Mixing Temptation Read Free Page A

voice announced his presence in the kitchen.
    Well, speak of the devil.
    Though Brody has always been the ‘Most Likely To Follow the Straight and Narrow’ of the siblings.
    â€œThis one is not for me,” Katie said. “I just get to share in the licking duties.”
    â€œCaroline?” Brody asked with a sigh.
    Pretending to be preoccupied with his pie, Josh nodded. He’d listened to dozens of long-­winded speeches and participated in countless debates hosted by his nosy siblings about his dead-­end relationship with the Big Buck’s dishwasher.
    She lives over an hour away from Independence Falls.
    Josh had shot down Brody’s protest by reminding his big brother that he’d fallen for a woman who’d lived on the other side of the country. Of course, Kat—­Josh’s former doctor and the woman partly responsible for helping Josh reclaim his short-­term memory in the wake of the logging accident—­now lived upstairs.
    It’s been a year and you still haven’ t shared so much as a pizza.
    There was a thread of truth to Chad’s argument. But Josh had countered with she prefers my pies. And he’d left out the fact that they always shared them in the back room of Big Buck’s Bar, hidden away from the curious, small-­town gossips that ­peopled Independence Falls and the neighboring university town where Caroline currently lived and worked—­Forever, Oregon.
    Josh didn’t want to talk about the fact that Caroline was technically in hiding. His siblings—­apart from Chad who’d been sworn to secrecy—­didn’t know her full story and Josh planned to keep it that way. And even Chad had never learned the reasons why Caroline had run from her duty to serve her country. If his siblings found out that she’d been attacked by her commanding officer and still feared him, if they learned that there was a warrant out for her arrest . . .
    Yeah, his brothers would probably sit on him—­with Katie standing nearby and cheering them on—­until Josh agreed to try dating a woman who could to split a damn pizza in public without fear of getting arrested if the local police stopped by to say hello.
    â€œAny luck with your favorite Big Buck’s employee?” Chad asked.
    â€œMind your own business.” Josh took a step back and examined his creation. It screamed homemade and key lime was sure as hell an odd choice for fall in Oregon, but Josh had wanted to try something new.
    â€œBut you, baby brother, are my business,” Chad said, adding a heavy dose of melodrama to his voice. “And I’m worried about you. When was the last time you got laid?”
    Fourteen months ago. . .
    â€œAlso none of your business,” Josh said as he opened the fridge and set the pie inside.
    â€œI’m just saying maybe you should rethink your strategy,” Chad said. “But if you’re happy sharing desserts—­”
    â€œShe’s not ready,” Josh snapped. “She’s been through a lot . . . not that it’s any of your damn business.”
    Katie set the spatula in the bowl and pushed it away. “It’s not,” she said. “But Josh, maybe you should take a step back and consider the fact that whatever happened to her won’t fade into the background.”
    Yeah, he’d thought about that. And he’d questioned his sanity pursuing a woman who might never be ready to move on with her life.
    â€œA while back,” Brody said, “you said you wanted to settle down. But you’ve honed in on this one woman . . .” He shook his head and turned to the coffeepot.
    â€œYou haven’t even brought her over for dinner,” Katie said. “I’ve only met her at the bar.”
    â€œI think that was a good decision on my part,” Josh said. “You’d interrogate her and probably scare her