’t chase after other women’s men.”

  “But it’s Winter Mitchell,” Fallon said on a dreamy sigh. Because Fallon also suffered a little crush on the gorgeous actor, Flynn wasn’t sure whether her sister was serious or trying to pry into her deepest, darkest thoughts. “I’d take everything he has to offer, even if he is engaged.”

  “And you’ll end up like Murphy,” Flynn reminded her, arching an eyebrow to make her point. “No, you’d end up worse because the scandal would be splashed all over the world. At least Murphy gets to live with her mistakes in relative obscurity.”

  “Until I have Winter’s love child and the entire family gets dragged through the mud,” Fallon teased, her eyes sparkling with mischievous laughter. “I can see the headlines now: ‘The infamous Rogers girls, having the love children of married men.’”

  “Mom would have a heart attack,” Flynn chastened, trying not to giggle at Fallon’s silliness.

  “Ooh!” Fallon cried out, waving her hands in the air at her inspiration. “An even better headline would be ‘Winter falls twice as he knocks up a pair of gorgeous sisters.’”

  “Yeah, not going to happen,” Flynn groaned. “Besides, I’ve already told him he can’t go there so don’t get your hopes up that he’ll sleep with both of us.”

  “Not at the same time, you perv,” Fallon continued teasing. At least, Flynn hoped she was teasing. Leaning forward, Fallon grew concerned, “Come on, Flynnie. You used to play the scandalous Rogers sisters game with me all of the time. What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve met him,” she said slowly, avoiding her sister’s too perceptive gaze and keeping her eyes on the road. “He’s more than just a pretty face, Fallon. He’s… he’s really wonderful and it doesn’t feel right joking about him like this.”

  Fallon was quiet for a long moment, studying Flynn until she felt the need to squirm. She hadn’t realized how difficult it would be to talk with Fallon, especially since she signed the NDA, because there was so much that she couldn’t talk about, so much she couldn’t explain. In a soft, sympathetic voice, Fallo
n murmured, “You like him, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do,” Flynn answered honestly. “But not in the way that you mean. I mean, he’s practically engaged to the most beautiful woman in the world, whom I’ve also met. It makes things… interesting.”

  “You poor thing,” Fallon murmured, ignoring Flynn’s words. That was the problem with having a sister who knew you so well, you couldn’t hide anything. Luckily, her sister also knew when to let the matter drop. Stowing the tablet back in the bag, she leaned back and asked, “So, are we going to be spending the money at actual stores or at vintage, second-hand shops?”

  “Must you ask?” Flynn asked, pulling into the small parking lot that held her favorite consignment shop, Past Lives. The owner was a New Age, self-professed psychic who probably smoked too much weed but it didn’t matter because she also had the best clothes for the best prices. Now that Flynn had some money to spend, she’d be able to go nuts.

  “We should probably hit a real store, too,” Fallon said, sliding out of the car. “Diane might get a little pissed if you go completely vintage.”

  Chapter 7

  Flynn sat at her temporary desk, working furiously on Storm’s birthday. Poring through the books of invitations, she found a few that were close but not quite perfect and her tablet was filling up with ideas and questions. Because she was working a party, no one had brought in donuts and coffee and by the time lunch rolled around, her stomach was trying to eat itself.

  Pressing a hand against her rabid belly, she stood up and slid the tablet into her oversized purse before hooking the strap over her arm. Speaking to no one in particular, she said, “I’m heading out for lunch. Do any of you want me to bring something back?”

  Three of the coordinators stared at her as if she were speaking in gibberish while the other girls shook their heads no and declined. Gwyn sneered, “Surely you don’t need food.”