Ever Tempted Read Online Free

to a normal human male as possible.
    Beyond the trees, the sky around the estate was brighter than I’d seen it in over a hundred years. The back of the property glowed like a stadium on Super Bowl Sunday and could be seen from miles on approach. Old Buicks to the shiniest newest sports cars lined the drive.
    Not to judge, but old cars probably meant Allie’s biological family.
    New shiny cars held the possibility of single male prospects searching for a hot brunette to cling to their arm or fall into their bed.
    I hadn’t worked on my insecurities. I had every reason to feel insecure around her. If Allie got mad enough after our talk about my moronic mistake in the hotel, I didn’t think I could handle some guy I didn’t know carting her off to God only knew where.
    It was just a party. Deep breathing. In through the nose. Out through the…oh, hell, forget it.
    Why would she throw a party with me gone? Maybe she hadn’t missed me as much as I’d hoped she would. There were so many thoughts in the crowd of people, it was hard to pick out her inner voice to get insight on what she might have been thinking.
    I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants and stalked through the wooded lot beside my cottage. The ground was soft with leftover moisture from rain that hadn’t seemed to stop for the last two days of my leave. Festive music and laughter invaded my private little piece of heaven as I opened my door.
    If Allie felt the need to party, that was fine. I’d stay in my cottage and close my mind off to all the obnoxious cheeriness. After the people were gone, I’d try to approach her.
    I flopped on my sofa and stared out the window. White lights strung around the Rose Maze and all over everything that could hold a light up. People clumped in groups. Staffed dressed in penguin suits carted trays of champagne. Chirpy, buoyant music changed tunes every few minutes. Bursts of laughter sliced at my nerves.
    Feeling sorry for myself would get me nowhere. I’d spent my life allowing adverse circumstances to dictate every step I took.
    Not tonight.
    After I stripped, I dropped my clothes into a hamper and stomped to the bathroom Ava had installed in the area where our old back porch had been. We’d washed in a large tub and used an outhouse near the creek just off the edge of the woods for restroom facilities back in the old days. It was nice not to have to bother with all that work just to make a good impression on Allie’s guests.
    A quick shower, a decent set of non-shit-shoveling clothes, and I was out the door.
    * * * *
    The Rose Maze was named after Amber Rose Rollins, Allie’s first mother. It was the only thing in the back yard that hadn’t changed in the last few weeks. Since Allie had arrived on the property, she’d given the house some shifting abilities of its own.
    As I approached the crowd, soft music, tinkling glasses, and joyous laughter reminded me of how it had been in the 1870s, except then lanterns would have replaced the electricity. And Allie would have glided gracefully through the crowd in one of her elegant flowing gowns.
    She probably donned some troubling little dress that unintentionally gave a nice view of all her endowments. I tugged at my collar.
    “…have you seen her? She’s beautiful.” Near the parking garage, a happy little girl in a crowd of other children bubbled over talking with her hands and trembling with excitement.
    A little boy stuck his chest out. “Well, Miss Knowles kissed me right on the cheek. She said she hoped if she ever had a little boy that he would look just like me.”
    Hmm. She hadn’t struck the idea of having kids out completely. That was a good sign.
    “She gave me a necklace.” Another little girl pointed to her flashy necklace and grinned.
    The community couldn’t help but fall in love with her. I too had been a victim of her contagious personality.
    Slow, deep breaths.
    I allowed only thoughts that would keep me from shuddering to infiltrate my mind.