Twice the Temptation by Francis Ray

Author:Francis Ray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2011-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

The morning was sun-kissed and magical. Julia freely admitted it was because she was with Chase. She selected a sunny spot on the lush grass of the Mall, the popular corridor between the Capitol and the Lincoln Monument, for their picnic. People strolled its length, played baseball, soccer, jogged.

Chase placed the basket on top of the plaid blanket, then helped Julia sit. She came down on her knees and immediately began dragging food from the hamper. “I hope you like chicken salad.”

Propped on his side, Chase watched her economical, graceful movements. “I love food, period.”

Laughing, she looked up at him, felt the familiar pull, and ducked her head. If she wanted him to wait, she had to stop staring at him as if she could eat him with a spoon.

Chase’s hand settled over hers, causing her to jump. “It’s all right to want me. Lord knows I want you.”

Some small part of her wanted to tuck her head and shy away from the words. Another part of her wanted to embrace his words as she wanted to embrace him.

She had overheard Chase talking to her sisters. He saw the woman that she so desperately wanted to be, the woman she hoped she was. Not for anything would she give him cause to think he had been wrong. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said, his eyes and his words tender. “I’ve heard the practiced words too many times in the past. I’ve forgotten them and the women who said them. Your honesty and, although it might annoy you, your vulnerability are much more appealing.”

She made a face and reached into the basket for a Thermos of lemonade. “You make me sound pitifully childish.”

“A childish woman wouldn’t keep me awake at night, and I certainly wouldn’t arrive thirty minutes early for a date.”

“You did?” she questioned, delight and amazement in her animated voice and face. “You arrived at the door on time. Where were you?”

Seeing the joy shining in her brown eyes banished the mild annoyance he had felt with himself. “With Percival. He had a good laugh watching me try to decide if I should go up early or play it cool and wait.”

“He likes to tease.”

“So I found out,” Chase said. “The important thing is that I’m where I want to be.”

“So am I.” That she was sure of. “And next time come on up.”

“I will.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it to rummage in the basket. He came out with the thermal cooler containing chocolate-covered strawberries. He held one up to her lips.

Her eyes locked with his. She bit. Juice ran down one corner of her mouth. Her tongue followed. So did Chase’s hot gaze.

She began to tremble. Leaning toward her, he slowly traced the path her tongue had taken with his tongue, then sat back and bit into the strawberry, chewed, swallowed. He closed the container with hands that were not quite steady. “Why don’t we save them until we get back to your apartment?”

It took a couple of moments for her to speak.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.