Mixing Temptation Read Free

the homemade topping on the pie and tried not to think about covering the woman determined to keep him locked in the ‘friend zone’ with the leftovers. After what Caroline had been through, well hell, he understood why she needed time. But that didn’t keep him from hoping for more—­especially since she’d kissed him in the back room of Big Buck’s Bar a few months ago.
    And then asked him out.
    But she never picked a time or place for your first date. . .
    â€œWhat are you making?” a familiar voice demanded as the back door to the Summers’ family farmhouse slammed shut.
    â€œTesting out a new key lime pie recipe,” he told his older sister without looking up from his creation. Katie Summers—­no, make that Katie Trulane now that she’d married the number two at Moore Timber, the logging company that also served as their employer—­crowded in at his side. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of her long, red ponytail swinging forward and threatening to land in his pie topping.
    Of the four siblings, Katie and Josh had inherited their mother’s red hair and green eyes. Thankfully, their looks were the only trait she’d passed on to them. Their mom had walked out on her family when Josh was a kid and never looked back. But the Summers siblings stuck together—­even at seven in the morning on a freaking Saturday.
    â€œIs that pie for me?” Katie asked hopefully.
    â€œNah,” another all too familiar voice called out. “Josh stopped baking for us months ago. He’s still trying to woo his lady friend with sugar.”
    â€œShut up, Chad,” Josh muttered. He dipped the spatula into the bowl of whipped cream and then returned it to the pie laden with cream. Josh had woken up early, slipped out of his apartment over the barn and into the farmhouse kitchen with the hope that he’d be in and out before his siblings stormed Brody’s home.
    â€œShouldn’t you all be in bed? You’re married”—­he shot Katie a pointed look—­“and you’re engaged.” He glanced over his shoulder at Chad. “Plus, you don’t live here anymore.”
    If Josh had what his brothers and sister had fought so hard to find—­love with the promise of happy-­ever-­after and homes of their own—­he would stay the hell out of Brody’s kitchen on a Saturday morning and while away the hours in bed.
    â€œLena worked the overnight shift last night, so I stayed here,” Chad said with a shrug as he headed for the pot of coffee Josh had made upon breaking in. “I heard you banging around down here and thought I’d see if you started the coffee.”
    â€œAnd I have a sixth sense that tells me when a bowl needs to be licked,” Katie said. She made a grab for the nearly empty whipped cream bowl. Now four months along with her first child, Katie had bypassed morning sickness in favor of sugar. And she’d appointed herself his designated ‘helper’ which amounted to licking the bowls then handing them back to him to wash.
    Josh swatted her hand away. “I’m not done with that. Why don’t you go feed your goats first?”
    â€œLiam volunteered to take care of the animals this morning.”
    â€œWhen you kick a man out of bed at dawn to feed your barn full of rescued animals, it’s called coercion,” Josh pointed out.
    â€œHe offered because Liam is a smart man and he knows I’ll be grateful,” she shot back. “Now, please, please let me lick the bowl.”
    Josh rescued the last of the whipped cream, spread it on a not-­quite-­perfect pie, and handed over the bowl. His sister took her treasure to the kitchen table Brody, the oldest brother and their ringleader since the Summers siblings had lost their father to a sudden heart attack, had built.
    â€œFeeding her cravings again?” Brody’s deep