Too Much Temptation Read Free

limply on his hard abdomen. He wore faded jeans, a gray sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off, and nothing else. His silky, coal-black hair was rumpled, his face shadowed with beard stubble. His entire body bespoke weariness.
    He was the sexiest, most appealing man she’d ever known.
    Even from where Grace stood, she could see the lush length of Noah’s sooty lashes, sinfully long, too extravagant for a man. They lent a striking contrast to an otherwise hard-edged presence.
    Grace sighed.
    “To hell with all of ’em,” Ben said. His words were slurred and thick and angry.
    Grace tucked in her chin. Uh-oh. Ben sounded…drunk. Really drunk.
    Like Noah, he seldom imbibed, so this must be a…commiseration-drinking binge? She didn’t really know men well enough to know what their habits might be, but it seemed feasible.
    She looked behind her, and this time counted the empty beer bottles littering the apartment. Oh Lord! They must have been at it since last night. Had Noah contacted Ben directly after leaving Agatha’s? Had they been drinking ever since?
    Wide-eyed, Grace turned back to the brothers.
    Noah’s voice, too, sounded slurred when he said, “It took them all by surprise, that’s all.”
    “Yeah, so they jump to the conclusion that you’re a heartbreaker. The asses.”
    “Heartbreaker?” Noah made a sound that wasn’t quite a laugh, wasn’t quite a curse. “Oh, they had better descriptions than that, believe me. You’d think I jilted her at the altar the way they went on.”
    Grace swallowed her choking pain and renewed annoyance. Agatha had told her all about the awful meeting, with Noah summoned to her house to face Kara, along with her mother and father and Agatha herself. He’d stood alone against them, bearing their insults and their blame without defending himself—the same way he’d faced the world most of his life.
    They’d jointly called him to account, and when Noah had refused to explain why he’d ended the engagement, Agatha had threatened to disown him.
    No. Grace curled her arms around the ache in her stomach, the pain in her heart. She would never let that happen. Noah was a part of the family now, and he’d damn well stay a part. She’d make Agatha relent. As her personal secretary, she carried some clout.
    At least she hoped she did.
    “Situations like this,” Ben explained, waving his beer for emphasis, “are why I don’t submit to her fucking blood tests.”
    Noah slanted his younger brother a look. “You know she has to be careful, Ben. In her heart, Agatha knows you’re family, but she’s stubborn and cautious.”
    “She should take my mother’s word for it.”
    “Yeah. But it would damage her pride to do that.”
    “And to hell with anyone else’s pride? Is that it?”
    Noah shrugged. “Agatha has more pride than most.”
    “Ha! She’s a—”
    “Careful.” Noah narrowed his eyes. “I’m madder than hell at her right now, too, but she’s still my grandmother, your grandmother.”
    “Not that she’ll admit it.”
    Noah ignored that to add, “Just as you’re my brother.”
    “Half brother.” Ben lifted the beer and guzzled down the remainder, then belched.
    “Whole, half, who gives a rat’s ass? You’re my brother, and regardless of any damn blood test, we both know it.”
    Grace’s heart expanded in her chest, her throat clogged with emotion. Yes, Ben was Noah’s brother, and Agatha’s grandson. It was there in the shiny black hair he shared with Noah, in the broad-shouldered physique, the olive skin tone.
    At six feet, four inches, Noah was as impressively tall as his father had been. Ben stood six feet even, but he carried himself the same, and their sexy, teasing smiles were identical.
    Only the eyes were different. Noah had pale, striking blue eyes that could be either as cold as ice or hot enough to singe your soul. Ben’s eyes were just the opposite, as black as a sinner’s and equally as wicked. He looked at women and they blushed and