The Chocolate Seduction. Carrie Alexander

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….

      1

      Six weeks later

      FLEXING MUSCLES and swirling chocolate—Sabrina Bliss was in heaven. I could get used to this, she told herself, immensely pleased to have found an aspect of her new job that would still be fun a year from now…if she stayed with it that long.

      And she might if this kept up, even without an heirloom engagement ring at stake. How lucky could one woman get?

      The sight of male muscles bulging and rippling over pots of melting chocolate or whizzing mixers was an everyday occurrence at Decadence. In her first week as lunch manager, she’d learned to time her breaks to catch ten minutes of the show as Kristoffer “Call me Kit” Rex concocted the day’s desserts. The renowned pastry chef almost always featured chocolate, his specialty.

      Today Kit was working with semisweet chocolate, coconut and phyllo triangles. Sheets of the paper-thin pastry were stacked nearby under a dampened kitchen towel. He removed the cover of the food processor he’d used to chop the high-quality French chocolate he insisted on even though it took a big bite out of the restaurant’s dessert budget. He added softened butter and the toasted coconut to the mixture.

      “Please pass me the knife.” The request didn’t register with Sabrina for a second or two because she was distracted with comparing Kit’s rich voice to an image of warm chocolate pouring over his naked body.

      When she didn’t react, he reached for the knife, his bare arm brushing against hers. Skin on skin, the contact was as sharp and sensual as a swallow of chocolate-laced amaretto cream. She could gain weight merely listening to him. Actual touching brought her one chocolate kiss away from orgasm.

      I shouldn’t be here, she reminded herself, thinking of her pact with Mackenzie. The temptation is too much.

      Kit’s knife was a blur as he chopped almonds in five seconds flat. He scraped them into the food processor, his biceps bulging as he lifted the hefty chopping board.

      Yum. Sabrina tried to smack her lips, but her tongue was parched. Probably from all the panting.

      Kit replaced the lid and blended the chocolate with the other ingredients, shooting a sexy little grin at his audience of one. She grinned back at him, not even trying to hide her interest. Let