In possibly the strangest moment of their relationship, Cori sighed and told Ava, “I’m sorry, but no. I can’t authorize this purchase.”

Ava set her cup down with a thunk. “I need stuff.”

“I can’t sign off on buying a new oven right now,” Cori said, wondering who she was becoming. She never said things like no and can’t afford. “For three reasons.”

She put a plate down in front of each of her sisters.

“What’s this?” Brynn asked.

“S’mores pie,” Cori told her with a smile. She’d never made it before, but it had been easy and had turned out perfectly.

“Are you trying to rub this baking thing I can’t do in my face?” Ava asked, even as she picked up her fork and drug it through the toasted marshmallows on top of the chocolatey pie and lifted it to her lips.

“I’m really not,” Cori said, “But I have some ideas for our menu. Adding easy, new pies. If we’re talking about different promotions, like the sweetie pies, we could do kids’ pies too. This and a peanut butter and jelly pie, for instance.”

Okay, they hadn’t been talking about different promotions, and no one had mentioned the sweetie pies since Cori had the first day in the shop. Ava was completely consumed with learning to bake—when she wasn’t on her computer and/or phone conducting Carmichael Enterprises business—and Brynn was working on making colorful cushions for the chairs in the shop. Making them because they couldn’t afford to buy them or pay someone else to do it. Her genius-IQ sister had picked up sewing faster than her CEO sister was picking up whisking, but needles and thread were more than a little outside of Brynn’s area of expertise, so it was slow going.

“When kids like eating somewhere, they talk their parents into going. Look at the burger chains with the toys in the kids’ meals and the pizza places that have the games and stuff. Kids can get their parents in the door. And they’re a cute way to expand the idea of a pie shop.”

Cori stopped rambling as she watched Ava set her fork down and sigh. “I can’t even do cherry.”

“You’ll get better,” Cori assured her. She was seventy percent sure that was true. There were very few things that Ava couldn’t do if she set her mind to it, but she was turning out to be completely terrible at pies. She didn’t have the patience and she wasn’t focused. She was always trying to do three other things at once, and Cori very much doubted if Ava’s mind was on pies even when she was in the kitchen. And the more she messed up, the more frustrated she got and the less patience she had. Clearly, cooking and baking weren’t going to be the fun, stress reliever for Ava that they were for Cori.

“I didn’t even know you can toast marshmallows in the oven,” Ava said, taking another bite of the marshmallows on her pie.

“Well, it’s even easier if you have a blowtorch,” Cori said with a grin.

Ava’s eyes went wide. “A blowtorch?”

Cori nodded. “Yep.”

“Where did you find a blowtorch in Bliss?” Brynn asked.

“I brought it with me,” Cori said with a shrug. At her sister’s amazed looks, she added, “You never know when you might need to make crème brulee.” But it was kind of true. The top of the brulee was the hardest. She could use the broiler, but it wasn’t as good as with a blowtorch.

Plus, blowtorches were more fun.

“See, I need tools,” Ava said.

“Do you even know how to use a blowtorch?” Brynn asked around a bite of chocolate and graham cracker.

“Well, no. But I can’t get better without proper…stuff,” Ava said, with an uncharacteristic inability to find a more eloquent word.

“Ava, I mean with this all the love in my heart,” Cori said. “But the problem with the pies is not the oven or the lack of tools and stuff.”

Ava frowned and opened her mouth. Then she shut it and nodded. “I know.”

Cori smiled at her good-at-everything sister. Well, her good-at-almost-everything sister. She hadn’t liked the fact that Evan had shown that insight into Ava’s personality. But that was more because she was stupidly jealous and that had seemed like a connection between them. She didn’t want them to have a connection. There. She’d admitted it. But truthfully, that part of Ava’s personality was obvious. To everyone.

“What are the other reasons not to buy a new oven?” Brynn asked. “I assume number one is because it won’t make a difference in quality.” Brynn just grinned as Ava stuck her tongue out at her.

Cori knew there were several CEOs around the country, maybe even the world, who would be shocked that classy, cool Ava Carmichael had ever stuck her tongue out at someone. Especially while wearing cut-off sweatpants and licking chocolate pie off of her index finger.

“Reason number two is that we don’t have enough business to justify the need for an industrial oven. Which goes with reason number three—we have no money,” Cori said.

