by Zoe York
Cori shrugged. “I love toppings.”
He picked up his fork, trying to ignore the way his body stirred. After their mini-make-out session on the porch, he wasn’t sure there was anything she could do that wouldn’t stir his body. And maybe even his emotions.
“Toppings?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah,” she said.
Then she tried, again, to kill him by leaning onto her elbows just across the bar from where he was sitting. The neckline of her shirt gaped, and the smooth, tanned skin drew his eyes. The breast and nipple he’d only gotten the briefest feel of were right there. And he noticed the shimmer. Holy shit, she was wearing shimmery body powder. That had to be it. Her skin glowed and yes, actually, sparkled in the warm light of the kitchen.
“Toppings can make or break a dish,” she said. “I mean, without those marshmallows, that’s pretty much just chocolate pie. I could have drizzled caramel over it instead and it would have totally changed it. And toppings and sauce can change a chicken breast from piccata to teriyaki like that.” She snapped her fingers. “I’m all about the embellishments.”
For some reason, that seemed like one of the most honest things he’d ever heard. Cori Carmichael was an embellishment. She seemed to make everything bigger and better. And yes, changed things. He couldn’t put a finger directly on what it was, but since the triplets had come to town, Bliss had seemed more fun. Nothing major had changed. The outside of the pie shop looked exactly the same, and they hadn’t opened to business again, so the interior changes weren’t obvious. The girls weren’t really out and about in town—much to the chagrin of all of the busybodies and gossips. Of course, the old men who stopped in for coffee every morning at the pie shop delighted in being some of the few people to actually have any amount of time with the Carmichael girls. And yet, there was something in the air, Evan could swear it. Something had changed slightly…and had gotten better when they’d come to town.
“Try it,” Cori urged, gesturing at his plate.
Right. Pie. He was sitting here eating pie with Cori while he waited for Ava. So he could ask her out on a date. That wasn’t weird at all. He took a bite of the pie.
And holy shit. If he hadn’t been a little crazy about her already, that would have done it. He swallowed and looked up at her. “Damn, Cori, this is amazing.”
Her face lit up, and for a second, Evan stopped chewing and just looked at her. The shimmery body powder had nothing on that sparkle in her eyes.
“You think so?”
He swallowed the bite. “Of course. How would anyone not think so?”
She shrugged and straightened, wiping at something on the counter with her finger and not meeting his eyes. “Brynn and Ava didn’t seem impressed.”
“Well, they’re probably used to you coming up with amazing things.” He took another big bite.
“Yeah, something like that.”
That sounded completely sarcastic and he watched her as he chewed and swallowed again. “This is going on the menu?” he asked.
She looked up. “I want it to.” Again, she lit up a little. “I have a bunch of ideas for new items.”
It was one thing to be wound up after the kiss at the front door. And having the feel of her breast in his hand. The smell of chocolate and sugar that filled the air around him, the braless breasts with the look-at-me tips teasing him, the fact that even her T-shirt was sassy all made his I-want-that reaction make some kind of sense. But that excited, eager look on her face? Why did that turn him on? But he heard himself asking, “Like what?”
She leaned in again, the skin on her throat and chest again shimmering in the light and drawing his eyes. Yeah, it was the sparkles. It had nothing to do with the cleavage. Or the memory of how she felt in his arms. Or the way her mouth touching his made everything in his body tight and hard.
“Along with the Classics menu that would be the cherry, apple, and peach, we could do a whole kids themed menu too. Peanut butter and jelly pie, mac and cheese pie, corndog pie,” she said. “And we could do a soda fountain theme. Root beer float pie and orange creamsicle pie and I think I could even figure out a way to do a cherry cola pie.”
Evan knew he was staring. But… “Root beer float pie?” Evan asked. “Peanut butter and jelly? Seriously?”
For a second he saw a flicker of uncertainty cross her face and that made something else in him go tight. His chest. Or his heart.
