Her gaze was glacial. “I don’t do sweet.”

He laughed and went for the coffeepot to pour himself a cup, watching as she vanished into the kitchen. “Don’t I know it.”


HOLLY STOOD in front of the huge grill, staring down at the congealing fat surrounding the burgers, which good old Eddie had been cooking for who knew which one of the customers out front.

She supposed she could go out there and ask, but then she’d have to admit she was clueless, and she’d have to admit it in front of Riley McMann, the first man she’d ever met with the unique ability to completely ruffle her feathers.

No man did that to her. She did that to them. But not in this case, damn him anyway.

Things were definitely out of control.

Frustration swamped her. She felt as if she were floundering in a situation, scrambling to get what she wanted.

And what she wanted was so simple. It always had been.

Acceptance.

Compassion.

The L word. Love.

She deserved those things, didn’t she? Sure, she’d always been a bit of a troublemaker, but that was only because she knew what she wanted, and knew if she didn’t go after it full-steam ahead, no one was going to hand it to her.

No one had ever handed her anything. Instead they took one look and judged her on looks alone. So she had good genes, so what? Being blond and smart didn’t mean jack diddly unless she was respected for it, which she wasn’t.

From out front, someone called for the waitress.

Ha! She knew even less about how to be a waitress than she did how to cook.

But if she was going to make this work, if she was going to prove her worth to her family for once and all, she needed to learn both, and quickly.

So, what first? Where to start?

“You turn on the stove.”

Damn, but she already knew that low, husky voice all too well. She turned and, yep, sure enough, there stood Riley. He touched a hand to his hat, setting it back on his head so that she could get a good look at his rugged, tanned, far-too-good-looking face, and the grin that went with it. “Let me guess,” she said in the most alienating tone she had. “Your doughnut break isn’t over yet.”

He just laughed good-naturedly. “Actually, I prefer ice cream to donuts, thanks.”

“Don’t you have some bad guys to catch or something?”

He walked straight toward her, still smiling. A lock of hair had fallen over his forehead and his dark eyes were sparkling with good humor.

He was invading her space again.

And he just kept coming, his wide shoulders taking up most of her view, his long jeans-clad legs closing the gap between them with alarming speed.

She stood her ground and lifted her chin, daring him to come closer.

He did. Then closer still.

When he was within a foot of her, so close she could see the tiny laugh lines fanning out from his eyes, she caved and backed up.

At her movement, his grin spread and he reached out, brushing her hip with his long fingers. Forcing herself completely still was one of the hardest things she’d ever done, though she didn’t understand why. He was just a man. She wasn’t afraid of him.

“What are you doing?” she asked, cool as a cucumber and proud of it. He didn’t have to know her heart had nearly accelerated right out of her chest.

All because of a touch.

He flicked the knob on the range, heating it. Then he looked at her, mischief in his smile, in every inch of his strong, masculine, sexy, slightly dangerous-looking body.

Dangerous because she liked strong, masculine and sexy.

Too bad she didn’t like him.

“Just getting you started,” he said.

“Oh.” Her voice was breathless, and irritated. She cleared her throat.

He was still far too close.

“What did you think I was doing?”

“Um…” The phone on the wall rang and Holly dove for it, pathetically thankful for the diversion. “Hello!”

“Is this Café Nirvana? I need to speak to my daughter.”

“Mother!” Holly gripped the phone tight, never in her life so happy to hear anyone’s voice, even her mother’s. “Where are you?” she asked, hoping the answer was close.

“Your father and I have decided to take a vacation.”

“But…you’ve never taken a vacation in your life.”

“I know. It’s definitely time, don’t you think?”

No. No, she didn’t! “Mother, I’m glad you’ve decided to take some time for yourselves, but don’t you think maybe now is a bad time?”

“It’s the holidays.”

“Exactly my point,” Holly said, relieved her mother was coming back to her senses. “You can’t take a vacation over the holidays. It’s…too crowded.”

“Which is why it’s so perfect. We’re going to avoid all the crowds by taking a cruise.”

“A cruise.”

“A month-long cruise of the Greek Islands, isn’t that exciting? We’ll be back before Valentine’s Day.”

