Storm Front (Reunited Hearts) Read Online Free PDF Page B

parents?”
    Allison’s
smile faltered. “They both died. Two years ago.”
    Michael
swallowed, suddenly uncomfortable. Both by the sudden shift in mood and by the
sorrow he could see in her green eyes. “I’m sorry.” The words were mostly
empty, but he had to say something.
    She
shrugged. “It was a car accident. They both died instantly.”
    “I
always liked them. They were good people.”
    The
words were sincere, and Michael was glad he’d said them when she broke into
another smile, this one rather poignant. “Yeah. They were.”
    They
played in silence for several more minutes, and Michael tried to fight the rise
of sympathy so he could return to their previous mood. Soft feelings wouldn’t
help him seduce Allison the way he intended, and he definitely didn’t want
anything more lasting than another pleasurable night with her.
    He
focused on winning the game—collecting property and increasing his growing
piles of fake cash—but he kept glancing at Allison across the board.
    She
was beautiful, burnished with the light of the fire. Her hair was messy and her
face scrubbed clean of makeup, but her unpolished appearance somehow made her
even more desirable. She wore thick red socks, and one of her manicured
fingernails was chipped, but the light and shadows from the flickering flames
danced across her smooth skin, softening her lovely features and highlighting
the lines of her lush cleavage.
    Once
again, he felt a surge of desire, and he recognized that it was more than her
beauty that was turning him on.
    Seven
years later, and she was still Allison. She’d given him her virginity all those
years ago, but he could still sense something beneath her stimulating wit and
vibrant intelligence—something small and trembling—that felt almost untouched.
    It
was something he wanted, once again, to touch.
    *
* *
    Allison could almost
believe that Michael felt bad about her parents’ deaths.
    She’d
surprised a look of grief and understanding on his face before he’d masked it
in his characteristic way.
    She
was a little uncomfortable with that recognition. It was much easier to see Michael
as a smooth, heartless player. Thinking of him the way the papers painted him
meant she wouldn’t be troubled by haunting memories of the young man she’d
known, the young man she’d given her heart and her body to seven years ago.
    He’d
changed. She saw plenty of evidence of the way he’d grown more jaded, more
guarded and cold over the years.
    But
he hadn’t changed completely, and the humanity in him was what she was most
afraid of.
    It
was always what she couldn’t resist.
    Allison
made herself ignore it. While the weather wasn’t as destructive as it could
have been, they certainly weren’t in an ideal situation to indulge in a
one-night stand. Plus, she hadn’t been honest with Michael about her real
profession, which she was starting to feel guilty about. He’d also recently
broken up with Gina Lane—and who knew what sort of baggage he was carrying from
that break-up.
    This
just wasn’t the time or place to give into the temptation to fall into Michael Martin’s
arms—no matter how irresistible those arms happened to be.
    To
distract herself from any physical urges, she put up a valiant defense at
Monopoly. It was a hopeless one, of course. Michael was a master of capitalism,
and—after two hours—he’d soundly trounced her, leaving her completely bankrupt.
    By
that time, she’d drunk about four cups of tea, and they’d finished the package
of cookies. She was getting tired, and Michael was looking more and more
attractive in the flickering shadows of the room.
    “Well,
that’s it for me,” Allison said at last, starting to pick up the game pieces.
“I think I’ll go to bed.”
    She
felt Michael’s eyes on her, and she forced away the thought of how incredible
it had felt to kiss him earlier that evening.
    She
wasn’t a naïve girl anymore. She wouldn’t be swayed by a pair of