Wayward Dreams by Gail McFarland

blame me…”
    â€œI’m not blaming anyone, I just know what I want.” Bianca felt the weight of Julia’s words. “There is no one to blame because I want someone to grow old with. Whoever the right man for me is, I want to hold his hand and know that his is empty without mine. I want us to sit and eat ice cream together. I want our children to bring our grandchildren back to the home they grew up in. I want a life.”
    â€œSounds nice…” The knock on the door cut Julia off. “Movers,” she said, going to the door with her sister hard on her heels. She swung the door wide and stood back as a burly quartet of men in damp jeans and T-shirts trooped past, hauling furniture into the condo.
    â€œWhere do you want this?” The speaker stood behind an upended strawberry-colored sofa on a hand truck, and his voice was low, compelling, and almost ridiculously male. When he stepped forward, he owned the space and generally sucked the air out of the hall.
    Noting her sister’s suddenly languid finger sweep through her tousled curls, Bianca almost laughed out loud. Tempting as homemade sin, with all the swagger in the western world, there was no name on the dreadlocked man’s shirt, but Bianca was fairly sure she could name him: Tall and Gorgeous, and definitely trouble .
    She could feel trouble steaming off him in sensuous waves and he certainly looked wildly sexy and dangerous. Looking up at him, she caught his eyes skimming her sister’s face and body before arrowing in on hers. Caught in the act, his smile admitted game and his brief perusal became a bold and claiming stare.
    Mister, you don’t know me like that, Bianca thought. “It’s going in the living room.”
    When her eyes refused his invitation, Tall and Gorgeous lifted his head, and his face caught just enough light to accentuate his heavy-lidded bedroom eyes, high cheekbones, wide full-lipped mouth, and perfect skin beneath the hall lights. He was more than just good-looking and he knew it.
    Tall and Gorgeous tilted his head and raised a hand to throw a heavy sheaf of dread-locked hair over his shoulder, and Julia sighed. Bianca shot her besotted sister a glare; the woman was grinning like a fool. One of us has to act like she has some sense. She jabbed Julia with her elbow and stepped back. “Over there,” she said, pointing. “You can put it in front of the window.”
    Finding a place on the sofa, Julia was content to sit with her legs crossed and the grin pasted on her face, watching Tall and Gorgeous. When Tall and Gorgeous walked in with an upholstered chair, the muscles in his arms and chest rippling, she was visibly pleased.
    â€œAct like you’ve seen a man before,” Bianca whispered.
    â€œI am.” Julia propped her elbow on the sofa’s cushioned arm and smiled dreamily. “I know what I like, and I’m just enjoying seeing him in action. You should take advantage of the moment and enjoy him, too.”
    â€œI’ve already told you I’m not interested in any more Men of the Moment.” Tall and Gorgeous walked by carrying a headboard and Bianca felt his eyes strafe her again.
    â€œSo pretty,” Julia murmured.
    â€œPretty doesn’t last.”
    â€œSo bitter.” Julia’s eyes touched her sister’s, then followed Tall and Gorgeous.
    â€œI am not bitter.”
    â€œDenial is a sad state.”
    â€œIf you don’t stop…”
    â€œIs that all you’re going to need?” Tall and Gorgeous wanted to know when the final lamp was in place. His eyes sought Bianca’s, and unspoken intention threaded his words.
    â€œYes, thanks.” Bianca handed over the tip Julia had generously provided and his fingers brushed hers, the touch lasting longer than it should have. She nearly cursed herself for not calling him on it, especially when his fingers caught her wrist and he lowered his voice.
    He was smooth