“Sometimes you have to invest in the business to increase revenue, right?” Brynn asked.

Ava nodded. “Sure. With a solid business plan, we should be able to justify some purchases.”

Cori nodded and leaned back. “Sure. But we don’t have a business plan.” And neither sister had said, “that’s brilliant!” to Cori’s idea for kid-friendly pies. She hadn’t even told them she thought they should make them smaller, kid-sized, and called them “kiddie pies” to go along with the “sweetie pies.”

“We’ll write one,” Ava said.

Cori swallowed her sip of coffee and shook her head, trying not to show that even the mention of Evan’s name, made her heart flutter. She wasn’t the type to just sit around and want something. When she had an urge, of any kind really, she just went for it. So this thinking longingly about something, or someone, was very strange. She supposed there was a good lesson in there somewhere. Maybe wanting something she couldn’t have would be character building or something.

“Not ‘we’,” she said to Ava. “You’re not supposed to help with the business side of things. Dad put it in his note. But I don’t need help anyway,” Cori said. “It doesn’t take long to add zero to zero. I have time to learn all about business plans.” Which was, apparently, part of this whole crazy plan—for them to all learn things.

“Zero?” Brynn asked.

“Almost literally,” Cori said. She leaned her elbows on the table. “We have six hundred dollars in the bank account and we owe on a loan and we haven’t brought in any new money.”

“A loan?” Ava had just run her finger through a bit of chocolate and paused with it partway to her mouth. “Dad took out a loan?”

Cori shrugged. “Yep. Went to the bank yesterday to go over everything.”

Ava put her finger down without licking it, a sure sign of shock.

“Rudy Carmichael, one of the richest men in the country, took out a loan from a bank in Bliss, Kansas for a pie shop that’s basically a hole in the wall?”

Cori nodded. She had to admit she was just as surprised, but for some reason…she liked it. It made things more complicated. They had to make the business profitable by the end of the year, and they weren’t just starting from zero—they were in the negatives. But she liked that Rudy hadn’t blown into town and started throwing money around. There was no Rudy Carmichael Memorial Sports Complex or a wing on a building or a street named after him. And yeah, even his own business was a hole in the wall. She liked that no one had known he was rich.

It surprised her, but she liked that too. It had been eighteen years since Rudy had surprised her in a good way. She’d been eleven and he’d given her a pair of purple boots she’d mentioned liking when they’d walked past them in a store window on Fifth Avenue. He’d turned her into the store and bought them then and there. She’d worn them nonstop for almost three weeks.

She’d given up hoping for another pair of purple boots—literal or figurative ones—but she had to admit that the pie shop was beginning to feel that way.

“We need to come up with about 10K,” Cori said. “We owe five on the loan, then to pay for supplies and advertising and stuff. And of course electric…and all the eggs and sugar we keep going through.”

Ava rolled her eyes.

“I’ve got a woman making valances for the front windows, but we need to pay for the material and her time,” Cori went on.

“You’ve got a woman making us valances?” Ava asked.

Cori shrugged. “Walter’s wife’s sister. She’s pretty inexpensive but not free.”

Ava almost looked impressed. “How did you pay for the paint and stuff? I assumed you’d used the account.”

“I applied for a business credit card online,” Cori said. “I fudged and used my own bank account on the application even though we’re not supposed to be spending our own money on the business. I figure we’re not spending it. We’re charging it and will pay it off with pie shop profit.”

Ava’s look of admiration grew.

“Fudging? Like when you kissed Evan?” Brynn asked. “Since kissing isn’t really dating.”

If it wasn’t for the glint of mischief in Brynn’s eyes, Cori would have been more irritated, but she really did like the little bits of spunk in her sister. Cori looked at Ava. She’d told Ava about pretending to be her for Evan’s mom and Holly, but she hadn’t shared the kissing part.

“You kissed Evan?” Ava asked. “When? Where?” Her voice grew panicked as she sat up straighter. “Cori! You can’t do that! If I don’t have a steady boyfriend for six months we’re screwed. And I don’t know if you cheating with my boyfriend will be great for business.”

“Calm down,” Cori said. “Everyone thought it was you. It was at the shop with his mom.”

“Oh.” Ava deflated slightly. She frowned. “What kind of kiss?”