“Well, it’s just an idea,” she said, carefully. “I just like the idea of some unique promotions. Like the sweetie pie idea.” She looked down at the counter again. “But it’s a little much, probably.”
He cleared his throat. It was a little much. But it was also creative and unique and clearly something she was excited about and totally and completely Cori. Which meant, he loved it. Fuck. “Can Ava pull all of that off?” he asked.
Her gaze came up. And she looked disappointed. “Um…maybe. None of them are super hard. But—”
“But?”
“She doesn’t want to tackle anything new right now.”
“Ah.” He could tell she was waiting for him to tell her that she could go ahead with those things. But Rudy had been very specific about why he’d chosen the job for each girl. And Evan was dedicated to making sure everything went the way Rudy had wanted them to. No matter how tempted he was to say fuck it. Actually, he should be more dedicated because he was tempted to say fuck it.
“I guess the new stuff will have to wait.” Dammit, he hated that he had to pull Cori back here. But Ava had a lot to learn about products and customers, up close and personal. And Evan was beginning to suspect that Rudy had known how much Ava would struggle. And that it would be good for her. But what about Cori? What about staying out of the baking was good for her? Clearly, she had a passion, and talent, in the kitchen. This might all be good for Ava, but suddenly Evan was having a hard time caring about the woman who was supposed to be his girlfriend.
And wasn’t that just typical? Something bright and shiny and fun came along and he forgot what he should be doing.
“Yeah. But I’m hoping she’ll at least be open to adding blueberry to the classics,” Cori said, her enthusiasm definitely muted.
Evan gritted his teeth against the urge to say you’re amazing, do whatever you want, fuck anyone who tries to hold you back.
“Maybe that’s what your dad was going for,” he said. “To see if you could stick with it even if it’s not fun and new and exciting. Accounting definitely isn’t. But maybe that was his point—for you to care enough to do this thing anyway. Even the boring parts.”
And if he thought a lot of that applied to him as well, he wasn’t going to go there.
Cori took a breath, then nodded. “Maybe. I guess that makes sense.”
He focused on the pie. The thing they were supposed to be talking about. Blueberry pie. Now there was the way to a man’s heart.
“Tell me you’re adding pecan pie to the menu too and I’ll probably do anything you want me to do,” he said, shoveling in the last bite of s’mores pie.
She didn’t say anything to that and he looked up. She was watching him. Well, she was watching his mouth. He pressed his lips together and swallowed.
“You like pecan?” she asked.
“Love it.”
“Have you ever had chocolate toffee pecan?”
He stared at her. “No. Is that real?”
“It can be.”
“Marry me.”
There was a beat of silence after his teasing comment. Yeah, teasing. That’s what that was.
Then she smiled. “That might be complicated since you’re dating my sister.”
He nodded and forced a smile too. “True. Then I guess I need to hang on to that relationship ’til Thanksgiving so I’m invited over for family dinner.”
It was supposed to be light and joking, but it didn’t sound like it. And there was a quick flash of something across Cori’s face. Something like jealousy?
“I can make that p
ie in September too,” she said.
September. When the six-month pretend relationship with Ava would be up. Cori knew it exactly without thinking. Had she added up when that would be over prior to this?
“Yeah?”
She looked at his mouth again and nodded. “Yeah.”
Okay, this was suddenly very…not joking. There was a tension in the air that he didn’t understand completely. But he didn’t hate it. It felt like anticipation. And temptation. And like September was very far away.
Finally, Cori cleared her throat and straightened, propping her hip against the counter. “Can I try to teach this stuff to Ava? Or is that against the terms of the trust?”
Yeah, it was better to stop talking about tempting things he couldn’t, or shouldn’t, have. Like chocolate toffee pecan pie. And his fake girlfriend’s sister. Or chocolate toffee pecan pie on his fake girlfriend’s sister.
He nodded. “I think you can. If you’re just instructing. As long as Ava’s there and actually doing it.”
