LEAD ME ON by Julie Ortolon (find a book to read TXT) 📕

Rory’s teasing turned to confusion. “Do you want it to be?”

“No! Heavens, no.” Fear skittered through her heart at the mere thought of it. “I’m not interested in falling in love.”

“Okay...” The confusion deepened. “Do you want to sleep with him again?”

She opened her mouth to say no, but nothing came out. Did she want to sleep with him? Silly question—she mentally rolled her eyes—of course she wanted to sleep with him again. “It wouldn’t be wise.”

“There’s a lot of things in life that aren’t wise. That doesn’t keep us from doing them.” Rory hesitated. “Like me getting all shocked and telling you what you should and shouldn’t do. I’m really sorry about that, and I hope you can forgive me.”

“Rory ...” Alli stared at her. “I thought you were the one mad at me.”

“I wasn’t mad. I was stunned! I always pictured you settling down with some sweet, quiet guy. And while Scott might not be the most talkative guy in the world, there is nothing ‘sweet’ about that man.”

“Actually, Scott is very sweet at times.”

“Maybe,” Rory conceded. “I still don’t trust him, mostly because he’s messing with my sister, but if you want to pursue whatever is going on between you two— even though you seem to think it’s only sex—I say go for it.”

“You’re joking.” Alli rocked back in her chair.

“I’m dead serious. Something wonderful and unexpected might come of it. Even if it doesn’t, you were right when you said it’s your life and Adrian and I should butt out. So that’s what I’m going to do.” She popped another nut into her mouth. “Unless he breaks your heart. Then I plan to chop him up into tiny little pieces and use him for shark chum.”

“Well, you needn’t worry. I have no intention of letting him get close enough to break my heart.”

“If you insist.” Rory grinned.

* * *

As the days passed, her conversation with Rory kept playing in the back of Alli’s head. She refused to believe anything as dangerous as love would grow between her and Scott. They were too different. But what of the other: the thrilling lust that tingled through her whenever she so much as looked at the man? Or even thought about him, which she seemed to do constantly.

Would it really be unwise to sleep with Scott again? Assuming he even wanted to. The night she’d sat up with him to wait for news about Chloe, he’d expressed serious interest in “renegotiating” the terms of their one-night affair. Since then, though, his attitude seemed to have changed. Polite but distant described it best.

Had she done something to turn him off? The fact that one night with her had apparently been enough after all hardly flattered her ego. Perhaps he was just respecting the boundary she’d set, but he could at least try a little bit to seduce her again.

Rearranging merchandise in the gift shop to make room for a new display of dolls, she thought about that night on the settee, remembered the way he’d kissed her. What would have happened if she hadn’t stopped him? Would he have made love to her right there in the office? With her brother downstairs and the inn full of guests? The wicked images that played in her mind sent a shiver of excitement racing through her.

She closed her eyes and let the fantasy play out in her mind.

“Hey, Allison.”

With a squeak, she whirled around to find Chloe standing in the doorway. “Oh, Chloe. You startled me.” She held a hand to her cheek, and prayed her thoughts didn’t show on her face. “Did you need something?”

“No. I’m just bored. Uncle Scott is holed up in his room pounding away on the computer. I swear, if I died, it would take him a week to notice.”

“Chloe, that’s not true!” Allison gasped at such a statement.

The girl smirked at her. “You have no sense of humor, do you?”

“Oh.” She frowned, having no idea what to say to that. But then she never knew what to say to Chloe. The girl put too many things into uncomfortable perspective. Alli had spent the last eleven years picturing the child she’d lost as a nameless infant. She didn’t even know if that child had been a girl or boy, since the doctor had referred to it only as “the fetus,” as if sensing she couldn’t bear to know.

Truth was, if her baby had lived she’d be dealing with a person barely younger than Chloe. The reality made her ache for what she’d lost—yet it also made her think of how much time she had spent grieving. Years had passed with her life on hold.

“I wanted to go to town, but I guess I’ll have to wait till he takes a break.” Chloe sauntered about the room, eyeing the tea sets as if viewing objects from another world. In profile, her face struck Alli as classically beautiful, even though she did her best to hide it beneath the ever-present ball cap, just as she hid her well-developed body with baggy T-shirts.

“So, um, how’s your schoolwork coming?” Alli asked to make conversation. “Do you need to use the computer to e-mail anything today?”

“Later.” The girl picked up a gardenia-scented candle to sniff. Scrunching up her nose, she set it down and tried another.

“You know ...” Alli said hesitantly. “If you’re really bored, I could give you something to do.”

“Like what?”

“You could help me here in the gift shop.” She pointed to the box on the counter. “I was just about to unpack a shipment of dolls.”

“Dolls?” An amusing blend of horror and intrigue contorted Chloe’s face.

“It would give you something to do.”

The girl pondered the idea, then shrugged. “Okay, sure. Why not? What do you need me to do?”

“Why don’t you unpack the dolls and I’ll check them off the invoice and make up price tags?” When Chloe nodded, Allison set the box on the multi-tiered display table she’d cleared, then pulled the barstool from behind