Cori swallowed as the memory of the kiss played in her mind. She felt like she’d just rubbed hot sauce on her lips—tingly and hot.

And maybe dropped it on her nipples. And a little lower.

“It was hot,” Brynn supplied when Cori didn’t answer right away.

Ava groaned. “It was?”

“Very,” Brynn confirmed. “His hand in her hair, her clutching his shirt, tiptoes, tongues—the whole thing. And everyone thought so. Noah did this ‘damn’ thing under his breath.”

“Hey, yeah, you and Noah are hanging out a lot,” Cori commented. “Is he date-boy number one?”

“No,” Brynn said quickly. “Those aren’t dates.”

Cori lifted an eyebrow.

“And,” Brynn added, “don’t try to distract me from you and Evan.”

“So, Noah distracts you,” Cori said.

But Brynn shook her head. “Nice try. Let’s talk about how you practically climbed Evan in the middle of the pie shop.”

“I did not.” But her protest was weak.

“Well, crap,” Ava interjected.

“What? They all thought it was you,” Cori insisted. “I promise Brynn and Evan were the only two who knew it was me.”

“And Noah,” Brynn added.

“Yes, Noah. Brynn’s new best friend who she is not dating even though she sees him almost every day and he’s doing stuff like painting and finishing chairs and tables, and even stitched the edges of some cushions the other day.”

Brynn frowned. “How did you know that? No one was there.”

“I noticed the Band-Aids on the tips of his fingers. He’s a mechanic, good with his hands, I’m sure.” She waggled her eyebrows, loving Brynn’s slight blush. “The only reason he’d need Band-Aids is if he’s using little tiny needles that he’s not used to.”

Brynn rolled her eyes. “He’s a mechanic. He scrapes his knuckles and pinches his fingers all the time.”

“No way does ex-Marine, mechanic extraordinaire Noah, use Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Band-Aids. Like the ones you bought the other day.” Cori grinned as Brynn shifted on her chair.

“They were the only ones they had at the grocery store the other day,” Brynn said.

“Did you kiss his fingers better when you put the Band-Aids on?” Cori asked.

Ava laughed. “I haven’t minded having Noah around,” she said, adding to the teasing. “That guys looks very nice without a shirt while sanding and sawing and pounding.”

The same CEOs who would have been shocked by her sticking out her tongue, would have probably fallen over, hearing Ava say pounding in a tone that clearly didn’t mean nails.

Brynn’s face was bright red—she was the only one of the triplets who blushed—and she said through gritted teeth, “Cori kissed the hell out of your boyfriend in front of his mom.”

Ava’s frowned. “Oh yeah. Dammit, Cori.”

“What? I totally pulled it off,” Cori said. “Everyone thinks you’re crazy about each other. You’re welcome.”

“But now I have to kiss him like that,” Ava exclaimed.

And Cori’s stomach tightened. Well…crap.

“If you kiss like that in public, obviously you’re all over each other in private. We have to keep up the hot and horny thing now,” Ava said.

“I don’t know if I’d say horny,” Cori protested.

“I would,” Brynn said cheerfully, obviously happy to have the conversation off of Noah and his half-naked pounding.

Ava shoved her pie away, hardly touched but for the marshmallows and two tastes of chocolate. “Dammit.”

“It’s not like I set you up to have to eat broccoli every day or something,” Cori said, annoyed. Though she wasn’t sure if it was because Ava would be kissing Evan, at least in public—which meant Cori might have to see it—or if it was because Ava didn’t want to.

Which was stupid.

“But I like broccoli,” Ava said.

“You don’t like Evan?” Cori asked, actually feeling offended. She did not want Ava to kiss Evan. She did not want Ava to want to kiss Evan. But regardless of the kissing, Evan Stone was very likeable.

Ava blew out a breath. “Sure. I like Evan. Evan’s fine. He’s certainly easier to get along with than Parker.” She scowled briefly.

“You don’t like Parker?” Brynn asked. “He’s growly but seems…nice.” Though she said the last word as if that wasn’t quite the right word.

Ava snorted. “Nice? Um, no. I saw someone ask for sugar the other day. When he found out they were going to put it in their tea, he took it away.”

“The sugar?” Brynn asked.

“The tea. The whole glass.”

Brynn’s eyes were wide, but Cori grinned. “Hey, that can only be good for our business, right? The only other food place in town.”