He couldn’t see how that was an exact violation. Just like Cori kissing him at the front door wasn’t a direct violation of anything. He was still going to make sure Ava got away from work and had a good time and Cori wasn’t dating him. She was just making him want to date her more than he’d ever wanted to date anyone.
Hell, he’d never really wanted to date anyone at all. It was just kind of what happened when you lived in a small town and had known the women you slept with since birth. Fucking around in Bliss turned into shooting pool at the bar, going to movies, and the occasional backyard barbecue with their families—who he’d also known since birth—for the few weeks that the fucking around was occurring. Even when everyone, even their families, knew that it was nothing serious, there was still an underlying expectation of making it seem like it was more than casual sex. And hell, he liked movies and barbecues. No harm, no foul.
But he couldn’t help but wonder how going to the movies with Cori would be. It would be…different. Somehow. It would be more. Of something. It would be better.
He was so fucked.
“But I should definitely start with blueberry. And maybe pecan. Those are traditional pies. Things people would expect when they came into a pie shop, right?”
Evan felt his brows pull together. “Yes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do some of the other ideas.”
“Really?”
“Definitely.”
She tipped her head, chewing her bottom lip for a moment. “Are you a good judge of when things are over-the-top?”
He almost laughed. Because that was a really good question. “Maybe not,” he said honestly.
She sighed and nodded. “Yeah. Me either.” She paused a moment, then said, “When I was fifteen, my dad invited me and my sisters to his birthday party for the first time.”
Evan didn’t know where this was going, but he felt a sudden need to hear this story. They’d already established the fact that the Rudy he’d known was not the father Cori had known. And he wanted to know more. About both Rudy and Cori in the past. He pushed his plate back and folded his arms on top of the breakfast bar, giving her his full attention.
“My dad threw these really big, fancy parties for his birthday and invited all of his big rich friends. It was always in some posh place with tons of food and drink and music—a huge gala.”
Evan just nodded.
“But we were never invited. We were just little girls and he didn’t want to have us underfoot. Which was fine. I didn’t even know about them until I was about thirteen or so. Well, by the time we were fifteen, Ava was working part-time for the company on the weekends, and she’d impressed Dad and he wanted to show her off. Well, he couldn’t take just her. Everyone knew we were triplets and Mom never let him get away with spending time with one of us more than the others. So he invited us all.”
Evan simply couldn’t picture Rudy at a big fancy New York party. The man he knew wore blue jeans and T-shirts with a flannel shirt over the top in the cold months, and work boots. He loved cheeseburgers and onion rings and drove an old Cadillac that ran about three-fourths of the time.
“Well, I didn’t want to go in the first place,” Cori said. “And then he gave Mom a dress code and all of these ‘be sure the girls know’ things and I was just done. He wanted us there to make him look good and didn’t trust us to do that being ourselves.” She was frowning now and had her arms crossed. “I went along because Ava really wanted to go and Brynn, of course, was just going with the flow. I sucked it up and put on the stupid dress and showed up. Dad introduced us to everyone and then forgot about us. That’s when I decided to be sure that he never wanted me at one of his parties again.”
Evan felt his brows rise. “Oh, boy. What did you do?”
“That year? I got into the liquor. Got puking drunk and sang karaoke.”
“Your dad had karaoke at his big New York party?”
She actually smiled at that. “Nope.”
“Ah.” Evan grinned too. “So no more invites?”
“Oh, no, that would have been too easy. The next year I had to step up my game. I got caught making out in his office with one of his biggest client’s sons.” She frowned. “I had no idea that he was thirty and engaged. And he had no idea I was only sixteen.”
Evan actually choked. “Holy shit, Cori.”
“I know. But we really were just kissing and he got about halfway to second base. And I’d hit on him. And I’d dragged him into the office, so consent wasn’t an issue. And no way was Dad going to make a big deal about it. Nothing really came of it. Well, except for a broken engagement.”
Evan couldn’t stop staring at her.
