Luring Lucy Read Online Free PDF Page A

backbone. She had gotten through a lot of strife in her life, and she’d not only landed on her feet, she’d raised two terrific kids besides.
    As if for battle, she stood with her thighs locked, her feet braced apart. And she sounded deliberately suspicious. “Since when, Bram? Let me see, wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that you were boffing Dede what’s-her-name from your gym? Kent came home all bug-eyed with adolescent lust and overflowing with awe for his ‘Uncle Bram’s’ prowess.I got to hear the blow-by-blow dimensions of the woman’s body in a leotard. According to Kent, you personally showed her how to use every single piece of gym equipment.”
    Bram lifted one brow. So Kent had tattled, huh? He’d box that rascal’s ears when next he saw him. Then another thought occurred and Bram half-wondered if his touted—and surely exaggerated—exploits had anything to do with Lucy’s sudden determination to get frisky. Maybe he had inspired her.
    â€œIt was nothing.”
    She scoffed, adding with disdain, “And here I’d stupidly thought that, as the owner of the gym, you left chores like personal instruction to your employees.”
    â€œI never slept with Dede.”
    â€œYeah, right. And I’ve never touched up the gray in my hair.”
    Bram bit back a smile. Lucy had started getting silver streaks in her gorgeous inky hair when she was only thirty-five. Now, at thirty-nine, they had all been covered over. Forcing himself to be as somber as the accusation warranted, he said, “Don’t get confused here, babe. I’m not David. I’ve never lied to you and I never will.”
    That threw her for a moment, and then she rallied once again. “So now you’re claiming to be a monk?”
    â€œFar from that.” Bram weighed his next words carefully. “I have no doubt that through fifteen years of marriage David caved in to the temptation to talk about me now and then?”
    Bram waited, wanting to know how much she knew of him, dying to figure out if her curiosity had ever been as extreme as his own. He hoped she’d asked about him. He prayed that she’d fantasized a time or two, because God and his own conscience knew he’d dreamed about her far too often.
    Lucy shrugged. “Yeah, so?”
    Satisfaction settled into his bones. “So you already know I’mabout as far from a monk as a man can get. I like women. I love sex.” He leaned toward her and reiterated, “But I didn’t sleep with Dede.”
    â€œYou’re telling me Kent made it all up?”
    â€œOf course not. I can’t imagine Kent outright lying to you like that. But he probably only told you what he saw, which was a little flirting. And the truth is, I considered sleeping with her. You wanna know why?”
    â€œLet me guess? A double-D bra size?”
    She was such a prickly little cat today, Bram noted with amusement. Never before had they been at odds. From the time she and David had started to date, they’d all three gotten along. Lucy had often treated him like a brother, so he’d done the honorable thing and kept his wicked thoughts to himself. He’d loved David, and by association he’d learned to love Lucy. There was nothing wrong with that.
    It was the lust, and more, that had made him feel guilty.
    But he was done with guilt. He hadn’t played a hand in their marital problems, and no one, before his current confession to Lucy, knew that he’d been obsessed with her. Lucy wasn’t guilty of wrongdoing, and neither was he.
    From here on out, he was going after what he wanted. And that meant he was going after Lucy.
    Pushing himself away from the wall, Bram closed the distance between them. Lifting his right hand, he stroked her silky dark hair. It was baby fine and arrow straight and he loved it. “Her hair is almost as sleek as yours.”
    Lucy caught her breath.
    â€œAnd