The Sweetest Dare by Leigh Ellwood Read Free Book Online Page A

fruit. She didn’t bother adding syrup.
    “So how does one become a part-time vegetarian?” Sidney asked, spearing a triangle of pancake. “I suppose I’m one, too. I don’t eat meat at every meal.”
    “I say that because there are some things I won’t give up. I don’t eat dairy except for cream in my coffee, and I can’t do Thanksgiving without my mom’s turkey and homemade oyster stuffing.” She didn’t mean to eat so fast, but damn Sidney could cook.
    She could fuck like a master, too. Kit felt like she’d hit Powerball.
    “Your family is local?”
    Kit shook her head, effectively dissolving thoughts of Sidney’s mouth on her pussy. “North Carolina, but only a few hours away. I’m the youngest of three girls. You?”
    “My parents have passed. I have an older brother still in Wyoming. He oversees the ranch now, and he’s welcome to it.”
    “You weren’t kidding about the cowboys then.”
    Sidney laughed and shook her head. “Your family… do they know you’re a lesbian?”
    “Actually, no.”
    Sidney looked up from her last bite.
    “I never saw the reason to make a deal of it, you know?” she added. “It’s not like we talk about my love life when I visit. My sisters are married with kids, so my parents got their grandchildren. I’m off the hook there.” She smiled, forcing it.
    “Do you fear their disapproval? I mean, I understand if yes. My parents, I think knew before I came out to them so it wasn’t so bad.”
    She shrugged, wishing they could change the subject. “I’m not the only gay person in the family. My cousin on my mom’s side… everybody’s cool with it. I… I guess when I’m ready I’ll tell them.”
    Sidney pushed aside her empty plate and leaned on the counter opposite Kit. Her nipples touched the cold surface, and Kit watched them pebble. They’d certainly surpass the taste of her pancakes.
    “You ever bring anybody home to meet them?”
    “I’ve never been in that serious a relationship,” Kit said. Until now? This new conversation track interested her. Surely Sidney wasn’t renting the U-Haul in her head already. For one, this place wouldn’t hold a fraction of her stuff, and her apartment was no bigger.
    Assuming she and Sidney got serious—the happily ever after, rocking chairs on the porch kind? Could she bring her home to meet the family without having a panic attack? Honestly, she’d feel content living the rest of her life without bringing it up at the Christmas dinner table, regardless of whether or not her parents or sisters suspected.
    What could she possibly say to keep their talk going in a different direction?
    Saved by the ringtone. Thank you, Tish. She’d set her boss’s number to “Sugar Sugar,” and excused herself to answer the call.
    “Rise and shine, missy.” Tish sounded cheerful as always. “Are you decent?”
    “Depends on your definition of the word. What can I do for you on a Sunday?” Tish didn’t need to know she stood in Sidney’s living room-slash-bedroom, or that the apartment’s nude resident stood behind her and hooked her thumbs in the waistband of Kit’s jeans.
    All the while a knot formed in her stomach. Tish rarely called her on a day off. This could only mean a plea to work overtime.
    “Well, wherever you are, I’m glad to hear you answered your phone and not some ax murderer.” Behind Tish’s voice somebody—no doubt Vinnie—snickered.
    Kit frowned. “Meaning?” Where was this going?
    “Kit, it’s a small town. Not many people own bright red Mini Coopers with Star Wars stickers on the back windows. Vinnie’s uncle called to say he noticed your car wasn’t in your driveway when he drove past on the way to early Mass.”
    Her stomach roiled. She rented one half of a duplex near Dominic Petrocelli’s home. Nice guy, but so damned nosy, always trying to fix her up with one of his drivers. “Why would he do that?”
    “He thinks I’m your mother. The heck should I know?” Tish laughed.