Attainment (The Temptation Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

pink...even pinker than last time. I love pink. Wait! I like
purple too. Is it purple?”
    “You are just going to have to wait and see Charli-Bear,”
Alexis states with a smile.
    “I don’t care what colour my room is, as long as it’s not
pink...or purple...or maybe even yellow,” Nate adds.
    “Good, ‘cause yours is white and blue, little fella,” I say proudly.
“Carn’ the mighty Cats!”
    I watch his face as his eyes search mine for the slightest
tell-tale sign that I’m bluffing. Nate is a one-eyed Bomber’s supporter like
his Mum.
    “Mum,” Nate says hesitantly. “Please tell me he’s joking.”
    I glance at Alexis, trying not to laugh and give myself
away. I wonder for a moment if she’ll play along and taunt Nate or if she’ll
cave and stay true to her beloved football team. The inner struggle is evident
on her face, and I can’t help but chuckle at her attempt to prevent it from
screwing up.
    “Nate, my little man,” she says with gritted teeth while
giving me that sexy fucking determined glare. She straightens her stance and
smiles satisfactorily at me before turning her head to face her son. “Would I
ever let Bryce decorate your room in anything other than the Bomber’s colours?”
    Nate sighs with relief. “No. You wouldn’t.” He then turns to
me, and a spark of satisfaction appears to surge through him as he fires a
shit-eating grin in my direction. “When you least expect it, Bryce. You may
find a clown sleeping in your bed.”
    Alexis bursts out laughing. I, on the other hand, do not
find that little threat funny at all.
    “Really?” I ask Nate.
    He just nods. Yeah, I wonder who he gets his cockiness
from.
    “Bryce,” Charlotte interrupts, her sweet little angelic
voice laced with concern. I feel her hand gently clasp mine. “Clowns aren’t
real, you know. And neither are ghosts, or witches.” Her look of sincerity is
both adorable and...well...humiliating. Here is a seven year-old girl, telling
a thirty seven year-old man not to be afraid of clowns because they aren’t real,
when in fact they freakin’ are. In this moment, my testosterone levels sink
dramatically. I’m a fucking coulrophobic pansy.
    I pull her to my side and give her a hug. “Thanks, Charli.”
    Alexis, who is still trying to refrain from laughing at my
awkward you-have-no-balls moment, winks at Charli when the doors to the elevator
open. We all step out, and Alexis and I hang back, my arm around her shoulder
and hers around my waist. We watch the excitement filter from the kids as they
explore their new surroundings.
    “It’s just like before, but it’s not,” Nate says, displaying
an expression of slight confusion.
    “I don’t know about the brown, Mum,” Charlotte says with
aversion.
    “What’s wrong with the brown?”
    “Brown is poo colour.”
    Alexis laughs. “It’s also chocolate colour.”
    Charlotte spins around slowly with her hands on her hips.
“Yeah, but it’s not pretty.”
    “We don’t want the lounge area to be pretty,” I explain.
    “Why not?” Because it’s a God damn lounge, not a fairy
palace.
    Alexis squeezes my hip then lets go. “If you want pretty,
Charli, go see your room.”
    She squeals that high pitched, burst-my-fucking-eardrums-squeal
that she is good at, then makes her way upstairs, Nate, Alexis and I following
behind.
    The new staircase spirals round in a large curve, deliberately
designed that way so it feels like you are walking up a hill rather than a
steep incline. Alexis was adamant when we discussed the new designs that she
did not want a vertical staircase. And I honestly can’t say that I blame her. I
think her fall from a year ago still plays on her mind. It probably always
will.
    Nate calls out from his room. “Sick!” And I know immediately
what he has just found.
    “Oh my God!” Charlotte squeals, and again I know why.
    I turn to Alexis, stopping her in her tracks. “You take Charli.
My ears can’t handle her vocal range. I’ll