Shades of Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page A

her comfort. Her
confidence. She’d never been the pretty one. Never fit in with the girls at
school or understood their need to shop and primp and gossip. She’d been more
interested in the things her brothers did. And she’d always been interested in
helping others. Taking on those bigger and stronger than her and besting them
through stamina and smarts.
    That’s what she’d always been good at.
    That was her place in the world.
    Trying to expand it would only bring her grief.

CHAPTER FOUR
    J ASE WAS IN A PISS POOR - MOOD , but
he wasn’t dead. That’s why, when Carrie walked through the door of McGill’s
after a month’s leave from SIG, his body responded the way it always did in her
presence—at full aching mast. Time spun away, and suddenly he was back outside
the bar with her body pressed against his, before Regina had come looking for
him. Just as he had back then, he imagined taking Carrie in every imaginable way
possible—with her standing up, sitting down, bent over or on her back with her
legs spread wide and over his shoulders. He pictured her mouth doing everything
but talking, while his own mouth got busy investigating the moist depths of her
body.
    In his mind, he took her with a ferociousness completely
contrary to the way he’d actually kissed her before, when Natalie
Jones-now-McKenzie had been hospitalized. Carrie had been trying so hard to
comfort Mac, when in reality she’d needed comforting herself. And Jase had
needed to be the man to give it to her. No, that brief, closed-mouth kiss on the
lips had been nothing like the ones he currently fantasized about.
    But knowing it was all he was likely to get, he cursed
softly.
    From beneath hooded eyes, Jase watched as Carrie headed toward
Mac and Natalie, who were standing by the bar getting another round of drinks
for the table. Except for Simon Granger, who’d be acting supervisor for the next
two weeks, the whole SIG team was now present to celebrate Mac and Natalie’s
spontaneous trip to City Hall and their official new beginning. Tomorrow, they
were headed to Africa for an unconventional honeymoon. Jase didn’t doubt they’d
be spending a lot of their time indoors and horizontal, but they’d also enjoy
exploring the exotic locale. Mac had mentioned more than once that Natalie,
who’d made her living as a photographer before she’d gone blind, was excited to
try a new technique for blind photographers she’d recently read about. Knowing
what Natalie had overcome in the past few months, including nearly being killed
by a man nervous about some photos she’d taken, Jase couldn’t be happier for
them.
    As Carrie made her way toward the couple, Jase rubbed his ear,
the same ear she’d tried to bite off the last time they’d been here together.
She wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever known, yet he couldn’t help comparing
her to the women she passed. McGill’s wasn’t exactly a trendy pickup joint, but
it wasn’t a bad place to meet women, either. There were always a few trolling
for men to spend some time with in and out of the sheets. Like the two friends
who’d just been chatting with Jase. Like the brunette who was at that very
moment eyeballing him from another table. Like the curvy blonde Carrie had just
passed. They’d been painted, plucked and slathered with lotion until they
radiated feminine allure.
    On the other hand, Carrie looked just as out of place as she
had the last time he’d seen her at McGill’s. Her deep red hair was pulled back
into her obligatory ponytail, any makeup she’d been wearing had long since faded
and her pressed Dockers and starchy pinstripe shirt, while not quite disguising
her femininity, definitely radiated business more than romance. The files she
held at her side added to the professional image. Which was hilarious,
considering she was on medical leave, and therefore business was the last thing
she should have been dressed for. Hell, the woman obviously didn’t know the
meaning of