He pulled back, then filled her again, waiting for her to move against him. When she didn’t, he glanced down at her, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Her eyes were closed. “Claire? Are you all right?”

She opened her eyes. “Yes. I’m fine.”

“Any preferences?”

She shook her head and smiled at him.

Something was wrong. He could feel it, but he couldn’t figure out what “it” was. He knew she’d cl**axed before. He’d felt it, heard it and seen it. She’d flushed all over, had trembled in his embrace. He’d felt her contractions.

He pushed in again and she wrapped her arms around him.

“This,” she breathed. “I want this.”

It was the encouragement he’d been waiting for. He filled her over and over again, going faster, yet holding back, hoping to feel her tensing along with him, crying out her release. It wasn’t there, which bothered him, but before he could stop, the pressure built until it was too much and he drove into her for the last time.

Afterward, he lay on his back, her curled up against him. He played with her hair as she rested her hand on his chest.

“That was great,” she told him happily. “Perfect. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

While he appreciated the compliment, something nagged at him. Something he couldn’t get his mind around.

Was it possible Claire wasn’t that experienced?

Given her fame and lifestyle, he would have assumed she had lovers all over the world. But maybe she was too busy. Or something. It had to be circumstances, because she was sexy as hell. But how to find out?

“I wanted to make it good for you,” he began, not sure what to say next.

She laughed. “Good doesn’t come close. Trust me. I’ve never felt anything like that in my life.”

As soon as the words came out, she stiffened. He wasn’t feeling too relaxed, either.

He wanted to believe she meant she’d never cl**axed before, but how was that possible? She certainly hadn’t been difficult to push over the edge. Women who had trouble with that usually mentioned the fact ahead of time. If Claire was up-front enough to come to his house to seduce him, she would be comfortable telling him the road home could be bumpy. But she hadn’t said a word. Why?

She sat up and gave him a pained smile. “I didn’t mean that exactly.”

He looked at her. “What did you mean?”

“That I, um, well…” She swallowed. “I don’t have a lot of experience with sex.”

He had a cold, hard knot in his gut. “How much are we talking about?”

She pulled the sheet up to cover herself. “I was a virgin.”

She kept talking but he didn’t hear anything but a rushing sound. A virgin? A virgin?

Without thinking, he scrambled out of bed and pulled on his jeans. This was not happening to him. It couldn’t be. A virgin? She was twenty-eight.

“How?”

She sighed. “How did it happen? How is it possible? It just is. I don’t meet a lot of men, I’m not willing to be with someone interested in volume. There are a dozen reasons and they don’t really matter.” She raised her gaze to him. Her eyes were dark and filled with confusion. “Are you mad?”

He didn’t want to hurt her. In theory he supposed he should be thrilled in some primal, macho way. He was the only sexual partner she’d ever had. In truth, what he wanted most was to bolt for freedom.

“You’re mad,” she said.

“No. Just confused. Why me?”

She shrugged. “I like the way you kiss.”

As simple as that? A virgin?

He watched her mouth begin to tremble. He guessed that tears wouldn’t be too far behind.

“Claire.” He sat on the bed. “It’s okay. Seriously. You surprised me—I never would have guessed that.”

She perked up. “Really?”

He nodded. “I would have gone slower if I’d known.” He wouldn’t have gone at all, but she didn’t need to know that.

“You didn’t have to. I enjoyed everything. Especially…you know.”

Her orgasm. Was it her first? Did he really want to know?

He didn’t know what the hell he was thinking, but he knew he had to make this right between them. He leaned toward her and touched her face.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded and he kissed her. She kissed him back. Wanting rose up inside him, but he pushed it away. He wasn’t going there again. Not until he got it all figured out.

Claire kissed him again, then got out of bed. “I should get home. Nicole is there with Amy and you probably want your daughter back.” She dressed quickly, then smiled at him. “I’m okay if you are.”

“I’m great.”

“Good.” She rose on tiptoe and kissed him again. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Anytime,” he said before he could stop himself.

When she was gone, he paced the length of the house, swearing loudly and wondering when the hell everything had gotten out of control. If she was a virgin, there was no way she understood what he’d meant by not getting involved. She could say she did and even believe it herself, but he was her first lover. Wouldn’t that matter?

Another thought brought him to a standstill. Right there in the hall, he realized that she wasn’t likely to be on any kind of birth control. He hadn’t used a condom.

The potential for disaster was so huge, he wanted to put his fist through the wall. He stopped himself by thinking that broken bones wouldn’t help anyone. One problem at a time.

The odds of her being pregnant were slim to none. He would do better to figure out what was going to happen between them now and how Nicole was going to skin him alive when she found out he’d slept with her virgin sister.

CLAIRE PRACTICALLY floated into the house. She felt sore and squishy and better than she had in years. She should have done this sex thing a long time ago. Of course being with Wyatt had been fairly spectacular. She doubted if anyone else would measure up.

She was also impressed with how he’d handled the news about her being a virgin. He hadn’t seemed that upset at all.She parked behind Nicole’s house and walked into the kitchen. Amy wasn’t there, but Nicole sat at the table.

Claire grinned, prepared to tell her what had happened, when Nicole raised her head. She looked white with fury.

“How could you?” she demanded.

Claire was stunned. They’d talked about Wyatt. Why would she—

“How could you go behind my back and bail Jesse out of jail? I wanted her there. For once I wanted there to be consequences for her actions. I’ll never forgive you for this. Never!”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“YOU CAN’T NOT SPEAK to me forever,” Claire said the next morning over coffee. She was stating what she hoped was true, rather than what she was sure of. It seemed very possible her sister could hold a grudge for a very long time.

