Be My Temptation (Temptation #2) Read Online Free Page B

widened. “Did you tell her you want to see other people? If so, you’re an idiot. We all like her.”
    “No, it was nothing like that.” Brock rubbed one of his temples, hating that his sister knew him so well. “I told her I love her.”
    “And?”
    “And she told me she wasn’t ready to hear that.”
    “Ouch.”
    “Tell me about it. She was gone when I woke up this morning. She left me a note saying she had errands to run. I tried to call her, but she didn’t answer.”
    “That’s not good. What are you going to do?”
    Brock rocked back on his heels. “What can I do? Hallmark doesn’t make cards that say, ‘Sorry I said I love you.’ ”
    His sister came around the desk and hugged him. “It’s kind of cute seeing you like this. I’m so used to lecturing you on how not to break someone else’s heart. She’ll come around, Brock. Just give her time.”
    He hugged his sister back, then shooed her out of his office so he could return some business calls he’d been putting off. He felt slightly better after talking to his sister. Nothing had changed; Kate simply needed more time.
    He had waited his whole life for her.
    He could wait a while longer.
     

Chapter Four
     
    Kate was back at her mother’s house, sorting through boxes of papers her mother had stored in the attic. It was difficult to decide what to keep and what to throw away. Her mother had saved some of Kate’s schoolwork from as far back as kindergarten. Before finding the stashes, Kate would’ve said her mother had not been a particularly sentimental woman. Yet she had kept every card Kate had ever given her, even the ones from when her signature had been nothing more than a scribble.
    Do I just throw all of this away?
    Do I keep it all to show to my children someday, and leave it here so they can to take one look at them and then dispose of them? I may never have children. I may not be living here six months from now. And then what will I do with all of this crap?
    In the corner of the attic, tucked beneath several dusty boxes, Kate found a plastic bin of photos. She and her mother had moved to Rhode Island when Kate was young, but not so young that she couldn’t remember many of the people in the pictures.
    There were aunts and uncles, cousins Kate had almost forgotten she had. She found one picture of her mother and father posing with Kate when she was still in diapers. There were no pictures of her father after that. Kate’s own memories of him were few and consisted mostly of him arguing with her mother. She couldn’t remember a time when her parents had lived together.
    Since her mother had been unwilling to speak freely of her father, and Kate had never pushed the issue, Kate knew little more about him than that he had signed his name on her birth certificate. Her mother rarely spoke of him or his family, except as a cautionary tale of what she didn’t want for Kate.
    Kate sat back on her heels beside the bin. She thought about Brock and his family. She couldn’t imagine them owning a box of photos of people they never spoke to. Brock’s mother was openly affectionate with her children and very close with her siblings. Brock’s father had a large extended family he also kept in touch with. Watching Brock with his family, Kate envied their intimacy.
    Brushing her hair out of her eyes, Kate corrected herself. Envy had negative connotations that didn’t apply to her feelings toward Brock’s family. She wanted what they had. She craved their closeness and the loyal way in which they treated one another.
    Could she have all that with Brock? Could life be that good?
    She remembered a college friend once handing her a crystal ball. She had asked Kate to look into it. The possibility that she might actually see her future had frozen Kate. She’d looked down at the ball helplessly, afraid she wasn’t special enough to be able to see anything, and afraid she’d feel crazy if she actually did see something. So instead of actually