'Tis the Season to Be Tempted Read Free Page B

determined to find out, and desperately hoping the truth wasn’t too humiliating.
    Evie decided to start with the easy stuff. “I don’t remember getting off of the plane.”
    “I’m not surprised,” he said, his dreamy-looking eyes remarkably focused. “I practically carried you off.”
    She bit her lower lip but refused to look away. Bad enough she had to return home with her tail between her legs, every possession she owned packed into one suitcase. Twenty-six years old. Boyfriendless. And jobless.
    The prodigal daughter was returning a true loser.
    At least that was what her family was sure to think. She’d given up trying to please her parents, because they’d expected another Ivy League grad, like her brother and older sister. Or for her to at least marry one, like her little sister.
    And while her siblings would welcome her back with open arms, drowning her with love and concern, they’d certainly be mentally screaming “we told you so.” Her sisters would instantly scramble to find her a replacement man, as if that would fix everything. Worse, they’d insist on a Type A successful executive who would fit with her family’s idea of the perfect match, but would make Evie want to run screaming in the other direction.
    She eyed Wes again, knowing he fit the description. But somehow she wasn’t able to work up the protest she would have years ago. Normally his take-charge attitude would have rubbed her the wrong way. After years in her father’s image-first, money-obsessed, domineering presence, she’d grown up chafing at even the suggestion of authority.
    Which was why Chuck had been so appealing. Fun, easygoing Chuck, who never took anything seriously or made demands of anybody, including himself. He certainly hadn’t taken the concept of fidelity to heart.
    Last year had started with her dumping him the moment she learned of his cheating. And, as the longtime manager of his band, she’d not only lost the only boyfriend she’d ever had, she’d also been forced to quit her job. At first she hadn’t been worried, confident she could find decent employment on her own. But over time her luck hadn’t changed, until she’d finally admitted defeat. That was when she’d called Dan.
    She’d needed to hear the reassuring voice of her brother, the only one in her family who’d never tried to change her.
    Dan had told her of her parents’ anniversary plans. He’d also offered her help with a contact, the owner of several Boston clubs who needed assistance looking for new talent and booking bands. But after all she’d accomplished since leaving home, she couldn’t bear to return to the role of being the kid sister who needed bailing out. And then her beloved, beat-up Volkswagen Beetle had died.
    So…here she was, forced to return to her parents’ home to regroup.
    It was as if last year had called up this year and left specific instructions on how to continue the suckfest.
    “Happy New Year,” Wes said, appearing amused as he handed her a coffee.
    “Hardly.” She shifted to sit cross-legged on the bench and accepted the paper cup with a grateful smile. She inhaled the deliciously fortifying scent. “Last night I rang in the New Year alone.”
    “Any resolutions?”
    She paused to sip her latte, knowing this was as good a lead-in as she’d get. Because she really needed to find out the extent of her loose-lipped behavior on board that flight.
    “Just one,” she said, eyeing him carefully. “I swore I’d never get involved with another man ever again.”
    She waited, holding her breath.
    “Seems like an ambitious vow for someone so young,” he said drily. His eyes looked as cool as ever, but after a pause, they took on a faintly amused twinkle. “And it didn’t take you long to break that vow.”
    She barely managed to keep her eyes from bulging. “Did I just gain membership into the mile-high club?”
    And why did the thought of making love to Wes leave her so breathless?
    “Not that I