Read A Dash of Desire (Spiced Life #2) for Free Online Page A

knew it. It was a family tradition going back to Colonial times.
    “Riley?”
    “Yep. That’s the one. She bought a door.”
    The words were delivered with such a lack of belief, Tristan felt moved to point out the obvious.
    “This is a hardware store.”
    “Well. Yeah, but ain’t nothing wrong with the one Billy’s got for her guest room now. When I asked about it, she said the new one has a bigger gap at the bottom. It lets more light show at the bottom, she says. Who wants a bigger gap letting in more light when you’re trying to sleep?”
    “Apparently, Riley does,” Tristan pointed out reasonably.
    Hunter nodded. “Like I said, strange.”
    Tristan set the light fixture on the counter. “At least she came to you. I imagine they’re used to big box stores over there in California. She could’ve just as easily taken her business five minutes up the road to the home improvement place.” They wouldn’t have asked any nosy questions , Tristan silently added.
    A luminous smile touched Hunter’s lips. “That’s true. For a big city gal, she’s a good soul.”
    “That she is,” Tristan agreed, trying to keep the interest from showing in his voice. It was hard. Riley was a thousand things. Good, intelligent, funny, and sexy. He could go on forever. He liked it all. No good could come of everyone knowing it.
    “Speaking of the Riley girl, do you think you’ll be heading out her way anytime soon?”
    With his thoughts firmly locked on the memory of Riley’s wet t-shirt stretching across her chest, Tristan couldn’t make sense of Hunter’s question. At his blank look, Hunter set a plastic bag filled with metal pieces on the counter.
    “I forgot to add this to her delivery when Charles took it out there about an hour ago. I thought if you planned to head out that way, then I’d ask you to carry it over. Plus, I can’t imagine that little gal hanging a new door on her own. Not that she could without the hinges,” he added, poking at the plastic bag. “If not, I can swing by on my way home, but she seemed in a bit of a hurry to get it done.”
    The knowledge that he would get to see Riley again nearly had Tristan ripping the items from the countertop. Somehow, he managed to show an ounce of patience.
    “I can do that. Emma May made me promise I would get this light fixture up today, but when I’m done, I can head out to the Upchurch place. I imagine I can be out there before you’re ready to head home for the evening.” Not to mention, he didn’t want Hunter stealing his woman.
    “I’ll have to pass by the church on my way to lunch. I can hang the light real quick, if you can run those hinges out to Riley.”
    If Tristan didn’t know better, he’d think the man was up to something. Of course, Hunter wasn’t that deep. Nice as could be, but not a plotting man.
    ***
    Billy’s car was gone, but Riley’s sat in the driveway, proving either Matt had run it out to her or Billy had taken her to pick it up. Tristan added it to the list of questions he’d ask the moment he found Riley—right along with why her back door was standing wide open. He tried knocking, and then calling her name, but silence met his attempts. Giving up, he stepped inside and went in search of her. He’d been inside the Upchurch home hundreds of times. Billy loved to invite everyone from church over to visit, and he genuinely liked her. Not to mention, she was a good cook, and he wasn’t above accepting a meal. A low thump, like someone was moving furniture around came from inside one of the guest rooms. Tristan followed the sound.
    Riley’s room was torn to pieces, with the exception of the door oddly enough. She’d somehow managed to hang that just fine without the hinges in his hand. Since the closet door was missing, he wondered if those were a match. As Tristan watched Riley covering every pane of glass in her bedroom with thick packaging paper, he couldn’t help but silently agree with Hunter’s assessment—she