A Passion Denied Read Online Free PDF

that’s the problem. I thought with this new hairdo and turning eighteen this year, he’d start to take notice. You know, see me as a woman? But he hasn’t. And this afternoon, he made it pretty clear I’ll never be anything more than his little sister.” Faith turned at the stove. “He told you that?”
    Lizzie hopped up to get some cups from the cupboard, her anger refueling once again. “Yes. Says he’s too old for me.”
    Charity huffed and commenced fanning. “Too old? That’s ridiculous. Mitch is almost sixteen years older than me, and he’s not too old.” Her brows dipped into a frown. “Although, come to think of it, he can get rather crotchety at times.”
    Faith grinned and returned to the table. She grabbed a potato and sat down. “That’s not age. The man was born that way.”
    Lizzie sighed and clunked three china cups and saucers on the table before sagging into a chair. “All I know is that Brady is a mule, through and through. I know he cares for me—I can see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice, but what good does it do?” She groaned and flicked at one of the cups and watched it teeter in its saucer. “Why did God let me fall in love with a man who obviously doesn’t want me?”
    Her sisters exchanged glances. Faith gently touched Lizzie’s arm. “Well, as much as I’d like to pop Brady right now, maybe we need to take the high road. Might be that he just needs time to get used to the idea that you’re all grown up. You have been his little sister for almost four years now, a constant shadow underfoot. All of a sudden his gangly little protégé has blossomed into a beautiful butterfly. That would take some getting used to for any man, much less a man like John Brady.”
    Lizzie frowned and looked up. “What do you mean ‘a man like John Brady’?”
    “Well, he’s not exactly a womanizer. Collin says he’s never even dated a woman in all the years he’s known him.”
    “But he was engaged before the war, he told me so. So he must like women.” Lizzie bit her lip.
    “Oh, trust me, John Brady likes women,” Charity said. She slapped the magazine on the table and closed her eyes to reach and knead the muscles at the small of her back. She released a low groan of ecstasy when she hit the right spot.
    Faith and Lizzie stared. “And how, exactly, do you know that?” Faith demanded.
    Charity’s eyes blinked opened. “Because he kissed me once, that’s how. And trust me, it was the kiss of a man who likes women . . . and then some.”
    Faith gaped. “Dear Lord, Charity Dennehy, who haven’t you kissed?”
    Charity’s lips pressed tight. “I’m not the same woman I was then, all right? My past is my past. Besides, one kiss with Brady convinced me that there’s a passion inside that man bordering on wildfire out of control. Believe me, if it hadn’t been for Mitch returning when he did, I might very well be Mrs. John Brady right now.”
    “Oh, Charity, I would have hated you!” Lizzie shivered and slumped further into the chair.
    Faith blinked. “I didn’t know that. Why didn’t I know that?”
    “I don’t tell you everything,” Charity said.
    “Yes, you do. At least since you came to your senses and started talking to me again.”
    Charity’s blue eyes squinted in thought. “Yeah, I guess I do. But maybe I didn’t mention it because that was the week Mitch showed up and forced me to marry him.”
    Faith rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, I remember when he put that gun to your head.”
    “I can’t believe Brady kissed you!” Lizzie blurted out, relief and jealousy squaring off in her brain.
    Charity reached for Lizzie’s hand. “Only once, and I only mention it now because it showed me that Brady really does need a woman in his life. A woman like you.”
    Lizzie closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to have John Brady’s lips tasting hers. Better than all the romance she’d ever read, she was sure. “Was it wonderful?” she