Sweet on You (The Wilde Sisters #1) (3 page)

Rayne knew she didn’t have a striking face like her sister Sage, or a cute button nose like her sister Thyme, but she had a great body. Now. She was half the size she was ten years ago.

For the first two months of college, she seriously hated her college roommate. The girl was beautiful, bouncy, and hit it off with all the boys, but she took Rayne under her wing and got her into parties and introduced her to people. By the end of their freshman year, Rayne had lost fifty pounds, learned how to apply the right amount of makeup, and had an in with the “cool kids” on campus.

Once she gained a little self-confidence, life was a breeze. By the end of her sophomore year, she changed her major to health and fitness with a minor in business management. She realized feeling good about her appearance actually helped her come out of her shell and gave her time to enjoy life.

Not that Rayne was a wallflower before her physical transformation; taking care of her sisters and trying to be noticed by her parents had sucked any type of enjoyment out of her. The typical middle child syndrome—needing to please everyone. All she ever wanted was to be loved and to have someone to love.

“How about next week? If the weather is nice we can go rock climbing? I’ll take you on some easy cliffs and work our way to the steeper climbs once you’re comfortable.”

They had circled the trail around the cove and were back at
In Motion,
thus ending their lovely walk. “That sounds awesome. What’s your work schedule like? Hey!” She stopped and put her hands on her hips. “You know about me and my work, but you never even told me what you do for a living.”

She watched him sigh and stare over her shoulder. Uh oh. Did she offend him? Was he unemployed? A Wal-Mart greeter? A male stripper? The latter, she could imagine.

“I work at a bakery.”

“My younger sister is a great baker. Me, not so much. I take it you don’t work the morning shift or you wouldn’t be at the early Zumba class.”

“Actually, I put in a few hours before coming here. I should probably head back to work soon.”

“Wow, you’re a workaholic then? Boss must love you.”

Trent laughed. “Some days. I actually own the bakery. Sweet Spot.”

“Cute name.”

“You’ve never heard of it?”

Rayne shrugged. “No. I don’t eat out much unless I’m doing a girls’ thing with my sisters.” She smiled. “And I’m a health fanatic. No offense to your bakery, but I don’t eat sweets. They’re really not a necessary part of one’s diet.”

He gasped and clutched his chest. “Ouch. An arrow through my heart. I don’t think I could make it through a day without something sweet to tide me over.” He winked flirtatiously at her and she laughed.

“If you say so. I’ll stick to coffee and an apple. A green smoothie is as sweet as I get.”

“Oh, honey,” he drawled and snaked an arm around her shoulders. “I’m going to convert you. Just watch.”

He pecked her cheek and took over stroller duty, walking away from her and around the building to the parking lot.

“Oh, no honey. I’m going to convert
you,”
she mumbled, fanning herself with her hand.

Chapter Two

Rayne

“He’s gonna break your heart, Ray-Ray,” Rayne’s older and man-hating sister Sage said while rolling up her piece of sushi.

“It’s not like I’ll actually convert him. It’s only my wishful thinking. He’s obviously in love with his boyfriend. I still really like him. As a friend,” Rayne emphasized when Sage gave her the death stare.

“I know you, hun. You’re going to obsess over this guy—”

“Trent.”

“Trent. And then fall in love knowing he doesn’t swing your way. Then you’ll come crying to me, and I’ll soothe and console and we’ll have a bucket of margaritas while I try not to say ‘I told you so,’ and then you’ll be in love with the next hottie to cross your path two weeks later.”

Rayne would have been furious with her sister, had she not been right.

“It’s not your fault you wear your heart on your sleeve.” Sage placed the sushi on a rectangle platter and carried it over to the coffee table in her cramped apartment. “It’s the only reason I don’t kick your ass.” She picked up a pair of chopsticks and pointed them at Rayne. “You’re a pathetic romantic.”

“I prefer the term ‘hopeless.’”

“Whatever.” Sage sipped her wine and glared at Rayne over the rim of her glass. “You’re destined to fall in love, but don’t turn so desperate that you do something stupid.”

“I won’t.”

Sage’s eyebrow lifted as she snorted.

“Oh please, you’ve been a love cynic since you were five and Tommy Whitehouse refused to share his chocolate ice cream cone with you,” Rayne teased, and then sunk her mouth into one of Sage’s famous sushi rolls.

“Love isn’t on my agenda. And you know how I stick with my agendas.”

“You’ve told me the pitiful story of little Tommy a dozen times during girls’ nights out, and I don’t buy your agenda crap for a second. You’re scared to fall in love, and you turn all OCD to play interference.”

Sage’s life was planned to the minute. She had lists, agendas, Blackberries, iPads, laptops, iPhones and back-up systems to her back-up systems to organize her every move. And true, nowhere on her lists did she write “Fall in love.” Rayne knew when Sage was ready she’d write it on a list and
snap,
it would happen. She knew how to play up her strengths, which was what made her a fabulous event planner.

