Chapter Fourteen

“Try the Carrot Delight. You’ll love it.”

Maya read the ingredients listed on the board and grimaced. Carrots, zucchini, kiwi, and pineapple? “Yuck.”

Carly bounced up to the counter and gave the clerk a bright smile. “Hiya.”

“Hey.” He was young, and he blushed as his gaze darted to her breasts. “What can I get you?”

“Two Carrot Delights.”

“No, Carly. Yuck,” she said again

The boy looked up from the register and tapped his finger against the register to indicate he waited for the order to be completed.

“Two Carrot Delights,” Carly said once more.

“And one of those.” Maya pointed to a chocolate chip biscotti.

Carly shook her head, which made the short hair fly around her face. “No, not the chocolate, Billy.” She smiled at the clerk again and leaned across the counter a bit so he could look down her shirt. “Two of the honey, quinoa, and berry.”

Maya faked a gag. “If I have to drink the carrot thing, I’m darn well getting some chocolate to choke it down.”

Her sister heaved a sigh, but nodded to Billy. “Two Carrot Delights, a honey, quinoa, and berry biscotti, and one chocolate chip biscotti.”

The boy bagged the biscotti in a white sack and slid it across the counter to Carly. As he turned to the blenders, Carly walked over to a table to put the bag down. She slid into a chair. “I’ll get ‘em when they’re ready.”

With a shrug, Maya sat down at the small table, noticing two of the male patrons at a nearby table were staring at her sister. She couldn’t blame them. Carly was definitely the beauty of the family. She took the biscotti her sister passed, sinking her teeth into it with a crunch.

“So, who’s that Roarke guy?”

She nearly choked on the biscotti. “I told you. He owns the studio where Bobby’s working.”

Carly lifted a brow. “Give me a break, sis. He’s a lot more than your fiancé’s employer.”

Heat suffused her face. Maya used a napkin to blot at her cheeks and hoped it hid the color. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“It’s obvious you’re fucking.” Before Maya could respond to that, Carly had bounded to the counter to get their drinks. When she returned with the slimy orange concoctions, she picked up where she’d left off.

“There was a vibe between you two.”

Maya rolled her eyes as she stared at the Carrot Delight with trepidation. “You’re imagining things.”

“I wasn’t imagining that you were seething with jealousy when I flirted with him.”

“What are you talking about?” Maya had meant her voice to be cool and level, but it sounded defensive.

“You were so pissed at both of us, and he was enjoying egging you on.”

“Carly…”

“I’m young, not dumb.”

“We aren’t sleeping together.”

Carly quirked a brow. “But you want to.”

“It isn’t like that.”

“Well, how is it?”

To her shock, Maya blurted out the whole story. She didn’t gloss over anything that had happened, not even their first encounter, or the way she had ordered Roarke to use the vibrator. When she finished, she waited for her sister’s appalled reaction.

“What a jerk.”

She shook her head. “Roarke’s really not that bad. When things first started, I thought I would hate him, but now…”

“I’m not talking about Roarke. Bobby, your bum fiancé, is the jerk. I can’t believe he told you to go through with it.” Carly’s blue eyes had darkened with anger. She picked up her biscotti and broke it in two with a cracking sound. “Why are you still with that creep, Maya? You could do so much better.”

Maya sighed. “Can we focus on the main issue?”

With a snort, Carly bit into half of her biscotti. “Fine. What’s the problem?”

“What do you mean, what’s the problem? Any day now, Roarke’s going to want to have sex.”

Carly leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Go for it.”

“Huh?”

“It’s your last chance for a fling.” Her mouth twisted. “Your precious fiancé even sanctioned it.”

“It isn’t right…”

“Maya, I can see you’re hot for this guy.”

Maya broke eye contact by picking up the Carrot Delight and taking a tentative sip. “Ugh. It tastes like cold vegetable soup.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Carly waved her hand. “Don’t change the subject.”

“Okay, I’m attracted to him.” Maya’s face turned crimson, and she lowered her voice. “I have this fantasy of him just pinning me to the wall and taking me. I don’t have a chance to protest or talk him out of it.”

She closed her eyes and waited for her sister to castigate her. Her eyes popped open when Carly laughed. “Why are you laughing? I’m dreaming of being raped, and you think it’s funny?”

Carly shook her head. “First off, it isn’t rape. You just want him to take control. It’s not like you wouldn’t participate if he did pin you to the wall.”

Maya nodded reluctantly. It was no more than the truth.

“And it’s so obvious why you want him to be in control.”

“It is?”

She nodded. “Yep. If Roarke pushes the issue, you get what you want, but you don’t have to feel guilty for betraying Bobby.”

Maya slammed back against her chair and her head spun. She felt as if her sister had physically hit her with the truth. “My God. You’re absolutely right.” She ached for Roarke, but her persistent loyalty to Bobby wouldn’t allow her to act on those thoughts. She had to believe he forced her or swayed her judgment before she could let it happen. Otherwise… “I’m a slut.”

Carly touched her hand. “You’re a normal girl who has never had a decent lover.”

“Bobby…”

“Sucks. You told me yourself that he doesn’t do it for you.”

Maya curled her arms around her torso. “I didn’t say it like that.”

Rolling her eyes, Carly said, “I can read between the lines. So, admit you want him, and you can have him. He’ll dispense with the seduction and just fuck you until you can’t stand up.”

“Carly. Where did you get such a foul mouth?”

“Girls’ locker room after softball practice.” She was nonchalant.

“I can’t do that to Bobby.”

“He’s giving you permission. You started out playing this game for him, but don’t you think you should get something out of it?”

Maya nibbled on her lip. “Well.”

“Of course you should.”

She squirmed at the thought of blatantly asking Roarke to make love to her. “I can’t tell him I want him so bluntly.”

A wicked grin encompassed Carly’s face. “Play him for a while.”

“Huh?”

“Turn the tables on Roarke. Start seducing him. Wriggle your bottom, touch him for no reason, flutter your lashes at him, and dress like a ‘ho.’ It works every time.”

Maya snickered. “Like you would know, Miss Cocktease. You’re the eternal virgin.”

“Hey. I’m only eighteen.” A strange smile flashed across her face. “And I’m not a virgin anymore.”

“What? When?”

“There’s a TA at the college…”

“You don’t go to college.”

Carly sighed deeply. “I’m trying to tell you what happened, okay? Don’t interrupt.”

“Sorry.”

“I was registering for my fall classes when we met. He’s six years older than me, so he said he was too old to take me out.”

“But you persisted?”

Carly nodded. “I seduced him.” She lifted a shoulder. “Things are progressing.”

“Do you love him?”

Excitement replaced Carly’s world-weary expression. Her blue eyes shone, and her lips quivered. “Yeah. I think I do.”

Maya laughed. “Why do we Langelles women always fall for older men? Dad’s nine years older than Mom.”

Carly shrugged. “Bobby’s only a year older than you. It’s not really the same thing.”

“O-of course not,” she stuttered out as her face got hot again. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Carly snorted, but let it pass. “You going to finish that Carrot Delight?”

“Hell no.” After shoving it across to her sister, Maya went to the counter to order a banana orange smoothie. For the first time since she had started playing Roarke’s game, she felt buoyant. She was already planning ways to implement her own rules into the game. He wouldn’t know what hit him.