Ava suddenly slumped back. “I wouldn’t call us that.”

“You’ll get the hang of the pie,” Cori said. “I promise.”

“We’re not really known for food though,” Ava said.

“Um, pie shop. Baked is in our title.” Though it still didn’t sound so much as the eating kind of baked as the smoking kind of baked.

“Dad’s pies sucked,” Ava said. “No one came for the food. Parker told me. The pies were bad, he undercharged, it was all just…like he ran away from home and found the most opposite thing he could do.”

“Like make bad business decisions?” Cori asked.

But Ava didn’t smile. “Yeah. It was like he left New York and his success and hard work and just…stopped. Stopped working, stopped planning and strategizing and…trying.”

“Evan makes it sound like he was happy though,” Cori said. It was puzzling. But things just didn’t always make sense and go according to plan. She’d learned that away from New York. Maybe that was part of what Ava needed to learn.

“Yeah,” Ava nodded, clearly thinking. “I guess Parker does too.”

“Noah too,” Brynn added softly.

“But we don’t have the luxury of not working or strategizing,” Cori said, fully aware that those were not words she typically used.

Her sisters were aware too. And seemed slightly amused by it. And maybe a little worried. Well, they weren’t the only ones. But Ava wanted to buy an oven and Brynn wanted to just spend all day ‘painting’, i.e., watching Noah’s naked, tattooed arms and shoulders, and Cori wanted…well, a photo booth and heart-shaped pie pans. But first she needed to get them out of debt and a positive bank balance.

She rubbed her middle finger on the center of her forehead and then caught Ava doing the same thing.

“Okay, business plan. New menu items—”

Ava’s phone rang and Cori sighed. Ava never didn’t take a call. She glanced at the screen. “I can’t handle more or new,” she said, getting to her feet. “Hell, I can’t handle what I have. Let me work on that.”

“But we have to start bringing in—”

“I have to take this,” Ava said. “It’s my eight o’clock call.”

She picked the phone up as Brynn said, “Crap, it’s already eight? I need to check in with Jeffrey.” Jeffrey was one of the scientists in Brynn’s lab who was keeping her updated on what they were doing.

Ava was already up from the table and headed toward the room off the main living room that she’d designated as her office.

“Go ahead,” Cori told Brynn. “We’ll talk later.”

Brynn leaned over as she came around the table and gave Cori a quick hug. “We’ll make it work.”

“Well, at least Noah’s working for a currency we can afford,” Cori teased, squeezing her.

“What’s that?” Brynn asked, straightening.

“Time with you. And the view of you in shorts on a ladder.”

Brynn blushed again, but didn’t deny it.

“You’re sure you’re not dating him?” Cori asked.

The tattooed ex-Marine mechanic wasn’t the nerdy scientist type Cori would have thought of for Brynn, but he was hot and could definitely take care of the head-in-the-clouds, or rather head-in-the-microscope, Brynn. And he seemed a little enamored. Brynn deserved enamored. And hot.

“I’m not dating him,” Brynn said firmly. She paused, then confessed, “Because then I’d have to stop. Right? Six different guys in six months.”

Ah. Suddenly it made sense. “If you don’t date him, you can keep seeing him.”

Brynn blushed. “I don’t know if he feels the same, but that’s how I’m looking at it.”

Cori grinned. “Good for you. Just enjoy it.”

With a smile that was definitely a little dreamy, Brynn headed upstairs to the fourth bedroom that she’d taken over for her office.

There were five bedrooms in the huge, old two-story house, along with three bathrooms, a living room, formal dining room, enormous kitchen, den, full basement, and attic.

But none of those were serving as Cori’s office. Cori didn’t need an office. Cori didn’t do work that required an office. Well, she’d been a personal assistant to a publisher for a while. And she’d run the front desk at an eye doctor’s office for about six months. But like everything she did, she hadn’t stuck with either of those jobs long enough to count them as any kind of career.

Cori sighed and got up from the table, gathering the dishes. Her sisters hadn’t gushed over her s’mores pie either, dammit. Baking and cooking were two things she was good at, and she’d really love to have someone gush over something she did. And, not that she was shocked, she thought of Evan. She’d love to feed Evan. She’d love to do a lot of things to and for and with Evan.