“Whatever,” Sage said. “Back to you. What’s the deal with Kevin, anyway?”

“I told you already,” Rayne said around a mouthful of fish.

“Yeah. A month ago you said you knew he didn’t really love you, and you broke it off. No big tears over him. So what gives? Why are you going out with him tomorrow night?”

Rayne cringed and hid her face in her glass of wine.

“Didn’t think I’d find out about the date, huh?”

“Well, he showed up at work and sort of asked me out to dinner. I felt bad turning him down in front of Sarah and the other girls.”

Sage snorted. “If Mr. Hot and Hunky Zumba Boy wasn’t gay, would you have said yes to your bodybuilder?”

Rayne shrugged.

“Bullshit. You’re a one-man woman. You’re only going out with Kevin again because you know you can’t have Mr. Zumba.”

“Maybe,” Rayne said into her glass.

“Definitely.”

“Yeah.”

***

Trent

Not wanting to appear too anxious, Trent walked through the doors of
In Motion
three minutes after eight.

“Hey, right on time!” Rayne said with a bounce and a smile.

He’d been sitting in the parking lot for ten minutes having a heart-to-heart with Junior, telling him to tone it down a bit, but couldn’t blame his head—either of them—for swelling. Rayne made him smile and laugh and, hell, his body vibrated with need when she was around. He hoped she wouldn’t notice the strain against his zipper. Somehow Trent managed to make it through all six Zumba classes without completely embarrassing himself. Well, his moves may have been somewhat humiliating, but concentrating on where and how to shuffle his feet, arms and
booty
kept—sort of—his mind off the sweet booty in the front of the room and helped keep him from making a complete spectacle of himself.

“A slight change of plans.” Her smile dropped, giving him great pleasure in knowing how excited she was to see him. “Nothing major. It looks like a storm is rolling in. It’s too dangerous to be out on the rocks, so I thought we’d go over to the rock climbing gym up in Auburn. It’s usually where people go to familiarize themselves with the ropes, footing, and all before climbing outside.”

“Oh! That sounds like fun.” She beamed, and she hopped up and down, causing a stir in his cargo shorts.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be. Bye, Sarah. See you tomorrow,” she called to her receptionist.

Conversation flowed easily during the thirty-minute drive. If Rayne was nervous at being with him or about climbing, she sure didn’t show it. It was a surprisingly refreshing change to be with a woman who wasn’t constantly putting the moves on him or making dull conversation.

When they got to the gym, he greeted the employees and told Ted, the manager, he’d handle Rayne’s orientation. Since he volunteered from time to time with their Overnight Survival Training program and instructed one of the afterschool junior climbing teams, they usually gave him free rein.

“Wow. This place is so cool. I can’t believe I’ve never done this before.”

He watched Rayne as she twirled around and took in her surroundings. More than 5,000 square feet of rock-like textured climbing surfaces and thousands of grips and stances braced the walls. Belayers were scattered throughout the center, calling to their climbers.

“Okay. Let’s get you suited up.” He nudged her left foot so she could step into the harness.

“Um, are you coming with me?” Rayne fiddled with the strapping around her waist.

He saw hesitation in her eyes. His manhood grew ten degrees—figuratively, not literally…yet. He stood and gently elbowed the flat stomach he’d been admiring for a week, and taunted, “You’re not afraid, are you?”

“No. Not really. But I thought you were going to be next to me.” And his ego—and his manhood—rose another ten degrees. At this rate he’d never fit into his harness.

“I’m going to be your belayer.” She scrunched up her cute nose in confusion. “I’m going to hold the rope and call out directions. All you have to think about is where to put your hands and feet. Look for the holds, the stances.”

“Eh?”

He chuckled and walked her closer to the wall. “This is called a hold. You
hold
on to it. This is a stance. You put your feet on it and climb. Simple as that.”

“How about you climb first and I’ll…belay you?”

Oh, the innuendos. “Not a chance, sweetheart. I’m your safety net.”

“Gee, that’s reassuring. What happens if you don’t catch me?”

“First, I don’t need to catch you because you aren’t going to fall. Second, these ropes…” he stopped to pull them through a carabineer, “and this clip will keep you safe. Even if you slip or let go of the wall, you won’t fall down. You’ll just dangle in the air.”

“Then how do I get down?” She nibbled her bottom lip, and he pictured his lips and teeth finishing the job for her.

“I’ll slowly let the rope out. You’ll go into a squat position and bounce your feet off the wall until you hit the bottom. Softly,” he reassured her. “Trust me. Nothing will happen to you. This is very safe.”

Letting out a breath she probably didn’t realize she was holding, Rayne pulled up the harness. “Okay, Mr. Hot Shot. Let’s do it.”

