Rider's Kiss

Too late, Victoria realized she had revealed more than what she’d intended. This was why she never told lies; she was just too lousy at it. She always got caught somehow. She decided it was time to come clean.

She forced herself to stop tapping. “We’re adults now,” she explained, using her best grown-up voice. “Rider has a life of his own, and so do I. The time for crushes is over. Way over. There are other fish in the sea.”

“And when was the last time you went fishing? Six months ago, if I remember correctly. George, wasn’t that his name? The guy with the comb-over, right?”

George had been a guy she’d met at church. Nice guy, but boring to the extreme. His idea of a hot date was to listen to classical music and discuss politics. Not the worst thing to do, if you were sixty years old and heading toward retirement. “George was an okay guy,” she said, skirting the full truth.

Reena grabbed another cookie and took a bite. “Oh joy, just what every woman dreams of, an okay guy.”

“Fine, the man was duller than dirt. Happy?”

“I’ll be happy when you’re happy. And you’re not happy, Victoria.”

“I’m content. I have my health, and I have a job I love. That’s more than a lot of people have.” When Reena began to protest, Victoria shot right over her. “Really, don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” Victoria smiled and hoped it was convincing.

“Whatever. But just so you know, he’ll be home day after tomorrow.” She shrugged. “In case you were wondering.”

“Thank you, but I wasn’t.”

Reena laughed. “God, you suck at lying.”

“Bite me,” she groused as she stood and started getting out ingredients to make the hors d’oeuvres.

Reena stood and leaned against the counter. “You’re telling that to the wrong member of the James family.”

“You’re incorrigible.” She handed her a knife and asked, “Now, are you going to help me with this wedding or what?”

Reena took the knife. “Whose wedding?”

“Rita Williams. Her family has a lot of money and a lot of friends, so I really want to wow them with my culinary skills. Sadly, I’m a little behind here.”

“You have employees and a factory for this sort of stuff. Why don’t you do like most business owners? Sit back and direct.”

“Pfft, I’ll never run a business that way. I’d be miserable.” Feeling unaccountably weepy, Victoria hugged her friend. “Thanks for caring about me.”

“You’d be lost without me, and we both know it.”

“True.”

“Now, what am I chopping?”

“We’re serving smoked mozzarella profiterole. It’s a blend of smoked mozzarella, cream cheese and fresh herbs in a delicious pastry. You garnish it with roasted red pepper. But I wanted to perfect the recipe first. So you’re going to be my guinea pig.”

“Yum, I love being your guinea pig. Bring it on.”

As they went about creating the tasty appetizers, Victoria’s mind strayed back to their previous conversation. Rider was coming home. Oh God, how was she supposed to keep the past buried and her feelings in check with him living in the same town? It’d been easier with him off in New York. She could almost forget about his dreamy sapphire eyes and ornery grin. Old insecurities resurfaced, but she was determined to tamp them down. She refused to cower and hide just because her high school crush was back. Victoria would damn well hold on to her newfound independence. It was much too precious to her to let latent feelings ruin it.

The day flew by as Reena and Victoria baked. By the time they were finished, the sun had gone down. After promising to take Reena shopping and to lunch the following day for her birthday, Victoria walked her friend to the door.

Victoria locked up and kicked off her tennis shoes with a sigh of relief. Exhaustion overcame her, and she was only too glad the day was at an end. Tomorrow would prove to be a long one. Shopping with Reena always wore her out. No one did extreme shopping quite like that woman. She had things to prepare for the wedding too. For now, she couldn’t even imagine anything beyond getting up the stairs and falling into bed. She’d figure out a strategy to avoid one very sexy Rider James tomorrow.

Chapter Two

After Victoria finished up work the next day, she closed up shop and headed for Reena’s house for their shopping trip. It was five o’clock in the evening, and she was worn out, but she’d promised Reena. Besides, a few minutes with her bestie was sure to perk her up. After she pulled into the drive of Reena’s yellow Cape Cod style house, Victoria shut off the engine and strode toward the porch. She noticed the front door was open, and as she’d done so many times in the past, Victoria tugged on the screen door and let herself into the foyer. She was about to announce her presence when she overheard voices coming from the kitchen.

“Why not? It’ll be fun,” Victoria heard Reena say. “We can even double date if you want.”

“Victoria?” a bewildered male voice said. “She’s not exactly my type, Reena.”