Now she was the owner of a pie shop where she couldn’t bake, doing books that were barely books, and lusting after a guy who was going to have to now kiss her sister like he wanted to do her up against the nearest firm surface. Because yeah, that’s exactly how she and Evan kissed.

She threw the dirty spoons into the dishwasher with a satisfying clang. If Rudy’s intention had been to give her a lesson in deprivation and self-control, this was well played.

She was nearly done cleaning up when the doorbell rang. The doorbell—a grand chime with three tones—fit the old house with the high ceilings, original woodwork, built-in china hutch, and wall sconces perfectly and made Cori smile as she headed for the foyer.

She pulled the heavy old door open, not even bothering to look through the window first. And her smile immediately widened.

Evan Stone stood on her front step. Well, their front step.

“Hi.” He gave her a big grin.

Did he know which sister she was? Was he grinning at her or just whoever opened the door? Evan grinned at people all the time. She just knew it. He looked really good wearing that grin too. And she really wanted him to know who she was. “Hi.”

She did not want him kissing Ava. The thought was hardly shocking, but the intensity with which she felt opposed to the idea was a little.

Movement behind him caught her eye, and she glanced over his shoulder to see their neighbor across the street, Jason, taking a box from the back of his truck. He lifted a hand in a wave.

And it seemed clear what she needed to do. She stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Evan’s neck and pressed her body against his, kissing him like, well, like she wanted to put him up against the nearest firm surface.

Evan didn’t hesitate for an instant. He cupped her ass, pulled her up against him, and opened his mouth.

Tongues and tiptoes. That was what Brynn had said of their kiss at the shop. The tiptoes made her taller and the tongues, well, those made her think of hot, wet thrusting of another kind.

Evan’s hands were in her hair again and she was glad she had it down tonight. It allowed him to slide his fingers against her head and then drag them through the long strands in a deliciously decadent way that made her want those hands and fingers all over her body.

No. He could not kiss Ava like this. Dammit. Cori couldn’t handle that.

She finally pulled back, but Evan didn’t let her head go as he looked into her eyes, breathing a little harder.

“Hey, Cori,” he said gruffly.

Relief swept over her. She hadn’t admitted it, even to herself, but that first night in New York had been bugging her. That he’d poured all of that heat into a kiss with another woman. And that had been before she’d gotten to know him better. That was why the kiss at the shop two days ago had felt even more satisfying. He’d known it was her. And had kissed her like he’d never get enough.

“Hey,” she said, just to confirm that he was completely correct. Then she went back in for more.

Their lips met and the kiss turned hungry almost immediately. He backed her up against the door and slid his tongue along hers. One of his big hands ran from her butt to her thigh, lifting it so that he could press against the hot, aching spot where she needed pressure. And friction. And a lot less clothing.

His other hand slid into her hair, gripping gently. He angled her head to the side and moved his lips over her jaw to her neck. “Damn girl,” he said huskily. “You smell like chocolate, and you feel like the place I want to be for the next several weeks, straight, and you kiss me like you’ve had every dirty thought about me that I’ve had about you.”

A little chorus of yes, yes, yes! sang in her head. He knew it was her. And hell yes, she’d stay right here for the next several weeks—although with the less clothes thing—and she’d love to share a few of those dirty thoughts.

She gave a soft laugh, then a moan as he sucked gently on the skin just behind her ear. “Man, I hope so. I don’t want to be kissing someone who doesn’t have the kinds of thoughts I’ve had.”

“Those thoughts are keeping me up at night,” he confessed, his hand sliding down her back and then under the edge of her shirt.

Her skin erupted in goose bumps as he trailed his finger over the bare skin just above her shorts.

“I could tell you about a few of them,” he said, running his hand higher, spanning her rib cage and getting so close to her breast.

“One of mine includes us breaking one of those little round tables in the pie shop,” she told him, arching closer, hinting that she wanted his hand higher.

He pulled back a little, his eyes burning. “Oh, really? One of mine has to do with the very big, very sturdy table in the conference room in New York.”

She laughed. “Probably safer.”

“I think sturdy will be important.”

She caught her breath. He’d said will. As in it will happen. “Good.”

