The Contingency Plan (The Lonely Heart Series) Read Free

of the handle to the door, she walked through the carefully designed, very masculine, South Beach posh living room into the open, airy kitchen and sat down on one of the tall bar stools across from him at the island table. 
    The receding lights high above them in the black vaulted ceiling shined down on his thick chocolate curls of perfect preppy hair and his bronze, Miami deep tan and made his eyes sparkle even more.  Sully’s eyes were devastating – one of his best features on an already great body.  They were like a sea of gray foamy water, reminding her of the beach on a cloudy day.  And whenever he was thinking naughty thoughts it looked like a storm was brewing inside of them. 
    He looked at her now with anticipated hopes of cosmic sex while he prepared their meal.  Sully considered food – even Sloppy Joes – an aphrodi s iac .  And she loved to watch him cook.  He seemed so in his element in the kitchen making secret sauces and cutting up vegetables and spices.  But then again, when was Sully ever out of his element? 
    “Need some help?” she asked, twisting around in her chair as she stole a pickle from the plate and slipped it seductively into her mouth. 
    He paused as he watched her eat the pickle, and then answered with a grin that brought out the dimple in his strong chin.  “No, just sit there and watch me work my magic,” he said, adjusting his Man’s Job apron.  “Eat another pickle, if you’d like.  Next time, suck it before you chew.”
    “Hmm. I didn’t know that you had a food fetish,” she said playfully. 
    “The kinkiest kind of fetish.  I love to watch you eat phallic foods.  Pickles, corn dogs, popsicles, ban a nas…”
    Charlie picked up another pickle and sucked it b e fore biting the tip. “Is that good for you, baby?”
    “You have no idea,” he said with a raised brow. 
    Obediently, she propped her elbows up on the granite countertop and watched as he cooked, adding more haste to his preparation with her teasing. 
    At 31 years old, Sully was the ideal bachelor – i n telligent, handsome, well-built, successful and char m ing.  Everyone loved Sully; he had been William’s secret weapon in the race.  The women loved him for his beauty, and the men respected him because he was a man’s man .  He also was an exact replica of his brother, just a younger, wilder version.  All the Orrin men were prizes from the father to the four brothers, but the youngest was the grand prize.  Sully was special. 
    A Yale alumnus, who had been a running back for the Bulldogs and graduated at the top of his class, Sully had come home to work for his father in Florida only recently.  Prior to that, he had worked on coun t less campaigns for democrats all over the country.  But like his brother, Sully had a passion for South Florida politics and when Will chose to run for office to change the area for the better, he had jumped at the chance to run the campaign. 
    It was supposed to be a win-win situation.  And if anyone had asked Charlie, she would have bet her last breath that they would have won this election. 
    Lead by three, lost by five . 
    She dipped her head at the thought. 
    “You’re still dwelling on it, aren’t you?” Sully asked, putting the prepared meat into the skillet.  He turned around and wiped his hands on his apron. 
    “I am,” she confessed.  
    “Let it go, Charlie.  Just for the remainder of the night, let’s just focus on us.” 
    “Us?” Charlie cracked a smile at the thought. “What about us , Sully?” She loved to say his name.  Sully. Sully. Sully.   She adorned him, though she would not say it out loud.  
    The food began to burn just in time to save him from his slip up.  He turned his back to her quickly and poured in his secret ingredients.  “I just mean that we should have a contingency plan.  Everyone has to have one.  For instance, you knew that if we didn’t win, then you’d have to look for employment els e