The Chocolate Seduction. Carrie Alexander

I feel sort of satisfied. Warm and happy. It’s not quite an all-out sugar rush, but the chocolate gave me an emotional boost.” Or maybe that was Kit, she thought. For a man who moved with a languid deliberation, being around him certainly zapped her with energy.

      “Did you know there was a survey that said fifty percent of American women prefer chocolate to sex?”

      “No way!” Sabrina gawked. “They’re obviously not having the right kind of sex.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re kidding me, Mackenzie. You made that up.”

      “It’s true. I had to read lots of candy research for my old job.”

      Sabrina was catching Mackenzie’s drift. “You are not suggesting that I feast on chocolate in place of sex.”

      “Uh-huh. Pretty much.”

      “Forget it.” Sabrina waved her arms like an umpire. “I’m outta here.” But she didn’t leave.

      “What’s the alternative, Sabrina? Not only will you lose the bet and the ring, but you’ll go back to falling into one brief relationship after another. It’s your pattern.” Mackenzie put on her I’m-saying-this-for-your-own-good expression. There were times it was hard to believe she was the younger sister. “You see a guy, you fall in lust, you think he’s The One and a month later you’re on the phone to me complaining that he’s around all the time and you can’t breathe. Sound familiar?”

      “Yeah.” Sabrina put her elbows on the table. “So?”

      “The same thing will happen with Kit if you can’t control your craving.”

      “I thought you said he’d go for the slow seduction.”

      “That doesn’t mean he can resist if you go nuts one night and corner him in the kitchen to act out some crazy apron-stripping fantasy. He is a man, after all. It’s up to you to say no.”

      Sabrina peered between her arms, head in hands. “I was never any good at that.”

      “That’s why you turn to chocolate. Remember, I’ve seen the research. The chemicals that chocolate produces in your body are similar to the pleasurable effect you get from making love. Endorphins are released. Seratonin and caffeine and phenyethylamine—something like that. They’re natural opiates.” Mackenzie smiled. “To be fair, some scientists say you’d have to eat chocolate by the pound to truly be affected, but…whatever. I’m sure it would help a little.”

      Sabrina dropped her hands. She was skeptical. “So every time I get an urge to suck on Kit’s tongue I should pop a Hershey’s Kiss instead?”

      “Right. What could it hurt?”

      “My dental bill. And pretty soon I wouldn’t be able to fit into Dominique’s dresses.”

      “Pooh. You could stand to put on a few pounds.”

      Sabrina ate, but her metabolism was high and she burned the calories off, unlike Mackenzie, who was prone to curling up on the couch with a good book and a bag of butterscotch candies.

      “Are you game?” Mackenzie prompted.

      Sabrina shrugged. She had nothing to lose. “I suppose. But you’re going in for that haircut as soon as I can wangle another appointment with Costas.”

      Mackenzie didn’t hesitate. “I will, I promise.”

      “Do I really have to hold out for the entire year?” Assuming Kit was interested…

      “That would be ideal. Of course, I could be generous and give you some leeway if he proposes before that—” Mackenzie stopped and laughed at her sister’s horrified expression. “But I know that’s asking too much. If the threat of losing grandmother’s ring isn’t enough of a deterrence, could you at least pledge not to jump in bed with Kit until there’s a real, honest, emotional connection between you two? Get to know him as a friend first. You might be surprised how different making love with a friend will feel.”

      “Well, you always went on and on about what a good friend Jason was, but I don’t remember you ever saying he gave you hot sweaty jungle love.”

      “Our love life was satisfactory.”

      Sabrina grimaced, staring at Mackenzie until she blushed. Anyone having merely satisfactory sex might as well gorge on chocolate instead, and they both knew it.

      “Don’t worry,” Mackenzie said, deflecting the attention. “You and Kit have a different dynamic entirely.”

      “Whatever it is will probably burn out before we get to the bedroom when I put this chocolate plan of yours into action,” Sabrina complained.

      Mackenzie stood and slipped her handbag off the back of the chair. “Then it was never meant to be.”

      “Meant to be?” Sabrina didn’t believe in soul mates and destiny. She believed in having fun while you could because who knew what tomorrow would bring. “Now you’re sounding like Mom and Dad, with all their explanations for why their divorce didn’t stick. But what do you want to bet they’re arguing when they get off the cruise ship?” For their second honeymoon, Charlie and Nicole had booked passage on a lengthy transatlantic cruise. They were due back in another week.

      “You’ll see,” Mackenzie said with blithe assurance. “By the time our parents’ second first-year anniversary rolls around, all of us will know if we’ve been successful at changing our lives.”

      “A year is a long, long time.”

      Mackenzie squeezed Sabrina’s shoulder. “Not when the rewards are worth the wait.”