He lowered his head and kissed her again, finally moving his hand to cup her breast. Her shirt pulled up on her stomach and cool night air hit her suddenly feverish skin. Evan ran the pad of his thumb over her nipple and Cori felt it in every inch of her body. Some more than others, of course. Then he rolled it between his thumb and finger and all of the tingles all over her body seemed to laser focus into a pulsing need between her legs.

“Evan,” she moaned into his mouth.

“Cor—”

But he was interrupted by a car driving past the house. And the little beep beep the driver gave that said they’d seen it all.

Cori sucked in a breath and looked down. She was still mostly covered, only her stomach exposed, but it was very clear where Evan’s hand was.

The hand that he slid out from under her shirt as he leaned back.

“I’ve had a few dirty thoughts about you against doors and walls too,” he said, his voice rough. “But we should maybe not do front doors. Or at least, not the outside of front doors.”

Cori ran a hand through her hair and Evan’s gaze dropped to the breast he’d just had in his hand. She dropped her arm, very aware that her nipples were pressing insistently against her shirt, begging him for more attention. She coughed. “Yeah, that’s maybe a good plan.”

“Wouldn’t want to scandalize our little town,” he said with a grin.

Our little town. Was Bliss her town? Strangely, that didn’t seem completely…strange.

And then the word scandalize sunk in. Yeah, doing her sister’s boyfriend against the front door—or any door for that matter—would be scandalous.

Even if no one knew about it?

From the street, they wouldn’t know that she wasn’t Ava, but seriously? Did the fact that no one knew that she and Evan were messing around make it better? And did it help that he wasn’t actually cheating on Ava? And did it make it okay that this was definitely not a usual relationship for Cori? She’d met Evan Stone two weeks ago. She’d never wanted a guy like this, flirted with a guy like this, kissed a guy like this, and not already slept with him. Hell, some of her relationships would be over by now. In the overall cosmic view of right and wrong and good and bad intentions and all of that, did any of these things really make it all right?

“You knew it was me? Even before I kissed you?” she asked.

“Yeah. Though I don’t mind you confirming it that way.”

Cori looked up at him, hating that she loved that he’d known her. He wasn’t hers. Couldn’t be. At least for a few more months. And maybe not even then, really. Because going from one sister to the next would probably be scandalous too.

On impulse, Cori gathered her hair in one hand, lifting it away from her neck. “Here,” she said, tipping her head and pointing behind her right ear.

He leaned in to look, his warm breath caressing her neck and shoulder.

She felt her body react, tingles skittering down her arm and her nipples tightening. She cleared her throat. “We each have our first initial tattooed behind our right ear. “

He lifted a finger and traced the small C. Her tingles got tingles.

“That’s really cute,” he said, his voice husky again.

God, he smelled good. She resisted the urge to put her face against his chest and inhale deeply. And she gave herself more points for again resisting a very strong impulse.

She let her hair drop. “Now you’ll always have a way of knowing. For sure. Just…in case.”

He didn’t ask in case of what. For which she was grateful. Because she couldn’t say exactly. She just had this feeling that she really wanted to always know he knew her.

“Our mom used to use a marker to put our initials there. It helped babysitters and our grandparents and teachers. We did the tattoos on our eighteenth birthday as a kind of tribute to her getting us to adulthood mostly on her own. We don’t tell many people.”

“Thanks for telling me.”

“Sure.”

They stood looking at each other for a long moment. They were no longer touching but he was very definitely in her personal space. And she’d never wanted to have her body against someone else as much as she wanted to be up against Evan Stone in that moment.

“And you knew who I was when you kissed me,” he said.

“Of course. But they didn’t know who I was.”

“They?”

“The neighbors,” she said, waving her hand in the direction of Jason’s house.

“Ah. And it wouldn’t be okay for them to think that you were Cori greeting me at the door?”

She cleared her throat. “Just thought it was a good opportunity to further cement this thing between you and Ava.”

“Ah. Well…thanks.”

Finally she sighed. “Actually, that wasn’t it. I just…had to.”

His smile faded and he nodded. “Yeah.”

“Yeah?”

He blew out a breath. “Yeah.”

“Oh.” So he was feeling the longing too.

He nodded again. “And it makes it even more awkward to now ask if your sister is home.”

