A Sinful Trap (Three Sinful Wishes 2)

“Bailey, don’t hang up yet.” He sounded as disappointed as she was. “We’re trying to make it back as fast as we can. It’s only a two-hour flight and we’d already be in the air, but the pilot says there’s a delay.”

Likely story.

“You don’t need to explain anything to me, although that’s an oddly short business trip. You left last night and you’re already finished? Checking out a new property already?” And did she really want to know if he was?

“It was nothing like that. This was old business. Old, frustrating business.”

She could feel his frustration over the phone. She was tempted to ask him about it. She wanted to make him feel better. To comfort him.

That’s not why he called, Bailey.

She made a face at herself. Thank God they weren’t video chatting. “Sorry to hear that. You said something was coming today? Is that why you’re in such a hurry? Are there any deliveries I should be on the lookout for?”

She heard Davide’s laugh in the distance, followed by Cam’s warning growl. Was she on speakerphone?

“I’m in a hurry because we have a date for dinner.”

He remembered.

“Date?” Infused with new energy, Bailey slid off the bed again, throwing on her jeans and grabbing a fresh towel from her laundry basket. She was never this late. Hopefully the bathroom was free. “I don’t think anyone used that word, Mr. Locke. I would have remembered.”

“It was implied,” he said darkly, making the unsubtle Davide laugh again.

“Maybe assumed is a better word,” she said as she left her bedroom and walked down the hall. “And you know what happens when people assume.”

She’d nearly reached her bathroom when she saw a man and woman carrying a gorgeous teal sofa with a colorful flower pattern toward the front desk. “What the…?”

“Bailey? What is it?”

This was what he was expecting today? Her dream sofa?

“We’re being the opposite of robbed,” she whispered into the phone, still in shock. “Very attractive people are carrying things into the inn. I should be mad that you didn’t consult me again, but I’ve wanted that particular loveseat for a while now. For the guests, you understand.”

“That’s one of the reasons I was calling you. I know you don’t appreciate surprises. You like it?”

He had to know she did. Pikeson must have handed over all his files, including the one she’d made on redecorating ideas in case he ever decided to get rid of the twenty-year-old couch she’d re-stuffed twice and hidden with brightly colored quilts and throw pillows. “I love it.”

“She loves it,” he murmured. “I was hoping you would say that.”

He was killing her with that voice. He probably gave fantastic phone sex.

And she needed to stop thinking about that right now. “We should hang up because I slept late and I need to shower before I can go meet your entourage and the new furniture.”

“Shower.” He groaned and she swore it felt as if he’d grabbed her ass and squeezed. “You in the shower. Right. Good. I’m going to go put the pilot in a headlock to try and get him to speed things up. Davide wants me to tell you he’s sending you a text. We’ll be back soon.”

She wanted to ask him to promise, but that would be way too clingy, way too soon. “Later.”

“Bailey?”

“Yes?”

“What do you mean by ‘very attractive people’? Who do you think is attractive?”

She hung up without answering and her phone instantly dinged with Davide’s text.

Davide: Have a nice shower, sweet. Think of me doing dirty things…but don’t kiss Bunny while we’re gone. Is she the one you think is attractive? Asking for Cam.

She smiled. Now dirty things were all she’d be thinking of, but that was better than the alternative—this ache in her chest at the temporary absence of men she barely knew. A few days ago, she hadn’t been looking forward to their first meeting. How was it she was already so attached?

And who was Bunny?

***

Bunny was a goddess, she thought, not for the first time as she walked past all the souvenir shops, restaurants, statues and art that cluttered Uptown Sedona. She was too early for her lunch with Dani and Kaya, but she’d needed to get away from the inn for a while.

The last few hours had been interesting. After her shower, she’d been on her way to greet Ava in the kitchen when she ran into Bunny. The Amazonian Black woman was dressed in paint-spattered overalls, looked and carried herself like a runway model, and her confidence and humor had put Bailey instantly at ease. Now she understood why Davide had warned her not to kiss this woman. If she hadn’t met him and Cam first, she would be tempted.

As if they’d received some silent signal, the rest of the entourage had all wandered into the kitchen, one or two at a time, to greet her. Aaron was a big sweetheart. Deter was intense. Lena and Muhammad appeared to be together, and Wags had enough energy that Bailey could guess why he’d been given his nickname.