Attraction Read Online Free PDF Page B

that to hold the attention of a woman like your fiancée’s sister.”
They watched as the two sisters conversed.
“Don’t think so highly of her, Tanner,” Heron said, a bite to his voice. “She runs a bar
that moonlights as a sex club.”
Tanner whistled again. “Now that’s wild. I’ll have to check it out, sometime.” He walked
away in search of more appetizers.
As Heron continued to watch the two sisters, his eyes narrowed with displeasure when he
saw his fiancée nod and listen intently to whatever Riley was saying, obviously finding it
valuable and helpful. He didn’t like the fact that Roberta’s sister had so much influence over her.
Once they were married, he had every intention of blunting that power. It wouldn’t be easy.
Roberta looked up to her older sister, almost immeasurably. He hadn’t realized this until he had
dinner with Roberta’s family that first time, and saw how much she adored Riley. After that
Sunday, he then begun to notice how often Roberta would bring up Riley, and something that she
had said Roberta had found fascinating or interesting, or advised her on an issue, or something
funny she had said. And Heron began to be irritated now whenever Roberta said her sister’s
name, and, at times, could barely refrain himself from telling her that he wasn’t interested in
what her sister had to say.
Heron could understand the love and devotion of between siblings. He himself very much
loved and admired his younger brother, and felt just as protective of him as Riley felt of her
sister. But he did not feel the need to interfere in Tanner’s life or dictate it.
The waitress walked out of the kitchen and whispered something in Caroline’s ear.
Caroline announced, “Everyone, everyone, dinner is about to be served, so if we can sit
down.”
Everyone sat down and the waitress and Marge served the shrimp bisque soup. As the
dinner progressed, the conversation was pleasant and light. Tanner proved himself to be an
engaging and humorous story teller, entertaining the others with stories of his college days and
the antics that he and his fraternity brothers had committed.
“So, Tanner, now that you’re out of college, what do you plan to do?” Caroline asked.
Tanner gave a rueful smile. “I’m going into the family business. I’ll be working for my
father, starting next a week from Monday.” He gestured to Heron with his head. “That will allow
me to ingratiate myself into my father’s good graces for the rest of my life, since my brother,
here, gave up the favored position of the prodigal son when he decided to open up his own law
practice, forgoing his rightful seat in the family empire.”
“Having his sons work in the business is important to your father, then?” Lawrence
asked.
Tanner answered, “It would be his first choice. But, don’t worry, he didn’t disinherit
Heron. He’s just no longer the favorite son. That means he’ll listen to me before he will listen to
him. You see, Mr. and Mrs. Calderon, my brother, here, has always been the golden boy, the
blessed son anointed before birth by God. And all my life, I’ve lived in his shadow. All we heard
about was him, Heron did this, Heron did that. That was because everything he did, he did better
than anybody else. He was the star athlete in school, the star pupil in his class. The bastard got
A’s in every one of his studies without even trying.”
Everyone laughed as Tanner grinned at his brother. “And my father always introduced
him as, ‘Here’s my boy, Heron.’ ‘Have you met my boy, Heron?’ And every time Heron spoke,
my father acted as if his words were written in stone. I know there’s a stone tablet somewhere
lying around that says, ‘Where’s my socks, Dad?’ Until recently, all my life, I was relegated to,
‘And this is just Tanner,’ That’s all. Nothing special. Just Tanner. But all that changed when
Heron told my Dad that he wasn’t going to enter the family business. You should have seen