Nicole looked up from her mug and raised her eyebrows. “Watch me.”“We have to talk about what happened.”

Nicole returned her attention to the paper on the table and didn’t answer.

“Oh, that’s mature,” Claire told her. “I know you’re upset about me bailing Jesse out of jail. I agree what she did was wrong, but I can’t believe you were just going to leave her there.”

Nicole stood up and started to walk out of the kitchen. Claire trailed after her. “This is crazy. We’re all family.”

Nicole spun back to her. “We’re not a family. Not by any definition I care about. We share biology, nothing more. You have been living your life around the world, living in your bubble of being special. You don’t know anything about me or my life. Speaking of which, I’m going back to it, starting today. I’ll be at the bakery, running my business. Mine. Not yours. You are no longer welcome here. Not at the bakery or here in the house. If you’re so hot on staying in Seattle, there are many very nice hotels. Or you could stay with Jesse, seeing as the two of you are so close.”

Claire couldn’t believe it. “After all we’ve been through, you’re going to act like this?”

Nicole ignored her and walked up the stairs.

Claire didn’t know what to do. It was way too soon for Nicole to return to work. But how was she supposed to stop her? Nicole wanted to prove a point. Claire already knew how stubborn her sister could be.

“This is going to be a disaster,” she muttered.

“At least let me drive you,” she said fifteen minutes later as Nicole walked to the single-car garage behind her house.

“No.”

“You shouldn’t do this. You’re still recovering.”

Nicole ignored her and punched in the code that raised the garage door. She got into her small SUV and started the engine.

“You are the most stubborn, annoying person I know,” Claire yelled, then returned to her car. Fine, if Nicole was going to be a complete idiot, Claire wasn’t going to stop her, but she could stay close to make sure nothing bad happened.

Nicole pulled out of the garage and started down the street. Claire followed her all the way to the bakery and was relieved when they arrived.

One crisis averted and who knows how many hovering in their future.

Nicole parked and ignored Claire who pulled up next to her. They walked into the rear of the bakery, with Claire trailing behind. That gave her the perfect view of all the employees rushing over to hug Nicole.

“It’s been too long,” Maggie said. “I’ve missed you. Is it okay that you’re up and here so soon? You’ll take it easy, right?”

“You look good,” Sid told her. “I’m glad you’re back. It’s not the same without you.”

Phil gave her a big hug, then stepped back looking worried. “Was that too much? Did I hurt you?”

Nicole grinned at them. “It’s wonderful. I’ve missed you guys. It’s been awful, trapped at the house. I thought I’d go crazy.”

Claire felt herself getting mad, which was easier to deal with than the hurt inside. She’d been there to help take care of Nicole. Didn’t that count? Was her company so boring that it hadn’t been able to make up for the scintillating chitchat about cupcakes and bagels?

They all talked for a few minutes, with Claire feeling as if she was standing on the outside, looking in at a place where she didn’t belong.

Nicole glanced at her. “You can go now.”

Something bubbled up inside Claire. Something hot and angry, that made her willing to be stubborn and difficult.

“I don’t think so,” she said calmly. “We’re going to get this settled, once and for all.”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “Whatever. We can talk in my office.”

“We can talk right here,” Claire told her.

Everyone scattered.

“Is humiliating me your goal?” Nicole asked. “Because you’re doing a hell of a job.”

“You know exactly what my goal is, however much you try to avoid it. I want us to be sisters again.”

Nicole’s gaze narrowed. “Sisters don’t betray each other.”

“Sure they do. Sisters do everything everyone else does. It’s the nature of close relationships.”

“You’re an expert now?”

“More than I was. You’re pissed off because I bailed Jesse out of jail without talking to you first. Fine. You didn’t talk to me about putting her in jail in the first place.”

“It wasn’t your business.”

“She’s my sister.”

“She stole from me.”

“You’re still punishing her for Drew. You couldn’t do anything about that, so you’re looking for another way to get back at her.”

“Why the hell not?” Nicole demanded. “Should I be happy about what they did together? Should it fill me with pride? She screwed up everything.”

Claire got it. She finally got what was going on with Nicole.

“You’re the victim,” she said slowly, filling in the details as she talked. “I can’t believe it. You’re so tough on the surface, but underneath, you’re blaming everyone else for what’s going wrong. It’s true you were left with all kinds of crap here, but you did an amazing job. You took care of everything. But that’s not enough. I don’t know if you can’t accept your part, or if you’re not getting enough support or what.”

“Stop it!” Nicole yelled. “Don’t you dare think you can get inside my head. I don’t need any amateur psychology from a poor little princess who doesn’t know how to function in the real world.”

“At least I’m trying to make things better. I’m not running around, blaming everyone else.”

“No, you’re sneaking around, hiding from your manager because you’re not willing to face her like a grown-up.”

That shot hurt, Claire thought, but refused to acknowledge the zing.

“I did run,” she admitted, “but I also faced her. I keep showing up with you, time after time. You keep trying to get rid of me. Who’s the one with the problem? Want to blame me for that? Or maybe Drew. I think a lot of this is his fault. It sure can’t be yours.”

Nicole glared at her for several heartbeats, then turned. “I don’t need this or you. Get out. Just go away. I don’t want to see you again.”

She started to walk past Claire. Claire wasn’t going to let her just end the conversation. She grabbed her arm. “Not so fast.”