Perfect Temptation

"Let me see if I've got this right." Mattie eyed her best friend and roommate speculatively.

"Your brother needs advice and, since you're leaving town, I'm elected?"

Jessica Sumners tossed two suitcases on her bed."Come on," she cajoled. "You and I have been best friends since the sixth grade. We practically grew up together. He thinks of you as a sister." She scooped the entire contents of one dresser drawer into her arms and then dumped it into one of the open bags.

Mattie raised her eyebrows at Jessica's uncharacteristic packing. Seeing Jessica-who was normally so calm and sophisticated-this rattled was a bit amusing, really. But who wouldn't be rattled under the circumstances? Packing for a nine-week trip in less than an hour would make anyone panic. But Jessica? Jessica, who organized her wardrobe by color and planned her schedule up to six months in advance? Of course, this had sent her into a tailspin.

Mattie gently nudged her friend into the chair by the bed. "Just sit down." Jessica stood back up. "Calm down. You're getting all...flitty on me."

"Flitty?" Jessica's voice rose several octaves. "Of course I'm flitty. They're sending me to Sweden for nine weeks and I've got --" she snatched up her alarm clock and stared at it "--twenty minutes to pack. It's noon?" She shook the clock, tapping it against her palm as if to test that is was working properly. "Is this right?"

Mattie glanced at her own watch. "Fraid so." Noticing the harried expression on Jessica's face, she continued, "It's okay. I'll help you pack. Just remember, it's Sweden. You've been begging your boss to send you abroad on business since you started working there."

Jessica sucked in a deep breath and visibly relaxed as she exhaled. "You're right. I just wish I had more time to prepare. And to help Brad. This just kills me. The first time my big brother asks for help and I can't be here to give it. Promise me you'll help him"

The distress in Jessica's sapphire eyes tugged at Mattie's heart. She answered without thinking." Of course, I will."

She would do whatever it took to help out, even though the thought of seeing Brad Sumners again after all these years made her feel all flitty, "I'll talk to Brad. I promise."

Something in her voice must have given her away, because Jessica frowned, then said, "Oh, Mattie, I didn't think. This is going to be awkward for you, isn't it? Because you were in love with him for all those years."

"Nonsense." She brushed aside her own needs with a wave of her hand. "That wasn't love. That was teenage hormones. Lusting after a hunky guy isn't the same thing as love. Doesn't matter how hot he is. I'll be fine."

Jessica studied her with a worried gaze. "You're sure?"

"Yes. Definitely. Go pack your hanging bag while I handle this suitcase."

While Jessica hurried off to her walk-in closet, Mattie sifted through the sleepwear and lingerie Jessica had dumped on the bed. She picked out only what Jessica would need for her trip, then carefully folded it and packed it into the open suitcase.

A few minutes later, Jessica returned, holding a hanging bag in one hand and clutching an armful of casual clothes to her chest.

"Do you have room for these?" As Mattie folded and packed the T-shirts, she asked, as casually as she could, "What kind of advice about women does he need? How to jump out of their way as to throw themselves at him? How to step over their prone bodies on the way out of his house every morning?"

"Mattie, be serious." Jessica slapped one suitcase closed and tugged on the zipper.

"I thought I was." When Jessica glared at her, she held up her hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Okay, okay. I'm serious."

"Besides, I don't think he needs advice about women so much as from women. You know, a woman's perception of things."

"But if he needs advice," Mattie asked, "why doesn't he just call you and get advice over the phone like a normal person?"

"Because this is Brad, remember? He's not a normal person. You know how he gets when he sets a goal for himself. He's totally focused. He's relentless. It's like he's got blinders on. Just like my team leader, who was so focused on this project, he worked himself into a case of pneumonia and had to be hospitalized this morning."

"And now you have to go to Sweden in his place." Mattie sighed, resting a hand dramatically over her heart. "Sweden in the summer. Rugged mountains, majestic fjords, and hunky Nordic men. If I wasn't so damn broke, I'd go with you."

"I'll miss you."

