Bree hesitated before shrugging. “Sort of. I’m getting to the middle of this wicked sweater, and it’s got me pretty, um, occupied.”

Strange. Depending on their difficulty level, Bree’s knitting projects always relaxed her or excited her. She didn’t even open the door. Clearly, she wanted to be left alone.

Stranger still.

“Ah, well…I’ll leave you to it then. I was just in the neighborhood and decided to stop by.” Which was mostly true. “Why don’t you come over tomorrow night for dinner?”

“Um, maybe?” Bree faltered.

“Since when don’t you jump at the invitation of a free dinner?” Renee smiled, though Bree didn’t return the smirk. “I can make one of your favorites—maybe that brown sugar–crusted salmon?”

“I just, I have a lot of stuff going on. But, um, thanks.”

Okay. So, Bree was definitely hiding something, but what? The sisters shared everything. To the best of Renee’s knowledge, a secret had never existed between the pair. From the time Renee had accidentally left the medical practice unlocked for an entire weekend (nothing had been stolen, thank goodness) to Bree asking her sister to take her to the doctor for birth control in high school, they felt comfortable telling one another everything.

“You’re acting weird,” Renee said, going the blunt route. Suddenly, an idea struck. “Do you have a guy over right now?” Like her, Bree wasn’t exactly active on the dating scene.

“Ha, good one. But no. Just knitting a sweater. Like I told you before.”

She pulled Renee in for a weirdly tender hug. Renee squeezed back, wondering just what was going on.

“Enjoy the rest of your bike ride,” Bree said, gently, but firmly closing the door.

With a heavy sigh, Renee peddled back home where she drew a hot bath. She poured lavender oil beneath the faucet and lit a candle. Then she settled into the warm water, positioned her gel eye mask, and skimmed an idle finger along her collarbone.

Imagine if Dr. Dan visited the pie shop.

“Oh, we’re about to close,” she’d say. Behind him, the windows would show off a gilded sunset. “Can I package you something up to go?”

“Better make it sweet.” Dan would then flip the sign over, from open to closed, and lock the door behind him. “And I’d prefer to eat in.”

He’d prowl behind the counter with a determined urgency, press her against the back wall and kiss her fully, nipping at her lower lip. His tanned hands would caress her arms, tease the sides of her breasts, the crease of her butt. He’d drag her hips to him, and she’d feel every bit of how excited he was…

With a start, Renee sat up in the tub, slid off her eye mask, and sucked in a few deep breaths.

Good lord. Her body hadn’t felt so hot since she fell asleep last summer sunbathing on her patio and could barely stand to wear pants for a week.

Do not have sex fantasies about your boss, Renee.