Free Temptation's Kiss by Janice Sims Page B

They were different in that regard, however, and he thought he should be honest with her.
    Looking into her eyes, he said, “You have to understand that where I grew up it was all about the hustle. Yes, my parents were teachers. They tried their best to keep me out of trouble, but the guys I associated with were not the sort they thought I should be hanging with. My parents wanted me to go to college. I had the grades. But the people I identified with were the kind who found a hustle, worked it and brought in big bucks by doing that, and often what they were doing wasn’t exactly legal. I got into acting by accident. They were shooting a DeNiro film in the neighborhood, and they were looking for extras. I happened to meet DeNiro, and he liked the look of me. He had the writers give me a couple lines. After that, I was hooked. Here was a hustle I thought I could work. So, at eighteen I took off for L.A.”
    â€œThat’s not what I read about you,” Patrice said, puzzled. “According to your background, you went to aperforming arts high school in New York. You always knew you wanted to be an actor.”
    â€œManufactured by my first agent,” T.K. told her. “She thought it sounded better.”
    â€œShe was right!” Nina said, and they all laughed.
    T.K. continued to meet Patrice’s gaze. “Are you disappointed?”
    She smiled at him. “I’m even more impressed with you than I was before.”
    This warmed T.K.’s heart. His eyes were watering. He blinked. His eyes were watering! And his tongue was on fire. He reached for his glass of water and drank deeply.
    Patrice smiled innocently. “Those peppers have a cumulative effect, I’m afraid. They sneak up on you.”
    Nina and Patrick laughed. Patrice rose and went to the refrigerator to get some ice for T.K.’s glass of water. It seemed to help when those particular peppers kicked in.
    She put some ice into his glass, and T.K. gratefully drank some of it, allowing pieces of ice to remain on his tongue. He felt some relief, but his tongue was still burning.
    â€œI think I’ll serve dessert,” Patrice said helpfully. Dessert was vanilla bean ice cream with caramel sauce. The milk in the ice cream effectively put out the fire in the peppers. Ice cream was a common dessert in their household when hot peppers were served with dinner.
    â€œWhat’s wrong with you people?” T.K. asked, lookingat each of them in turn. “Have hot peppers burned off your taste buds? Why aren’t you burning?”
    Nina smiled sweetly. “Like I said, we eat peppers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Actually, they’re good for you, excellent for keeping your sinuses clear.”
    â€œI’m amazed you still have sinuses,” T.K. exclaimed.
    Momentarily, Patrice served each of them a bowl of ice cream. She sat beside T.K., spooned some of his and held it out for him to eat. “I’m so sorry. I’m a terrible hostess. I should have known you weren’t ready for Albuquerque hotness.”
    T.K.’s eyes met hers. He accepted the spoonful of ice cream from her and took the spoon. Burning tongue or not, he wanted to kiss her until her eyes rolled back in her head. “Thank you,” he said after swallowing the delicious dessert. The effect of the ice cream on his tongue was instantaneous. The burning subsided. He smiled.
    She smiled back at him, her lovely eyes lowering seductively. His heart thudded. His groin tightened, and he was glad he was sitting down. “Forgive me?” she asked softly.
    â€œJust about anything,” he returned, equally softly.
    Across from them, Nina was grinning. She grasped her husband’s hand. “I knew there was something there,” she whispered.
    But a brother is never happy to see a man look at his sister the way T. K. McKenna was looking at her. Heknew exactly what was on the actor’s mind, and it wasn’t anything