Don't Tempt Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

suddenly alive from that simple contact. Unfortunately, the man was even more tempting than the business offer he'd made, and that was saying a lot. The offer had been very tempting. Beyond tempting. It could have been the start of a whole new era in her life, one that didn't include acid reflux every time she balanced the books.
    Flopping onto her back, she stared at the ceiling of her cabin and remembered all the years of work she and her father had put into the Pirate's Pleasure , all the plans they'd shared while working side by side. They'd traveled regularly to the Caribbean ---her father more than her ---but someday they dreamed of sailing the Pirate's Pleasure there and living like captains on the high seas.
    "And we'll visit my cousins?" she'd always asked.
    "Of course," her father would promise.
    "And Grandma Merry?"
    "Absolutely," he'd say.
    "And Mother?" she'd ask more quietly.
    "Watch that varnish, nutmeg, it's about to drip."
    Yes, someday, they'd sail the Pirate's Pleasure to the islands she loved so much, and she wouldn't be the misfit relative. She'd be dashing, like her swashbuckling ancestors. And when her mother saw how beautiful the ship was, she'd want to sail away with them.
    That fairy tale may have died with her childhood, but she still dreamed of sailing the ship to the Caribbean at least once in her life. If she took the St. Claires up on their offer, could she earn enough for such an endeavor?
    Unfortunately, she couldn't accept their offer without resurrecting the scandal surrounding her father's death. Thinking of it now brought a horrible rush of memories that made her want to pull the covers over her head so she could hide forever. She could still remember the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach when people learned her father was a crook and then looked at her with accusation and distrust. She'd left the islands to escape all that. By working her butt off for the past eight years, she'd managed to build a business out of the only good thing he'd left her, a dilapidated ship. A legitimate business. No cons. No forging artifacts. And no illegal salvaging of shipwreck sites.
    What was the term Adrian had used? "Thieving looters," that was it. And he'd said it with enough disdain to make her flinch. Well, if she brought attention to herself by making the letter public, a lot of people would call her that.
    Or would they?
    Eight years had passed since her father died, and all that mess had happened in the British West Indies. Could she possibly make the letter public and not have the past slap her in the face?
    She shook the thought off. Don't go there. You're only asking for trouble. Think about something else.
    Turning over, she forced her mind away from Adrian and his offer only to have Jack Kingsley slip into her thoughts. Not a vast improvement, since Adrian looked just like the mental image she'd always carried of Captain Jack: tall, broad-shouldered, and charming to the hilt.
    But what had Jack Kingsley really been like? she wondered, staring about the dark cabin.
    Moonlight slanted through the aft windows, casting mysterious shadows about the room as questions about her namesake played through her mind, along with the new knowledge that Marguerite, the great love of his life, had written about him in her diaries. If she helped the St. Claires, would they let her read the diaries?
    She pushed the thought away and flipped onto her other side. Think about work .
    Unfortunately, that brought on images of a dwindling bank account, a growing stack of bills, and a long list of repairs that needed to be made. Which brought her right back to the St. Claires' offer.
    Dammit, dammit, dammit! She punched the pillow again, this time wishing it were her father.
    Okay, think it through logically .
    The media frenzy after her father's death had happened nearly a decade ago, and a long way from Texas. Her father's motto had always been: "Never piss in your own pond" ---which was why he'd never conned