Pure Seduction by Frank, Ella (first ebook reader .txt) 📕

my mom I wouldn’t leave until this was done. So I took in a deep breath, pushed through the gates, and made my way up the gravel drive to the entrance. When I reached the front door, I stopped for a minute and tried think of any way out of this. But when nothing came, I went up the couple of stairs and knocked.

A warm breeze ruffled the hem of my dress, and just as I was about to try again, I heard, “You don’t have to knock. It’s a business. They want you to go in.”

I turned to see Noah’s brother Ryan standing behind me in mud-caked boots, jeans, and a t-shirt.

“Uh, hi.” I gave a quick, self-conscious wave, and he smiled. I hadn’t had much contact with Noah’s family when we’d dated, but I knew Ryan from school, and he’d always been kind. He also bore a striking resemblance to Noah, which made it really difficult to look at him right now.

“Hi. Seriously, just go on in. Mom’s in there somewhere.”

“Oh, I’m not looking for your mom. I’d like to speak to Harry—I mean, your father.”

Ryan frowned but gestured to the side of the main building. “He’s out the back, down at the production facility. Do you want me to show you?”

I looked over to where Ryan indicated and worried my lower lip with my teeth. The last thing I needed was an audience. I had no idea how Harry was going to react to what I had to say.

“Uh, thanks, but that’s okay. I’m not going to take long. You said it’s just behind the house?”

“You mean the villa?”

I glanced up at the double-story Spanish-style building and nodded.

“Yep, just go around the side there. It’s the big, shed-like thing down the back. You can’t miss it.”

“Okay, thanks again.”

I was about to walk off when Ryan stepped forward and said, “Hey, Laurel?”

“Yeah?”

“He didn’t want to go. Just so you know.”

My breath caught, but I didn’t have it in me to say Noah’s name out loud. These past few months had been difficult for so many reasons, and the only way I’d managed to survive was to lock him in a box and forget that I ever knew him. I didn’t want to seem rude, though, so I forced a smile and hoped that would be the end of that.

When Ryan said nothing and moved aside, I sent up a quick prayer and hurried off to find his father. The sooner I got this over with, the better.

I made my way around the back, and Ryan was right—there was no way to miss the mammoth “shed.” I twisted my hands in front of myself. Okay, it was now or never. I needed to get this over and done with so I could move on. I had too much on my plate these days to have a cloud of guilt this big following me around.

That final pep talk had my spine straightening and my feet moving. But when I got to the open door of the shed and spotted a man’s boots sticking out from under a tractor, I thought about making a run for it.

I didn’t, though. I cleared my throat, and the dirt-covered boots dug into the ground and crawled the man out on a flatbed creeper. He had a wrench in one hand and a spanner in the other, and the frown on the tanned, leathery face said he was clearly unimpressed by my interruption.

Great. This was off to a fantastic start.

I was about to introduce myself when the man sat up and tossed his tools into the toolbox with a loud clang. Then he reached for the rag stuffed in his pocket and began wiping the grease off his hands.

“Did you take a wrong turn, miss? There’s no tours this afternoon.”

It didn’t surprise me that he had no clue who I was. We’d never met before, and I certainly didn’t run in his family’s circles. The only communication I’d ever had with him was over a phone, and it had been brief to say the least.

“Are you Harry Chamberlin?” I knew he was, but it was important that I had the right person before I did what I’d come here to do.

“I am.”

Harry got to his feet, and I suddenly wished he’d stay seated. If I’d been intimidated before, his height—at least six three—was not helping my confidence any now. But I wasn’t about to run. I’d come too far for that.

“If you’re Harry, then I’m not lost. I’m Laurel. Laurel Anderson.”

The minute I said my name, a flash of recognition lit his eyes.

“I see. And what is it that’s brought you to my place of business today, Miss Anderson?”

If it’d been up to me, I never would’ve set foot in his place of business. But that wasn’t an option anymore. “I want to know where Noah is.”

A cruel smile curled Harry’s lips as he tossed the dirty rag on top of the toolbox. “And why would I tell you that?”

I angled my chin up and reminded myself that Ryan had seen me come in here. I had nothing to fear. It wasn’t like Harry was going to off me and no one would ever see me again.

“Because I have to talk to him.”

“About?”

“That’s between us.”

Harry chuckled, sending a shiver up my spine. “The last time I checked, there was no us when it came to the two of you, and that’s how it’s going to stay.”

I ignored his dig, having prepared myself for the kind of man he was. But he was just getting started.

“You see, Laurel, Noah is fifth-generation Chamberlin. This town—the place you live in—is his namesake. He’s my oldest boy and I want great things for him, the best he can possibly get, and you, my dear, are just not it.”

The pain of hearing those words out loud cut deeper than I’d anticipated. They were like a physical blow. I was so stunned by their callous nature that I couldn’t seem to