That made Cori straighten. Right. The neighbors could think she was Ava. From a distance. But there would be a point where Evan had to actually be with the real Ava. “Yes. Right. Of course. She’s on a conference call. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Well, no.” He shifted his weight, suddenly seeming uncomfortable. He cleared his throat. “We, um, need to go out. Me and Ava. We have to be seen together. In public.”

“Oh. You’re here to ask my sister on a date.” Ugh.

“Yeah.” He took a small step back.

Double ugh.

“Well, that is awkward.” Especially considering I want to strip down and introduce you to my pastry bags and decorating tips. Cori coughed. “I don’t know when she’ll be done with her call but—” Suddenly Cori wanted more time with him. It was like there was a timer ticking now that would signal the end of…whatever this was. “Do you want to have dessert and coffee with me while you wait?”

Slowly he nodded. “I do. I really do.”

“Are you okay?” He seemed pained.

“Just kind of wishing dessert and coffee was a euphemism,” he said. “For which my answer would still be I really do, incidentally.”

Cori felt heat curl through her belly and then dive into her panties.

“And then I was feeling bad that I wished that,” he went on, cooling her down a little. “And then I was remembering that this thing with Ava isn’t really real. And then I realized that this—going for the feel-good stuff instead of the responsible stuff I promised—is exactly what I always do.”

Wow, that was all…pretty much exactly how she felt. No matter how warm and tempted he made her feel, couldn’t she, just once, not give into her urges? Could she resist saying what the hell just one time? Apparently not, because Cori heard herself say, “But you just have to be sure Ava has some fun and doesn’t work all the time.” You don’t have to sleep with her. Or fall in love with her. Or even feel guilty about wanting to kiss someone else.

“That’s true,” Evan said, his gaze on her mouth now as if he’d read her thoughts about the kissing.

“And I’m not saying my s’mores pie won’t make you feel good, but giving me your honest opinion about a potential addition to the pie shop menu would be helpful. And helping someone out is responsible, right?”

“I guess you’ve got a point.”

“So we’re fine.” If Brynn painting with Noah wasn’t dating, then… Yep, there were loopholes everywhere. And she was honing in on every one of them. Typical.

“I mean dessert with a guy who’s here to ask my sister out doesn’t count as a date for me, right?” Having a conversation with a guy in her kitchen over pie and coffee was definitely not a classic date scenario in Cori’s life. There would be a distinct lack of hard liquor, for one thing. And a lack of sexy panties—she had on plain white cotton tonight. And a lack of dirty dancing, NASCAR racing, and Tae Kwan Do instruction…which were the ways she’d met her last three boyfriends. Oh, and there would be a hell of a lot more talking. Even if her pastry bags and decorating tips were right there in the drawer by the oven.

Evan shook his head. “Probably not.”

“Probably not?”

He paused, then his voice went a little lower. “Still kind of feels like a date.”

Yeah it did. A pretty plain, sweet, she-still-wanted-it date. Cori shook her head and decided to lighten things up. Because light was definitely more her style. “Oh, that’s just because of the kissing. Kissing always makes things seem more serious than they are,” she said with a wave of her hand.

But Evan didn’t take the lighten-up hint. Or smile. He just said, “Funny. Kissing is usually my go-to for keeping it casual.”

She swallowed. Crap. Her too. Kissing was way easier than talking. “Well, I guess we could kiss in the kitchen instead of making conversation. If you insist.” She gave him a smile that she was sure looked as wobbly as it felt.

“Strangely, I don’t think that will make this more causal.”

Oh, boy. “Okay. What will?”

“I’m not sure anything will.”

How about dating my sister? Will that make things seem more casual between us? Talk about being out of her element. Cori never got too serious. If anything, she didn’t get serious enough in her relationships. Now this one…she couldn’t seem to pull back on the reins.

She took a deep breath. “Pie is the only answer. It will make you feel like you’re giving in to all kinds of temptation, but you won’t have to make a phone call in the morning.”

“Why do I feel like you’re not a phone-call-in-the-morning girl?” Evan asked. Still not letting her lighten the moment up.

“Oh, hell no, I’m not.” She laughed. She really wasn’t. She always wanted some space the morning, and day, and sometimes week, after.

“And why do I also feel like you’re a girl I’d really want to call?” Evan asked.

She swallowed. “Because you’re a contrary personality. Like me.”

He took a few seconds, but finally he nodded. “Probably. Okay, let’s try the pie.