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

sleep hours ago. And sometime during the night, he realized he’d done the unthinkable. He’d fallen in love with her.

With his arms loosely about her, he turned his head so his lips rested against her forehead. Last night, as she let down all her defenses, revealed her sorrow and the depth of her pain, his own guard had crumbled completely. All the emotions that had been building inside him rushed out of his heart and filled him.

He loved her. The knowledge so awed him, his eyes stung. Never in his life had he felt an emotion so strong his body ached with it.

But with the love came fear. Even if they managed to get past his connection to John LeRoche, sooner or later one of them would let the other down. Every relationship he’d had worked that way. His arms tightened a fraction and he squeezed his eyes shut. I don’t want to hurt you. Yet, how could he tell her he loved her without hurting her? She didn’t want this, and now he knew why. She’d been hurt enough.

Sensing he was awake, Sadie whined beside the bed. He reached a hand down to quiet her with an ear-scratch and noticed the illuminated numbers on the bedside clock read four forty-eight. The house would be waking soon. As much as he wanted to stay with Allison, he knew he’d serve her best by making his way quietly to his room upstairs, before her brother woke and realized where he’d spent the night.

Shifting, he eased himself out from under her. When she moaned in protest, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Sleep.”

She relaxed into the pillow with a sigh, her hand resting in the spot where he had lain. The faint light through the window fell softly over her face and hair and a physical longing rose inside him to stay with her. Fighting it, he picked up his boots and padded to the bathroom. Sadie nosed her way past the partially closed door as he splashed water on his face. He turned and found the little dog rubbing her eyes with a front paw, and had to smile.

“I agree,” he whispered and squatted down to pet her. “It’s way too early to be up.”

The sheltie eyed him with her sleepy brown eyes.

“Tell you what. You stay here and watch over Alli. I’ll make a clean getaway to keep her out of trouble.”

Sadie let loose with a huge yawn.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Rather than put on his boots, he headed upstairs in stocking feet, hoping to get to his room without waking Adrian. Considering the early hour, he figured that shouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, the minute he reached the back hall, he realized the kitchen was filled with light, the clatter of pans, and the smell of baking bread.

Well hell. Allison’s brother was already up and cooking breakfast. While Adrian might have softened toward him some, Scott doubted Big Brother would be thrilled to find a man sneaking out of his sister’s bedroom in the wee hours of the morning.

He stood still, debating his chances of sneaking past the kitchen doorway and straight into the main hall. On his first step a floorboard creaked, making him cringe.

“Alli?” Adrian appeared in the doorway, his concerned expression going flat when he saw Scott standing there with boots in hand. “Oh.”

“Uh, good morning.” Scott braced himself for anything. A fist in the face wouldn’t surprise him.

“How’s she doing?” Adrian asked with a total lack of hostility.

Okay, so that surprised him. “Sleeping now. She’s pretty wrung out.”

Concern lined Adrian’s face as he glanced toward the stairs. “I wish I could let her sleep in, but with Chance still at the birthing center, she’s all I’ve got.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Adrian snorted. “Make coffee, set up the buffet, serve guests.”

“Okay.”

“I was joking.”

“I wasn’t.” Scott bent forward to pull on his boots. “If I can help out, I’m game.”

“Well, that ought to give the other guests a thrill, to be served breakfast by a world-famous author.”

“You know”—Scott straightened—“I’ve never understood why people think the minute you get published you forget how to perform the basic functions of life. I assure you, I manage to cook and clean and do my own laundry, just like every other bachelor. Probably a hell of a lot better than most.”

“All right.” Adrian nodded cautiously. “You’re on. Coffee beans are over there. We fill the carafe for upstairs first. Dishes and silverware for setting up the buffet are in the butler’s pantry.”

Scott headed for the counter with the grinder and commercial coffee maker. Over the last few weeks, he’d learned his way around the kitchen fairly well, but always felt ill at ease about invading someone else’s space. Especially with Adrian manning the stove with the skill of an accomplished chef.

Once he had coffee dripping into the first carafe, he turned back to Adrian, debating how far he should push this new friendly attitude. “Mind if I ask you a question?”

“Depends on what it is.”

“This guy, Dick, does he still live in Galveston?”

“Dick?” Adrian frowned over his shoulder, whisking eggs in a metal bowl.

“The one who hurt Alli when she was sixteen.”

“Oh. You mean Peter.”

“Dick, Peter. Same thing.”

Adrian chuckled. “I like that. But no. Last I heard, he’s living in California working for some fancy law firm.”

“Too bad.”

“What were you going to do, go beat him up for something that happened more than ten years ago?”

“The thought crossed my mind.” Scott calmly lifted a brow even as anger churned in his gut.

Adrian studied him a moment, then nodded in approval. “Well, if it makes you feel better, I took care of it back then.”

“I trust you did a good job.”

“Good enough to get arrested for assault. Fortunately Aunt Viv had enough dirt on Dickhead’s father to get them to drop all charges. Not that any of that helped Alli. She was broken up about it for a long time. Still is, apparently. More than I realized.”

“Yeah,