Holly’s stomach sank to her toes. “That’s a very long time. What about the café?”

“Oh, the Nirvana? You said you would handle it. It’ll sell sooner or later.”

Holly gripped the phone tighter. “You said a month.”

“Give or take. And you’re always saying you wish we would take your exploits more seriously.”

“Yes, but-”

“And as we’ve been telling you for years, there’s no time like the present.”

Over the line Holly could hear the murmur of a crowd, then the unmistakable horn blow of a ship, a very large ship.

“Gotta go, dear.”

“But-”

“Take care of that place. We promised you would.”

“Yes, but-”

Click.

Holly stared at the receiver in her hand and felt as if she’d been run over by a Mack truck. “Gee, Merry Christmas. Happy New Year.”

She was on her own in this.

A small part of her felt like running. It wasn’t an alien feeling; she’d been running from things all her life. And all of it came down to her own fears. When the tough got going, so did Holly. That had always been her motto.

But no longer. It had to stop, now. Especially when her parents probably expected her to do just that.

Which meant she had to swallow the urge to make for the door, and figure this mess out instead. By herself.

“Everything okay there, princess?”

Damn, he was still here. Probably waiting for her to fail, just like her parents. He’d pegged her as a spoiled, stubborn, selfish city girl.

Well, she was a spoiled, stubborn, selfish city girl. But she was here, it was done, and she was going to come out on top.

And she wasn’t going to let anyone see her struggle to get there, that was for damn sure. With a cool smile in place, she turned and faced Riley McMann.

He stood there looking for all the world as if he’d been born in that tacky apron he’d put on.

“Why are you still wearing that?”

“Someone’s got to carry out all that food you’re going to be cooking.”

She was going to have to cook. And she could barely boil water. This just got better and better. “I need to hire a chef like yesterday,” she said to herself, considering. “I could place an ad-”

“No go.” Riley smiled sweetly-she was beginning to mistrust that smile-and said, “The local paper comes out only once a week.”

“Let me guess…and today’s the day?”

“I’ve got it spread across my desk as we speak.”

For some reason, his tone and words combined to create an incredibly naughty picture in her head, one of the sheriff standing in his office, looking down at what he had “spread across his desk,” and it wasn’t a newspaper, it was…her.

Okay, clearly she’d been too long without sex.

But now that the picture was in her brain, she couldn’t get rid of it. She glanced at him to see if maybe he’d been provocative on purpose, but he only looked at her from those fathomless, innocent eyes.

Only problem was, no man that breathtaking, that sure of himself, that in charge of his emotions, could ever be innocent. In fact, given his looks, charm and personality, plus his authority in Little Paradise, she’d bet that good Sheriff Riley McMann hadn’t been innocent for a very, very long time. He probably had every single woman-if there even were any-falling all over themselves to catch his attention.

They were welcome to him. Holly had put herself out for a man before; she’d even gone to great lengths to keep him. She’d still gotten hurt. Numerous times, in fact.

Never again.

The next man in her life, if there was one, would be a man who couldn’t get enough of her, who loved everything about her, unconditionally.

The next man in her life would not be one Riley McMann.

“You could place an ad for next week,” he said helpfully.

Great, wouldn’t that just be nice. An entire week without help. “Terrific. Thanks.” She gave him her best I-could-give-a-damn-everything-is-in-control smiles. “I’ll just get started cooking.”

He sent her the smile right back, though he was watching her with a look too personal, too direct, for two complete strangers. “I’ll serve your customers coffee, and whatever you manage to wrangle up,” he said.

Neither of them moved. Around them, the air seemed to sizzle, which confused Holly. She’d never felt anything like this. He was just a cowboy, rough-edged and far too casual for her tastes, and yet already he’d somehow gotten under her skin.

He glanced at his watch. “After that, though, you’re on your own. I need to get back to my office by three for a phone call.”

“I’d rather be on my own right now.” Brave words, not such a brave heart, but she meant it. She wouldn’t accept help, especially his.

“You’re kidding.”

She shook her head and reaching out, untied the ribbon he’d put around his waist. It meant she had to touch him, but she’d touched plenty of men before, so it should be no big deal.