Desire (#4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

size?”
    “I’m stronger than I look,” she said. “Besides I can always hire some muscle.”
    She winked at me, and I laughed.
    “So do we have a deal, Kate?” Lauren asked.
    I hesitated for a moment then held out my hand. “Deal,” I said.

    After she had been in rehab for a week, Tina called me at the estate. She said the program was going well. It wasn’t easy, but she was making headway. I was incredibly pleased for her and allowed myself a spark of optimism that perhaps this time it might really work.
    “My counsellor thinks it would be productive to have a family session…” Tina said.
    Oh, hell.
    “With me?” I asked, even though I already knew what she meant.
    “Yeah. He thinks it might help me delve into some of my deeper issues.” She paused for a moment then continued. “You’ve already done so much for me, Kate. I understand if this makes you feel uncomfortable and you don’t want to do it.”
    I took a deep breath. “No, it’s okay. I’ll do it. When do you need me to be there?”
    I told Benjamin about the session when he got home. His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed as I spoke.
    “It’s just a family thing,” I said. “The counsellor thinks it will help.”
    “Do you want to go?” Benjamin asked, tilting his head and watching me intently.
    I shifted, uncomfortable under his intense gaze. “Um, I think it might help Tina.”
    Of course I didn’t want to go. But I did want to help my sister.
    Benjamin looked thoughtful as he loosened his tie. “You don’t have to stay there, do you?”
    “Uh, no,” I said, momentarily distracted as he began to unbutton his shirt. “It should only take an hour or so.”
    “Okay,” he said. “I’ll arrange a car to take you and pick you up.”
    “Don’t argue,” he said when I opened my mouth to protest. “You are not driving all the way to Providence in your truck. I’d be worried sick.”
    He lifted his shirt, giving me a perfect view of his defined abs and taut chest.
    Was he doing that on purpose? Trying to distract me so I didn’t argue? I blew out the breath I’d been holding. Dammit. If he was, it was working.

6

    LATER THAT EVENING, COLIN came to call on Benjamin.
    “Lovely to see you, again, Kate,” Colin said warmly, as he shrugged off his suit jacket.
    I took his jacket and hooked it on the coat stand by the front door of Benjamin’s apartment.
    “How’s your sister getting along in Providence?”
    I thought it was sweet of Colin to ask after her. “She’s doing pretty well so far.”
    He apologised for stealing Benjamin away to talk business, and after they headed off to Benjamin’s office, I made my way downstairs to make a cup of tea.
    We’d run out of Earl Grey in Benjamin’s small kitchen, but I thought Mrs. Wicker might have some squirrelled away in the main kitchen.
    I loved the large kitchen downstairs. Unlike the rest of the house, which was a little too fussy for comfort, the kitchen was the epitome of warm homeliness, with its scrubbed countertops, flagstone floor, and gleaming copper pots hanging from a rack on the wall.
    Mrs. Wicker stood by the sink, holding the kettle as I entered the kitchen.
    “Great minds think alike,” I said. “I’ve come down to see if you have any Earl Grey tea left. We’ve run out.”
    “I was just about to make a pot. You’re welcome to join me if you have the time.”
    Both Mrs. Wicker and Carter, the butler, lived in the staff accommodation at Cliff House. I knew Mrs. Wicker was heavily involved in the church, and local charities, but Benjamin had told me she didn’t have family of her own. I wondered if she was lonely. I was sure Carter wouldn’t be much company.
    “That would be lovely,” I said.
    Mrs. Wicker filled the kettle with water then walked across to the old-fashioned four-oven Aga and set the kettle on top of the stove to boil.
    While we waited for the kettle to boil, we sat down at the large wooden table.
    “Is Benjamin working?” Mrs. Wicker