Tender Kisses. Sheryl Lister

to blow an opportunity he’d been waiting for.

      Less than an hour later, his doorbell rang, interrupting his flow. Justin groaned. “What now?” he muttered and stomped to the front door. He snatched it open.

      “Surprise!”

      Yvonne and Jocelyn stood on the porch with wide grins. His frown immediately disappeared, and a smile took its place. “What are you two doing here?” he asked, opening the door wider and engulfing them in a big hug. “Come on in.” They followed him to the family room, and he sat in his favorite recliner.

      Yvonne kicked off her shoes and dropped down on the sofa. “I took the day off. Joce and I had lunch and she told me about your new girlfriend, so...” She let the sentence hang, as if that were explanation enough.

      Justin threw a look at Jocelyn, who entered the room from the kitchen, carrying a glass of water. “I thought I told you it wasn’t like that.”

      Jocelyn sat next to her sister on the sofa and shrugged. “Well, you are known for lying about your relationships. So who is she, and what does she look like? You have any pictures?”

      “Ooh, yeah. What does she do? She does have a job, right?” Yvonne asked with a raised eyebrow.

      He groaned. “You two do realize that you’re not nine and thirteen anymore. And what makes you think I’d tell you anything about my relationships after all the trouble you caused me?”

      “I forgot all about that,” Yvonne said with a laugh. “It was pretty comical watching you try to explain to three girls that you didn’t invite them over.”

      Jocelyn joined in the laughter. “The look on your face was priceless.” She tried to do an imitation of the shocked expression Justin knew he must have had when he had walked into their parents’ living room and seen the three girls there, but failed because she was laughing too hard.

      Justin scowled at his sisters as they continued to laugh. “If you came over here just to laugh at me all over again, you both can leave.”

      “I’m sorry,” Jocelyn said, trying to catch her breath. “Seriously though, we wouldn’t do something like that now. We just want to know if she makes you happy.”

      Yvonne nodded.

      He divided his gaze between them. “I don’t know if she makes me happy or not. We just met and have only gone out twice to a little coffee shop.”

      Yvonne’s eyes lit up. “So you do have a new girlfriend.”

      “No, I do not. It’s completely laid-back. She’s really busy with her job, and I’m trying to get my alert system ready to present to a home-safety company. That doesn’t leave either of us much time for a long-term relationship. I have plenty of time to settle down.”

      She waved him off. “Oh, please. It’s called balance, Justin. Chris and I have been dating for six months, and we’re both busy with our jobs, too. But we make time for each other. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.”

      Justin’s scowl deepened. “Chris? Who the hell is Chris? And why haven’t I met him, Yvonne Marie Cartwright?”

      Yvonne shared a look with Jocelyn, and they both rolled their eyes. “Here we go again,” Yvonne said. “As you pointed out, Justin Antonio Cartwright, we are not nine and thirteen anymore. We are grown women and have active dating lives.”

      “You should try it,” Jocelyn added with a smirk. “It might improve your productivity.”

      He jumped to his feet. He couldn’t handle this conversation. Okay, it might be irrational to hold on to the notion that his sisters were still wide-eyed, innocent little girls, but to consider the alternative nearly made his heart stop. He shook his head. “I don’t want to hear this.”

      Jocelyn chuckled. “Good, because we’re not here to talk about us. What did you say your girlfriend’s name was again?”

      “I don’t think he ever said, Joce.” Yvonne looked at Justin and, giving him her most charming smile, said, “Her name is...”

      Justin threw up his hands. He knew he was fighting a losing battle with these two, especially since they’d decided to double-team him. If he wanted a moment of peace sometime in the next century, it would be in his best interest to surrender and tell them what they wanted to know. “Her name is Siobhan Hunter, and we’ve only known each other a week.” He shook his head at their twin smiles of victory. “Go home,” he said, trying to hide his own smile.

      “We really hope she turns out to be the one. I can’t wait to be an aunt.”

      “Me, either, Yvonne. I talked to Mom the other day, and she said she hoped Justin settled down soon so she could have some grandbabies.”

      This was definitely not a conversation he wanted to have. Justin spun on his heel and retreated to the safety of his office to work on his program. But Yvonne’s words continued to play around the fringes of his mind: We really hope she turns out to be the one. Did he hope for the same? He kept telling himself no, but if that were the case, why was Siobhan the first thing on his mind when he woke up and the last thing when he closed his eyes at night?

      * * *

      Siobhan sat in her office Friday holding her cell phone and debating—for the second day in a row—whether to cancel her Saturday-night date with Justin. She didn’t want to give him any false hope about them starting a relationship, especially after what had happened last time. Her heart constricted with the painful memory of overhearing Arthur’s plans to get his hands on Siobhan’s company shares for some shady business deal. But what hurt her most was hearing him on the phone telling another woman he loved her, and that as soon as he had Siobhan’s money, the two of them could get married. Without a second thought, Siobhan had canceled the wedding three weeks before the date, even though the invitations had gone out and the gifts had started to arrive. She couldn’t put herself or her family through that kind of disappointment again. She needed to focus all her energy on excelling in her job. Gordon was waiting for her to mess up, and she refused to give him one ounce of ammunition against her.

      Making a decision, Siobhan found Justin’s phone number and took a deep breath. Her finger hovered over the call button for several seconds before she changed her mind and sent a quick text message. If she heard his voice, she knew he could easily persuade her to change her mind—another reason why she couldn’t go out with him. The cell buzzed in her hand, and her pulse skipped. Siobhan relaxed upon seeing Kendra’s text letting her know she and Cynthia were downstairs waiting for their lunch date. She sent a reply, tossed the cell in her purse and left to meet them.

      Siobhan exited the elevator and spotted her two friends in the lobby area. “Sorry I’m late,” she said as she approached. “I have a ton of stuff on my desk and lost track of time. I don’t have a lot of time, so I was hoping we could eat in the café here.” She gestured to the other side of the lobby. Sweet Delights Café had been open only six months and served breakfast and lunch.