Fresh Temptation: Barboza Brothers, Book One Read Online Free PDF

her voice
deliberately sensual. “Yes, anytime. About anything you need.
Hello, Mr. Manhattan Heartthrob? Think you could spare an evening
to give my friend here some personal attention? It’s been so
long—”
    “Stop!” Cara’s head shook.
“Why does your mind always go there? He was a nice guy. A
gentleman.” She paused to sigh. “And he could have any woman he
wants. I’m sure he keeps a whole slew of girls around to fill those
needs. Rich guy with a sports car. Yeah.” She snorted. “He has to
drive all the way to Newark to get laid. That’s
believable.”
    “Maybe he doesn’t need to come to Newark.
Maybe he just wanted to. Maybe you made an impression.”
    “Please, don’t.” Cara
closed her mouth to keep the words, “I don’t want to get my hopes
up,” from coming out.
    “Okay. Well, no matter
what, you need to start making time for yourself. You do so much
for everyone else. We all just wanna see you happy.”
    “I am happy.”
    “You’d be happier if you’d
let handsome men be nice to you instead of running them off. He
gave you his card. You should give him a call.”
    “Between Isaac and work,
when do I have time for that? I’m worn out in every
way.”
    “Hmm. You don’t sound too
happy to me.”
    “Okay, whatever. Maybe I
don’t have time for happy. Can we drop it now?”

    * * *

    “What the heck?” Cara
stared in disbelief at the chains around the door at Doyle
Construction. She pulled on the handle, trying to get inside. The
heavy chain rattled, but the door was locked tight. “What in the
world is this?” She squinted to look through the glass door. “Mr.
Doyle? You in there? You all right?”
    With her heels digging
against the sidewalk, she tried again to pull the door open. Again,
the chains rattled.
    She reached inside her
purse for her phone just as two men in suits walked around the
corner, meeting her at the front door.
    “You work here?” One of
the men asked.
    “Uh…” She
stammered.
    “It’s okay. Don’t be
nervous. You’re not in trouble. Do you work here?”
    She looked him in the eye.
“Yes.”
    The other guy snorted.
“You don’t anymore. This is an IRS seizure.”
    Cara gasped. “What do you
mean, I don’t work here anymore?”
    “Your boss owes the IRS a
hefty sum in payroll taxes, ma’am.”
    “Oh my God.” She looked
down at the chains. “So I can’t go back in there? At
all?”
    “Nope. If you got some
personal stuff in your desk in there we can probably talk about it
but, for all intents and purposes, this business is shut down.” He
smirked. “Did you ever wonder why he paid you in cash?”
    “Um…yeah. Was that not
allowed?” she asked.
    The guys shared a look
then turned to her. One answered, “It’s not ideal. He thought he
was getting away with paying you under the table. Did he issue
check stubs that showed your withholding?”
    Cara nodded. “Yes. Once a
month or so he’d give us all a statement. I thought it was legit.
Am I in trouble?”
    “No. Doyle’s in
trouble.”
    Her eyes welled up. “But
he was supposed to pay me tomorrow. What am I gonna do?”
    “He’ll undergo a
full-scale audit and we’ll figure out what he owes us and what he
owes his employees.” He frowned. “I hate to tell you, ma’am, but
the audit’ll take a while and even then, you may never see that
money. I’m sorry. It’s always the employees who get hurt the most
in these situations.”
    “Okay,” Cara said. If the
IRS agents told her anything else, she was too numb with anger and
worry to hear it. She simply walked to her car and drove out of the
parking lot, unsure what she was going to do next.
    When she got home, she
yelled, “I’m back!” to her mom in the kitchen, then went right
upstairs to Isaac’s room where he lay in bed. His tired eyes perked
up when he saw her.
    “Mommy!” His voice was
scratchy. He reached out for her with both arms. “Mommy Mommy
Mommy!”
    Her heart melted at the
sight of his smile. She