It wasn’t like he tried to grope her ass, but he did have to make sure the harness fit tightly around her legs, butt, and waist. If his touching bothered her, she didn’t show it. Trent made a growl when Junior twitched. His knuckles brushed across her backside and traced a path up to her waist and around to her stomach. It was subtle, but he thought he sensed her going tense as he reached through her legs to pull the strap around. Knowing he was treading on dangerous territory, Trent quickly finished tightening her harness and stepped back. “You’ll have fun. Promise.”

With her cheeks flushed, she nodded and surveyed the wall. It wasn’t the easiest wall but wasn’t Mt. Katahdin either. With her upper body strength, Trent knew she could physically handle it.

Locking his feet in his stance, he pulled in the excess rope as Rayne began to climb. The woman had focus, that was for sure. She never looked down and didn’t ask for any help and climbed to the top like Catwoman.
Damn, erase that picture out of your mind right now, Kipson!
He did not need to picture her in a sexy, skimpy, tight catsuit. It was bad enough that the two globes of her butt were accentuated thanks to the climbing harness. Again, not his fault he
had
to keep his eyes glued to her butt. That was the job of the belayer. Oh…so many puns formed in his mind, but he wouldn’t go there, either.

Before he knew it, she was at the top ringing the bell and hollering, “I did it! Trent, I did it!”

“I knew you could, sweetheart. Now grab the rope with both hands as I let you down nice and easy. Place both feet on the wall like I showed you.”

Rayne grabbed the rope and he watched her bounce to the floor. Before he could drop the ropes she threw herself in his arms.

“That was the coolest, bestest trip I’ve ever had. Oh my God, I want to do it again!” She hugged him again, then pulled back to hop up and down, her chest moving deliciously, making it impossible not to stare.

“Absolutely. Want to try a steeper climb?”

“Yes!” She let go of his hold and stepped back. “Wait. It’s your turn now. Show me how to belay.” Rayne started unbuckling her harness.

“Easy now.” He put his hand over hers, enjoying the heat of their bodies and feeling the racing of her pulse. “Keep that on. You can climb as many walls as you’d like. I’ve done this a thousand times.”

“I’m going to watch you this time and then I’ll go again. Can you climb that one?” She pointed to the Everest wall.

“If that’s what you want.” Leave it to her to challenge him with the most difficult, steepest climb. He’d mastered it years ago, so he wasn’t worried, but he didn’t want to come off cocky.

“It looks hard. Have you done it before?”

Mind. Gutter. Get out. “A few times.”

“Did you fall?”

“I have slipped, yes. Only you don’t fall if you have a strong belayer.” He winked, then called to one of the employees, “Cote. I’m going up. Can you spot me?”

“Hmph. I’m offended. I could totally spot you.” She crossed her arms over her perky breasts and almost pouted. The excitement in her face didn’t allow her to frown that much.

“I hope you do.” He winked and double-checked his gear. Cote did a quick spot-check as well before Trent started his climb.

Careful not to show off too much and accidentally slip, Trent climbed like Spider-Man, clinging to the overhang.

“Oh my God, Trent! You’re practically upside down. Don’t fall.”

He smiled and tried not to laugh, which would probably cause him to lose his grip and his cool status. The woman was worried about him, and damn if that didn’t boost his ego just a touch. Rayne deserved a show, and a show she was going to get. Letting his feet fall, he dangled, gripping tightly on to the holds. Using his forearms to pull himself up, he slowly lifted his body to the next tier, bringing his right leg nearly over his head. Yeah, he was that good, and yeah, he wanted her to know it. He prayed his legs didn’t break out in an Elvis and start shaking in front of his fan club.

Rayne gasped from below, and Trent did all he could to clear his mind of her and get himself out of this precariously challenging situation. Reaching over his head for another pull, his shaking arms carried his body over the last lip and up to the ceiling.

He may have pushed it a bit on the last stretch. His new sudden fame had kept him busy in the bakery and off the rocks for the past few weeks.

The whooping and cheering below caused a sudden spectacle around the gym. Everest had been empty all morning; it took months of training to climb this wall, and most enthusiasts climbed outside in the summer. As the onlookers slowly made their way over to Rayne and Trent’s private corner, he called out to Cote and slid down the rope until he hit the ground.

“Holy crap, Trent. Or should I call you Peter Parker?” Her Godiva eyes glowed and her sweet, shiny lips parted into a bright smile, enhancing her perfectly white teeth.

Damn, he’d like to take her mouth for a test drive. “Your turn.”

“Oh no. I can’t do this wall.” She backed away from him.

Trent reached out and grabbed her arm. “Not Everest, but I think you can climb Katahdin.” He led her toward an intermediate wall and prayed the group of women at the Shawnee Peak wall wouldn’t come over. Unfortunately, they recognized him, puffed out their feathers and sauntered over, not caring that he was with another woman.