Craving Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page B

thin wrist.
    â€œI had no idea it was so late!” Amina exclaimed, her eyes widening.
    Harper looked at her own wristwatch. “Me neither. I’m sure my husband is wondering what happened to me.”
    â€œHe won’t be upset with you, will he?” Amina asked, concern washing over her expression.
    â€œNo, of course not. If he needed me he would have called,” Harper answered.
    Amina nodded. She didn’t bother to comment on the twelve missed calls registered on her iPhone. “My father is probably having a fit right about now, wondering where I am.”
    â€œYou didn’t tell him where you were going?”
    Amina shook her head from side to side. “He probably would have forbidden me to come. If not him, then definitely my brother.”
    Harper rolled her eyes skyward. “I wish I did have a brother who would try to tell me what I could and couldn’t do,” she said facetiously. “Ours would not be a harmonious home!”
    â€œI know that’s right!” Amina said, nodding her agreement. I don’t know how my sister, Rasheeda, does it. My brother, Basil, tells her to jump and she’ll ask how high. He really intimidates her and I hate that she won’t stand up to him.”
    â€œHas he always been that way?” Harper asked, curious to know more. She reached for her glass of white wine and took a sip.
    Harper shrugged. “Probably. We were just kids when our parents divorced. Basil was twelve. I was ten and Rasheeda wasn’t quite six years old. Basil and Rasheeda stayed with our father who had custody of us. But I wanted to be with my mother. After a month of me acting out and throwing horrific tantrums my father gladly let me go. I tried to get Rasheeda to come with me but she was too afraid. She’s always been Daddy’s baby. So my mother raised me in Atlanta and my brother and sister stayed here in Memphis.”
    â€œThat’s so sad.”
    â€œI used to come visit but everything was always a problem. My clothes, my hair, everything! So I stopped and my father would never let them come stay with us in Atlanta. We missed out on a lot of time with each other over the years. That’s why I agreed to come to Memphis and work for my father. I was hoping it would help us all to rebuild our relationships.”
    Harper nodded her understanding. “I grew up estranged from my father too. He died before I had the chance to know him. I came to Memphis for his funeral and that’s when I met Quentin and Troy. My father raised them. You’re lucky that your family is still here and you have this opportunity. I hate when people tell me what a great man my father was and I know I’ll never have the chance to experience that for myself.”
    Amina smiled. “I agree, which is why I am trying very hard not to let Basil or my father’s ways get to me. Both are very conservative and they still think women should be seen and not heard. I think my father’s hiring me for his campaign is his way of trying to meet me in the middle. That’s why I agree to wear the niqab and attend mosque when he asks.”
    â€œSo you don’t practice Islam anymore?”
    Amina shook her head. “I’m not a faithful follower. There’s much about the religion I don’t know or understand but because I love my father I’ve been willing to learn.”
    Harper nodded. “Quentin and Troy are steadfast Baptists. I don’t think either has missed a Sunday service since I moved here. I’m not so good about that kind of thing. But I have a lot of faith and I respect what they believe and what they practice.”
    â€œExactly. My mother shied away from religion so I didn’t grow up in the church either. But because of my situation I minored in religious studies in school. I’ve read the Bible and now I’m studying the Quran. In all honesty though I’m probably more Buddhist in my