Mattie returned the hug, squeezing her eyes shut against the prickling of tears. They'd been through Girl Scout cookie sales, high school calculus, and college term papers together.

A year ago, when Mattie had finally divorced her worthless husband, Jessica had been by her side, lending support through it all. Jessica had given her a place to live, a shoulder to cry on, and at least a half-dozen boxes of Thin Mints. Aromatherapy for the brokenhearted, Jess had called them.

"I know the timing is horrible, but if we lose this account, it could be my job." Jessica pulled back and smiled brightly. "And it's only none weeks. Besides, they're paying me oodles of money for going on such short notice. And I happen to know a little quilt store that could use an investor."

"I've told you before. I'm not letting you give me money. It's bad enough that you don't let me pay more rent. I won't let you--"

Jessica waved aside the protest and crammed a few more items into the suitcase. "I wouldn't be giving it to you. I'd be making an investment. But we'll discuss that later. Besides, if you can handle this Brad crisis for me, I'll ready owe you."

"You know, he may not want advice from me. We haven't seen each other for years. He probably doesn't even remember me."

"Trust me, he remembers you." Jessica zipped the last suitcase closed; then she picked up a suitcase in each hand and nodded towards the hanging bag. "Get that one, will you?"

Mattie groaned under the weight, following Jessica through the living room to the front door.

"The witch?" Mattie asked. "That's generous of you."

"Meee—ooow."

"Oh, was I being catty?" Mattie feigned surprise. "You know, I think that's the worst thing I've heard you say about your ex-sister-in-law."

"When Brad gets here, could you at least try to be sympathetic? He probably just wants a shoulder to cry on."

Mattie snorted in exaggerated disbelief. The Brad she knew cried on no one's shoulder. The Brad she knew didn't cry at all. "His junior year, a three-hundred-pound linebacker shattered his femur. He didn't shed a single tear. I can't imagine him crying over a broken heart. Certainly not to someone he hasn't seen in a decade."

Jessica shot her a wry look. "I was speaking metaphorically."

To lighten the mood, she added, "Okay, okay. I'll be here. I'll be sympathetic. I'll be like a sister he's never had."

The corner of Jessica's mouth twitched up in a smile. "He has a sister. Remember? "

"So I'll be like the sister he has, who's not in Sweden."

"Just be sympathetic." Outside, a car honked. "That's my ride."

Less than a minute later, Mattie stood alone in the doorway, watching Jessica's taxi disappear down the road. She gave herself exactly one minute of feeling lonely and abandoned before shutting the front door and heading back to Jessica's room. The evidence of Jessica's hurried packing lay strewn across the cream cotton duvet. Mattie quickly rehung the clothes and returned the shoes to their cubbyholes in the closet. She paused while folding one of Jessica's camisoles. The scent of Jessica's lavender lingerie detergent wafted through the air.

Mattie sighed, squelching her jealousy. Everyone had a different destiny. You had to settle for the cards fate handed you, even if you didn't necessarily like them. That's just the way the world worked. It was all part of the great cosmic poker game.

Jessica's cards held trips to Sweden, a well-paying job, and lavender-scented soap. Her own cards?

Her cards held a quilt shop inherited from her grandma, scraps of money left at the end of the month, and whatever detergent happened to be on sale.

Fortunately, they also held great friends, fun employees, and the rare bottle of Woolite. All in all, not so bad.

However, that didn't mean she wanted Brad Sumners showing up in her poker hand anytime soon. After dropping the camisole into the drawer, she slid it shut. She had more important things to be thinking about. To start with, finding a way for A Stitch in Time to make more money. She had employees who depended on her for their living. She had promises she'd made to her grandmother.

Her own desires, needs, and adolescent fantasies were nothing compared to that. Dealing with Brad would be a snap.

She hoped.

"Everyone has stupid high school crushes, "she told herself. "It's part of life."

She ignored the voice in her head that reminded her that her stupid crush had started in the sixth grade and lasted all the way through college and a good part of her marriage. Her stupid crush on Brad had sabotaged every romantic relationship she'd ever had.