She shook her head. “I know. But they got back together. And that one worked, because the next year, Ava asked me not to go to the party.”
There was a flash of emotion in her eyes, and Evan could have sworn it looked like regret. “That’s what you wanted right?”
She shrugged. “Yeah. I thought so. But, stupidly, hearing that they didn’t think I should go hurt a little.” She gave a light, humorless laugh. “Maybe it was hearing it from Ava that stung. I wouldn’t have cared if Dad had said it. That’s what I wanted, I guess. His attention. An emotion from him, even if it was disappointment. That’s what Karen says anyway. That I wanted attention from him that was about me, not about him. I wanted approval, but I wanted approval based on something I did, not on something he wanted me to do. And it seemed that whenever I didn’t do things his way, he just ignored me. Any emotion would have been better than that.”
Evan took a breath. He couldn’t hug her. That wouldn’t be appropriate. Would it? It seemed like a bad idea, but he couldn’t pinpoint why. He wasn’t actually dating her sister.
But in the next second, he knew the reason. Because if he hugged her, it would start a domino effect of feelings and actions and reactions that could definitely screw with their plans. Plans like dating Ava. And Cori not getting involved with anyone.
Yep, he was totally fucked.
“Who’s Karen?” he finally asked.
She gave him a small smile. “My shrink.”
“Ah.” Yep, that all sounded like shrink talk. As if he would know. He didn’t know any shrinks. Not that people in Bliss didn’t need psychological help. They just had to drive about thirty minutes to get it. “No more birthday parties then?”
“I didn’t go that year,” she said. “But then, surprisingly, the next year, when we were eighteen, he invited us again and he personally asked me to come.”
“That was…nice.” Evan hoped it was nice. He had no idea at this point. This man sounded nothing like the one he knew. The one who had, without question, loved his daughters. And regretted a lot of his decisions regarding those daughters.
“It was. I was actually, stupidly, touched by it. Decided that if he was going to trust me again, I’d do better. No shenanigans.” A sheepish look crossed her face.
“What happened?” Somehow he knew s
omething had happened.
She sighed. “Okay, once, when I was ten, Dad and I were together for the afternoon. It was rare that any of us had one-on-one time with him. I mean, I guess that’s normal when you have three kids and especially when those kids are triplets. Plus, I don’t think he really ever knew what to do with us, so it was easier when we were all together because we kept each other company and entertained one another.”
Evan nodded. He was completely enthralled here.
“Anyway, it was just the two of us because Ava and Brynn had been selected for this Quiz Bowl thing at school and were doing that. I, of course, wasn’t so I was free.” She flashed a smile that was part amused and part chagrined. “We were walking along and almost got knocked over by this huge St. Bernard. And my dad actually laughed, squatted down by this dog, let it lick his face, petted it, got hair all over his suit and…I about died. I had never seen him like that.”
And that was the Rudy Evan knew. For some reason, it felt good to know that there had at least been hints of that man even back then. That she’d seen at least a tiny bit of it. He smiled. “He liked dogs.”
“He did. But I never knew that. He said that he’d always wanted a dog. He’d grown up in a penthouse in Manhattan, so obviously he couldn’t have a dog, but that had always been something he’d wished for.” Cori had a look of faint amazement on her face even now, remembering.
Evan felt himself smiling. And being grateful that Rudy and Cori had had that moment together.
“Anyway,” she went on, “when he invited me back to his birthday party, I remembered that. And had the sudden desire to do something special for him and to show him I remembered that afternoon.”
Evan shook his head. “What did you do?”
“I got him a puppy.”
Evan let that sink in. Then laughed. “Oh my God.”
She nodded, a mischievous smile teasing her lips. “And I brought it to the party.”
Evan groaned. “Don’t tell me it was a St. Bernard.”
Her smile grew. She nodded. “Of course it was.”
“You got your dad a St. Bernard puppy and brought it to his fancy birthday party?”
